April 12, 2014
So begins
another adventure in lovely SE Asia. I
will say that my trip to Indonesia this time round was a lot let stressful and
pretty smooth. I departed from San Jose
Intl on Sunday afternoon, flew to Tokyo where I had a 2 hour layover
This was nice because I just went to one of those “luxurious” hangouts
with a shower, buffet food, WIFI internet, TV, a place to sleep, etc…almost
like a USO that you have to pay for. It
did feel good to take a shower, relax a little and talk to the family. 
My flight from Singapore to
Yogyakarta left at 8 in the morning and I arrived around 9:30 am (Yogyakarta
time). I was met by the awesome folks at
Wisma Bahasa (the school I am attending) with my name on a poster (although it
was spelled wrong)…still I felt like a movie star. I got to my homestay with the Sunarto Family,
and I must admit…it is no “Pesona.” I
was living in the lap of luxury in Jakarta, so this was quite different. A huge difference is my “mother in Jakarta”
Ibu Nana had a huge spread every morning for breakfast. With this homestay I just get bread, peanut
butter (regular and chocolate), and pineapple jam for breakfast. No more eggs, sausage, fruit, juice…at least
for a month!
The Sunarto family is so nice and
very hospitable. We have had several
religious discussions because he is a practicing Catholic, and he has often
wondered about Morm The family has
traveled around the world, because before he retired he worked with the World
Bank. They have two sons, both of which
live in Jakarta, and are very well educated.
It amazes me the kindness and hospitality people display in Indonesia.
ons.
The school that I am attending,
Wisma Bahasa is highly praised and used by not only our State
Department/military, but also by other countries. In fact, currently I am the only student from
the U.S. There are students from Japan,
Australia, Netherlands, etc. This
institute is top-notch and provides many services ranging from airport pick-up
to travel agent. I am currently using
them to set up my trip to Bali.
School starts at around 8am and I
go home around 3pm (with an hour for lunch, of course), which makes for a full
day, and I am pretty tired by day’s end.
In addition to classroom study, there are also numerous field
trips. For example, Saturday I went to a
village outside of Jogya called Kota Gede.
This area pre-dates the current kingdom in Yogyakarta and some say is
the birthplace of Islam on the island of Java.
A mixture of animism, Hindu, and Islam can easily be seen when visiting
the palace ruins.
Mas Wanto (my teacher) began by
showing me the banyan tree in front of the Kota Gede mosque. This tree (which appears to be a normal
banyan tree) was said to have been planted a symbol of rising power in the area
of Java. Back in the 16th
century there were a lot of factions and a lot of conflict between
kingdoms. The area of Yogyakarta was all
forest and right outside of the forest next to a living spring. The place had beforehand been predicted and
blessed to become the seat of the next dynasty of Javanese rulers (which would
become the Mataram Kingdom). The
planting of a banyan tree indicated the spot, and that tree still exists today.
We then entered the mosque, but
what were very interesting were the surroundings of the mosque. It resembled a lot of what you would see in
places like Bali. There is a mix of both
Islamic and Hindu influences, so you have a mosque surrounded by ancient Hindu
temple grounds. This was definitely a
great experience to see traditional Javanese society and historical
remnants. I even got to dress up in
traditional Javanese attire. Those that
work on these grounds, technically work for the Sultan. Although they do not get paid per se, they
receive a monthly “gift” from the Sultan.
They get on average maybe $2 a month as a gift, and those who come to
worship give a sufficient donation to them.
These workers also fall under a traditional hierarchal system. No matter the position, the fact that they
have been chosen to work for the Sultan gives them a special status and they
can act on behalf of the Sultan, particularly in religious worship. People respect them and compensate them quite
generously, so they are able to provide for their family.
Another thing I learned… the
characteristics/indicators for social status with Javanese men. They are: religion, having a pretty wife,
children, having a house, education, and believe it or not, a pet…like say, a
cat. Which reminds me, you know Muhammad
had a cat….(inside joke for my Webster buddies). People in Yogyakarta own birds, and having a
bird (or birds) that sing grants you a higher social status. This is why selling birds and bird singing
competitions are such a big deal.
We then went to look at the silver
making process. There are several silver
shops in Kota Gede, but only one premiere factory that make all of the silver
products. While I am very familiar with
the silver making process, it was cool to see the processing line and the
different functions and capabilities of the workers there. There is also a display room with various
silver products. While this is not the
cheapest place to buy silver, I definitely have a good idea of where to go. I am sure Gretchen would be pretty excited to
hit all of the silver shops.
I ended the week by attending a
famous puppet show called “Wayang Kulit” in downtown Yogyakarta. It was cool seeing the nightlife and the
sights and sounds of the famous Malioboro Street. I am sure that I will be making future visits
to this area.
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