Hanging out with the Australians and avoiding the Warias

Road to the Homestay 

20 Apr 14

Let’s start off with some culture:

“War…ung, net, and ia”

Warung- a cafe or food house set up in the front part of your house that people frequent.  Usually traditional dishes and drinks are prepared…not the best of sanitary circumstances, but don’t be surprised if you across a really delicious dish.  When I go to these, I usually ask my food or drink “to go”…that way they don’t use dishes that may be questionable sanitary-wise.

I think I just threw up a little
in my mouth

Warnet- like a “warung” but set up for internet/video game use.  Once again, someone turns the front part of their house into a business of letting kids and adults play computer games or use the internet all day. 

Waria- a “she-man” simply put; a man who is now a woman and practices prostitution.  From what I have been told, the “Warias” in Thailand are deceivingly more attractive, and are often mistaken as women.  I don’t think this is the case in Indonesia…..”That’s a man BABY!”

I just love Yogyakarta!  It is such a cultural and lively place…it seems that there is always something going on, and it is manageable to get where you need to…unlike Jakarta.

This week I spent a lot of time hanging out with some guys from the Australian Army.  We were able to hang out, talk about our military experiences and exchange information.  I am amazed how well these guys can speak the language.  I talked about this with one of the Sergeants named “Reza,” and he compared it to us (Americans) and Spanish.  He explained that there are a lot of Indonesians in Australia similar to a lot of Hispanic people in the United States.  They learn a lot of the colloquial terms throughout their life, so when it comes to learning the language, they already have a lot of the informal stuff.

Wisma Bahasa (the school I attend) also has people from different organizations, countries, etc.  It is like a smorgasbord of military, government, international, and non-government students.  A lot of the Australian students will be departing ways next week, so they had a going away dinner followed by karaoke.  Needless to say it was a long night, but what a way to meet new people and really “Break the ice.”  I had to show off some good ‘ol “Merican” karaoke skills.  But you know what, I am sure when we cross paths it will be like, “Hey, it’s Erick, the guy that we sang Karaoke with in Yogyakarta.”

My field trip this week was to some isolated villages just south of Yogyakarta.  These villages are known for the production of handicrafts like clay pottery, ceramics, puppets, and wood products made in a “batik” manner.  It was really cool getting out of the city and seeing the rural areas.  It is AMAZING how hard these people work and the amount of talent they possess.  At the puppet shop I went ahead and bought 4 (out of over 500 different characters) smaller “wayang kulit” puppets.  The 4 I bought (I am told) are the comic relief in the Javanese puppet show.

The characters’ names are Semar, Gareng, Petruk,

and Bagong, and collectively they are known as the “Punokawan.”  They are the clown servants of the hero in the story, and appear in the second act (which the whole show is 5 hours in Javanese).  They are popular, because they are a vehicle to bring up current, relevant topics in a comical manner.  It is kind of like an SNL episode in the middle of a VERY old folklore story.  There have been several occasions where statues and representations of these clowns (literally) have been destroyed or taken down because they made fun of the government or a local leader.  The guy who was working on mine told me that there have been shows where the “Punokawan” will appear wearing politically charged t-shirts or something similar to grab the attention of the audience.

On Sunday I went to church for an Easter-focused Sacrament Meeting, and apparently Mount Merapi, a volcano north of Yogyakarta had erupted earlier in the morning and now ash was coming down from the sky.  I went to lunch and then headed back to the silver factory that I visited the week before.  This time I was getting a lesson on how to make a ring from scratch.  I found out quickly that I could not do this job, just like some of the other jobs that I have come across so far on my trip.  They require so much patience and long hours, which may be okay as a hobby, but to do it as a career…unthinkable!!  I probably contributed 40% of the work, but I was able to go from station to station and go through the entire process.  Now my Saturday classes are over, so I should have my weekends free to go out and see more of the “Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta”