I’m starting to realize that I’m a terrible blogger, at least with my inability to stick to any sort of regular schedule. But I guess I’m just embracing Indonesian culture and their “better late than never” kind of attitude. I also went out in jeans, a jacket and scarf in 25C degree weather tonight and fit half of my family on a motorcycle, so I think I’m slowly becoming more Indonesian every minute.
The project is just over its halfway point and we’re slowly easing into the second term of the entrepreneurship project. We said goodbye to five out of the seven original interns in the last couple of weeks. Sara, Mia, Elvis, Laisa and Matej are all back studying in their home countries (miss you guys!). But we also welcomed a few new faces to the project: Zoe (Puerto Rico), Sarah (Germany), Malfalda (Portugal) and Vinicius (Brazil – actually, he’s been here for three months already but is just now joining the project after some travelling time).
Our focus in the second half will be to introduce the street kids at the NGO to the basics of entrepreneurship and help Mr. Yunus show them how to make something out of nothing (turning recycled goods into sellable products). We’ll also be assisting Mr. Yunus with his marketing strategy and helping to set up an exhibition at the end of April for local small businesses.
So now that the project status is summed up, what else have I been up to in the last week? Hmm... well, the weather is still hot and sunny as always, with the same daily downpour every late afternoon. I think it’s pure luck that I’ve only been caught in the rain on the back of a motorcycle once in the month and a half that I’ve been here. I am starting to get a bit concerned that this heat, even here in “cold” Malang, is ruining me forever for Manitoban summers.
Speaking of summer, I finally had a chance to go camping after almost two years of deprivation! On Laisa and Matej’s last weekend in Indonesia, we drove down to a beach on the south coast of East Java, set up a few rented tents and spent the night meters away from the Indian Ocean. Our efforts to start a fire were futile - we hadn’t even brought newspaper (I’m pretty sure my 10-year-old, Girl Guide self would be disappointed right about now) but luckily Dean’s rescue team buddies came to hang out for the night and assisted us.
While my quest to see the Southern Cross was once again unsuccessful (the constellation you can only see in the Southern hemisphere) and I had to mummify myself with my sarong, raincoat and scarf in an effort to deter whatever it was that was crawling all over me all night, having the chance to spend one more weekend on the beach all together was more than worth tiny ants biting my feet in my sleep.
This weekend I had the chance to see my first Indonesian wedding. Our VP ICX (the AIESEC VP who takes care of the incoming interns), Galuh, invited us to her sister’s wedding on Saturday afternoon. Indonesian weddings happen over two days – the formal ceremony first, and then the party! It was beautiful – all of the girls involved in the wedding were dressed in these amazing, sparkly, traditional dresses and the bride and groom were stunning in their traditional outfits. The bride looked like an Indonesian Barbie doll – so beautiful. There was some sort of ceremony involving baskets of fruit and rice and coins being thrown into the air that I didn’t quite understand, and there was no dancing, but I was blown away by the decor. They had transformed the entire street outside of the bride’s family’s house into a tent draped in orange, red and cream fabrics and even the rain didn’t stop people from enjoying the food and music.
I finally had a chance to cook for my host family this weekend too, and being Sunday, Margit, Sarah, Mafalda and I made a huge, delicious pancake lunch. We were slightly worried we messed up the pancakes (I know - I don’t know how that could even be possible, but there are so many different types of flour here, you wouldn’t believe it) but once we got them out of the pan and did a quick taste test, it was all good. Vira tried her hand at making my second favourite Indonesian food, terang bulan, and luckily for everyone in Manitoba, I’m pretty sure I can pull it off back home. It’s this giant, egg-y dessert that’s part pancake, part cake, spread with your choice of Indonesian fillings, folded in half and cut up. We made ours with chocolate, cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Yes, I said chocolate and cheese – bizarre but so typical here and honestly, it’s an amazing combination if you use something mild like white cheddar. I don’t know why people outside of this country haven’t figured it out.
After discovering all of these amazing Indonesian dishes, I have big plans to start riding a bike to Cinthya’s everyday although I’m a little terrified of the idea. The traffic is bad enough with all of the motorcycles and crazy drivers, let alone a white girl on a bike who keeps looking the wrong way when she crosses the street (they drive on the opposite side of the road here so I’ve just started to look in all directions to cover my bases). Wish me luck that I make it in one piece to Cinthya’s doorstep!
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