Selamat Idul Fitri!

As I'm back in Yogya for a brief stop-over in the middle of my vacation, I thought I'd add a quick post since it's been so long! I've now been teaching at Gadjah Mada University for full month with my regular schedule - three classes with undergraduates in the English Department, and two at the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies, a graduate program. The feeling of standing in front of the class is just starting to feel familiar; for the first few weeks I frequently had the feeling that the "real" teacher must be lurking behind me somewhere, waiting for the novice to finish the mini-lesson so she could take over!

An added challenge to that first month of teaching was that it also happened to be Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, so most of my students were attending classes having not eaten or drunken anything since 4 am, when everyone gets up for predawn breakfast or "sahur." I was very impressed with their cheerfulness and energy in spite of that obstacle, but I am looking forward to having fully functional students again! Ramadan was a very interesting time to be here, in general - the feeling of clamness and solidarity was palpable, and the break-fast time at about 5:30 pm was always fun to watch and experience - everyone out breaking fast with their friends and families as the sun sets.

That brings me to today, which is Idul Fitri, or the big holiday at the end of Ramadan when everybody goes home to celebrate with their families. I have two weeks of vacation, and I decided to spend them traveling with friends to Nusa Penida, an island off of Bali, and Karimunjawa, a series of islands north of Java. In Nusa Penida, we stayed with the father of an Oberlin alum (further proof of the world's smallness!) in an incredible house he built there about 8 years ago. The island is largely undeveloped - electricity and running water, but no big stores, few cars or motorcycles, and we were the only westerners there that we knew of. We were fortunate to arrive in time for a lovely Hindu ceremony, and were able to explore some really beautiful temples in the area, one on a mountain top and one in a cave. Truely, sometimes I feel like I've died and gone to religion-major heaven!

Tomorrow I head out again for Karimunjawa - I'll be sure to add another post when I'm back in the land of internet connections next week.

Cicak, Pernikahan, Graffiti:

Six weeks in and I've decided it's time to finally post on the blog. As I type this, I realize how difficult it is to sum up my experience here so far. There's just way too much going on here - and my experiences of being here have varied so much from moment to moment - that to try to summarize is simply futile. The pictures that accompany this post - of street graffiti, a traditional Javanese wedding ('pernikahan' in Indonesian) and a cicak lizard (for Jonas!), although selected randomly, do start to get at the extreme variety of my experiences here so far, which have also included traditional dance, hipster rock concerts, ancient Hindu temples, and the most amazing tempe I have ever tasted.

I will say, however, that overall I love living here in Yogyakarta. My homestay family, the first people here I started getting to know, are really excellent, open, and welcoming people who made the transition infinitely more smooth. Alam Bahasa, the language school where I studied Indonesian intensively for all of July and will continue to study regularly throughout the next two years, is a really impressive organization with some wonderful teachers who have made learning Indonesian even more fun than it already is. Maya, the current "senior Shansi fellow" in Yogya, as well as Guy, the outgoing fellow, and the fellows from Aceh have all been wonderful in helping with the adjustment as well. I'm extremely lucky to be able to learn from them, about everything from how to order new gas for my stove (yesterday's adventure) to how to prep for my first day of teaching (today!)

Although I can't deny that I've been homesick, on balance I feel extremely grateful that I get to call this place home for the next two years. I look forward to the surprises and challenges in store, and of course to keeping in touch with friends and family - feel free to email (enolanthomas@gmail.com), skype me, or post on this blog!

love,
Emma