I was busy this past month playing host! My mom and grandma visited for Christmas and New Year’s, while my dad and stepmom visited later in January. I will include pictures from various parts of the trips that I took with both sets of visitors; but I plan to write solely about our time together at site. This was the most surreal and enjoyable parts of the past month. Mom and grandma visited towards the end of December. They made the trip to site after spending a few days in Singapore. This was purposely arranged so that they had a buffer to adjust to the new time zone before I threw them into rural Java. Grandma repeatedly said--and I eventually came around to believe--she doesn’t experience jet lag. Regardless, both grandma and mom were ready to go by the time we ventured from Surabaya to Tulungagung. My host family was patiently waiting outside on the front porch to properly welcome my mom and grandma when we arrived at the house. It felt strange walking my mom to the front porch that I frequent so often with Bu Hertati and Pak Djito. I felt as if I was arriving at a place that suddenly seemed so unfamiliar to me. After brief introductions, and a lot of awkward head bows and prayer hands, I escorted the two important guests to my room. We were able to decompress after a long day of traveling. I might have needed the peace and quiet more than they did. I gave mom and grandma my bed to use throughout their stay. The gesture sounds nicer than in reality. My bed is hardly comfortable. Bu Hertati purchased a small mattress for me to use on the floor. The mosquito net, fan, and sheer exhaustion, made for three solid nights of sleep. I was worried about how well my guests would sleep in such a different environment from back home, but a lack of sleep never seemed to be an issue. Students were on semester break, which meant that school was much quieter than usual. The English Club students, however, were excited to meet my mom and grandma. We arranged a special English Club meeting so that the students could meet my family and get to know them. In preparation for the event, my counterparts drove mom, grandma, and me to a fruit market in the nearby city. We bought supplies for next day’s cooking lesson. Mas W introduced mom and grandma to many new fruits: rambutan, snake fruit, duku, and kelengkang. They liked all of them, except for the snake fruit. I don’t like that one either. The English Club event was a blast. The students taught us how to make rujak, a typical Javanese dish that requires the many fruits we purchased earlier at the market. We tossed the fruit in a spicy peanut sauce. Mom and grandma approved! We went around the various groups of students, tasting each dish that they prepared. We taught the students how to make guacamole. We figured this dish would be easy for the students to replicate on their own, since it does not require odd ingredients or an oven. Avocados are popular here on Java, but they are used entirely different from back home. While I typically see an avocado used as a vegetable--on a burrito bowl with rice, in a sandwich, etc.--Indonesians use avocado as a fruit. They drink avocado as juice with a good amount of sugar. That’s far different from the avocado toast people rave about back home. Both cultures enjoy the avocado, but in different ways. Therefore, using the ingredient was an excellent way to cross a bridge between two cultures. Amy did an excellent job of introducing the English words for various ingredients and procedures throughout the preparation process. She is a natural volunteer! Grandma had fun roaming between the groups of students, asking them questions and sparking conversation. The students rolled their eyes when we combined tomatoes with the avocados, and some pretended to gag when we added the garlic. I told them to keep an open mind and to withhold judgement until after they sampled the food. The food was, as expected, fairly polarizing. I didn’t find a student expressing indifference to the guacamole. There were many students who loved it! They couldn’t get enough. Then there were plenty of students who couldn’t get far enough away from the food. Kids will be kids, I suppose. Each night at site ended with some quiet time on the front porch. My mom and grandma were able to meet neighbors. They smiled and nodded their heads while I did my best to translate. They were impressed by how hospitable everyone was in my village. I remember thinking the same thing when I moved here. Their visit was a good reminder to appreciate that hospitality until I leave later on this year. My mom, host mom, grandma, and neighbor wore matching dresses the last morning before we returned to Surabaya. My two worlds had become one. The goodbye between my American family and my Indonesian family was fairly emotional. There were a lot of tears, despite only being together for about 72 hours. It was the first time Bu Hertati cried in front of me. It was the first time I had ever seen Pak Djito cry. I was sad to see the visit end. These important people from my two worlds had collided for a short period of time, and that will likely never happen again. I fought hard to keep tears back when we pulled away from the house. I would see my host family again soon, but I couldn’t help but imagine what it will be like when I pull away from the house for my last time in June. My dad and Denise visited a few weeks into the new semester, which meant that there was plenty of action to see at school. The joined me and Bu Pita to help teach one of my English classes. We were supposed to focus on a recount text lesson plan, but Bu Pita encouraged me to lead a “fun class” so that the students could engage with the visitors. We worked on introductions so that dad and Denise could get to know the students. Both of them did a terrific job mingling throughout the classroom. The students read their daily routine homework, which we had assigned them the previous week to practice the simple past. Dad and Denise asked follow up questions and complimented the students on their skills. We spent time walking around the village. We walked through rice fields and up the side of the mountain to a waterfall. They were impressed with the beauty of the village, which I have come to take for granted. As much as I try to enjoy the rice fields and coconut tree canopies, I still get into a mode when I push those things out of my mind during my bike rides. Dad and Denise also experienced the inconvenient aspects of Indonesia’s rainy season: hard rain and frequent power outages. They handled those obstacles with ease. They enjoyed going through my normal daily routine. We stopped at the corner store to buy soap, tissues, and ice cream. We went to a nearby warung to buy friend rice for dinner. We even stopped to see Pak Yantos, where dad and I got haircuts. It was the first time in twenty years that someone else cut my dad’s hair! Pak Yantos was excited to hear that. The flu had been going around the village prior to dad and Denise’s arrival. Mas W had it and both of my host parents had it. I came down with the flu the same day that dad and Denise arrived on Java. Dad started to get sick on the second day at site. Fortunately, Denise avoided it for the duration of the visit to site. They were patient and thoughtful about my health during their stay. I think they enjoyed the downtime, considering that they had arrived in Indonesia only twelve hours before heading to site. They didn’t have the luxury to overcome jet lag before being immersed in rural Java! Dad and Denise gave Pak Djito a carton of classic Marlboro cigarettes before we departed from the house. Pak Djito was very excited. He asked to take pictures of dad presenting him the gift. The cigarettes go well with the ashtray that mom had already brought. The host family, neighbors, teachers, and students enjoyed the snacks that my mom, grandma, dad, and Denise carried from the other side of the world. I am excited to hand out the Warheads to my English Club students in the coming weeks! I don’t plan to share the M&Ms; those are for me! I plan to eat the chocolates and enjoy some alone time these next few weeks. The best part of having visitors was listening to all of their questions. It was fascinating to see the perspectives of people who had only just arrived in Indonesia. Many of the things they found so fascinating--the motorcycles, fruit, and traffic--are things to which I have grown accustomed. Their questions brought me back to a time when I was mesmerized with those common observations. I think my last months in country will be much more enjoyable if I can view my village through the lens of the guy who showed up in Indonesia almost two years ago. The questions they asked also reminded me about how much I still have to learn about this country. There were so many questions that I could not answer on my own! Those questions remind me how I still have a lot more to learn before I end my service. I shouldn’t ever think that I’ve learned as much as possible or reached my full potential as a volunteer. There is still plenty to do and even more to learn during my last semester of service. I hope these last months in Indonesia provide the most answers and ideas yet! Shout-Outs:
SO to my DC friends for using the word “chessecurdy” to describe me. I take it as a compliment. SO to the friends and family who sent Christmas cards! HMFSO to all my visitors. I really appreciate it! ASO to the Patriots for making it to the Super Bowl, again. HSO to my fellow ID11s for reaching this point of service. Let the countdown begin!
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