Nglanggeran, staying with a Javanese family

Language study has been one of my favorite aspects of living in Indonesia.  During our first two weeks in Jogja, we had some intensive Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) classes at one of our partner institutions, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta State University), where I have been teaching English for the past year.  We studied from 9am-2pm, and it was there that I met our tutors for the first time, students who would later become some of my best friends in Jogja.  I continue to meet one of them on a regular basis to practice my conversational Bahasa skills.  

Part of our two weeks of training involved a weekend in Nglanggeran, an area southeast of Jogja in a mountainous region known as Gunung Kidul.  There, we continued our language study through simple cultural immersion.  I stayed with a lovely Javanese family, whose main sources of livelihood include farming, teaching, and a guesthouse in Batam (a small industrial island close to Singapore).   The family fed me plenty, and their little boy even taught me how to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider in Indonesian.  Sometimes it's the little ones who are the best teachers.

Tempe& tofu at my host family's house in Nglanggeran

Lunch at my host family's house in Nglanggeran

Nglanggeran was a beautiful area.  Now that I've spent ten months in Yogyakarta and have traveled to more places, it can be easy to overlook some of the early experiences.  But this was one place that left a profound impact on me. We played, we laughed, and we looked at beautiful views from high cliffs.  We also danced around a fire and prepared batik masks.  It's the kind of experience that seems so far out of reach when you're working a 9-5 job in America.  And we were doing it within two weeks of living in Indonesia.

A view from Gunung Nglanggeran

Rani, VIA fellow, preparing the wax for a batik handkerchief 

Most of all, I will remember the family.  On my last day, the Ibu (mother of the house) left me a wonderful letter before she went to work, something that made me smile ear-to-ear.  

Letter from my host mother in Nglanggeran, Bu Tuti

In English, the letter says:  

To: Roena

Sorry, I left for school.  If later Roena returns to Jogja, have a good trip and take care!  If Roena has time for a holiday, please feel free to come and play here.  Please enjoy this humble breakfast... pecel.  The last... I'm sorry if, when was Rowena here, we were not able to serve properly.

Goodbye Roena... See you later.
Bu Tuti