6 Weeks at Interfidei: Complete

Aside from Sarah and Suraiya, whom I live with, the staff at Dian Interfidei have been secondary in spending the most amount of time with me. And I am so greatful to them for it. They've been amazing mentors and friends as I've gotten my feet wet in the inter-faith culture in Yogyakarta. 

And for those who don't know the Dian Interfidei staff, you should. They're some of the nicest and most welcoming people I've ever worked with. Also, every single one of them has a smile that is insanely infectious. 

So a huge thank you to Dian Interfidei staff and I wish you the best of luck with all of your future work! (And thank you for reading my blog!)

Everyone gathered together for one last picture. I'm going to miss them all!

"Thank God I found the GOOD in Goodbye!" - Beyoncé

It happened. We threw our going away party last night. But for all intents and purposes it was more of a gathering of friends to break the fast. It was absolutely wonderful having all our friends, and those who have practically become family, all together in our house. We got to gather together, give thanks, and celebrate; because these past six weeks have been well worth celebrating.

We had our first Selamatan. A Javanese tradition celebrating the unity of everyone participating in it, sort of like an Indonesian Thanksgiving. And what would our first Selamatan be without a tumpeng? It's a giant food platter shaped geographically like the mountains (which are spiritually and culturally important in Java). The tumpeng is a symbol of gratitude and there's a ceremonial practice in how it is cut and served, honoring a particular person (or people, in our case).

Our tumpeng.

As Wikipedia so eloquently explains, "with tumpeng, people express the gratitude to God and appreciate togetherness and harmony" and I don't think I could find a better example of what occurred last night. I am so thankful for everyone who's been a part of this trip. Hands down my favorite part of Indonesia is the people I've met here.

And by no means could we end without a bang... but thanks to Nana and Ayu we ended with quite a few, as they bought us fireworks as well.

Ramadan Mubarak!

It's my last weekend in Yogyakarta! Ramadan started last night (technically the start date is disputed, but that's not the important part here). So life's definitely interesting for myself. This is my first Ramadan in a Muslim country. Near sundown the streets fill up with different food carts. Everything you could think of lines the roads, particularly near mosques. The weather was beautiful last night so I walked a few kilometers looking at all the delicious food and chatting briefly with the occasional curious local.

Eventually I got the courage to actually walk into the mosque near my house. It was absolutely packed with people. There were vendors selling Qur'ans and prayer beads and other miscellaneous religious items. A booth in the middle of the courtyard had young university students handing out drinks and food for those who started Ramadan the day prior to break fast with. 

This is a picture I found online of the UGM mosque. The food booth was just to the top right of the little pond.

Per usual I drew some interest from those around me, and I was strongly encouraged by some people at the mosque to help myself to the previously mentioned food and beverages. After finally accepting a water I sat down on the edge of the courtyard and just took in the whole scene. This was it, the beginning of Ramadan. I've heard people talking about the holiday for months now. Learning about the holiday in my Intro to Islam class seems like eons ago from sitting here in the mosque surrounded by it. 

I'm still not comfortable going into the mosque during the prayers. I clearly have no idea what to do and I feel like watching from the back is sort of weird. As two older men got up to go line up for prayer they offered me their mat in the courtyard and I sat there and watched as the courtyard suddenly emptied and the mosque filled with lines of people on both stories. 

So that's how my Ramadan started. Sitting in the beautiful mosque courtyard in the evening with Arabic filling the air around me like a now familiar hymn. It's interesting how in six weeks I feel so comfortable with the Islamic culture, and yet still like such an outsider. 

My view from where I was sitting in the courtyard.

And of course, being my typical self in this inter-faith experience I'm living in Yogya, it couldn't end there. I was up bright and early at 6:00AM on the first morning of Ramadan, but this time it was so I could meet my friend Leo for church. Earlier in the week I had expressed my regret at how despite being here for six weeks and working in an internship that's all about the religious culture in Indonesia, I had yet to actually attend a worship service for my own faith in the area. So Leo sacrificed his Sunday morning and escorted me to a service in Javanese. 

We went to Gereja Hati Kudus Tuhan Yesus (Sacred Heart Church of God is my rough best-guess at a translation). The service was in very formal Javanese and was unique in the fact that you'll really only find such a service in Java. They used traditional Javanese music to accompany the choir. It was a beautiful chaotic mix of percussion and vocals that was every bit as moving as any hymn I've heard at home. 

Leo decided a picture with the church's statue of Jesus was necessary. And of course, he's hiding behind the camera.

So, whether you're in America, Indonesia, a mosque, a church, or anywhere in between: Ramadan Mabaruk! Do with this month whatever you see fit, and may it bring you whatever you seek from it.

Indonesian Summer Camp

Friday AUA took us on a little field trip to a village to try our hands at a few traditional Indonesian activities. The whole time we said it felt very much like summer camp, doing crafts all morning. We started with making batik, and got a turn trying to make traditional ceramics, but the best part of the trip was getting a chance to plant rice!

Me watching her use the pottery wheel... things went downhill anytime I was given a chance to try.

Dyeing the batik.

Plowing a rice paddy.

Planting rice.

It was super fun. And super muddy. Overall a great day.

The AUA gang taking a horse and buggy ride after the day's events.

Interesting Airfare

Tonight we finally made the pilgrimage out to a location our friend Leo had told us about a few weeks ago. The owners took an old plane and transformed it into a bar. It was really cool and made for some great photo opportunities...

Follow the departure sign to take off to your destination (aka enter the establishment).

The front of the plane doubles as a stage for their acoustic sets on weeknights.

Sarah and I climbing on board the plane.

It's absolutely impossible to tell, but this is our group crammed into the cockpit.

A view of the rest of the bar from the plane-cockpit-stage. You can see the serious detail they put into the decoration.

That's pretty much it! It was amazing sitting around tonight as we reflected together on all the stuff we've done in the past few weeks. We're getting a little sentimental with the end of the program approaching only a week from today. Still, so blessed to be able to share such awesome moments and locations like these with the group.

Safety and Setbacks

Sometimes things don't go according to plan. Actually, that's what happens more often than not, but sometimes it's significant enough to the point it's worth mentioning. Like today.

First, I got to go to the hospital. I'm fancy, I have an official plastic hospital patient card and everything. I apparently ate something that made me sick (insert some more stuff here that got lost between me being distracted by my headache and the language barrier) but I'm essentially okay. I walked out of the doctor with four prescriptions, and have been sleeping soundly since 3PM, so I'm anticipating being up to speed again tomorrow. Although I'm not allowed to eat spicy foods or drink coffee, which has sort of been my life since I got to Yogyakarta.

The second significant thing to happen today was Suraiya and I's work presentations being cancelled. We were scheduled to travel to the local Shia community and give presentations this afternoon and then hold a discussion forum with the community. There were even Shia Muslims in from other provinces. The community here is in the minority, and they're struggling with intolerance from both Muslim and non-Muslim communities. However, because of the community being controversial and the recent rise of intolerant attacks in Yogyakarta, the discussion/presentation was strictly secret. Only Dian Interfidei and the local Shia group was to have information about the (closed) gathering. Despite our precaution, this morning the media showed up at the community, which meant somehow the greater public knew about the event. So we had to cancel for safety and security reason both on our side and for the Shia community.

So a few setbacks, but nothing that's going to drastically affect the scheme of things. Thankfully I'm in (somewhat) good health and I'm safe, so I guess at the end of the unproductive work day, that's what really counts.

My Second Pink Pangea Article!

My second Pink Pangea article was published today! In it I juxtapose the expat nightlife with a little unique local Jogja culture. You can read the story here:

Nightlife in Indonesia: Going Out in Yogyakarta