 |
| Shannon and Theresa at the museum |
Today,
we visited the survivors in Desa Binaan Singlar, Yogyakarta. This visit
was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. We were welcomed into
their home, given snacks, hot tea, and told stories about their lives.
Their life experience was incredible. I realized from their story how
strong, and positive they are. It was beautiful and inspiring to see the
children play outside, laugh, and smile. We also toured the mountains
of ashes that took over the rest of the other villages. This experience
was truly inspiring because of how hard-working they are despite the
traumatic experience that they had gone through.
After exploring
the countryside, we had lunch at a traditional Javanese restaurant and
then visited the Ullen Sentalu Batik Museum. While there, we learned
about the Sultan’s family and the history of batik. Today, we also met
with Prabu Kusumo, the younger brother of Sultan. This talk was
interesting but was quite long. I am definitely enjoying Yogyakarta and
am excited for more activities!
--Theresa Mejia, Lehigh University
 |
| Merapi Volcano |
On
the drive to the Merapi Volcano, we were asked one of today’s most
popular questions: Are you voting for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama? As
we revealed our perspectives, criticism and expectations, it was evident
that we did not all share the same opinion. Some believe President
Obama has dismissed his liberal agenda and adopted a conservative
mindset or that his budget plans will only worsen the financial crisis.
Others claim Congress is the reason for an unchanging America.
Some
students commended Obama for creating incentives for universities and
colleges to keep their tuition from rising, which could help put a stop
to America’s ever-growing “money pit.” From a foreign policy
perspective, we discussed how well received he is by the international
community. However, is he making any
advances in the de-nuclearization of today’s most dangerous criminal
enterprise, North Korea? Will the Afghanistan war definitely come to an
end in 2014 as promised?
As the conversation unfolded, I couldn’t help
but notice that though our views varied, we were very open to hearing
what others had to say without getting too defensive or heated. Perhaps
the religious openness seen in Indonesia is rubbing off on us. I also
appreciated how intrigued our Indonesian counterparts were to hear about
this debate. With every question they asked, I realized that these
students, who live on the other side of the world, care more about the
outcome of the United States Presidential elections than many Americans
do. Why is that?
Once we reached the village, the conversation was
immediately forgotten. This area was like nothing I’ve ever seen
before. Though it suffered massive devastation, it was still
inexplicably beautiful. The eruption occurred on October 26, 2010
engulfing the village in ashes and taking four lives. Those who
survived were forced to stay in refugee camps for forty-two days. What
was most interesting was that the civilians knew something was wrong
when they saw tigers, monkeys, and deer running down the road. I
personally would have fled Merapi and never returned, but the survivors
stayed.
We were told that they had a special “connection” with this
land and that it was a part of them. This again exemplifies how vital
history and culture are in the Indonesian lifestyle. The other day,
Ellie made a comment that stayed with me, “Indonesia has somehow managed
to modernize without westernizing.” They have become one of the
strongest economies in Southeast Asia, they play a prominent role in
ASEAN, they are the world’s number one twitter and Facebook users, and
yet in the presence of materialism and technology, their culture still
shines through.
--Angela Farren, Lehigh University
 |
| Leaning Tower, indo-style?? with Theresa and Shannon |
--Cindhi Cintokowati, Gadjah Mada University
 |
| Ellie and Angela at the museum |
Today
was amazing! We traveled to a village named Singlar which was greatly
affected by the Merapi volcanic eruption. On the way there we drove on a
road that went right through the middle of the path where the lava went
and it was clear that there was extremely widespread devastation in
this area. It was actually incredible to watch the people rebuilding
their lives and still have such a good attitude and faith that it would
get better. They had such a strong spirit and it was clear that they did
not feel defeated by the tragedy.
It was also a really fun experience
to meet their farm animals; we got to feed their cows and see how they
collected eggs from their chickens. The people themselves were
inspirational; they spoke of how they saw tigers, monkeys, and deer
coming down the mountain and they knew
they had to leave before the government had even told them. I really
enjoyed connecting with the locals because they were just really regular
people but they were absolutely amazing to have faced such a huge
catastrophe in their lives and just move on like it didn’t make a
difference to them.
The family that we talked to is still living their
lives in the house that they lived in before the eruption and now they
use money that the government gave them to replace their lost farm
animals and to help rebuild their home. Seeing the aftermath firsthand
was a really special experience and I’m so glad that we had the
opportunity to do that on the trip.
Later, we also got to meet the
brother of the current sultan and he walked us through the complexities
of Jogjakarta’s special status and why that is such a controversial
topic. He really had a lot to say. We had a really great dinner at an
award winning restaurant also! There was a really great omelet vegetable
pizza thing that I definitely want to have again! More to come
tomorrow!!
--Shannon Cassidy, Lehigh University
In day 9 and 10 I'm in love with the catholic church of Ganjuran. and Buddhism!
--Anggita Paramesti, Gadjah Mada University
No comments:
Post a Comment