These days I go to sleep ready for battle. I know I will not sleep through the night. If it is not cockroaches crawling up my legs, rats scurrying in the ceiling, or mosquitoes flying by my ear, I can always count on one sure thing to wake me up:......Read More
I reluctantly drag myself off my mattress. It’s 4am in the quaint rice-farming village of Ngrambe. Lutfi and Yudha, my host brother and sister, are already up and ready to go watch the sun rise over Mount Lawu. The three friends they brought......Read More
Hello families and friends of our Indonesia students, I’d just like to repeat that the group is safe in Yogyakarta following two more earthquakes over 5.5 magnitude that struck on the east side of Java and in West Papua. They have one more......Read More
Hi families! We had a great day yesterday wandering a suburb of Jogja that hosts a number of artists and a dazzling array of street art decorating fences and sides of houses. Jogja is one of the main artistic centers of Indonesia and covered with......Read More
The instant I found myself entranced amid the bustling cultural capital of Java, I realised that nothing in Yogyakarta is linear. A maze of colourful streets lined with delectable food carts and blooming with graffiti art intersect in complicated......Read More
9/24/18 Today, I walked passed an enormous, majestic tree, with a myriad of intertwining branches sprouting in every direction, like a Hindu goddess stretching her abundance of arms in a serene yawn under the glow of the nascent morning sun.......Read More
This week was a immense transition from jungle to city to say the least. Starting with a glorious 10 hour drive through the mountains at 4 AM, but hey, plenty of time for group bonding. From being surrounded by orangutans drifting through the......Read More
We have been at our home stays for a week and have a year’s worth of stories. We have learned so much about the people, culture, and most importantly, ourselves. Here is one of the many stories I have that has allowed me to discover something......Read More
Many would find no practical use for $14 “Red Tinted John Lennon Glasses”… and to be honest, at first, neither did I. However I brought them anyway to add some spice to my particularly bland and limited wardrobe. While they provide......Read More
Hey there whoever’s reading this, I’m just posting a nice observation rather than a story or a experience because I can’t think of one that I’d be able to flesh out to the degree that it deserves. But I’ve not noticed......Read More
As the upcoming first Independent Study Project (ISP) day was getting closer, I was getting more and more nervous. Being the only Dragons student in the Indonesia program to choose the studies of traditional music of Java, there was no wonder why I......Read More
Realization is a powerful yet underrated word, we experience it in our everyday lives but it often goes unnoticed. While on my way to the program house I walk by the river, I have and will always love rivers. Although this one is nothing like my......Read More
Perspective is why, essentially, the reason why we see things differently from other people. It is the ever-present filter between our senses and our mind, and it is often difficult to perceive. Our perspective is an amalgamation of our past......Read More
At about 11pm, after long talks with my home-stay family, es teh (ice tea), and santai-santai (relaxing) I settle into my humble, but comfortable room. As fatigue from daily activities and city life overcomes me and I slowly drift off, the sounds of......Read More
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