Welcome to my second blog ever.

I have decided to keep a blog about my time in Indonesia.  While I am here for dissertation research (ostensibly, hehe), which I may touch upon here, I hope the blog will mostly cover things that happen outside my research, to keep friends and family updated, serve as a record for myself of my time spent here, share things that I learn in and about Indonesia, and perhaps provide space to meditate on what I love about traveling, and traveling in this country in particular.

Before I post anything more I should explain the title of my blog, Roro Gendut.  "Roro" is a word that indicates royal lineage, kind of like saying “princess.”  Roro Mendut is a famous figure in Indonesian history/mythology: she was a beautiful spitfire who refused to submit to the will of the bossy kings and princes and politicos all around her.  Gendut, which rhymes with Mendut (pronounced Mendoot and Gendoot) is the word for fat, or chubby.  I am incredibly familiar with this word, as I am called it constantly, albeit affectionately.

So, Princess Fatty.  I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say.  Here below is a picture of Roro Mendut, taken from a cover of a historical novel that I hope to read before the year is through.  You can see that she is not actually fat at all.