Weekend Activities

This weekend my research took me to Yogya Edu Expo, an educational fair featuring booths and performances representing a number of schools in the metropolitan area.  I had a great time.  The students of Bina Anggita (Indonesian for "Independent Thinker"), the school I am working with, performed.  They looked quite handsome in their Javanese wear and played well.  The teachers are a fun loving bunch and of course photos were taken.  I also got to meet some of their parents, who I hope to interview and only get to know better as the year goes on.

Here are some photos of the kids playing:

And here are some shots from the photo opportunity afterwards.  You can spot me by my distinguishing (and oh so distinguished) gigantic sunglasses.

I got to see some other students perform.  I was struck by this placid girl and the lovely flower on her jilbab head covering. 

Really there were so many fun and classy varieties of Muslim fashion at this event, but I felt kind of creepy taking furtive photographs of kids.  One variant on the head covering for children involves something that looks to me like an adorable little chef's hat.  Another one makes the girls look like Little Bo Peep. 

Anyway, I circled around the fair and met many friendly students and teachers.  I know that when you guys think of me and Indonesia you think of me hanging out with unwashed handsome rocker types, a fact which may or may not be based in total truth, but I hope the photographs from this weekend prove that I also spend my time with kindly motherly types.

Saturday night was spent accompanying Khadir on a chili pepper run.  His family is in the vegetable business, so all these local farmers bring their chili harvest to Khadir's uncle's house.  His uncle buys their harvest, and resells it to a distributor who sends them to Jakarta to fiestily grace the plates of countless diners.  I went with him in the truck to deliver bags of chilis to be weighed and sent along.  I've included a picture here.  From the heaps of chilis on the floors and in all the boxes, I think you can imagine the overpowering odor! 

On Sunday I accompanied a new friend, Beth, to Solo.  Beth is American, but she spent 15 years living in Papua New Guinea with her Dad, who was a Missionary pilot.  We shopped at the local antique flea market, Pasar Triwindu, and I made my first purchase of my stay here, a handsome wood carving.  They had all manner of cool things, including old alarm clocks and letterpress blocks with decorative motifs and old-time advertisements on them.  Unfortunately we were on our way out so I didn't buy any of those, but I will definitely go back for some heavy-duty souvenir shopping and hope to pick at least one up then.

As part of exploring Solo, it turns out Beth wanted to go to the church in there that had recently been the target of a suicide bomb.  I guess that's just the kind of thing you are up for when you are a Missionary pilot's daughter.  There was a wedding ceremony going on, and things seemed to be pretty much "business as usual" except for some handwritten signs tacked up offering psychological counseling.  We talked to one very nice gentleman who had been in the church when the bomb was set off who shared a little bit about his experiences.  He was astoundingly even-handed I thought, saying that everyone was doing fine and their faith was stronger than ever.  Watching the wedding guests come streaming out of the church, a significant number of them wearing Islamic head-coverings as were a couple of the church employees, just reminded me how on the whole religious pluralism works well in Indonesia on a daily basis and the aberrations, while upsetting, are certainly more the exception than the rule.