Once again the month has flown by and I wonder what I did with it. I write these chronicles as much for me as I do for you all…..a record of sorts, I suppose.
Well, this month the only trip I made…again with Carmel….was to Bandung and then Ciater, another hot springs mountain village. Carmel’s broken foot has not healed well and so hot springs were in order and we set off by train to Bandung where we stayed in a lovely old Dutch style hotel. I had taken my marking with me because regardless of my wishes, marking has to be done and in an extremely intensive 8 week course, you don’t have the luxury of putting it off. Marking aside, we spent a very pleasant evening and made arrangements to contact the same driver we had last time, to take us to Ciater the next day.
After a traditional breakfast of Nasi Goreng, Kroepoek (that’s fried rice and prawn crackers to you) and fruit we met Eddie and set off into the mountains. However, 5 minutes down the road, Carmel remembered her camera bag…she had left it in her room! Not just the camera, but a large sum of money tucked into it! Hmmm…Yes, you guessed it. It was not there. The hotel management searched and interviewed all their staff and of course no one knew anything about it. Suddenly, our morning had altered shape before our eyes and the local police station became our first port of call.
Now, I have to admit to more than a modicum of prejudice here…not colour or race, but I did not think we had a hope in hell of getting it back even if the police found it. Going on past experience (in other countries, mind), even had they found it, I would have expected them to quietly split the money and sell the camera. Carmel, in all her innocence, had not even thought of that. Shame on me!!!
We sat, and with Eddie’s help we gave a report on the lost goods while the policeman, who looked all of 18, wrote down the details laboriously. Other policemen came to see what the fuss was about and by the end of an hour, I’m sure that every policeman in the area knew there were two foreign women in there, and one of them had inadvertently left her camera case in her room. Then it was time to take down the real report and for this we moved into a new room…just next to the reception area, and without a door….so that the young policeman could two finger type the details on yet another piece of paper. Meanwhile, the 3 or 4 people who were waiting to be attended to in the reception area, sat and waited, no one taking the least bit of notice of them.
Detectives filtered in and listened to the story, which Carmel had related more times than I could count. Everyone knew the details and all Carmel wanted was a police report to hand to the insurance company once she got home. That done, we wandered through the market outside buying fruit to take with us into the hills.
Strike me down for having a glass half empty, but a policeman came running out to us in the market and told us to come back. The people in the reception area were still there waiting as we walked back in…this time to a back office, where the Chief Detective told us that they had found the bag. Oh yes, and the money was still there! I take back every bad thought I’ve ever had about underpaid policemen in third world countries. The bag had been hidden and they wanted to make sure that Carmel, on her crutches, hadn’t put it up in the false ceiling by mistake. We saw hotel staff brought in and taken out the back as we finished up formalities….Carmel paying a modest amount of money (unsolicited) to the detective who found the bag. Interesting experience….I haven’t been in a police station since Nicaragua, where the police were much more interested in getting laid, than getting paid.
Off to the mountains and we couldn’t wait to get to the resort….the only one in the village with access to the natural hot springs. Disappointment would be an understatement here. Having stayed at Garut, where the hotel was gorgeous, we paid more here for what was not much more a temporary shack, where the floor sagged when you walked on it. Still, the view was nice and the pool, being some 40 degrees, was fabulous….and we did relax, not to mention finish all the marking.
In Bandung again and we went to see a traditional Wayang puppet show. It was more of a demonstration really, with a Gamelan orchestra playing behind. Wayang shows go on for some 8 hours normally, so this was nothing but a taste. This was followed by traditional dancing by children and the one that really took our fancy was all the children performing around a little boy who was brought in on a litter. This was called the circumcision dance, the boy in the litter being the one to be cut, and the entertainment intended to take the little boys mind off what is to come.
Last on the agenda was an Angklung demonstration. Angklung is an instrument made from bamboo and when shaken, produces a note. Now some smart person decided to make them in sets of Do Re Me notes and all these children have been taught to play them. This is more a team thing, though once you are good at it, you can play several yourself. The children started out playing Indonesian songs but soon were playing popular western songs as well. Once they were done, the Maestro sent his wards up into the audience with an Angklung for each. They were all numbered and he proceeded to give us hand signals that we could follow so that we could all make music too. Oh, we were good….I kid you not, and it was a lot of fun.
My one other little jaunt this month was a trip down memory lane to the Cikini area. This is where I spent the first 5-6 years of my life and I wanted to see the hospital where I was born and the school that I first attended as a small child. A taxi was ordered and as luck would have it, he didn’t speak English. Still we managed to get him to understand what we wanted and off we went. The hospital is just gorgeous and as I walked around, Carmel managed to tell the taxi driver just why I was there. The original building is beautiful and well preserved. It’s unlike the Dutch architecture I have already seen here, but very obviously remains from colonial times. Further down the street, we stopped at the school, the original building also still standing. Not quite so ornate or well preserved, but still there. The house I lived in though, is now a bank.
By this time, the taxi driver was right into the jaunt and took us for a fabulous drive through the tiny narrow streets surrounding Cikini Road. Small houses crammed next to each other lined each side of the street and the area was really bustling with activity. People were sitting outside, selling food from street stalls, talking to others or just wandering along minding their own business. There were tiny workshops where men were welding behind their masks or just hammering at something I couldn’t recognize. I felt very at home here and could easily have spent hours wandering around just looking and drinking it all in. I was having a lot of fun as I haven’t done much exploring in Jakarta due to the fact that its so hard to get round, but I doubt that there is anywhere here that isn’t bustling with people. Eventually, the tiny streets opened up into a gorgeous leafy area where the road is split by canals. Each side of the road is lined with large houses behind protective walls and the road is completely shaded by wonderful trees. The canal runs down the centre. This is Menteng and very obviously for the well heeled.
Back to work and classes were on the home stretch. All the heavy work is done at the end of the course basically, with my students having to complete 1000 word essays…a job/solution paper and a critical review….all this without any plagiarism….a big ask. Work occupied us all as all courses were coming to the culmination….the IELTS test. Remember, that all these students are Australian Development Scholarship students, so getting their score up means getting a place or not. They have pretty much all been given first round offers…a few unconditionally….but for most of them, a good IELTS score is required before they can take these places up.
The day of the test finally came and I was to be picked up by my students and taken out for an end of course party being held at one of the girls’ homes. The atmosphere was decidedly relaxed and there was much laughter now the test was over. Soon everyone sat round in a circle on the floor and each was to say what they had got from the course. Without exception, they were all surprised at how much fun they had and at how they all got on together considering that they come from a variety of areas and academic disciplines. The majority of them have applied to Melbourne University and already they have a built in family in each other, which is wonderful. I must add at this time that the dynamics of this class was excellent. I’ve never had a class of adults where absolutely everyone got on famously, where they could take the mickey out of each other and no one got upset, where without fail, their sense of humour and adventure percolated throughout the entire course and made it a joy to teach. Nicknames have been initiated, some to prevent embarrassment when they go to Oz, and others just because they fit. One is called ‘Hard’, which I explained would be a source of amusement, so he became ‘Hardy,’ ‘Rendy; will no doubt become ‘Randy.’ We had a ‘Professor’ and a ‘Barbie’ and it was just so much fun. They presented me with a lovely set of Jogja silver jewellery which I will treasure.
Today, was the last day at work for me and goodbyes were said. Carmel left for a short period in Bali before heading home for 3 months. The others are mostly Jakarta based and they were a great bunch to work with. We short term teachers were given beautiful Batik shawls and then it was all over. I have another 7 weeks work for them, but this time at their Surabaya branch and I fly there tomorrow. Surabaya is in East Java and the second largest city in Indonesia. So as one door closes, another opens and there will be more to explore.
I have quickly come to the conclusion that this is a huge country and there is so much to see. From Surabaya I have easier access to Lombok and Madura, Bali and many, many other islands. Watch this space…..
Till then, stay safe and keep smiling
Love and thoughts
Di
Once Upon A Place 