Earlier this month I had a week off from school as students took their examinations. With a spare week and no other plans I decided to visit some nearby PCVs, enabling me to get out of my desa and see more of West Java.
Visiting Taylor
One year in
It’s that time in my service. Time when I write a reflective piece about how I’ve been in Indonesia for a year but still have one year to go. I’ve been putting this off for a while because I was not sure what there is to reflect upon; but this past weekend the new group of volunteers (ID11) visited their permanent sites and hearing about them making that trip provided some perspective on this topic.
Visiting Evan and Rachel
As the second year of my service begins I have made a goal to visit as many other volunteers’ sites as I can during my free time. So far some of my best memories (but also quite a few bad ones, too) have been while traveling around Java so I’m trying to see as much of it as I can this last year.
Vivi’s English camp
In early March I had the opportunity to work at another English camp, this time in Garut. It was organized by Vivi, a fellow ID10. In many respects it was similar to Lisa’s English camp, but there were also quite a number of differences.
How to be Indonesian
I’ve been in Indonesia for one year now, and I have become pretty good at doing things the “Indonesian way.” Indonesian culture can be quite different from American culture so, for the people who don’t have a year to figure out how to blend in, here are a few tips on how to act like an Indonesian.
Cellphones
Cellphones are ubiquitous in Indonesia. If it seems as though everyone has one, or two, that’s probably because they do. As one of the strongest symbols representing the modern age, cellphones provide a lot of common ground for people from all walks of life to stand on. Still, with all the similarities this collective “cellphone culture” propagates between Americans and Indonesians, adjustments to that culture in Indonesia have taken time.
50th post extravaganza
Hard to believe I’ve written fifty posts for Here to Make Friends. But it also isn’t hard to believe at all, because I’ve spent countless hours brainstorming, drafting, writing, editing, revising, and formatting all so this weblog can be at least halfway decent.
