Leaving the Bubble

Tomorrow I begin my teaching, the real reason I have come to Indonesia again.  This time I have been given the privilege and challenge of teaching my own course, one called "Religion, Women, and Literature."  I am excited, and a bit apprehensive.

  This also means I am leaving the bubble of the hotel, a rather gargantuan one, much too large for my taste and too removed from everyday life, for a place in a house with a family that was arranged beforehand by my friend and companion, Nelly van Doorn-Harder.  I met the family, "Oma," the mother of Farsijana, Margaret, or "Iit," the sister, and some assorted helpers, one a driver and two cooks and cleaners.  To say they were kind and hospitable is to put it too mildly.  Their kindness was overwhelming and disarmingly sincere.  They had been praying for us to arrive safely, and prayed with us before we left.  Living with the family will give me a chance to practice my "bahasa," the word for "language," which implicitly refers to the Indonesian language.

  It has been hard to keep up with this blog because so much is happening, and because the jet lag keeps me from being alert enough to think.  But a few days ago I met the woman who  will be the guest lecturer for my class.  Her name is Dewi, and she edits a journal for women.  Her brother drove and accompanied us to a fine organic restaurant.  He works at an NGO which helps battered women as well as those who have been trafficked.  I am so impressed with these people, and seem to be meeting more activists in this country than I had met five years ago.  Tomorrow, after the first class, I am invited to go to Borobudur, the enormous Buddhist stupa, where a ceremony held by villagers will demonstrate their desire to preserve the land from further development and expansion of this ancient site.  I sense so much more consciousness of these values of gender equality and ecological harmony.

 In the next blog I will report on my first class and the students, as well as the trip to Borobudur.  That ought to take up several blogs, but one will have to do, if I am to be faithful to this.

At long last, I am taking up this blog again, having just arrived back in this mysterious but wonderful country of Indonesia after five years absence.  This time, I will be teaching at the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies of the University of Gadjah Mada.  I can only say, what a great opportunity!  The joy, the learning, the experience, will be mine, as I propose to offer something of what I know to these really very dear, interesting people.  But more of that to come.
  After what can only be described as a long and grueling trip, about 30 hours in the air, I was in Jakarta for one night in order to have a security briefing of just one hour offered by the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation, which governs the Fulbright program here.  If this sounds complicated already, it is certainly that for me, as I have had to wend my way through various bureaucratic agencies, not all in sync with one another, much less with me.
 But as I arrived on the last leg of the four-part flights, in Jogyakarta, a city in Central Java, I was greeted last night by one of my counterparts here, Pak Anchu, as he calls himself, though his real name is longer.  Indonesians seem to like being called by names that have nothing to do with their real names.  I had been writing him, assuming he was just an administrator, only to find out on the ride from the airport that he holds a doctorate from a good American university, and his specialization is indigenous religions.
 Right now, I am settled in a luxurious hotel, the Hotel Tentrem, so it is hard to believe that this is really a developing country, with so much poverty around.  As if the accommodations, and international foods of the breakfast were not enough, my companions for this part of the stay have decided on a spa trip this afternoon.  Good massages and facials are part of the culture, so I shouldn't feel so guilty about going along and treating myself.  I hope I won't get too used to it!
Well, if you have read this far, I will ask your indulgence for these ramblings on my first full day, after the sleepless nights and jet lag have taken their toll.  I hope to be more alert and have more to say as time goes on.  Your questions and feedback would be helpful too, dear reader. Enough for now.  Maria