me: ok, here's your test.
*i hand it out to everyone, then go sit at my desk*
david: *raises his hand* can i borrow a pencil?
me: yeah. *i take him a pencil*
*i go sit at my desk*
kenny: can i have a calculator?
me: sure. *i take him a calculator*
jose: can i have a calculator too? i forgot mine.
me: sure. *i take him a calculator too*
*i sit at my desk*
aditya: can i use my calculator?
me: does it simplify square roots for you?
aditya: kind of......nnnnnnnyes.
me: then no. get one of mine.
aditya: there are none.
me: *i look for my third calculator. take it to him. go back to my desk.*
kyuho: i ran out of lead. can i borrow a pencil?
me: yesssss..... *i take him a pencil*
jenny: can i use a piece of loose leaf? i'm going to need more paper.
me: fine. anybody need anything else before i sit back down?! maybe a nice glass of ice water or a shoulder massage?!
jose: oooooooh.... ummm...... i don't think it's very appropriate if you massage us.
me: sigghhhhhhh....
30 October 2009
28 October 2009
what? hey! how'd that get in here?!
Here's a fun game. It's called Find the Poser.
Ready? Set... Go!
"The other men charged were identified as Mohammad Abdul Bassir; Muhammad Abdul Salaam; Abdul Saboor; Mujahid Carswell; Abdullah Beard; Mohammad Philistine; Yassir Ali Khan; Adam Hussain Ibraheem; Garry Laverne Porter; and Ali Abdul Raqib." - CNNnews
Ready? Set... Go!
"The other men charged were identified as Mohammad Abdul Bassir; Muhammad Abdul Salaam; Abdul Saboor; Mujahid Carswell; Abdullah Beard; Mohammad Philistine; Yassir Ali Khan; Adam Hussain Ibraheem; Garry Laverne Porter; and Ali Abdul Raqib." - CNNnews
hotel searching
i'm searching for a hotel for us to stay in while on gili over christmas break... here are some fantastic website excerpts. needless to say, we will likely not be staying at any of these hotels.
Lovely open-air bathrooms.
[Excuse me?]
The entire place decorated with "BOLLYWOOD" style.
[The fact that you wrote it all in caps is supposed to entice me even more?]
Each room facilitate with an open-air bathroom featuring natural stone from south, bathtub, terrace, king size bed, television,mini bar, safe deposit box and american standard toilet.
[Wait, wait, wait. . . the king size bed is IN the bathroom? And what is this natural stone you speak of? Does it have an accent? And what is with the open air bathrooms?!]
Enjoy a total relaxing by staying with us, .....Get........Catch.....Sea.....Sand.......Sun...and of course a lots of fun... this bungalow managed by a local family.
[Hmmm.... I'd bet the website is too.]
The hotels itself providing airport land.
[You can land a plane there? What?! The whole island of Gili isn't big enough to land a plane...]
Traditionally styled buildup of international standard and comprehensive support serious are keynotes of this Villa Hotel.
[Buildup just sounds gross.]
Hotel features grass roof .
[Bugs. Need I say more?]
Run by an Italian called Nino and his Indonesian partner.
[What exactly do you mean by "partner", partner?]
Lovely open-air bathrooms.
[Excuse me?]
The entire place decorated with "BOLLYWOOD" style.
[The fact that you wrote it all in caps is supposed to entice me even more?]
Each room facilitate with an open-air bathroom featuring natural stone from south, bathtub, terrace, king size bed, television,mini bar, safe deposit box and american standard toilet.
[Wait, wait, wait. . . the king size bed is IN the bathroom? And what is this natural stone you speak of? Does it have an accent? And what is with the open air bathrooms?!]
Enjoy a total relaxing by staying with us, .....Get........Catch.....Sea.....Sand.......Sun...and of course a lots of fun... this bungalow managed by a local family.
[Hmmm.... I'd bet the website is too.]
The hotels itself providing airport land.
[You can land a plane there? What?! The whole island of Gili isn't big enough to land a plane...]
Traditionally styled buildup of international standard and comprehensive support serious are keynotes of this Villa Hotel.
[Buildup just sounds gross.]
Hotel features grass roof .
[Bugs. Need I say more?]
Run by an Italian called Nino and his Indonesian partner.
[What exactly do you mean by "partner", partner?]
27 October 2009
kodak moments
bethanie: can i come home with you?
me: sure, but we have to check and see if my cat is there.
bethanie: right, cause i'm lergic!
me: right. she's probably gone though. she ran away again.
bethanie: ran away?
me: yeah. sometimes she comes home, and sometimes she goes away for a few days.
bethanie: where does she go?
me: i don't know. maybe she has a secret boyfriend somewhere.
bethanie: yeah! or maybe she goes to visit her mom and dad!
me: maybe, but i think she's an orphan.
bethanie: oh. that's why you dopted her?
me: yup.
bethanie: i wonder where she is.
me: well, if you were a cat, where would you run away to?
bethanie: i would run away to you.
me: *thinking awwwwwwwwww!*
last night, i was at home reading when every single female teacher showed up at my neighbor's house. granted, there's only 5 of us... but still, the 4 who are not me were all over there laughing and chatting and eating. we really have good community here, and it seemed strange to me that the 4 of them were hanging out and i wasn't invited. especially when i live in the same building as 2 of them. and the longer i sat there and listened to the sounds of dishes clanking and loud laughter echoing, the more upset i got. i think i let satan get in my head and lie to me a little bit. right about that time, yo sms-ed to say he was going to kim's house to eat french dip subs. he asked if i wanted to come, but i was so down on myself by that point that i made some excuse about not wanting to intrude in someone else's house. so a couple minutes later, i got another sms from him saying that he had asked kim and she said i should come. after a few more sms-es, i finally relented. especially since ibu had only made me a salad for dinner - and not even with chicken like she normally does! i was pretty hungry by then.
so me and my bad mood headed over there to find kim recooking all the food for me (i guess they had eaten and already put the leftovers away). she helped me dish up and showed me what to do (can you believe i've NEVER eaten french dip before?!), and she left me in the kitchen. but as she was walking out the door, she turned around and said to me, "you know, you never have to have an invitation to come here." i almost burst into tears right there, with my head halfway in the freezer looking for ice cubes. i always feel so loved in that house.
yo had to leave, but a little while later, he came back with gentur and a guitar in tow. after playing a fanastic game of seeing who could make the stopwatch on yo's phone start and stop the fastest (i am the undisputed champion, with a record time of 00:00:00.07!), the three of us decided to go up on the roof. we grabbed the guitar and some candles and went up. at first we just passed the guitar around and played and sang a bunch of random songs (including christmas carols!), but we quickly turned to singing praise songs. and after one particular song (Lord, I offer my life to You), gt asked if we could pray together. his actual question was whether it was alright if we spent sometime interceding for one another.
i was kind of surprised. in a good way. a very good way. i guess i'm just not used to hang out time turning into prayer time. but i'm glad it did. we all had a chance to share with each other and lift each other up in prayer. and all of us have some heavy stuff we're dealing with and praying for right now.
i don't know how long we sat there. holding hands. praying. by candlelight. on a roof. in indonesia.
that's one of those "i'll never forget the time. . ." moments.
and i came away from it VERY blessed.
me: sure, but we have to check and see if my cat is there.
bethanie: right, cause i'm lergic!
me: right. she's probably gone though. she ran away again.
bethanie: ran away?
me: yeah. sometimes she comes home, and sometimes she goes away for a few days.
bethanie: where does she go?
me: i don't know. maybe she has a secret boyfriend somewhere.
bethanie: yeah! or maybe she goes to visit her mom and dad!
me: maybe, but i think she's an orphan.
bethanie: oh. that's why you dopted her?
me: yup.
bethanie: i wonder where she is.
me: well, if you were a cat, where would you run away to?
bethanie: i would run away to you.
me: *thinking awwwwwwwwww!*
last night, i was at home reading when every single female teacher showed up at my neighbor's house. granted, there's only 5 of us... but still, the 4 who are not me were all over there laughing and chatting and eating. we really have good community here, and it seemed strange to me that the 4 of them were hanging out and i wasn't invited. especially when i live in the same building as 2 of them. and the longer i sat there and listened to the sounds of dishes clanking and loud laughter echoing, the more upset i got. i think i let satan get in my head and lie to me a little bit. right about that time, yo sms-ed to say he was going to kim's house to eat french dip subs. he asked if i wanted to come, but i was so down on myself by that point that i made some excuse about not wanting to intrude in someone else's house. so a couple minutes later, i got another sms from him saying that he had asked kim and she said i should come. after a few more sms-es, i finally relented. especially since ibu had only made me a salad for dinner - and not even with chicken like she normally does! i was pretty hungry by then.
so me and my bad mood headed over there to find kim recooking all the food for me (i guess they had eaten and already put the leftovers away). she helped me dish up and showed me what to do (can you believe i've NEVER eaten french dip before?!), and she left me in the kitchen. but as she was walking out the door, she turned around and said to me, "you know, you never have to have an invitation to come here." i almost burst into tears right there, with my head halfway in the freezer looking for ice cubes. i always feel so loved in that house.
yo had to leave, but a little while later, he came back with gentur and a guitar in tow. after playing a fanastic game of seeing who could make the stopwatch on yo's phone start and stop the fastest (i am the undisputed champion, with a record time of 00:00:00.07!), the three of us decided to go up on the roof. we grabbed the guitar and some candles and went up. at first we just passed the guitar around and played and sang a bunch of random songs (including christmas carols!), but we quickly turned to singing praise songs. and after one particular song (Lord, I offer my life to You), gt asked if we could pray together. his actual question was whether it was alright if we spent sometime interceding for one another.
i was kind of surprised. in a good way. a very good way. i guess i'm just not used to hang out time turning into prayer time. but i'm glad it did. we all had a chance to share with each other and lift each other up in prayer. and all of us have some heavy stuff we're dealing with and praying for right now.
i don't know how long we sat there. holding hands. praying. by candlelight. on a roof. in indonesia.
that's one of those "i'll never forget the time. . ." moments.
and i came away from it VERY blessed.
25 October 2009
as of late
1. my parents are home safely... it was REALLY exceedingly good to have them here. i hadn't realized how used to living alone i'd gotten though. i could tell by the end that being around people 24/7 was wearing me down. but did i get a break? no, of course not. they left on wednesday night... luckily it was late enough that gt, yo, and i got to all take them to the airport, so i got some moral support from friends. (thanks, guys) and then thursday, naturally, i had school all day then fellowship in the evening.
2. and then friday until saturday, on top of normal school duties, i was also helping out by babysitting a family of 4 kids while their parents are in padang doing earthquake relief. that was draining. i spent a lot of the time just wanting to retreat into some deep, dark, quiet hole. no such luck. we experienced things such as head wounds that bled profusely. twice. a dog trying to run away. a thunderstorm. fights over the remote control. a pembantu burning her arm. homework troubles. a head hitting a tile floor. lost keys. and the list goes on. the kids were enjoyable. and i was VERY glad to have some small way in which i could help with earthquake relief. i just wish i'd been in a better mood.
3. after all that, i spent sunday alone. all day. until nighttime. i was so emotionally/mentally drained that i slept straight until almost noon. NOON! it was perfect though, and i feel SO much better today and ready to face the week. this only serves to further confirm my suspicions that the Myers Briggs test i was forced to take in college that declared me an extrovert is nothing but a load of rubbish.
4. rainy season is finally moving in. it's rained every day for a few days in a row now. with that comes BIG winds in the afternoon (ushering in the change of season) and cooler temperatures, finally! unfortunately, that also means that the mold will soon rear its ugly head. ugh.
5. yohanes: hey, did you know that in america, you can just turn the faucet on and get a drink from it?
me: what? really?! just like that?
yohanes: yeah, it's really cool.
me: straight from the sink and you don't get sick?
yohanes: yes!
me: wow. and what does the water in america taste like?
yohanes: tastes like chicken!
2. and then friday until saturday, on top of normal school duties, i was also helping out by babysitting a family of 4 kids while their parents are in padang doing earthquake relief. that was draining. i spent a lot of the time just wanting to retreat into some deep, dark, quiet hole. no such luck. we experienced things such as head wounds that bled profusely. twice. a dog trying to run away. a thunderstorm. fights over the remote control. a pembantu burning her arm. homework troubles. a head hitting a tile floor. lost keys. and the list goes on. the kids were enjoyable. and i was VERY glad to have some small way in which i could help with earthquake relief. i just wish i'd been in a better mood.
3. after all that, i spent sunday alone. all day. until nighttime. i was so emotionally/mentally drained that i slept straight until almost noon. NOON! it was perfect though, and i feel SO much better today and ready to face the week. this only serves to further confirm my suspicions that the Myers Briggs test i was forced to take in college that declared me an extrovert is nothing but a load of rubbish.
4. rainy season is finally moving in. it's rained every day for a few days in a row now. with that comes BIG winds in the afternoon (ushering in the change of season) and cooler temperatures, finally! unfortunately, that also means that the mold will soon rear its ugly head. ugh.
5. yohanes: hey, did you know that in america, you can just turn the faucet on and get a drink from it?
me: what? really?! just like that?
yohanes: yeah, it's really cool.
me: straight from the sink and you don't get sick?
yohanes: yes!
me: wow. and what does the water in america taste like?
yohanes: tastes like chicken!
20 October 2009
Quotes of the day
"I've never seen you cry. So...... please cry now. Go ahead." - Mega
"I REFUSE TO ACCEPT YOUR BLASPHEMY!" - The quiet Korean kid who wears glasses and sits in the back of the class and never talks. While I was teaching about imaginary numbers.
"I REFUSE TO ACCEPT YOUR BLASPHEMY!" - The quiet Korean kid who wears glasses and sits in the back of the class and never talks. While I was teaching about imaginary numbers.
18 October 2009
Today
1. 3:45 AM
2. Old jeans/sweatshirt/flipflops
3. Cheese and pomegranate juice
4. Car crash
5. Peanut fields
6. Sunrise
7. Nap
8. Motorbike
9. Coffeecake
10. Meetings
2. Old jeans/sweatshirt/flipflops
3. Cheese and pomegranate juice
4. Car crash
5. Peanut fields
6. Sunrise
7. Nap
8. Motorbike
9. Coffeecake
10. Meetings
08 October 2009
07 October 2009
i am a goddess
parents are in bali!!
been smsing this morning.
tenth grade conversation
kang: ms *****, did you major in math?
me: math education
jimin: told you so
kang: did not
jimin: did so!
kang: ms *****, what does that mean?
me: i took math classes AND education classes. like a double major.
kang: oh.
jimin: what other kinds of classes did you take?
me: liberal arts
kang: what's that?
me: i took lots of bible classes. and i learned music and art and sociology and history and literature and astronomy and a foreign language and......
david: ms *****, are you a goddess?
been smsing this morning.
tenth grade conversation
kang: ms *****, did you major in math?
me: math education
jimin: told you so
kang: did not
jimin: did so!
kang: ms *****, what does that mean?
me: i took math classes AND education classes. like a double major.
kang: oh.
jimin: what other kinds of classes did you take?
me: liberal arts
kang: what's that?
me: i took lots of bible classes. and i learned music and art and sociology and history and literature and astronomy and a foreign language and......
david: ms *****, are you a goddess?
status
"Our Dorm has a ShitZu" - one of the dorm boys' facebook status updates.
mom and dad are now in the same hemisphere as me! been tracking flights all day. they landed safely in japan 6 minutes ahead of schedule and took off again just under 2 hours after that. assuming they are on the correct plane, they are now en route to bali and should be landing in just about 5 hours from now. they'll spend the night there and reach java around noon tomorrow, then on to salatiga!
mom and dad are now in the same hemisphere as me! been tracking flights all day. they landed safely in japan 6 minutes ahead of schedule and took off again just under 2 hours after that. assuming they are on the correct plane, they are now en route to bali and should be landing in just about 5 hours from now. they'll spend the night there and reach java around noon tomorrow, then on to salatiga!
06 October 2009
horse dance
horse dance
Originally uploaded by i_am_amity
menagerie
in light of some rather ________ (fill in the blank with whatever adjective you feel suits the situation best) events this past weekend, i've failed to mention some other important/humorous/worth-sharing things.
1. yo asked me out to dinner with "some friends" friday night. friends of his from college that i've also gotten to know. we all enjoy hanging out, and i hadn't seen them for awhile, so i was excited. yo picked me up and we went to a chinese restaurant and waited for about 10 minutes. finally, he got an sms and said that he had to go pick up mega and would be back shortly. looking back, i should have suspected something. like when yo ordered three drinks and plates of rice for dinner. or when mega - who has a bike - asked for a ride. at any rate, i was pretty near oblivious, and sat there by myself hum-diddling (or whatever else you call what it is that people sitting alone do) for a few minutes. then all of a sudden someone rushed up and engulfed me from behind. i pretty much freaked out. i had no clue who it was, but i could tell it wasn't a girl. so after a few terrifying seconds of being stuck in a from-behind-hug-headlock, i was finally able to crane my neck around and see....... PECO! my bestest indonesian white friend who left me in april! those two boys made a surprise for me! peco had just arrived by bus with all his luggage, and yo had gone to pick him up from the station. there were no other friends, just the three of us back together again. i think i smiled pretty much the whole night. the fact that he brought me chocolate covered pecans and season 2 of big bang theory didn't hurt either... except now i have the season and i can't watch it until christmas when the 3 of us are back together again. (he left again on sunday.) that is what is commonly known as torture.
2. conversation yesterday in 9th grade:
me: guys, i'm sorry the quiz looks rough... work around it. the copier is screwed up.
kyuho: that's because i screwed the copier!
me: uhmmmmmm.....
kyuho: i don't think i meant to say that.
*class erupts in laughter*
jenny: what? i don't get it. is there another definition for screwed?
kenny: yeah! kyuho just told the teacher that he had SEX with the copy machine!!!
jenny: KYUHO! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!
3. my parents are currently en route to japan. they land in bali tonight. they get to java (and me) TOMORROW!
4. http://thereifixedit.com is a fantastic website... if your name is red green.
5. my pembantu is super nice. she left me a note yesterday asking if it was alright to bake some cookies for my parents tomorrow. : )
6. my burn is healing super fast and is not getting infected! that is especially good news given that i would rate this as the worst/deepest burn i've gotten so far.
7. there's rumors of a restaurant in town that sells lambchops for $1.50 per plate... we'll be checking that out posthaste.
8. i was apparently more obvious than i originally thought at the horse dance. everyone and their cousin saw me there. people i don't even know have been walking up to me all week to tell me they saw me and to ask if i enjoyed it. that's a hard question to answer. obviously, i didn't enjoy it. but if i say no, i'm being kind of offensive - it's a cultural tradition for them. mostly, i've just kind of smiled and shrugged my shoulders at them. on the subject, i found out that it's pretty rare for white people tho show up at those (shocker)... not because they find it repulsive so much, but because the bah-wang doesn't want them there. they know that if white people are there (and in their mind/experience here, white people = christians), they can't exercise their power and the spirits won't come. i've heard of white people being asked to leave before. but that's only if the whiteys are there at the beginning. once the spirits are there, they're there.
9. an indonesian friend of mine went to a horse dance as a child where they cut a woman's head off then dangled it in his face by her hair. and she spoke to him. he's still traumatized. and my mild horse dance trauma suddenly seems so insignificant.
10. did i mention my parents are currently 3 hours away from japan and will BE HERE TOMORROW?! (i needed to have an even number of elements in my list.)
1. yo asked me out to dinner with "some friends" friday night. friends of his from college that i've also gotten to know. we all enjoy hanging out, and i hadn't seen them for awhile, so i was excited. yo picked me up and we went to a chinese restaurant and waited for about 10 minutes. finally, he got an sms and said that he had to go pick up mega and would be back shortly. looking back, i should have suspected something. like when yo ordered three drinks and plates of rice for dinner. or when mega - who has a bike - asked for a ride. at any rate, i was pretty near oblivious, and sat there by myself hum-diddling (or whatever else you call what it is that people sitting alone do) for a few minutes. then all of a sudden someone rushed up and engulfed me from behind. i pretty much freaked out. i had no clue who it was, but i could tell it wasn't a girl. so after a few terrifying seconds of being stuck in a from-behind-hug-headlock, i was finally able to crane my neck around and see....... PECO! my bestest indonesian white friend who left me in april! those two boys made a surprise for me! peco had just arrived by bus with all his luggage, and yo had gone to pick him up from the station. there were no other friends, just the three of us back together again. i think i smiled pretty much the whole night. the fact that he brought me chocolate covered pecans and season 2 of big bang theory didn't hurt either... except now i have the season and i can't watch it until christmas when the 3 of us are back together again. (he left again on sunday.) that is what is commonly known as torture.
2. conversation yesterday in 9th grade:
me: guys, i'm sorry the quiz looks rough... work around it. the copier is screwed up.
kyuho: that's because i screwed the copier!
me: uhmmmmmm.....
kyuho: i don't think i meant to say that.
*class erupts in laughter*
jenny: what? i don't get it. is there another definition for screwed?
kenny: yeah! kyuho just told the teacher that he had SEX with the copy machine!!!
jenny: KYUHO! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!
3. my parents are currently en route to japan. they land in bali tonight. they get to java (and me) TOMORROW!
4. http://thereifixedit.com is a fantastic website... if your name is red green.
5. my pembantu is super nice. she left me a note yesterday asking if it was alright to bake some cookies for my parents tomorrow. : )
6. my burn is healing super fast and is not getting infected! that is especially good news given that i would rate this as the worst/deepest burn i've gotten so far.
7. there's rumors of a restaurant in town that sells lambchops for $1.50 per plate... we'll be checking that out posthaste.
8. i was apparently more obvious than i originally thought at the horse dance. everyone and their cousin saw me there. people i don't even know have been walking up to me all week to tell me they saw me and to ask if i enjoyed it. that's a hard question to answer. obviously, i didn't enjoy it. but if i say no, i'm being kind of offensive - it's a cultural tradition for them. mostly, i've just kind of smiled and shrugged my shoulders at them. on the subject, i found out that it's pretty rare for white people tho show up at those (shocker)... not because they find it repulsive so much, but because the bah-wang doesn't want them there. they know that if white people are there (and in their mind/experience here, white people = christians), they can't exercise their power and the spirits won't come. i've heard of white people being asked to leave before. but that's only if the whiteys are there at the beginning. once the spirits are there, they're there.
9. an indonesian friend of mine went to a horse dance as a child where they cut a woman's head off then dangled it in his face by her hair. and she spoke to him. he's still traumatized. and my mild horse dance trauma suddenly seems so insignificant.
10. did i mention my parents are currently 3 hours away from japan and will BE HERE TOMORROW?! (i needed to have an even number of elements in my list.)
05 October 2009
the sights
the horses
the whippings
the dirt eater/thrower upper/eater
the shredding of coconuts with teeth
the gas can/beverage of choice
the most possessed
the collapse
04 October 2009
the horse dance
i was pretty wiped out yesterday afternoon, so i took a nap. i woke up about an hour later to the sound of javanese music playing VERY loudly somewhere nearby. at first i thought it was a wedding. but then i realized that it wasn't wedding music. so in my half asleep state, i decided to go find whatever it was. i grabbed my little camera and my phone and stumbled out the door.
the guard at the back gate saw me tripping toward him, and he was kind of chuckling at me. once i got closer, he said to me, clear as a bell, "hear something?" unfortunately, i was so out of it that i mostly just stared at him through squinty eyes, trying to translate "hear something" into english. once i finally realized that he had actually spoken english to me, i replied with, "yeah, and it woke me up." apparently his english is fairly limited, because he just stared back at me. so i translated into indonesian. i asked him what the music was, and he told me that it was a traditional indonesian dance going on. i asked him if it was alright if i went to find it, and he said yeah, but that it was far away. i told him i like to walk and he let me out the gate.
about 5 minutes of walking later (SO far away), i came upon a crowd in the road. they were all looking into a yard in front of a house. luckily, i am taller than like 95% of indonesians, so it was pretty easy for me to see what was going on. i saw men dancing around on horses woven together from grasses. i'd heard of the horse dance before, but this was my first time to see it. from what i'd heard, a horse dance is not a place you want to be. it starts out as a traditional dance, but once spirits are invited, it turns into a demon possessed frenzy. i'd heard all sorts of insane things, including children too young to walk getting possessed and dancing.
there were no children there yesterday, but even so, once i was there, i couldn't leave until it was over. it was like watching a train wreck. you can't look away... amazingly enough, everyone was so absorbed in what was going on, that they paid very little attention to the fact that there was a white person there watching too. i arrived after the spirits were already there and things were well under way.
from what i observed, this is the setup: off to one side of the open yard, there were about 6 musicians playing traditional javanese instruments under an open sided tent. in the yard itself, there were 3 "leaders". when i asked yohanes about it later, he called them bah-wang (i have no clue how to spell that, but that's how he pronounced it). they were not possessed, but had power over the men who were. there were several "handlers", as i call them. these men kept control over the demon possessed men, as many of them would try to run into the crowd or would lose control of themselves. (they're like the guys who stand in the corners with the panels at hog shows.) and there were about 10 possessed men ranging in age from (best guess) 15 - 50.
some of them were "riding" woven horses. some of them were dancing around. some of them were getting in fights. some were laying on the ground, twitching. some were doing flips and spins. some were shredding coconuts with their teeth. at various points of the "show", the head bah-wang would bring out a whip... he would go to one of the possessed men and they would bow in submission, then he would whip them repeatedly on the arms, legs, and back. but they wouldn't bleed. one of the other bah-wangs was giving the men gasoline to drink. one of the possessed man started shoving fistfuls of dirt into his mouth and eating it. a short while later, he threw it all up into his hands, then promptly proceeded to eat it all again. after the dirt was gone, he lit some sticks on fire, then ate those too. he also stole a lit cigarette from someone in the crowd and rubbed the burning end all over his face, then ate it too. he never got burnt. another guy spent the entire time trying to throw himself into the crowd. he was probably the most possessed. he had no control over himself. his eyes were empty, like he was dead. but he looked into my eyes a couple times, and i felt like satan himself was staring at me.
the bah-wang would let them dance until they were so exhausted they would just lay on the ground. then he would get them to stand up, and he would lead them over to behind where the musicians were. i don't think the people were supposed to see this part, but i was paying attention. once he had them back there, he would get the spirits out of them. it was a huge spiritual battle, because the spirits would fight with him. the possessed men would start howling and yelling like animals and their whole bodies would be convulsing. you could barely hear it over the music though. once the spirits were out of them, their bodies would just lay crumpled on the ground. they looked dead. then two of the handlers would come and carry them into a nearby house and lay them on the floor.
the dance went on and on and on until finally all the men had collapsed and the spirits were all cast out. i don't know how long i stood there watching. i've seen demons before. but not like this. i just stood there, and i felt completely numb all over.
i think that one of the worst parts of it was that for the people there, this was entertainment. whole families were there. the younger kids would try to press through the crowd to the front so they could see better. little kids were sitting on their daddy's shoulders. and they were laughing. every time one of the men threw themselves at the crowd, they would all run away screaming, then come right back. and every time someone would eat dirt or do a flip or get whipped, they would laugh and cheer.
when i got back to campus, the guard asked me how it was. i just shook my head at him. and he nodded. he understood.
03 October 2009
i am fully mobile
bought a bike yesterday!
we went to the honda dealer, and i told them i wanted a black bike.
they only had pink but said black would be shipped in in 2 - 3 days.
so i ordered one and went upstairs to pay.
when i came back downstairs, they happily announced to me that while i was paying, the shipment arrived, and they would deliver my bike in a few hours!
true to their word, SIX HOURS LATER, they delivered.
along with a massive black helmet and a sweet honda racing jacket (just watch me rock that thing around town).
they were kind enough to put enough gas in it so that the guage ALMOST reached the E.
they kept my driver's license to make a copy, then forgot to return it with the bike.
and they said the registration would take 3 weeks to process.
so i can't get plates until then.
therefore, i bought fake plates.
BUT... the stupid fake plate people didn't drill holes in said plates.
so i can't attach them to my bike.
guess who went driving last night?
no license.
no plates.
no gas.
no registration.
no insurance.
that would be me.
ps - THANK YOU, CHUCK!
we went to the honda dealer, and i told them i wanted a black bike.
they only had pink but said black would be shipped in in 2 - 3 days.
so i ordered one and went upstairs to pay.
when i came back downstairs, they happily announced to me that while i was paying, the shipment arrived, and they would deliver my bike in a few hours!
true to their word, SIX HOURS LATER, they delivered.
along with a massive black helmet and a sweet honda racing jacket (just watch me rock that thing around town).
they were kind enough to put enough gas in it so that the guage ALMOST reached the E.
they kept my driver's license to make a copy, then forgot to return it with the bike.
and they said the registration would take 3 weeks to process.
so i can't get plates until then.
therefore, i bought fake plates.
BUT... the stupid fake plate people didn't drill holes in said plates.
so i can't attach them to my bike.
guess who went driving last night?
no license.
no plates.
no gas.
no registration.
no insurance.
that would be me.
ps - THANK YOU, CHUCK!
01 October 2009
you got a message from the embassy
U.S. Embassy Jakarta
U.S. Consulate General Surabaya
U.S. Consulate Medan
Warden Message: Earthquake in Western Sumatra, Indonesia
October 1, 2009
On Wednesday, September 30, at 5:15 pm there was a major earthquake in Western Sumatra, Indonesia. The worst hit major population center was Padang, a coastal town, about 850 miles northwest of Jakarta. Aftershocks have continued. There is serious damage in the Padang area, and most roads and telephone lines are cut. Airports are open but travel to Padang is not recommended by other than essential emergency service providers due to the complete lack of infrastructure. Other areas of Indonesia, including Jakarta and Bali are unaffected. U.S. Embassy Jakarta and U.S. Consulate Medan staff are attempting to communicate with Indonesian authorities and affected Americans in the Padang area, and visit as soon as possible. We urge Americans in Indonesia to inform interested parties directly of their wellbeing to allow our staff to concentrate on assisting those Americans most directly affected and out of contact.
TRANSLATION: I had no clue there was an earthquake until I read about it in the news today. It was far, far away. You will likely hear about it in the news wherever you live. And when you do, don't worry about me. Also, anytime there is something going on anywhere in Indonesia that might affect Americans, I get an email from the embassy. They look out for us.
U.S. Consulate General Surabaya
U.S. Consulate Medan
Warden Message: Earthquake in Western Sumatra, Indonesia
October 1, 2009
On Wednesday, September 30, at 5:15 pm there was a major earthquake in Western Sumatra, Indonesia. The worst hit major population center was Padang, a coastal town, about 850 miles northwest of Jakarta. Aftershocks have continued. There is serious damage in the Padang area, and most roads and telephone lines are cut. Airports are open but travel to Padang is not recommended by other than essential emergency service providers due to the complete lack of infrastructure. Other areas of Indonesia, including Jakarta and Bali are unaffected. U.S. Embassy Jakarta and U.S. Consulate Medan staff are attempting to communicate with Indonesian authorities and affected Americans in the Padang area, and visit as soon as possible. We urge Americans in Indonesia to inform interested parties directly of their wellbeing to allow our staff to concentrate on assisting those Americans most directly affected and out of contact.
TRANSLATION: I had no clue there was an earthquake until I read about it in the news today. It was far, far away. You will likely hear about it in the news wherever you live. And when you do, don't worry about me. Also, anytime there is something going on anywhere in Indonesia that might affect Americans, I get an email from the embassy. They look out for us.
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