Happy New Year to all! I can't believe I haven't posted since last year (haha I made new year joke, so clever). That being said, let's get you all caught up to speed.
As far as stories go, I only have a few to report (not because I lead a boring life, but because if I told you everything that I do then there is nothing left for just me to know). Let's start with a wedding tale. Though my parents are invited to at least 4 or 5 weddings a month, I haven't actually been to the wedding ceremony. I am beginning to think that only the family is invited to that and all the friends and extras are supposed to attend the reception only. The reception itself is rather different (and less fun in my opinion) than a wedding reception in the good ol' USA. There is a stage for the groom's parents, the bride and groom, and the bride's parents to stand while all of the guests go and greet/congratulate them. Once done, the guests can help themselves to some food, maybe listen to the music playing for a while and then leave. Guests can come whenever and leave whenever (my record for staying at a reception for the shortest amount of time is 25 minutes...enough time to say hi and eat). There isn't any dancing, which is why I think American receptions are more fun but that is unfair of me to say since none of the reception guests seem to want to dance. So to enjoy half an hour of a wedding reception, I must prepare myself for an hour (according to my sister and ibu). I figured I would just have to shower and wear a nice dress and then I would be set. Oh how simple minded of me. I like to think of myself as a Barbie, because my ibu and sister love to do my hair, makeup and dress me up. My lack of knowledge about makeup astounded my ibu, and she told me I must learn sometime since I will put it on a lot when I am an adult...eh, I got time to learn. I don't think I will be adulting for quite some time now.
Christmas time in Indonesia...oh what a sight. Though most of Indo is Islamic, there is a small proportion that is christian which means that there are stores and places you can buy Christmas-y stuff! So my friend bought a tree and decorations, and together we got into the festive spirit of decorating, making paper snowflakes, listening to the holiday songs (on Youtube naturally), etc. When Christmas eve came around, Fernanda and I decided to go to one of the churches here (I only know of two in Makassar, and the other one is far away I think). The church we went to is the biggest one here (though it isn't that big) and also catholic. So for that night, I was catholic too. The service itself was all in Indonesia, even the Christmas songs, so we were pretty lost throughout the TWO HOUR LONG service. It was extremely hot and rained, we didn't understand anything (except for the Jesus birth story, but I only understood that because I basically have it memorized), but we went to church for Christmas.
jolly old saint Kate-olas
our humble tree
On Christmas day, I left on a trip to Tana Toraja with Fernanda and her family (my second host family actually). For those of you who don't know what Toraja is (which I am assuming is a large portion of you), it is a famous village on my island that is about 9 hours, by car, from my city. It is famous because it has traditional houses that people can still use and for its burial methods. When a person dies, they can be buried in a rock, in a cliff, in a tree (babies only) or in a wooden box shaped like the traditional house. Also, bulls are super popular here (though the people call them buffaloes, I am pretty sure they are just bulls), which makes bull fights pretty popular too. I got to watch one of these and I can safely say that I am not a huge fan. However, the Toraja people get super into the fights. It's kind of a big deal. Toraja is also surrounded by mountains which is absolutely gorgeous, and also extremely terrifying. Driving on the narrow roads, up the side of a cliff...I said my prays more than a few times. And since there aren't speed limits, the driver was driving like we were in a get away car! Astaga. There is more I could tell you about Toraja I suppose, but to be honest, my understanding of it is that it has beautiful views, lots of dead people and death-defying roads.
Real talk time. I know that I have mainly been using this blog to rattle off my tales and misadventures but lets talk about exchange and all those deep, personal things. I hope that by reading this, you all have become at least a little more interested in seeing the world or traveling because it truly is the best thing that has happened to me. It still feels like I am living in a dream, after all, I have never had this much luck before in my entire life. I have been learning so much here about Indonesia, myself and life. It is so hard to describe what I mean to you guys, but anyone who has gone on exchange knows what I mean. To those of you going on exchange this summer, you will have the time of your life. To those of you who are considering exchange, do it. DO IT DO IT DO IT. Living in another country is scary, wonderful, difficult, amazing and so rewarding all at the same time. So, to sum up what I am attempting to say: I love exchange. These past few months have been amazing and I wish that everyone got to go on exchange! Real talk done.
Until next time,
your wandering Holman
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