Friday, March 13, 2015

Could It Be Another Change

Could it be another change, to come and rearrange...

AND WE'RE BACK! Hello to all, sorry I haven't blogged more recently. The wifi situation at my new house isn't exactly stable but better late than never, right?? Seeing as it has been over a month since my last post, let's see what kinds of stories I can remember.
For starters, I switched to my second host family at the beginning of February. My new host family happens to be my friend Fernanda's first host family, so they already knew me (Fernanda and I aren't new to the concept of sleepovers). They are great people and I feel quite comfortable here. I must admit that I miss lunches with ibu Merna (my first host mom) and going out with Kak Diah but otherwise things have been going well. Here is a picture of my life on exchange packed into a few suitcases and some shopping bags:


I have recently taken up a new traditional Makassar dance class (to consume some of my free time). My class is led by our instructor, Mimi, and it consists of me, a 6 year old, a 10 year old and a 22 year old. Quite the group. It isn't my usual style and not as...entertaining...as some of the dance routines I learned back at home, but it is fun nonetheless. I think the 10 year old is better than I am, but I am just a bule. The hope is that I can return home and impress all my peers with my mad hand and fan skills. Also, for those of you hoping that I would come back a muay thai master, I am sincerely sorry but that ship sailed in November when I realized how expensive it was.
At the end of February, I went on the first Rotary trip. To say the least it was not as I had expected and to keep the tone of this blog light and positive, I am only going to tell you the highlights. Highlight number one: it was a great opportunity to socialize with the exchange students from other cities (Surabaya, Solo, Semarang and Bali). We all certainly had plenty to talk about (most of it Rotary and Indonesia related). Highlight number two: I got to see a sunrise will on a mountain. Never mind the fact that it was extremely cold, I was sleep deprived and hungry. I got to see the sunrise. Highlight number three: I got to see a volcano and it was pretty impressive. It did require going up that more than 240 stairs and a considerable amount of walking but a volcano is a volcano, right? I do have another story, it is however the opposite of a highlight (a lowlight, if you will). One of the days, we had to check out of our hotel around 4 a.m. and load our bus. After driving for 6 or more hours, we got off the bus to find ourselves at a lake. We drove 6 hours to see a lake. WE DROVE 6 HOURS TO SEE A LAKE. As you can imagine, I wasn't too excited about this, being from Minnesota (the land of 10,000 lakes) and all, but I was trying to be a good sport. After staying at the lake for about an hour, we were told our next stop was to a strawberry patch to pick some of the berries. For those who don't know, I worked at Lorence's Berry Farm for a while during the summer picking, you guessed it, strawberries. I was completely speechless that we had driven 6 hours to see a lake and pick strawberries. However, before we could get picking, the rain started so we decided to drive back. That's right, drive back...6 hours back. 12 hours, for a lake and strawberries. That is my life folks.

waiting for the sunrise

the volcano and me



What to say about this March so far...it has been pretty good, I can't complain. I can't believe that I have already been here for more than 6 months now and will be leaving in less than 100 days. Time certainly does have a way of flying by when you're not looking. Going home feels so far away when I think about seeing my family again but it also seems much too close when I think about having to leave my family and friends here. Exchange has given me feelings I guess!
Last minute funny story: On Chinese New Year I went around with my friends Alina, Fernanda, and Fernanda's mom to different temples. All I remember from that evening was smoked everywhere, a kid tripping and almost burning down the temple, and never wanting to hear "Gong xi fat choi!" ever again. That's all I got for now, so da da for now!

Until next time, 
your wandering Holman


P.S. I have been having dreams in Indonesian...for those of you keeping track, cross that off the bucket list!