A Whole Lot of Little Indonesia

Today was to be a busy day beginning with the Indonesian Miniature Park. I envisioned something along the lines of Legoland where I would feel like Godzilla towering over tiny replicas of Indonesian islands and landmarks. To my surprise, the Miniature Park was anything but miniature. It was quite reminiscent of Disneyland. Each area represented a part of Indonesia. Life size homes and statues showed the style of living and culture of the areas.






After a quick drive around, we took a sky cab (like the old Disneyland buckets) to get an aerial view. It was overwhelming and I determined you could spend a week there and never get through everything. Lilia, our guide, said that Miniature Park is usually packed, but it was essentially empty due to Ramadan.






We walked from area to area in very hot, humid weather looking at the buildings and even ran in to a D version of Tigger and Pooh which were more scary than entertaining. I watched as Lilia's six year old daughter looked as though she was fading and realized that she was exhausted from fasting (She was in "training"). Some of us decided to duck out for a bit and sneak an ice cream so she didn't have to watch. Although I felt guilty, that ice cream tasted like a slice of heaven.




















After seeing countless areas, we opted to stop at the Komodo dragon exhibit. We paid the dollar entrance fee, which ended up being the best dollar spent EVER. We entered to see interesting turtles and lizards and then slowly made our way to the back where there was a massive Komodo dragon. The trainer/feeder(?) said we could come down and touch it. I screamed and ran (yes, literally ran) down to the habitat. Before long, I found myself petting "Annie's" tail, putting my head on her skin, and taking pictures that were far too dangerous. Perhaps he thought Americans could be expendable. I don't know how we were allowed to do what we did, but it was an opportunity of a lifetime. Plus, I look REALLY cool to my kids!






On our way out, we stopped at a mosque. We carefully removed our shoes and entered a completely foreign world to me. Men were to the right on the floor praying, some aloud. There was a separate section for women to pray. I felt as though we were intruding a very private affair, but Lilia reassured me that as long as we follow the rules, we are more than welcome. Even the head of the mosque wanted a picture with all of us, so I think she is probably correct.

We needed to get back to the hotel quickly to eat, change, and prepare for a workshop on the Indonesian Education system. Once again, Lilia did a beautiful job condensing decades of information in to little time. After a short break, we had a panel discussion with a local professor, the head of the Ministry of Education and Culture, a local teacher and principal. The discussion proved to be very interesting. Indonesia is clearly looking to improve its education system, but they still have a long way to go. At the same time, I find it fascinating that both Indonesia and the U.S. face many of the same difficulties. There is no doubt that the conversation benefited all parties present.
















The local principal at the panel discussion, Charles Albert, was extremely well spoken and seemed to be quite forth-thinking. As soon as my colleague Jennifer and I heard that he was from Tangerang (where we are headed tomorrow for our teaching assignment), we knew we needed to speak with him. He was very gracious and invited us to visit his school. He would arrange transportation. He even joked that he may never take us home!

During our break many of us decided we needed to blow off some steam. After an "interesting" journey to find refreshments (where I was even mistaken as a local!), we adjourned to a room to talk and laugh. It was clear we all needed it. We quickly bonded.

I was very excited about our Cultural Dinner. Many educators from the area as well as groups of students would be attending. Many of the students from SMPN 49 (Lilia's school) were present and immediately recognized me as the crazy lady who challenged a student to his thumb game. We had a rematch and I continued to lose.















After dinner, we watch as the students performed Angklung, a VERY fast, synchronized dance performed by young ladies to drums. There was also a a traditional Balinese dance by a beautiful young lady from a local school. The night concluded with music played on bamboo instruments from a large group of students. We could not leave until we joined the Indonesian teachers and students in dance. What a fun evening!













































Once the performances were complete, we had some time to give gifts of thanks to the students and educators. They were all so incredibly grateful. The students giggled in delight. My favorite image was seeing the principal and English teacher walking around and dancing with their Pleasant Valley High School lanyards around their necks. Fantastic.
We had some final business to take care of at the end of the night since we were to depart in the morning for our various schools. It's strange, but I felt some sadness to leave the group. We wouldn't be together again for a week and most of us had no clue what we were walking in to. I had a brief telephone discussion with Yuna, our host teacher about tomorrow's pickup and then it was time for hugs and goodbyes to the group. Hopefully we will have internet access to communicate. Time will tell.


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