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I started learning Bahasa Indonesia a few weeks after I got to
Indonesia. The language is grammatically simple but culturally very
complex and nuanced. Irr, my teacher is fantastic and we have had some
great conversations about semiotics and different cultural logics. This
is the first time that I am learning a language formally with a teacher, and
while surrounded by people speaking another language I know. The latter makes my progress slow. So after three weeks of lessons with Iir, I
decided to go to Yogyakarta for intensive language training at one of the many
language schools in this city.
I arrived in Yogyakarta on a Sunday, and it was immediately
evident that this is a smaller and less crazy city than Bogor, and certainly
less so than Jakarta. It is also full of
a lot of tourists. One of the brochures
said that it is the second largest tourist destination after Bali. I bumped into a lot of them at Jalan
Malioboro, a long street full of shops selling batik (mostly batik prints) and
handicrafts. Many of my friends and recommended one of the largest of these
shops. Mirota Batik is a multi-storey shop which sells beatiful stuff and a lot
of junky things. It is a place where
tourists and locals shop. I got a lot of
basic things for my house, and had them shipped to Bogor. And since I hadn’t yet taken a lot of
language classes, that took a bit of figuring out. As usual, people here were amazingly
nice.
Then back to my hotel (Yogya Plaza hotel), where the food is
mediocre but the gym superb! Outside the
hotel is a sign that says “No pets, no durians!” I’ll try to put up the photo I took of the
sign. Those of you who know durians will
know why there is such a sign. Those of
you who don’t durians, suffice it to say that the smell is intense! The hotel was my home base for the next 6
days while I took classes at Alam Bahasa. I took 4-6 hours of classes a day and learnt
a lot. I think I could have learnt a lot
more had the classes been more intense, and had I done more home work in the
evenings! Still I learned a lot and
enjoyed the “Direct Communicative” method of teaching (speaking only in the
language that one is learning), which involved excursions to the local fruit
stall and a visit to a street with incredible batik shops. At one of the shops, Batik Winotosastro (http://www.winotosastro.com/batik/),
I saw the craftspeople involved in the incredible labor of making batik. Needless to say, any of the pieces I liked
were between $200-500/- I was glad to
have had witnessed the beauty and am okay with not possessing them.
On Thursday, I went on the
Prambanan temple on the outskirts of Jakarta.
It was really quite spectacular and I also saw an incredibly beautiful
cat there. Will try to upload pictures
of both! Back at the school, there was a community lunch of excellent
Indonesian food! While Indonesian food is famed to be good, I haven’t had
much luck with finding good food even when it is expensive. For instance, a few days before I went out
with a colleague from Bogor to Kedai Tiga
Nyonya, supposedly one of the best restaurants in the country. The food was alright but not so much that I
want to go back. Most of the food here
is way too oily for my taste.
What has been
feeding me well is a tiny restaurant called Loving
Hut on a street adjacent to the hotel. It’s been a really and unexpected blessing.
Their menu is varied enough and everything is vegan so that makes eating
easy. I even got to eat a vegetarian baxso
and some very spicy (pedas) fried
rice (which I could not finish). This evening I walked to Jalan Solo to
check out some more batik clothing stores.
Most of the them were closed by the time I was walking along the
street. But my long walk rewarded me
with many interesting sights. Two of
them I will remember for a long . One
was more of a sound than a sight – mynahs
getting ready to roost at dusk in a large palm tree in front of a huge mall
(yep, here too)! It so reminded me of
India home. The other was a shop called “T-shit
shop”! Need I say more?
I’m looking forward to returning home to Bogor tomorrow. Before that I hope to to go Kota Gede (Old City) famed for its
silversmiths.
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