Step one: be retrieved from the hotel by my host family.
Step two: meet the entire extended family.
Wait...
So, from the hotel to a family reunion. We came upon a small little dwelling with one main room, and an outside area wreathed in plants and vines. After all the embarrassing greetings-gone-wrong, I scanned the crowd for anyone even remotely close to my age. My eyes landed on whom I now know as Devoni. She looked to me about 15, and the place next to her was empty—thank GOSH for that—so I smiled and gestured to the floor, waiting for her nod before plopping myself down.
Turns out Devoni is fluent in English and an all around AWESOME person. VICTORY!!! Also, she’s not 15—she’s 21. Regardless, we became fast friends and planned to hang out later that week. Edit: we did. And the next week. And the next week. And this week.
Unfortunately, Devoni had to leave early, leaving me alone again. Therefore, I was forced to scan the crowd once more. Sitting on a stone step outside were two girls, maybe a year or two younger than me. So, I approached, “Halo, nama saya Maia” (Hello, my name is Maia) and one IMMEDIATELY ran away. That is NOT a good sign!!!!! I looked hopefully at the second girl, but she just smiled nervously and shrugged. The first girl came back with an older lady in tow, who was EXTREMELY amused by our language barrier predicament and proceeded to bring out her phone to start recording. I wish I had access to those videos because the following “conversation” was ridiculous. We made do with charades, my broken Indonesian, and a middle aged man who wanted to flex his in-progress English skills. It was really fun, actually! By the time I had to go, I wasn’t ready to leave.
The belimbing waluh (starfruit???) in the front yard of my host-family's house.
Keluarga Asuh (host family)
The humans of my host family include an 18 year old girl and her parents—but there are way more family members than that. Along with 5 cats, my host family has fish (tiny and giant), song birds, and chickens (and one infuriatingly loud rooster). I have also seen a gecko and a spider the size of my palm, but I’m pretty sure those aren’t pets.
The moment I stepped out of the car, I exclaimed “cantik cantik!” (very pretty) as I saw the sky-high, jungle-like garden. I later tried a fruit from one of the trees (belimbing wuluh) and it was one of the most sour things I’ve ever consumed—and I eat straight-up lemons. My host-sister and her friend were laughing SO hard at me I can’t imagine what my expression looked like.
First day of school!
Lunch = yikes. Classes = fun and well-developed. Teachers = amazing (more on that later). After school, Nara (host sister) took me to a noodle restaurant and I met one of her friends, Dani (not my sister Dani)! They teased me for practically chugging two lychee ice teas and struggling with chopsticks (the noodles were slippery, ok!), but the best part: I GOT TO RIDE THE MOTORCYCLE WITH DANI. It was only for maybe 200 meters but omggggggg I LOVEEEE. It was like riding in a car with the windows down, but 20x better. I want a motorcycle now. Sorry mom.
City tour!
My NSLI-Y cohort crowded on to a bus, drove through the city of Yogyakarta, and scrambled to write down descriptions for each place (I didn’t spell a single location right, I swear); included were universities, libraries, markets, museums, royal gardens, etc.
Then, we made it to our destination. Alun Alun Kidul is a special place; there are two GIANT “trees” (actually, each one is made up of a bazillion tiny trees) and there’s a tradition where people stand maybe 100 meters away, make a wish, and try to walk through the trees blindfolded. If they are successful, their wish will come true. I tried it, and failed (I was only a few feet off!), but my wish still came true.
A snapshot of me attempting to walk between the trees blindfolded. I was going straight ahead nearly the entire way until the end.
My wish was to stop feeling so sick so I could enjoy everything properly. All day, I was exhausted, had a head-splitting headache, and a stomachache. Nausea came later. My family couldn’t pick me up from school (and I didn’t have the house key) so another family adopted me for a day, even though they were already hosting Sofia & Aliza; these people are so unbelievably welcoming. We chatted all the way to their house, and when they saw that I was sleeping on the floor (exhausted + nauseous) they brought me a mattress, pillows, water, and soup (YUM). I felt so… at home.
Turns out I was just dangerously dehydrated—admittedly, I’d been a bit skimpy with water. You have to pay for bottled water here because the tap water isn’t potable, so I felt bad, which was dumb.
I woke up from my nap/zombie state when I heard Interstellar by Hans Zimmer on the piano. I was drawn into the living room, jaw on the floor; it was a 13 year old Fahri, the host brother of Aliza and Sofia.
Martabak! My current favorite food/guilty pleasure (and they got some more for me on my birthday!!!).
I literally love this substitute host-family. A few minutes after I walked into the room, Aliza, Sofia, Evie (10-year-old), and I were singing Viva La Vida by Coldplay as Fahri played it on the piano. Then we watched How to Train Your Dragon (YESSS!), ate an ambrosia-like home-cooked meal, went to a convenience store (my first time here), got street food (Martabak), and went stargazing on the room with a giant telescope. I hope to visit them again soon (edit: I did)!!!
That’s it for the first days in Jogja (Yogyakarta). I’ll add the rest of the week soon!
P.S. It’s not that hot here, just humid. Plus, the food isn’t nearly as spicy as everyone says. Edit: Nevermind. It's hot. And the food is spicy.
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