Paradise

A picture of Embung Nglanggeran taken by Lindsey, a member of the Indonesia NSLI-Y cohort.

The view was beyond stunning, and I was grinning so much my face hurt.

I can’t even put into words how important this was for me. To be so free, so undeniably and uncontrollably happy, if only for a moment. And it wasn’t just that moment; nope, that feeling lasted for the next 2 days. 

However, there was a small lapse.

The First Night

We already knew it would be interesting. When 16 teenagers are crammed into one room (albeit a very large room with a divider between the girls and boys), things are bound to go wrong. Everything was fine-ish—until the sound came. 

The room was pitch black and dead silent, except for the soft shuffles of blankets and pillows, when the WEIRDEST sound flared from the middle of the room. It was LOUD. Not even a second later, one of the girls started SCREECHING like someone freaking DIED. Consequently, several others also started shredding their vocal cords, rushing to the corner of the room to hide. Apparently, waking up to horror-movie-like-shrieking makes people panic. 

Lovely.

I was awake (reading my book) when I heard the sound. It was either a frog, or a gecko. Both of which I find rather cute. 

So, not to claim I was the hero or anything... but I most definitely was. I turned on the flashlight on my phone, walked directly to where I heard the sound, and began looking for the gecko. After checking under each and every mattress on that side of the room—and everyone was satisfied nobody would be bed-mates with an amphibian—we all went back to sleep. Except me, I kept reading my book.

The location of the first night of the trip.

The Forest

Day 2. Forests are familiar to me. My summers in Finland and the Boundary Waters have made sure of that. Usually, I know the sounds I might hear, the trees I might see, the way the light flows through the leaves, the moss, the berries, the animals…

But here? It’s still a forest, yes, but it’s a rainforest. I know NOTHING.

The road close to Sekolah Pagesangan.

There was a monkey. And terraces. And coconuts and bananas and so many fruits/plants that I’ve never seen in my LIFE. 

Additionally, this particular rainforest was in a mountainous region—and the roads were so treacherously steep the van got stuck. Thankfully, a bunch of locals helped us. It was like the Indonesian version of getting your car stuck in the snow.

Following the victory of the van V.S. the road, we went to Sekolah Pagesangan, a school for the locals to learn about traditional cooking and farming techniques that are in danger of being forgotten. The school is great, and amazing, and beneficial in so many ways and… THE PLACE IS MADE ENTIRELY FROM BAMBOO. YESSSSSSS. I have a not-so-small obsession with sustainable construction, and therefore and not-so-small love of bamboo—the fastest growing plant in the world.

BAMBOO BUILDING at Sekolah Pagesangan.

(Sorry it's so blurred at the bottom—I needed to edit out all the people.)

AnYWaYyyy, we watched a video entirely in Indonesian, drank some extraordinarily bitter flower-I-already-forgot-the-name-of tea, and ate a rice and banana snack wrapped in a bamboo leaf. Note: it’s pretty common for chickens to run around freely, and I have a perfectly vivid memory of a chicken waltzing into the room, stealing a banana leaf, and running away. 

After all that, we set off to go collect the ingredients of the dishes we would later cook and consume. As we walked, we collected leaves (one of which reduces body odor?!?!), dug up root vegetables, picked flowers, etc. 

Sustainability nerd moment: the closer the source of food is to the table, the better; it’s fresher, and there’s less—if any—emissions from transportation.

And of course, foraging is one of the most environmentally-friendly ways of finding food.

I thought we were just walking aimlessly for ingredients, but then we went down a mini trail and found several people surrounded by coconuts, cassavas, and a fire. 

Apparently, eating freshly roasted cassava results in getting ash all over my face. Add coconut water to the mix, and I was a complete mess in minutes. 

Worth it.

The terraces where our lil cassava/coconut snack break took place.

Bellies full of cassava and coconut, we trekked back to the beautifully-crafted bamboo school to cook! I pounded cassavas into flour, shredded coconuts, rinsed leaves, fried omelets, etc. Even as other people started to lose energy, I seemed oddly energized; however, after all the dishes were complete, I just laid down on the lovely bamboo floor and passed out. 

Note: The danger of dehydration became newly apparent when one of the guys started looking REAL pale and proceeded to puke his guts out (he’s ok now—thank gosh).

The Sea

Day 3. Pantai Samas—the sea. I was running, spinning, cartwheeling, and drawing hearts in the sand. My smiles and laughter came freely; I was simply in awe.

Pantai Samas. Please note: no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to capture the beauty of these places in a mere photo.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the ocean. The last time, I was in Norway, and I mistakenly thought my phone was waterproof—it wasn’t. That was maybe 7 years ago?

So when I saw saw the endless expanse of blue, my lil heart exploded. The waves… they are gigantic, incomprehensibly powerful forces of nature and I LOVE THEM.

Of course, to make the day even more intensely amazing, we planted mangroves (YESSSSSS!!!!!), cleaned up the beach, and released baby turtles into the ocean. 

Yeeeeeeup. You read that correctly.