Good People Everywhere

Runner.

• Cashiers: When I got to the cashier of this one mini grocery store, there were two girls who giggled uncontrollably because… well… saya tidak bisa bicara bahasa Indonesia dengan baik (I can’t speak Indonesian well) and I didn’t understand that I had to weigh the fruit. First they laughed at me and THEN they helped me :)
• Host families: I don’t know what I would have done without the host families who took care of me. I lived with one host family, but there were two others who  “adopted” me. They celebrated my birthday with me, took me out to eat, took me shopping, let me sleep over, etc. Those two families assured me that if I ever return to Yogya, I can stay with them (and I probably will).

My friend's host family taking me out for dinner :)

• The employee at my fav. coffee shop: he remembered my name after only the second time I visited! So sweet!
• Human with an overflowing bucket of integrity: I ESPECIALLY appreciate the girl who ran to catch up to me on the street because I left my debit card in the ATM (I was stressed, ok!).
• Women at Sekolah Pengelasan (the environmental school): several exceptionally kind women showed me how to cook with them.
  • Here’s a secret: I pricked my thumb on the coconut shredder. There might have been a drop or two of my blood in that Tiwul. 

The bamboo building that I absolutely adore (a.k.a. where we were cooking).

• The music director: as our group learned to play the angklungs, the director (the guy who did all the hand signals) had the most EXPRESSIVE face—for better or for worse. It made us smile :)
  • Oh yeah, I noticed all those winces ;)
• A generous homeowner: I was searching for a quiet place during one of our group trips, so I sat on a VERY comfortable chair on an empty porch. It had a beautiful view. The owner of the house walked out the doors (PANIC!) and as I rose out of HIS chair (EEK!), he just chuckled and waved to me to sit back down.

THE porch. The chair I was sitting on is hidden behind the wall.

• A kind fellow: when I was struggling to get on the stilts, they came over and showed me how to push away the stilts as I stepped on to be more stable.
• Neighbor: when I was being my lil ol awkward self at a neighborhood dance competition (I most definitely did NOT belong there), a college-aged student offered me his seat (‘twas super crowded btw).
• Shop lady: In the first week, when I REALLY really barely knew anything, a lady at the Batik shop graciously sat down with me to help me practice my Indonesian, answering questions like “what is your name”, “where are you from” and “do you prefer coffee or tea”.
• A fellow traveler: he let me go in front of him in the line to the bathroom on the Emirates flight (the turbulence sign was on nearly the ENTIRE 13 HOUR FLIGHT even though I couldn’t feel the turbulence—WHAT THE FUDGEEEEE!)
• The silver jewelry workshop lady: she was SUPER encouraging and gave me so many compliments even as those tiny lil spirals just WOULD. NOT. FIT. (I got it to work eventually—it just took… a while.)

Yeah, making this pendant was one of my favorite activities on the entire trip.

• Elderly couple: I was having a rough day (long story), and these two lovely well-wrinkled people noticed. They couldn’t speak English, so they just gave me a cup of water, an empathetic smile, and a thumbs up in support.
• A random passerby: I was walking to Janji Jiwa, my most frequented coffee shop, (for those who know, Mixue was on the way) and I was going in the same direction as an elderly lady. As I attempted to pass her, she looped her arm into mine, and started asking questions. My first response was to brush her off and walk faster, but… I didn’t. I’m glad I didn’t. She didn’t speak any English, so we shared several moments when we just shrugged and laughed at the language barrier. Even so, we had a decent—if choppy—conversation. I even learned that she has a son studying at a University in Miami. When we hit a crossroads (literally), we just waved goodbye and went about our days. I remember you.
• A good human: they stooped to scoop up my water bottle before I even realized I dropped it in the airport.
• A pilot (no worries, he wasn’t flying the plane at the moment): for letting me take his window seat and then proceeding to have a super interesting 3.5 hour-long conversation with me (and sharing his twizzlers).
  • I now know all about air highways, access ways, and types of turbulence 😋
  • Yo, if anyone knows Chris, a pilot from American Airlines, tell him I forgot to share my blog with him.

The flight to MPLS.