Every year, the Middle School clears out for a week of Extended Study. The school does a great job of integrating the curriculum with outside learning, cultural studies, and service projects. This year, the 6th graders spent a week in Yogyakarta, the center of Javanese culture. The 7th graders spent a week in Bali and the 8th graders were given several choices ranging from island communities to marine life to indigenous cultures. Em was all set and very excited for a week in Yogyakarta (also known as Jogja) - away from school and away from her parents. As timing seems to work for us, her trip coincided with the first time Chris was not on call in the year plus he has been here. So, Em was off school and Chris was off work. There was absolutely no reason we had to be in Jakarta and I was not willing to let this opportunity slip by. We talked about what to do and decided our best choice was to head to Yogyakarta for a few days. Emilie would be traveling the area with school and I had been wanting to take the short trip (45 minutes by air) for some time. We also didn't want to go somewhere new without Emilie. Our biggest concern was running into Emilie and her classmates (after all, this was her chance to be on her own!). With that in mind, we carefully planned our trip to avoid the group from JIS at all costs. We took the short flight (after JIS and on a different airline) and didn't run into them at all...until we arrived at the airport in Yogyakarta. All our careful planning and we ran into them on the first day...before we were even able to leave the airport! We did manage to spend the rest of the trip avoiding them - with only one more near miss.
Our first morning in Yogyakarta, we left the hotel at 3:30AM and headed to the Borobodur Temple for the sunrise!
Flashlights in hand, we headed up to the temple and waited for the sun to rise...and we waited...and we waited...and we waited. It ended up being too hazy that morning to see a sunrise, but it was still well worth the early morning departure.
Between the swimming pool and the play area, Dustin would have been perfectly content hanging at the hotel for the entire trip. He got to experience what it would be like to be an only child, but spent the entire time very concerned about the fact that Emilie was not with us!
We took a short trek through Malioboro street. This was a great place to let the local Indonesians gawk at us while we gawked at the different shops along the road. We were also able get a close up look at the Andong (horse carts) and the Becak (pedicabs) that are prevalent throughout Jogja.
We found a great little place for dinner. This house, built on the river, was converted to a restaurant with three dining rooms. Each dining area boasts a different theme. We chose the traditional Javanese music and were treated to a live performance. Dustin was very impressed with the Gamelan. D asked the driver from the hotel about it and the following day he brought Dustin his very own Gamelan to take home with him!
We also had the opportunity to visit the Prambanan Temple. Restoration on this giant complex began as early as 1918, but an earthquake in 2006 created significant damage and restoration efforts have been ongoing ever since.
The restoration efforts include sensors to measure any shifts that might cause something to collapse. We entered with hardhats and were reassured by the fact that the structures were deemed "relatively stable"...
The becak is a big part of the economy in Yogyakarta. The students from JIS had the opportunity to paint becaks to be donated back to the community of Jogja. We literally stumbled upon a few of their painted becaks while exploring the Prambanan complex. We quickly snuck in to take as many pictures of the completed becaks before we were caught by any JIS students and just kept our fingers crossed that one of these were painted by Emilie. As it turned out, this one was. Naga means Dragon in Bahasa Indonesia and is Emilie's school mascot. "Naga! Naga! Naga! Oi! Oi! Oi!" is the school chant. We will be looking for this becak on the road the next time we visit Jogja!
Our final stop in Yogyakarta was to to the Sultan's Palace. Although Indonesia has a democratically elected President, Yogyakarta is the only province of the country not governed by a democratically elected governor and is instead governed by a Sultan. The Sultan's palace is still in use by the current Sultan.
And once again, I am able to put a check mark next to another place on my list of places to see, but I am not willing to cross Yogyakarta off yet. There are way too many more things to explore there!
