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Freedoms form the constraints of the hotel room were very much appreciated. After longing for some fresh air, I met Rudhi in the lobby as we headed to SMPN 8 for the first time. Down the lightly congested road, we pulled into the shallow parking lot. Immediately a familiar display of trophies filled the entryway. The open air environment of the school offered a bright mood. Dropping our belongings off in the teacher lab, we were greeted with open arms by every teacher in the building. As the school day was about to commence, we headed to the center courtyard where the flag ceremony assembly was to take place, as it does every Monday. The entire school of 800 students and their teachers stand to witness the raising of the Indonesian flag and hear the principal’s speech. The kids were respectful and attentive during the 40 minute long presentation. Standing in the hot sun in my long sleeved shirt made the heat unbearable at times. Eventually Rudhi offered for me to speak in front of the school. With no speech prepared, I strung together an admirable attempt at a coherent oration. With the eyes of the entire school fixated on me as I was careful not to stumble on the weathered green podium, I said, “terima kasi”, which elicited an uproar of laughter. Never feeling comfortable with the language, I never the less rolled with it as hey responded, “sama sama”. Continuing I said, “it’s so great to be in Indonesia 🇮🇩 ” which shocked me as there was massive applause. Laughing at how easy it seemed I could get a cheap reaction from the crowd, I repeated what I said again in order to get back on track. Once again they cheered. I spoke about the warm weather, the amazing welcome we’ve received, and how honored we were to be at the school. I said that I hope to take a lot of pictures, learn, and share with the community. Leaving the podium to cheers was reassuring that I passed this challenge. As the staff dispersed, I was bombarded by the female staff to take selfies. Walking by the classes, student’s heads popped up to see who the foreigner was, occasionally smiling and waving. Eventually making our way to a classroom, we watched Rudhi introduce us to the students. When it was my turn to present to the class, I quickly gathered my supplies, unsure of what I was in for. The students were rowdy at times, but they were listening. Rudhi translated for me as I asked students for questions and instead heard the morbid sound of crickets. To my dismay, any chance I gave for students to participate left the class embarrassed at the opportunity. I went through my PowerPoint on Michigan and showed pictures of my family, school, and community. The students were intrigued by what they heard, but never wanted to ask questions to further discussion. After finishing my presentation, we headed back to the hotel for a quick break before heading back out again to visit Baturraden. Coming into Indonesia, I was perhaps most curious about this place, as it defied description. I saw only brief glimpses in pictures, but was dumbfounded by what was depicted. It seemed like a hodgepodge of randomly assembled tourism items and statues amidst a jaw-dropping landscape of a mountainous jungle. Trying to have Rudhi describe it better ahead of time didn’t help either as it seemed to defy description from him as well. After a relatively short ride to to the destination, I noticed that the roads in the countryside were rather narrow. As soon as I made this observation, I saw an oncoming car taking up much of our lane, and low-and-behold it swiped our rental car’s side mirror. Thankfully we were able to get it reattached. Mount Slamet towered in the background as we ascended to Baturraden through the dense jungle. Parking at a souvenir shop, a seemingly random plane was placed outside of the park with “Baturraden” written across it. This summed up much of Baturraden, as witnessing it first hand gave me more questions than answers. It was partially relatable to Stony Creek Metro Park with its large open area setting to have a picnic, but had a sense of a flea market with random shops and statues adorning the natural beauty. Koi ponds and mini waterfalls dotted the landscape as we climbed the steps towards the top of the park. Nearby pools were busy with people as we walked past two ladies on a strange device. They were attached to a bike that they cruised over the mountain side on ropes. Making it to the top, I was surprised when our journey ended shortly as we were right by our car where we parked originally. Thankfully we were going to explore more as we got back in the car and headed up the mountain and further into the park, void of the many man-made features. The tropical trees towered over the car, where the dense canopy let very little light through. Exiting the car, Rudhi humorously said that he was feeling cold due to the high elevation. Truth be told, we could see much of Purwokerto from below due to our height, but the temperature was around 68 degrees F. Heading down the hiking path, I noticed the glancing glares of many people looking at the odd foreigners who were visiting. I happened to notice though two gentleman who by appearance looked like they too weren’t from Indonesia, due to their slightly lighter skin. Later I would offer to take their picture, but was struck by their perfect English. Making conversation, I was blown away by them telling me they were on a study abroad from Kabul, Afghanistan. They were wonderfully pleasant to converse with. Taking pictures together, it really put in perspective how globally connected our world really is. Back at the natural springs, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. The closest formation would be from Yellowstone National Park. They dense rainforest leaves opened up out of the mountainside to expose a orange cream colored natural spring, with hints of emerald green algae. The roaring springs called me to test how hot the springs were, and short of boiling my skin, they were mighty hot. Taking photos on the springs, I braved the heat, but immediately got to cooler ground. Seeing Indonesia’s natural beauty was refreshing after having spent so much time in the congestion of Jakarta.
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About Matthew CottoneExperience the World! This is my creed I bring to my classroom and my life. I'm a World Studies teacher at Van Hoosen Middle School and I have a passion for learning and experiencing the world. Archives
December 2022
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