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Published: June 29th 2008
(i wrote this all a few days ago so ill update a new one soon.. in bali now..)
I WAS ON TV THE OTHER DAY!! that will be in next edition... which is far more exciting than this blog. sorrrryyy...
i havent written in a while - ive been so busy.
every day after work theres always so much to do!
im finding that i just have so much energy here. i get up at 7 every morning and spend 8 hours running around the countryside for work,
then i get home and go for long walks, have dinners with amazing people, go out for coffee or drinks, sit around hanging out and watching tv until 1 in the morn and
then struggle to get to sleep because im so exicted to do it all again tomorrow! i feel so full of life - it just doesnt seem like theres enugh hours for everything i want to see and do! everything just buzzes though me.
im seeing a lot of poverty though work. kids going to school in ragged uniforms and bare feet, beggars, starving kittens! i dont know if ill be able to stand going home and hearing everyones complaints about their amazingly lucky lives. the ignorance is astounding. our closest neighbour is full of 300 million people, most of whom struggle to eat daily and no one in australia knows or cares. i visited this village a few days ago where the whole water supply runs directly through a rubbish tip. the children have stopped growing and the life expectancy is 50. whole commmunities here rely on a few aus dollars a week to survive, and if they're crops dont prosper then they dont eat.
it sounds like something out of post 1950s China but its happening here.
many talk about australia like its this fantasy land, and they heaps of people tell me they can only dream of living there. a friend, Tio whose English is great has just applied to work on a cruise ship in the US for a year. the amount of cost and effort that goes into a job like that is huge - 3 stages of medical check-ups, a personality interview and
an IO test! (to work on a BOAT?!) and all the travel expenses to get to Jakarta etc has added up to US$500 which is the eqivilant of like a years work here. we celebrated for him on friday night at bintang because for most people this is really unattainable and a huge deal. haha midi sang on stage as always, "i wana give you some good good lovin".. teehee
on saturday i went to the beach! i thought it was just going to be me, jj and didik but as i jumped into the car i was greated by 6 rowdy and excitable boys. they were my chaparones for the day - midi, tio, jj, didik, yoyo and some other guy i never can remeber the name of.. i wasnt feeling the best so i listened to my ipod on the 2 hour journey to Krakau. we passed this really slow moving ceremony and got included in the procession as it went down the street. the bride looked beautiful, everyone wore batik and flowers in their hair. we swam, relaxed, sung and laughed all day long on the secluded beach - ill get some photos up. the boys caught fish and we cooked rice in the hut they hired, and devoured the feast while watching little boats sailing by and kids playing with kites. it was probably the most idylic setting ive ever expereinced! parentals will be happy to hear that im no longer such a wuss when i eat chilli - i can actually taste the flavour now!
the next day a girl from brisbane arrived to begin the program, and she lives next door to me. polllywaffle also arrived, its weird to be speaking proper english for the first time in a while - instead of really bad indo or really basic english. last night heaps of us went out to dinner which was fun, but the girls are still jetlagged so they left early.
on monday we visted an area badly affected by the earthquake. by coincidence, the Australian govt had funded the purchase of 4 or 5 machines to help make bricks and roofing tiles quicker. the local people can now make up to 2000 bricks a day, which they then sell at local markets. the program was all about improving the relationship between indonesia and australia while allowing local communities to prosper and improve their livelihoods in their own way. the work looked really dull and monotonus but i spose anything is good if its making money. it made me want to work in foreign affairs even more!
the boss of yogya tv has been insisting for a while that i be the anchor for the english show "good morning yogya" and has been pestering my supervisor to ask me. apparently she didnt want to out of fear i would be offended ? but yeah today it was confirmed that ill be on the air 8AM my time on thursday morning! hahaa i cant wait. i have to go and learn all the ropes tomorrow! today we visited a local ceremony which was devoted to supporting women and children living in poverty in a semi-welfare system. it aimed to help poor kids become good students, healthy and happy and had a particular focus on post-natal care. i can feel my indo improving as i can now understand a lot of whats happening - which is reassuring! im loving the community based projects here. we had this really intense praying sess today! islamic prayer is always exciting because you dont know what will happen next - the speaker often becomes emotional and passionate whilst speaking Arabic and everyone loves it.
we then went to the local justice courts. we spoke to a magistrate, it was hard for me to but it was about some new bylaws. haha i was also distracted by his name - Dicky RR Kok. i think my maturity levels have seriously decreased since i started seeing midi etc on a regular basis. i just giggle all the time! lastly we went to a fundraiser for blind kids. i felt like for the first time since ive been here my skin has not been an indicator to the way someone speaks to me, even though the kids could tell i was foreign...
ah i best go.
will write a better blog sooon..
xx
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Jan V
non-member comment
A great blog
Hello Alice, I enjoy reading your blogs a lot. I’ve visited Bali many times and it’s good to hear about other parts of Indonesia too. I agree that there’s a lot of poverty in Indonesia, but I disagree that the solution should come from abroad only. I think Indonesia has this many resources, be it man power or natural resources, that I don’t think the more than 230 million Indonesian should be relying on 20 million Australians. The Indonesians should help themselves. There are this many talented people in Indonesia, that if they get a decent government, they can solve their problems themselves. It just takes time, and a change of attitude.