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Published: June 27th 2008
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Today I went with another pair of vet students to visit a cow farmer in Salatiga. Salatiga is up in the highlands of central Java. Luckily we went in a car, not a motorcycle; the trip took several hours. It’s really remarkable how the temperature drops as soon as you gain a little elevation. Jogja is HOT! And the sun is very strong (funny how that happens near the equator, huh!). It’s also really really beautiful in the higher elevation; while it is all developed, it is very green with rice paddies, and a huge variety of other agriculture including sugar cane, tobacco, bananas, and all sorts of vegetables. We stopped at Ketep Pass, which is west of Gunung (volcano) Merapi and Gunung Merbabu, Merapi’s dormant friend to the north. I’m not sure if the pass was really on the way to where we were going, or if we stopped just for me. It was a bit cloudy, so we couldn’t see the mountains clearly. I was a big hit of course, especially with groups of girls. I had my photo taken loads and loads of times. This is something I understand, but could not imagine being in America and taking
a photo of someone just because they look different! We ate spicy/smoky grilled corn, which is a specialty around there, and delicious! I watched the movie on the volcano, which was really corny, but being a bule girl I was placed in the seat of honor front center.
We drove for at least another hour along roads winding along the hillsides. We circled the base of Merbabu and had spectacular views of it. Unfortunately I didn’t take nearly enough pictures! I was shy to keep asking to stop the car! We stopped for lunch at a beautiful restaurant with a really nice garden. I had nasi goreng (Indo fried rice) of course! It is my favorite! Indonesian food is very good, though of course somewhat monotonous… Obviously lots of rice, though some places you can also get noodles (though I’ve been tricked! I’ve order noodles thinking lo mein type meal, and been given ramen soup!). Nasi goreng is everywhere and delicious. You can also get fried chicken anywhere, as well as tofu and tempe. Tempe, it turns out, is originally Indonesian! Though when they gave the recipe to Japan, they didn’t think to patent it, and so now Japan
claims it to be their own. Tempe here is really good! And usually fried… Indonesians seem to only drink hot drinks. You usually have tea (very sweet) or sort-of lemonade (very very sweet) with your meal, but both hot. These do come “es”, but most people seem to like them warm.
Coffee is interesting here, particularly since we are on the namesake island for all things gourmet coffee! Indonesians make coffee by grinding the beans to a fine powder, and mixing this with hot water and lots of sugar. No filtering, so you must drink cautiously, but it does taste good. They also like to put ginger in the coffee (kopi jahe), which is excellent! I had this with my lunch, and was taught to drink it out of a saucer, since the mug had no handle and was too hot. Interesting… I’m having a real problem with Indonesians insisting on paying for things for me! It is a real struggle to stop them from buying my meal, they do it before I realize what is happening. Granted, meals are less than $1, but this is a city where the minimum wage is only $60 a month! I’m trying
to be pushy, and have had some success in insisting to pay for everyone’s meal. If I just through 50,000 rupiah at someone ($5) they generally take it. The Javanese do not like to make a scene! 50,000 rupiah notes are also a funny thing - these are what you generally get from the ATM (though sometimes you get 100,000!). And using these to pay for things is a huge hassle! No one wants to give kembali (change, literally return) for $5. It’s like trying to use a $50 at home!
The farm we were going to was just a few minutes further down the road. This man had two cows and two calves Holstein/Freisians that he used for milk. They lived in a barn attached to the back of his house. However, before getting to go visit the cows, we sat and drank tea and ate fried cassava for well over an hour. The night before I had met up with some people from couchsurfing.com, we went to a bar and to a club in Jogja, and I didn’t get home until 2am. Needless to say, I very nearly fell asleep while listening to a conversation in Javanese
that I certainly didn’t understand. It’s tricky here! I’ve picked up some limited bahasa Indonesia. But…. Most people converse in Javanese (especially up here in the highlands) which is (almost) completely dissimilar to Indonesian. I’m trying to learn some Javanese words, but have really only made it to thank you.
Once it was very clear that I was on the verge of sleeping, they offered that we could go see the pasture where the man harvested the elephant grass he fed the cows. Which I took a photo of because I felt that it was expected. It really was spectacular here with the volcano looming over us, and lush green fields everywhere. We then went back to visit the cows, which were huge, and looked quite good considering they are European breed trying to survive in the tropics. The was a two week old calf who was lovely!
We then headed back down to Jogja. While Jogja is a nice city, the highlands are where the real central Javanese beauty is! I made it back in time to hang out with the Indonesian boy I am now dating. We’re spending a lot of time at the warung (food
stall) across the street from my house - it is open, I think, from sunset to sunrise. It’s a little stall with benches and a tarps hanging to enclose it; pretty typical. The man has a coal stove for boiling water for hot drinks, and trays of fried goodies and sate (satay of course). Last week I was adventurous an tried goat satay, which was really good. Tonight however, I was unwilling to try the chicken intestine satay. And while I ate fried tempe, I realized that some deep friend chicken heads were staring at me, along with chicken liver satay. I like to not be a wimp, and perhaps one day with try the organs, but heads? I have to draw the line at that. And, I had to cover them with the banana leaf that my rice came in… I couldn’t handle them watching me with their beaks gaping open!
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Jackie
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the sun is hot?