Tuesday, August 21, 2012
A few photos.
Hello, I've added some photos from around town during orientation. Gado-gado, which is a delicious peanut sauce veggie dish. A group of us riding in an angkut (gutted van turned into a minibus). And I had to include a motorbike shot because there are thousands of them on the streets, and the baby up front is a nice touch. Enjoy!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Getting Oriented
I first started thinking about Fulbright about a year ago. I had heard wonderful things about the program and it seemed like a great opportunity to see the world and make a positive impact out there somewhere. I decided to go for it and then slowly throughout the year deadlines approached, status updates came, increasing hope and anticipation, and at the end of March I got word that I made it! Next came the massive amounts of paperwork and even more waiting on the details of what the next year of my life would be like. Now I am finally here in Indonesia! I have been placed in Palembang, the capitol of South Sumatra, which is an industrial city with a population around 1.6 million.
I am currently in Bandung, on the island of Java, for three weeks of orientation. We arrived in Bandung a week ago, after after three "days" of travel --we lost 14 hours somewhere-- consisting of planes, trains, and automobiles (minus the trains). We have since been engaging in intensive classes 8am-5pm everyday. We have 4 hours of language class everyday, and an impressive amount of bahasa Indonisia has been jammed into my brain. We also have daily teaching classes, along with presentations/sessions with returning ETAs and folks from the embassy, telling us about the wonderful country we are in and giving tips and insight into making this experience as successful as possible.
Week one has been exhausting--adjusting to a completely different time zone, 8 hours of class everyday, and socializing with 50 other amazing people from around the US who will be my closest friends for the next 9 months. With the exception of eat out for dinner, I haven't seen much of Indonesia yet. But we do have the weekend off and there are lots of exciting festivities, so a much more exciting post (with pictures!) will be coming soon.
I am currently in Bandung, on the island of Java, for three weeks of orientation. We arrived in Bandung a week ago, after after three "days" of travel --we lost 14 hours somewhere-- consisting of planes, trains, and automobiles (minus the trains). We have since been engaging in intensive classes 8am-5pm everyday. We have 4 hours of language class everyday, and an impressive amount of bahasa Indonisia has been jammed into my brain. We also have daily teaching classes, along with presentations/sessions with returning ETAs and folks from the embassy, telling us about the wonderful country we are in and giving tips and insight into making this experience as successful as possible.
Week one has been exhausting--adjusting to a completely different time zone, 8 hours of class everyday, and socializing with 50 other amazing people from around the US who will be my closest friends for the next 9 months. With the exception of eat out for dinner, I haven't seen much of Indonesia yet. But we do have the weekend off and there are lots of exciting festivities, so a much more exciting post (with pictures!) will be coming soon.
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