Week 6: Wrap Up and Getting Ready for Service

One evening this week we had an enjoyable time at a Ramayana Ballet. The classic story of Prince Rama and his wife Shinta was portrayed for us accompanied by gamelan music. At the end we had an opportunity to be photographed with the cast.

We visited several production facilities this last week. One trip took us to see a batik factory and showroom and a factory that uses soybeans from Indonesia and the U.S. to make tofu and tempe (photo at left), both staple foods in the Indonesian diet. In addition, we visited the village of Pundong and were introduced to the social / political organization of a village that is involved in a large home industry creating ceramic products for export to Europe and the U.S. They currently have an order for 30,000 pieces of one item to be produced in the next few months.

• At the batik factory.
• At the tofu/tempe factory.
• Around Pundong, and the ceramics works: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.

The week ended with a time of testing and evaluation of the first half of this semester, including individual language testing (photo featuring Amy).

As we approach the time when students will scatter to their service assignments (beginning February 19), we remember some of the other things that we have enjoyed during the first six weeks. Getting mail from home is always a highlight!

We have enjoyed getting together once a week for a group meeting at Rumah Goshen. This usually included a meal and gave us a chance to escape a bit into a more familiar culture. It was also a time for us to discuss and process some of the lectures, readings, and experiences that we had had during the past week.

We have also had many opportunities to interact with Indonesian people and use our ever increasing (!) language skills.