two months to go

I'd like to make a quick apology for going so long without posting, I only have 65 days left in Indonesia so i am trying to make the most of them and blogging has been hard to fit into my schedule lately.

I'm trying to make these last two months in Indonesia some of my most memorable yet, but I still haven't totally accepted the fact that my experience is almost up. It feels like it was my birthday yesterday, not already a month ago. Bali feels like much less than two months ago, and I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I left Madison eight months ago.

People really aren't lying when they say being an exchange student messes with your concept of time.

I've had a fun last couple of weeks. My definite favorite day was when my host family and Ellen went to Puncak (a national park in West Java) for a day trip. We hiked about an hour through dense, tropical forest until we reached a massive waterfall in the middle of the jungle. Ellen and I were at first under the impression we had hiked all this way to admire the view from a safe (and dry) distance but it most certainly did not end up that way.

We ended up wading in until we were standing under the base of the waterfall, the water cascading over rocks and boulders and drenching us completely. It was freezing but after eight months of bucket showers I didn't seem to notice quite as much. We were in the middle of the jungle in Indonesia standing under a waterfall. It truly doesn't get much better than that.

When friends at school ask me why I chose Indonesia, I often say something about the nature drew me. I mean coming from the Midwest and corn fields stretching to the horizon, something about palm trees and rice terraces and ocean coastline just drew me right in.  While, contrary to popular belief of friends back in the US I do not live in either the jungle or near a beach, Indonesia has treated me very well with its natural beauty. I have lived here over eight months now but riding mopeds under palm trees that line the roads still excites me. 

However, I would be lying if I said my photos from rice terraces and beaches in Bali and jungle trekking in Java are an accurate representation of Indonesia as a whole. Indonesia has jungle, beaches, and rice terraces in addition to big cities and suburbs (where I live). Showing American friends pictures of Balinese beaches and saying "this is Indonesia" would be the same as showing Indonesian friends pictures of Hawaii or Miami and telling them "this is America". America is the metropolis of the east coast, the farms of the midwest, and the Rockies in the West. Indonesia is Jabodetabek (Jakarta-Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi), the Javanese countryside, and the volcanoes and mountains scattered throughout the entire archipelago. The variety of landscapes and cultures are what makes Indonesia click. The official motto of Indonesia is "unity in diversity" which could not describe this country any better. The unity in the diversity of religions, cultures, languages, and landscapes is what makes Indonesia what it is, and I am proud to call this country my second home.

From the rice terraces of Bali

 to the streets of South Jakarta

to the villages on Java

This is all Indonesia.

It all combines together to complete this incredible country that I have called home for the past eight months, and that I only get to call home for 65 days more. Indonesia will forever have a special place in my heart long after I hop on that plane back home, and I can only hope to come back again in the future.