You may have noticed I haven’t been keeping up on this blog since arriving in Solo. That’s because I’ve been so busy finding my groove in a city with so many grooves. And now there’s so much to talk about I don’t know where to begin.
Highlights so far include: making cool friends from all over the world (there are people from Serbia, Poland, Lithuania, South Africa, UK, Mexico, Myanmar, France, Japan, Romania, Czech Republic, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Argentina, Philippines and of course Indonesia studying at my school), amazing tropical fruits, “Voice of the Archipelago” arts festival with performances from all over Indonesia, hearing shouts of “hello mister” about once every 30 seconds while riding on my bike, bike ride out of the city into rice fields.
About School:
Classes at ISI (Institut Seni Indonesia ~ Art Institute of Indonesia) start at 7:30am, where my major is Karawitan -traditional music (aka gamelan). School is awesome – all gamelan all the time: I’m taking classes in Javanese gamelan technique, Balinese gamelan, singing class, and lessons on three Central Javanese “soft style” leading instruments: rebab (two stringed bowed instrument- like a violin), gender (metallophone played with two hands -like a vibraphone), and kendang (set of three double-headed hand drums that take the role of conductor) …plus batik, a textile dyeing technique, and pancak silat, an Indonesian martial art.
This week I went to a flute-maker’s house to watch him do his thing, and get some flutes. It is really fascinating to watch him at work. To get the holes in the right place to get the correct pitches for the two different laras –tunings/scales, its based not on specific measurements, but on ratios of length because no two bamboo are precisely the same width…
Just added some photos to my flikr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66325401@N03/
There are fruit trees all over the place. Its mango season right now which rules. There are many more types available here than the US because they grow here, some of my favorites are: mangga gule (sugar), aro manis (sweet), mana lagi (more again), madu (honey), and my favorite so far is this one that they call gule but its different: A yellow-fleshed and yellow-skinned pointy-tipped mango with a very thin seed that is off-the-hook-sweet. All the mangoes here are sweeter than the ones available in the US from Mexico. Maybe they like it better closer to the equator? Also the soil is very fertile due to the abundant volcanic ash. I read that the varieties here came from India, which is supposed to be where mangoes originate, and Central Javanese people are known for their love of sweet taste (soy sauce is sweet here, and people put two heaping tablespoons of sugar in their tea), so perhaps they just chose the sweetest mangoes possible.
Other fruits:
-Semangka (water melon): not as juicy nor as sweet as CA watermelon but still really good for a hot day, and so far they are all hot days. I’ve seen long and seeded ones, big round seedless red, and yellow ones.
-Salak (snake fruit): has the shape of a fig, and the texture of snake skin. Inside it has the color and texture of a garlic clove, but tastes sweet-tart like an apple but better.
-Papaya: the variety here I’ve seen so far is called “bangkok” or “thailand”, and is similar to the big maridol papayas from Mexico, but sweeter. From seed to fruit in four months!
-Srikaya (custard apple): much like a cherimoya but sweeter and has more seeds.
-Sirsak: looks like a cherimoya but much more fibrous and tart. I’m not really a fan.
-Sawo: tropical climate’s answer to persimmons. Yes! A super sweet fruit that looks like a cross between a potato and a kiwi on the outside, and inside is orange-brown with ripe pear texture and seeds much the same shape as persimmon. This is my new favorite fruit (for now).
-Pisang (bananas): there are a bunch of types, and some are really good. I’ve mostly been sticking to mangoes as a staple because its mango season now and they are cheaper. But I’m sure I will adventure into banana island after mango season is over, and will have more to say then.
-Nganka (jackfruit): People sell pre-sorted pieces its amazing.
-Durien (durian): I’ve had some fresh durian imported from Thailand, yep its amazing. The season here starts in a few months, can’t wait!
-Rambutan: like a furry red lichi. The season starts in December, so I haven’t tried them yet.
-there are imported apples, grapes, and asian pears available but I haven’t tried them and probably won’t. (who would?)
Things that are different here that took (or are taking) getting used to: fruits ripen reallllly quickly here due to heat and humidity- fruit is ripe day-of purchase or next day then overripe shortly after, the toilets are “squat style”, there is no TP, you take a “bath” by pouring water on yourself with a dipper from a tiled basin, you can take a bath at any public restroom, its so hot here, the rain pattern is different, the traffic flows on the left side of the street (same with walking), there are no sidewalks, there are very many motor-bikes, and almost no traffic rules yet I feel safer riding my bike here than in the US because people are so alert, there is smoking allowed anywhere and everybody’s doing it, I’m sitting cross-legged more than ever before, and I’m developing new bumps on the outer edges of my feet which are numb.
Things I miss: family and friends, my music collaborators, my old bed (3 layers of carpet on the floor), the ocean, clean air, street level cycles, climbing trees, my external hard drive (why did I forget you?).
That’s enough for now. Catch you later! Sampai nanti!
