Waka Waka!

Imagine being in a foreign country, not knowing the language, and going to local elementary schools in a rural village to crudely teach english. The kids have no idea what you're saying, and are so shy that when you try talking to them, they giggle like mad and hide their faces behind their books. A few brave ones will come up to you, say hi, but then giggle and run away the moment you return the friendly greeting.

Well, we've found a loophole in the language barrier, because every single living creature in Indonesia knows the words to Shakira's WAKA WAKA!! Sometimes, just for kicks, we have the entire class sing the song, and i have a couple videos of entire classrooms of adorable 5th graders singing. Then, when teaching them greetings, we played musical chairs to the song. Everyone started singing and dancing (one little boy did an amazing Shakira impersonation), and when the music stopped they had to sit down and talk to the person next to them. They had to say 'Hello, my name is __, what is your name?/ How old are you? / What's your favorite ice cream flavor? / etc." It was really funny (and fun) because they didn't really know what was going on, so conversations went like this:

-Hi My name is Kiki. What is your name?
-I am nine years old. What ice cream favorite?
-I'm fine thank you.

We're doing this because there's a lot of downtown, and we're pretty much done putting together the presentation for the group of women entrepreneurs.

Then, on the 24th, we're throwing a village-wide party to promote acceptance of disabled kids, since there's still a stigma against handicapped children. A talent show, free food, and music will be accompanied by a cook off from the group of women entrepreneurs (our project is to get them to use casava - the most abundant plant in the village - in more recipes, or even chop up the root, fry it, and sell it as a snack called opak). That's the plan, but in Indonesia, things are rarely punctual and plans tend to change without us non-bahasa speakers realizing.

Oh, back to the school kids for a sec. Today, after school, a bunch of little girls came to our house and we had a karaoke afternoon + dance party. I tried teaching them the garba (indian dancing in a big circle), but everyone stayed stationary, which defeated the purpose. Also, the little girls were too shy because boys were in the room. aw shucks. One of the little boys in a class we taught on Wednesday was so smart, i wanted to abduct him from the village and take him somewhere he can get an amazing education and do great things. But, i'm 20 years old, and am not bill or melinda gates.

Also, yesterday, Noha and I went on quite an adventure. Apparently travelers cheques are extremely outdated. Well shit because that's all I brought. I went to two cities, two banks, a post office, and money changer, but no one accepted my checks. A couple people even laughed at me, like I was some time traveler from the 1980's who refused to believe technology had invented ATM's. Noha and I also got into a fight with a guard at one of the banks. Everyone was arguing. I tried opening the door while he kept holding it shut, insisting that they dont change money there and that we couldn't talk to someone who spoke english. That was interesting.

And I discovered a way to avoid getting cheated into paying 2 or 3 times as much as the actual price for public transportation: pretend I'm straight from India! Yesterday, I mimicked my mom's words and gestures ('gando! thari bhuli thai! thunai kai nuthee apvanee!), and they backed off. great success.

I tried thinking of a good way to describe Indonesia. Think palm trees and tropical plants lining every road, rice patties EVERYWHERE, even near big cities like Jakarta, big huge smiles, and brightly colored houses - - some with watermarks, like they've survived a tsunami and are still a-ok. Others have shiny tiles, but the roadside stands and markets have a 'i've seen funny things because Indonesia is ridiculous, and there's a speck of dirt here for each memory' kinda vibe.