Tuesday, 1Aug06
Highlights: Pak Djoko talk, Ramayana ballet at Prambanan temple
After class today, USINDO invited my first period teacher, Pak Djoko Moerdiyanto, to talk about U.S.-Indonesia relations through the Cold War until today.
It would be hard to find a more genuine and interesting person to tell you such a story. Pak Djoko is a character. I love that he laughs at all his own jokes; which means he is constantly laughing as he talks to you. He’s great.
After that, USINDO treated everyone to pizza, and all was right with the world.
I just got a package that I sent to myself 2 months ago via surface mail. They said it would take 4 weeks. The comical part was arriving at the post office at 3:16 and hearing that the office closed 16 minutes ago, and that I would have to come back tomorrow.
Tonight USINDO treated all of us, and our tutors to dinner at Prambanan, and a performance of the Ramayana epic.
Dinner and the show were great. I’m finding that many things in Indonesia revolve around the Ramayana somehow: dances, wood carvings, puppet shows, festivals, paintings… anything considered culturally Javanese or Indonesian for the most part.
I explained the gist of the story from the Bali kecak fire dance, but it’s basically a tale of good vs. evil. It’s not terribly different from the Odyssey and the Illiad actually: a beautiful wife is stolen from a prince, and he combs the earth to get her back,, fighting along the way… and ultimately good conquers evil in the end.
Highlights: Pak Djoko talk, Ramayana ballet at Prambanan temple
After class today, USINDO invited my first period teacher, Pak Djoko Moerdiyanto, to talk about U.S.-Indonesia relations through the Cold War until today.
It would be hard to find a more genuine and interesting person to tell you such a story. Pak Djoko is a character. I love that he laughs at all his own jokes; which means he is constantly laughing as he talks to you. He’s great.
After that, USINDO treated everyone to pizza, and all was right with the world.
I just got a package that I sent to myself 2 months ago via surface mail. They said it would take 4 weeks. The comical part was arriving at the post office at 3:16 and hearing that the office closed 16 minutes ago, and that I would have to come back tomorrow.
Tonight USINDO treated all of us, and our tutors to dinner at Prambanan, and a performance of the Ramayana epic.
Dinner and the show were great. I’m finding that many things in Indonesia revolve around the Ramayana somehow: dances, wood carvings, puppet shows, festivals, paintings… anything considered culturally Javanese or Indonesian for the most part.
I explained the gist of the story from the Bali kecak fire dance, but it’s basically a tale of good vs. evil. It’s not terribly different from the Odyssey and the Illiad actually: a beautiful wife is stolen from a prince, and he combs the earth to get her back,, fighting along the way… and ultimately good conquers evil in the end.
posted by jonathan adventures at 5:04 AM
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