#peace corps
Sometimes I find myself in places where pramuka (like scout leaders) booth leaders vie for the most attention at a “Celebrating East Java” event in Surabaya. How they snuck a reaaaaaaallly long python into a fancy shopping mall is beyond me.
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Last January, I found this oversized gem of a pull-over hidden among many other gems in a Malang thrift store. It sat in my closet, neglected for months. Realizing its uselessness to me, in a tropical climate (other than looking completely hobo hip), I passed it onto another PCV… and this is where it ended up… on her adorable host grandmother.
Photo Credit - PCV Nicole Ethier
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Celebrating the birth of the beautiful being that is Paige Gable.
(photo shout out to D. Paulk)
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I’m aware that this really has nothing to do with F2D or Indonesia. It does however have to do with personal responsibility as an American citizen. Plus. I may or may not have a major girl crush on Lena Dunham. I sent in my absentee ballot over a month ago. That’s right, I’m in Indonesia. No excuses. VOTE.
Mojoagung, March 2012.
A participant jots down expectations for Camp iGLOW 2012…
*photo credit to my oldest childhood friend Hannah McDonald-Moniz, who is a very talented writer and photographer, you’d be silly not to click on those links!
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My neighbors Silvie and Dwi take a break from poking local trees for their Javanese cherries, or keres.
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Recently I was invited by an Islamic middle school in my area to give a presentation on Muslims in America. Let’s be honest, powerpoint’s make me sleepy, that program needs a facelift. My audience? Imagine being those poor kids who by late afternoon still hadn’t eaten lunch and were sweating up enough liquids to compensate for the recent drought. They later serenaded me with Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’.
To make the presentation more interactive, I (a) used a long ruler to point to things and make loud sounds so no one dozed off and (b) made the entire thing a fun facts quiz. You can see me combining both (a) and (b) and doin’ it like a boss.
Other things I love in this photo: President SBY’s portrait smiling over the American flag. Symbolic unity! & also the marble plaque on the table with my photo.
FYI, Dearborn, Michigan has the largest concentration of Muslim-Americans in the United States (~32,000 = 1/3 of Dearborn’s total population).
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One afternoon while giving typing lessons, one of my kids implied how hot it was getting, so we moved into the shade of my room… which quickly devolved into playing dress up with all of my belongings and having a photo shoot..
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Have you ever thought about asking your neighbor if you could borrow their portable rice processing machine to decorate for a parade? You know, the deafeningly loud machine that makes you question whether any of your efforts towards minimizing your carbon footprint improving the ozone ever meant anything as it spews toxins into the fresh village air.
These guys didn’t think twice: a peek inside of a rice de-shelling processer converted into a parade float.
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Accessories, goats, and Friday’s finest.
D.Paulk, ID5
(I love the goat’s expression on the far right)
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Last spring I did a cross-cultural presentation at a nearby middle school. One thing led to another, and I found myself hanging out with a group of the students later that afternoon. The kids were all into photography, and a few even owned SLRs (clearly not from the village!).
A boy named Helmi asked to borrow my USB. After getting home later, I saw he had loaded it with pictures from a photo shoot he and his friends had done in and around the City a few weeks earlier. I don’t know where to start with analysis here. But with modern cuts on traditional clothes, urban backdrops in a rural environment, and western posing, it’s safe to say these kids are explorers.
D.Paulk, ID5
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Silhouettes of Dawarblandong
After running around with the kids in the late afternoon, poking fruit trees with sticks, and watching a dance practice, the sounds of the adzan reverberated throughout the village. Time to go home…
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Not all students are equally interested in hearing their friends’ presidential speeches. These boys–cuddling together under a mango tree–are ready to go home.
(PCV - ID5 Daniel Paulk)
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