Happy Birthday M! February 15

This year February 15 commemorated the birth of Prophet Muhammad, or Maulid Nabi Muhammad. Our school observed the national holiday by conducting various class competitions including Arabic calligraphy, reading the Holy Qur’an, cooking/presentation of yellow rice, soccer for the boys, and performing various passages referencing the Prophet. The teachers and students also participated in a blood drive…set up a bit differently than what I’m used to in the US, but it was great to see the student involvement nonetheless. We have so many talented kids at our school, and I was continuously impressed with the showcase of their various abilities throughout the day. The first, second, and third place winners for each competition received an envelope for their class, each enclosed with a set amount of rupiah to use as they wish. Back when I was in school, we just earned a pizza party. Given my current situation however, I would have much preferred a gigantic slice of pizza...New York style; the kind that you can fold in half and the grease runs down your arm and drips onto the newly transparent paper plate. I’m not gonna lie, food is a very close second behind family, as far as things I miss most from home. Luckily the food here is relatively delicious, and Maulid Nabi Muhammad was no exception. The day ended with a communal feast of yellow rice with various side dishes, spread across the floor atop banana leaves and eaten with our hands. Everyone says it’s more delicious if you eat with your hands, and I have yet to find otherwise.

1. Performance 2. Blood Drive 3. Yellow Rice Presentation 4. Eating with our Hands

Camp Trawas February 20-21

Not sure what I was expecting. I went in with mixed emotions; part of me was excited to be spending a night away in the mountains, the other part was baffled as to where the money came from for all the teachers to have this 2-day workshop-outbound experience.

PROS: It was great to see other parts of the teachers’ personalities come out…I talked with the one English teacher who has rejected speaking to me for the last 9 months -it was only a few words, but it was definite progress…I tried my first ropes course…made new friends…the scenery was absolutely incredible: terraced rice fields intertwined with copious banana trees and mountain trails.

CONS: I don’t understand how our time there improved our teaching capabilities in the slightest: punctuality wasn’t encouraged, a blind eye turned towards cheating during competitions, and there was no reflecting on how we could apply any of the experience in the classroom…it was always the men who took the leadership role, both because most of them have loud, dominant personalities and because the women automatically defaulted to them to make the decisions; I imagine that if only female teachers participated they would be perfectly capable of accomplishing the tasks, maybe even in a more efficient manner…everyone threw their trash/cigarette butts throughout the pristine environment, as if plastic is somehow eco-friendly…EACH teacher was given 75,000 Rp in cash for transportation costs, even though we all carpooled together and our location was less than a 30-minute drive from school.

Each of these circumstances represents a more significant problem that I’ve perceived during my time at site, with my own biases of course. Whether relating to the environment or corruption or gender roles, I’ve been faced with the realization that injustice is alive and well in my community. In my PC position, I feel like I should somehow improve these situations, but I have no idea where to start; it seems so overwhelming. I can’t force (and don’t want to force) people to change their ideologies, and if only a small handful of people think there’s a problem, maybe the minority is in the wrong? I know what I believe in, but I can’t help but feel like an outsider imposing her modern views in a traditional society. Being a PCV is more than teaching English in a classroom…but what’s the next step?

Ultimately, I did enjoy spending time with the teachers outside of a school setting; but I don’t think that our little getaway warranted missing school for a day or the use of school funds. Several of the teachers were ‘too sore’ to teach the subsequent few days, but still managed to come in to school in order to scan in for attendance and hang out in the teachers’ room. As a ‘mandatory workshop’, I was expecting to benefit somehow as a teacher. Instead I became more frustrated with the teaching mentality at my school. As customary in Indonesia, we each received a certificate of participation to add to our portfolios; and my photo ended up in the Jawa Pos. As far as the majority of the teaching staff is concerned, that’s the sign of a successful teaching workshop.