A jumble of thoughts and updates

· I’ve officially been diagnosed with a parasite. I’m waiting on some drugs to be shipped to me from Jakarta. I actually think this could be the best thing, because it means once I get this little guy out of me I can go back to eating whatever I want; with maag (local speak for gastritis) I was going to need to be eating bland foods which is torture for me! I’m feeling so much better now knowing what has been wrong with me health wise. I feel like I can continue to invest in this experience, I was having to remove myself some, just in case I was forced to leave (a sort of defense mechanism on my part). Now though, I think things are sorted out, and I’m ready to return to what I wanted to do, becoming part of the community, being dedicated to teaching and still managing to travel!
· I had class Saturday with Grade 11-Social, which is usually my least favorite class (biggest and least motivated), and that day I was solo as Daya wasn’t able to get back from Makassar in time. The recipe was for a horrible class, but it turned out to be a really good session. I explained to the kids that as soon as we finished with them presenting their oral invitations, we could leave, and then once I told them that I wanted to leave (making it ok for them to want to leave), the peer pressure to volunteer and get done was great. I felt like the class was really working together and with me. I obliged by relaxing the ‘all invitations must be different’ requirement and not making them do anything else (i.e. reviewing). The result was some surprisingly good work by the more motivated students, and the ones who don’t give a ___, finishing the job and still practicing English, even if they didn’t know what they were saying!
· My bahasa is doing remarkably well now. My biggest deficit is still hearing and understanding, but as I continue to remind myself, all I care about is communicating and I am able to communicate my thoughts, and if the other person speaks slowly and simply and/or writes some things down, I can understand quite well. It also helps to have Easter, Imran, Yusran, or Daya around to translate, but it’s nice to be able to strike out on my own and actually understand. In fact, things are going so well that I may begin to study some Bugis so I can understand more here.
· Saw an almost-motorcycle crash on the way back this afternoon, actually we were almost part of it. We were going past a woman and all of a sudden she just kinda lost it and nearly dumped the bike, but she did a good job to save it. There for a minute I thought my leg was gonna get hit, as we were right next to her. Got the ole heart rate up!
· Going to Easter’s village (about a 3/4 hour ride away) was fun. His family enjoyed seeing me and I still love just driving out seeing the countryside. I didn’t even realize it, but we ended up on the ocean so we also stopped by the beach just to see it. It was a classic example of trash just ruining beautiful Indonesia. It’s really too bad they have such a problem with garbage (especially plastic) building up. It seems everywhere you go you see trash, and the culture just seems to be that throwing your trash on the ground or out the window is perfectly ok. It’s sad because it ruins a lot of very scenic sights.
· (Aunt) Alison asked some good questions about the school and the students, and I thought I would share the answers: Almost all of the students are from within a 1 hour motorcycle ride, but there are some from other islands. In fact a great number of the teachers are alumni of the pesantren and there are always other alumni coming around; it gives a real sense of family here. From Monday morning until Saturday afternoon, it's mandatory that the students live in the pesantren, but on the weekend those that live close enough usually go home (though not all). As for tuition, the school is completely subsidized by the government (The national gov't covers everyone through Jr. Hi (9th grade), and in our case the local government here has decided to cover through Sr. Hi (12th grade)). The pesantren also gets some support from the community, but I'm not exactly sure how that works. I know Imran is a pretty famous guys around here with some pull (he apparently speaks at mosques around the area, and everyone know his grandfather who founded the pesantren and was involved with trying to shift the national government towards Islamic law a few decades ago; that may sound negative to some, but compared to the dictator that was in place at the time, Islamic law would have been a HUGE improvement.). In the end, all the students have to pay for is the cost of living. Free time...what free time? The students wake up at 5am for prayer, then have some time because class starts at 730 and continues until about 1230ish. Then there is nothing in the heat of the day until 4 when another class is scheduled, but not all students have, and some who do have PE. After that class there is prayer which often lasts with a class until 730. Then often there is a class or meeting at 8 which takes them up to bed time. And somewhere in there they are supposed to do a little homework, which explains why most teachers don't explain HW (it doesn't get done). And finally for outcomes when I asked Imran he said anything: doctors, lawyers, teachers, farmers, Islamic clergy, etc. What I’ve actually observed is a lot of teachers and some farmers, but my sampling is certainly skewed as I only see those who return here. I think the school is improving however, and with that the quality of outcomes for the students.