Goodbye Salatiga, Goodbye Friends… for now

Lookin’ Javanese

Today I said goodbye to Salatiga. I write this from my hotel room in Yogyakarta. I have such mixed feelings still. Yogya is amazing, fun, and exciting. Salatiga is home. One day, next year, Yogya will be home for me… but I think Salatiga will always have my heart. Salatiga is where Ara is. It is where Daniel is. Where my LTC girls are. Where Dono is. Where I met and got to know Emma, Megan, Matt, and Julia. Where I got sick and healthy and sick again. Where I learned my limits in many respects. Where I finally got to use my Indonesian in a practical sense. It is just home to me in Indonesia and I think it always will be. It has its downsides, of course. Nothing happens after 8pm. There wasn’t a lot of freedom living in a homestay. At least my first homestay. But the weather was temperate and the people were warm. I will miss all of these beautiful people. I will miss being able to use my Indonesian. I will miss so many things.

Rock On.

So how did this goodbye start? Well it started Thursday night with a goodbye dinner for our LTC Friends. We loved them so. So the COTI kids took out the LTC Friends out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. The restaurant we went to the first week for Amazing Race Salatiga. It was kind of a nice closing. Dinner was a lot of fun. We joked, we talked about ghosts, the games we played at LTC as a closing day of “learning” that day, and especially the “flirting” game we played. We were given a random word and had to turn it into a flirt.  Megan had the most hilarious one. Hilarious and creepy. Her word was “cute.” So many ways she could have gone with this but she said her head was a bit fuzzy and this came out: “Emma, are you sure you’re grown up? Because you’re cute as a baby.” I keep telling her it sounded a bit like it came from a dark van with no windows and a ‘free candy’ sign taped to it. Either way it made for a hilarious option for the LTC ghost to yell at scared victims. It made our goodbye dinner even funnier.

The LTC Gang

Then there was Malam Budaya or Culture Night. A fun night where we all get dressed up in traditional clothes, show off what we learned in our culture classes, and get our final transcripts. It was a great night. Now I was in cooking class so the “skills” I showed off were not as impressive as the silat or dance class but I did chop one hell of a tomato. I also got a transcript and a certificate! Yes, that means I passed. I was a bit worried there for a while because my language is still a bit weak. Not nearly at the same level as Emma. Then again, I haven’t lived in Indonesia for two years. Now I have lived here for two months though! And I know I have improved!

Pretty Ladies

The best part of this evening? Everyone was there. One: All the COTI and PIBBI Singapore kids made it from start to finish. We were all there. Two: All the staff and LTC Friends, homestays, etc. were all there. It was such a nice time to see everyone and say goodbye. It was a bit unreal. It didn’t really hit me, even as I said goodbye, that it was ending. I was just so excited to be dressed up and to see everyone else dressed up. Sadly, it was goodbye though. Which made me very sad. However, there was something that made me very happy? The amount of awesome photos I got from Malam Budaya. We all looked so good. Even if it was goodbye… it sure was a fancy and sexy goodbye. Here are some of the photos from our goodbye.

Dance from Aceh, Indonesia

Mad cooking skills

Silat! YAWR!

The COTI kids and Bu Juliana

Class Arjuna

Me and my travel buddy!

And now? Now I am in one of the coolest hotels I have ever been in, The Yogyakarta Plaza. It is awesome. I’m glad I treated myself to the $60 a night hotel over the $30 a night hotel. Today I checked in, went shopping with Megan, had lunch at a VERY yummy vegetarian restaurant in South Yogya with Gde and Megan, and then went swimming while enjoying our “welcome drink.” After swimming Megan showered and headed off to Jakarta. It was sad to say goodbye to another person but I’m glad she is starting her journey to Jakarta and then to Aceh. I wish her the best with her research. So exciting. Then I showered, watched some TV, and headed out to dinner by myself. It was a nice little dinner. I got pizza because I knew I could save half for lunch tomorrow. And what is the plan for tomorrow? Sleeeeeep. Sleep and then yummy leftovers. Followed by a spa day. Yes that is right. Spa day. I am treating myself to a nice hotel and a spa treatment because it is cheaper here and because I made it through the program. Whoo! Here we go last few days!