Serwana

I finally have access to a few of the thousands of pictures taken in Indonesia and I thought I would tell you a little bit about my favorite (?) stop while there, which also happened to be a matter of little planning.

Ron, the proprietor of the expat-haven we had been staying at for the first 10 nights of my trip, kept telling us that we absolutely had to visit a town called Serwana, approximately an hour and a half east of Pelabuhan Ratu. He told us to ask for "Sir City Leader" (in Indonesian of course, but I cannot for the life of me remember what the word for "city leader" is) and said that we could undoubtedly stay with him. We were promised white sand beaches, crystal clear waters and kamikaze waves, which I was all about because it meant I would have some company on the beach.

So, we loaded up in a minibus not disimilar to this one



and made our way to Serwana. Now, we were told that it was quite primitive, but I would say that was being generous. "Sir City Leader" was the city leader probably because he was the patriarch of the only family around for miles. Ok, ok, that's an exaggeration, but it was quite small. Sir City Leader was by profession a guitar maker, so all of his sons and grandsons were excellent musicians and we spent a few nights drinking Indonesian whiskey and sweet red wine (tasted like skittles) while being forced to sing awkwardly along. Highlights include several rousing renditions of "My heart will go on" and a young-at-heart Australian teaching us all of the lyrics to "Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon.

After a delicious breakfast of banana pancakes and sweet tea we would cross this bridge



and make our way through goat herds and coconut farms to the beach! Indeed the sand was white, the water was clear and, as an added bonus, there were sea shells everywhere!



This beach also happened to be my one of my favorites because the guys couldn't surf, and they are prone to get a little stir crazy which leads to things like extreme yoga



While on the beach we ran into the Australian's much much younger Indonesian wife (who, for me had the best line of the entire trip. while we were singing "my heart will go on" she screamed to her husband "Honey! All the people's faces, men and women, are sama sama" by which I can only imagine meant "the same") who invited us to grill with her and a few of her friends. They grabbed some fish out of the tide pools, fashioned some skewers out of palm fronds and built a fire with dried up coconuts.



We proceeded to eat the fish using a banana leaf as our plates and man, I have got to tell you, it was the bomb.



It may not shock any of you to say that any food-related memory is likely to rank high on my list of favorite memories. Hence this one coming first.

woah.

Things like this Panda bread make me so happy.

I need to buy a loaf pan.

home in Freiburg! for now.

I am home and have been for 6 days.

Unfortunately due to certain financial issues I wasn't able to buy a camera, but I was blessed to be traveling with photo-fanatics, all of whom are really, really talented, but also really, really still in Indonesia. so as soon as they get home (saturday) they will hopefully (I will threaten them) send me some pictures and I will tell you all some stories. The waiting on baited breath can commence now.

other than that, there is a lot of emotional identity/quarter life crisis related soul searching happening right now, which I deem inappropriate for the blog world. In fact, I am seriously considering a "for my eyes only" journal. like on paper. bound in book form. woah.just know that, like my friend Kelly, big things are afoot.

Turned that frown upside down

Batavia Air just pulled out the big guns...

I am hanging out in the Denpasar (Bali) Airport waiting for my flight back to Jakarta (boo! trip is already over) which is, as it now stands, two and a half hours delayed. luckily I scheduled a seven hour layover in Jakarta, so I am not freaking out... yet.

Anyway, I have been bored to tears and can't think of anything to do. I don't have any reading material nor enough money to buy anything entertaining (my wallet was stolen last night. what else is new?) and have been generally restless. I have made about 243 laps around the food court/shopping area. Finally, about 20 minutes ago, there was an announcement made pertaining to my flight, which I only assumed was a boarding announcement (English spoken with an Indonesian accent is grossly unintelligible)so I made my way over to the gate, where I saw a mob of people (I am apparently the only Bule on the flight. awesome)but no real movement. Then I saw people walking away with white boxes.

Batavia hooked it up with an AWESOME dinner. rice, noodles, and a plethora of indeterminate spicy animal product. needless to say, I am very very satisfied.

still digging it

hello.

Indonesia is still wonderful. I am really quite sad that it is almost over, I could really live like this forever. and by that, I mean I could run away from the real world forever. or maybe not.

I am currently in Yogyakatra, which is the "soul" of Java. today we went to two temples, Borobudur and Prambanan, the former of which absolutely took my breath away. tonight we are heading to BALI (!) which was not originally in my plans but I have been a major victim of FOMO (fear of missing out) ever since I have been here. today is my cousin mathias' birthday and we will be getting in with just enough time to get to a dance floor/bar/brothel (if the guys get their way) to celebrate the last few minutes of the first day of his twenty second year. should be swell.

one thing that no one ever talks about when they talk about their love for travel is how brain dead it makes you. I swear there have been a bevy of fabulous things to describe, but the combination of too much beer, non-stop swiss german and incredibly humid heat makes putting two and two together complicated. so I will try to formulate something worth reading when I am back in Schland next week. that is, of course, unless I decide to run off and join the circus.

Orang Orang

I am in Indonesia!

Life is really beautiful, particularly here in southern Java. Sebastian, Matthias and I are staying in an awesome hotel near Cimaja, enjoying being spoiled by the expat community here and gushing endlessly about the ocean (which I haven't been in since last June. I'll tell you, a year without ocean is no year for me! I was giddier than a schoolgirl splashing around yesterday)

The main thing that has struck me here in my first 30 hours is how amazingly friendly and helpful everyone is. It is hard to resist such warmth! A lot of travelers come here for a week and never leave and I can certainly understand why! It's a damn good thing I love Freiburg so much!

Good news: I am going to bu myself a camera soon so that I can document everything here. That means my blog will soon be much more colorful!

Happy Birthday, Blog!

You're one today! Let's celebrate!

How's this sound? Let's put a hold on our studies and go to Indonesia for a month!

Cool? cool.