9 days.
first night there i was petrified. the room's cleanliness and hygiene were questionable. walls were peeling, screaming for a fresh new coat of paint. the ceiling reminded me of the japanese horror film, water. patches of water marks scattered around the ceiling. thankfully the room was dark enough to hide the flaws in the morning otherwise, i would think i was staring in my very own horror film. the one blanket provided, had to be shared by two was utterly horrific yet i couldn't not use it. i needed it. the nights were freezing cold despite there being no ac to cool the room. we only had the fan and the cooling jogja night weather. the blanket had a funny smell and made my legs itch because of the vast amount of bulu popping out of it. yet, i still couldn't not sleep without it. even the pillow made me shudder just thinking of laying my head on it. i can only the god's that be who created hoodies. and don't get me started with the toilet. green tiles, seriously? vomit inducing and absolutely gross. especially with that particular shade of green. the only thing i can be thankful for is the working flush. otherwise, god knows what we'll do when a dump needs to be made. hot shower? think again. more like a pail and a tub of freezing cold water, my grandmother's house style. imagine having to bathe early in the morning in such conditions. no wonder many of us had the slight case of the sniffles. or maybe it was just me. that's not all. we even found a huge ass insect whose species i am not familiar with in the toilet while one of us was bathing! frickin' scary. since that incident, whenever i go into the toilet, i check the floors to make sure it is bug-free.
yet, the 8 nights we were there, affection and attachment had been cultivated. the room was the very room we all went home to at the end of a busy and tiring day. the musky smelled room was home for the week we were there so no matter how bad the condition was, it was home to us. the room condition was so bad that some of my fellow travelers contemplated moving into the nearest hotel which had a functioning toilet with hot showers and ac yet they managed to suck it in and rough it out with the rest of us.
i'm not gonna lie. the first day there, i was ready to go home. yet, the powers that be must have foreseen that going home early would end the start of one of the most amazing trips i have ever been on. friendships had been built and friendships have been sealed.
seeing the things that i have seen made me realize how privileged i am and how easily the simple things in life like a clean and comfortable bed, hot showers and clean walls are taken for granted. leader of the pack, dr. yeoh has definitely succeeded in making the familiar unfamiliar, breaking down what was seen as trivial to us and bringing us back to basics.
i should have put up the link earlier before leaving but hey, better late than never!
so read all about what i did in my search of yogyakarta *click*
now all i am looking forward to is sleeping on my bed and resting my head on my clean pillow and waking up knowing that i don't have to scream and shiver in freezing water though after so many nights and days of bathing in cold water has made my body adjust to the level of coldness i had to endure. splashing cold water no longer seemed like a task yet still it didn't make me enjoy the entire process.
this trip has made me realize that i can adapt to any situation and try to make the best out of it. maybe having the convenience of shopping and fast food at my doorstep made the adaptation slightly smoother but nevertheless, i made it through. and definitely the sight of the many familiar faces going through the same things as i made me know that i was not the only one. talking about the room condition and crazy morning baths, probably brought us a little closer. the sights and sounds of jogja were so different from here that it was easy to appreciate the differences of the familiar and unfamiliar. graffiti on public walls, street musicians busking openly and peaceful street demonstrations shows just how vastly different 2 countries in the same region can be. i've seen and interacted with the locals in ways i could never have if not for this cultural trip. organized tours only show you the beauty of a country not the nitty gritty. cultural trips like the one organized by my lecturer brought us 10 steps closer to the locals and showed us the beauty and ugly of the going ons in the country. and from what i've seen, i've seen so much of beauty that even the amazing borobudur, prambanan temple, kraton and mount merapi have no match for the hospitality of the people of jogja that made my stay in jogja all the more amazing in this amazing mix of batik, music and art of a state.
today is gonna be the daythat we're gonna learn something new
by now we should have realized
jogja's got something new
we don't believe that anybody could feel the we do
about you now
back beat the word is on the street
that the fire in our heart is lit
we don't believe that anybody could feel the way we do
about you now
We've seen so much our bright new eyes are yearning,
For all we've done, we'll spread the word concerning,
There are many things that we would like to say to you but we don't know how..
Hey maybe,
We say Terima Kasih....
and after all.... you're so Wonderful...
*sung to oasis' wonderwall and minta ampun, i forgot some of the lyrics so i'm just putting up what i remembered.
ps: feeling pretty inspired and probably suffering from the one hour jet-lag wtfwtf.
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