snacks await a wave of hungry children coming to watch a puppet show in a desa outside Malang
Selamat Pagi, Steemians! I've had myself a little adventure, and I'd like to tell you about it.
My work took me to the tiny town [/s] of Malang, Indonesia, in pursuit of a story about an American fair-trade/global development organization doing work there. This is my first time working on a story outside the US, which is extra exciting for me for two main reasons: First, I love to travel-- it's one of the most inspiring and exciting thing I've experienced; and second, I've wanted us to go global since day one! It's been a dream come true in many ways.
I was NOT prepared for the heat! Perhaps I should have been, given the close proximity to the equator, but it's winter back home, and I was just getting acclimated to near-freezing temperatures! Now that's gone out the window-- I had to sleep nekked with the fan on, and still woke up sweaty a few times! On the flip side, it was really nice to roam around in shorts as if it were summer again. And the best part is, I don't think I caught Zika!
didn't get the chance to do much wandering, but one place I did wander to was this dope twin-waterfall. isn't indonesia gorgeous?!?!?!
a cute lil cat ducks into a doorway and out of the rain. when they say "rainy season," they mean it!
I've been really focused on community and economic development at home, but I was surprised at how surprising I found the quality of life to be in the desas outside Malang! Ain't no poverty like international poverty, I suppose. But this trip was thankfully not about poverty porn; instead, it was about working with women who are on their way out of poverty. I got to visit a lot of these women in their homes and hear about their lives, which was really great. And INSPIRING! There's some really dope shit going on among the women in Indonesia.
jus alpukat-- YUM!
Thankfully, I was one of the only people in my group who DIDN'T catch the runs from something we ate while we were there. One of my favorite things was this super sweet avocado and chocolate drink-- just wait till the millennials back home get a wind of THIS!
And, of course, as the fanatical cat lover that I am, I can't mention food without sharing this pic of a cat I found snoozin' outside a really rad restaurant! I was unsuccessful in coaxing the cats of Malang-- they're resistant to my charms!
this must be what heaven looks like
Speaking of animals, one last story-- while waiting on some folks, I ended up getting invited into the home of what turned out to be a very successful bird breeder! This dude had a glass case taller than I am FULL of trophies for his lovebirds, and he had a ton of cages around his place full of purdy birds. He took this one down and let it out of the cage, and ended up passing it to me a minute later. You can tell by the way it's staring at me in this pic that it wasn't too hot on the whole thing, and it ended up biting the SHIT out of me! Birds have really sharp beaks!!!! And I would have been mad about it if it weren't such a famous bird-- I practically feel like a celebrity!
So long, Indonesia, and thanks for all the fun!
