Kota Baru SUPER!!

Kalimantan.. My second time to Borneo. First was in 2005 when I went to Sarawak, in the Malaysian side of Borneo. This was my first time in Indonesia's side of Borneo. We left Thursday night with Lion Air on a big Boeing, a bit of a bumpy ride there and we all decided the landing in Kota Baru deserved a 5 out of 10 at best. We arrived late, settled into our accommodation, headed out for some traditional food & then retired to bed. We had checked in late to our flight in Jogja & this seemed to be the trend for the rest of our flights over the next 4 days. It didn't seem to be a problem. I stopped stressing as I usually would. At least there were six of us all in the same boat. Anyway, in Banjarmasin we had a tradtional breakfast, I had some tofu & eggplant that was tasty as. Spent breakfast feeding rice to a kitten & sipping on hot tea that was not quite as sweet as the tea they serve in Jogja and also tasted a little different. Jogja tea tastes like super sweet jasmine tea. In South Kalimantan it tastes like turkish delight. Then we ventured off to the airport, where we met our Indonesian friend's mother & boarded our small flight to Kota Baru. It took only 25 minutes.

I should explain why we were heading to Kalimantan in the first place. Our friend here, who we have nicknamed 'Ronaldo' for his love of the ex-MUFC player & hairstyle that resembles the guy, comes from Kota Baru. An island off of Kalimantan with a small-ish population of 80,000 (so I have been told). The students there apparently have less self-esteem and are not confident enough to pursue education & go to University etc. According to our friend there is a stigma held by those living here that they are not as good as the Javanese people and because of this they tend to go into jobs as fishermen or farmers instead. Our friend was very passionate about finding a way to lift their self confidence so he asked if we would come over and talk to students about the importance of education.  So we did. It was not a cheap four day trip by Indonesian standards but it was worth every cent.

We were definately spoilt by our host in Kota Baru & his family. This island must not be very used to foreigners because the cries of 'BULE' (foreigner) rang out pretty loud as we walked around. Ronaldo introduced us to some yummy food such as soto banjar & nasi kuning & we worked on our presentation for the school until 130am. 630am saw us awake for the start of our day. Ronaldo had organised matching t-shirts for us all to wear & if we didn't stand out enough before, we certainly did now. We were photographed plenty of times as usual as we ate our breakfast & then we headed off to our first school- fashionably late as Indonesian's do 'rubber time'. The first school had students around the age of 16, they were very excited to be visted by 3 Australians, a Canadian & a Dutchman. We all gave our own presentation about education & pursuing education. I was very happy as I gave my presentation entirely in Indonesian. I had to read from the paper & Ronaldo had to correct a few mistakes the night before but on the whole I was proud of my language skills still hanging around nine years after high school has finished (nine years, wow!). The students & teachers appreciated my Indonesian & I hoped that showing them what I had gained through education would encourage them to pursue the same. They seem to hold the title of Bidan (midwife) in high regard & we very impressed to hear that was my job. We had question time & then spread ourselves across five groups to talk more intimately with the students. Their english was very impressive once they were over their shyness. We had a massive photo shoot & then headed off to the second school. The second school had older students, maybe 17 to 19 years old. They seemed just as happy to have us there but less excited (perhaps because of their age). Regardless we were all very happy with how it went. Ronaldo was a very good inspiration for the students because he comes from the same island & we spoke at his high school. He managed to work hard to gain a scholarship to study in Java, here in Jogja at one of the best Universities. He was too shy to admit he was the best role model for the students, rather than some westerners who do not have to work so hard or have as many obstacles to get into Uni. Most of the students I spoke to had high goals, which was great to hear but then the problem is how do they get to achieve them? There are limited scholarships, Uni is expensive, there is no Uni on their island and they feel insuperior. If it has been done in the past, ie by Ronaldo, hopefully the students can work hard enough themselves for it. We then had a huge feast at Ronaldo's family home (of which I could eat little, I don't eat seafood here) and headed to the hospital where I had a look through their maternity unit. It was tiny but there were about eight beds squished into one area together, plus a cat or two. Then I guess an assessment room, a labour room & a post natal room which was roomier & had only two beds. They tend to like their VIP sections in hospitals here. It made me miss my work to see small newborns & tired mothers!

Then we jumped on a speed boat, after being followed through the housing area like we were superstars, and after a ride around the coast headed back onto dry land to have a nap before meeting with the 'governer' of Kota Baru. I found it hard to pull myself away to nap because Canada & I were swamped with children who were incredibly cute & maybe aged from 2 years old to 9 years old. Eventually I got away & we got ready to meet with the head of the island. We went to the government house, had a very stiff/awkward time there. I think it was difficult as our group were so tired, it was hard to tell how to treat this man & Ronaldo seemed pretty stoked to be meeting him & it was so formal. He told a few stories about how he thinks global warming is bollucks & then invited us to dinner. The next morning we joined him for breakfast as well as his small entourage. We were photographed & video'd while we had breakfast. I had a bit more energy so I managed to make discussion in Bahasa. It still felt formal &  awkward despite the men being dressed in their Sunday Soprano best.. you know, the kind of clothes that Paulie wears.

After all the formalities we went back to the hotel to pack (I don't think I've ever stayed somewhere with a toilet & mandi so stinky, I barely washed) and said farewell at Ronaldo's home. He only goes back to Kota baru every six months. We headed back to Banjarmasin on our short plane ride & spent the day wandering around & ended up on the quest for beer. It had been a dry weekend. We were taken to a warung where once we placed our order a man scootered off to get the beer. It was twice the normal price but I think beer was rather rare in Banjarmasin. We were all exhausted & napped until beer o'clock. Then got up at 530 to get back to Jogja.

Now I'm back and have bought a cold with me. I am resting up a lot as I have only a week left in Jogja & know the pollution of KL would knock me around if I left sick as I am now. I am excited for the grandprix next weekend! Still need to find accomodation. Will be spending three days in Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo in northern Kalimantan before returning to KL to fly to Chiang Mai to start volunteering for four weeks there. I am nervous about Chiang Mai. I've never been to Thailand & the language freaks me out. I hope the organisation supports me well.

This week in Jogja I will be catching up with friends, some of whom will not be here when I return. Tomorrow night we are hitting up karaoke again, I hope I am better in time for it & then a toga party on Thursday night. Ben heads off to do his eight weeks of development on Tuesday, the day before I leave. He has exams next Monday as well & we will hopefully have an opportunity to have a nice dinner together before we both leave Jogja. Ben will be living in a refugee/temporary camp towards the top of Merapi for eight weeks. He will be sleeping on a concrete floor (needs to buy a sleeping bag) & will have minimal privacy. Alcohol of course will not be allowed or available. The volcano is still steaming but will hopefully behave for eight weeks. He is going to need to rent a scooter to get around. So we are both heading off into interesting times. I am happy to be taking a break from Jogja but will be happy to come back in June.