Sea of Smiles: Pulau Kodingareng

After being over here in Indonesia for nearly five months now, I've been blessed to travel around many beautiful islands and be in the company of people of all backgrounds even more beautiful. But, I've got to say that my favorite place I've been to (so far) is only a couple hour's boat ride away from where I live in Makassar. The name is Pulau (Island) Kodingareng. About two dozen families call this place their home, and their homes are raised three meters on stilts along winding roads paved with crushed coral and sand. It takes about twenty minutes (on the back of a motor scooter), or a two-hour's walk to cover the entire island, but I honestly feel like I could stay there a lifetime. The children of the island greet me with their mega-watt smiles each time I arrive, and run to my boat once they've spotted my blonde hair and white skin. I've spent hours with them, being led hand-in-hand to all of their favorite spots and hideaways on the island, being shown where to find the ripest mango and papaya fruits for a snack afterwards. I spend my nights playing guitar, singing dangdoot songs in Makassar language with the other kids my age, looking up at the night sky. We talk about everything from who likes whom, what we want to be when we grow up, or who has the prettiest sarong. It's tough, though, for the students who have big dreams of going to university or even high school, because there are only enough teachers on the school for an elementary middle school level education, and the nearest high school is on another island a half-hour boat ride away. The only other jobs available are to be either a fisherman or stay at home to raise a family. It's also a unique oppritunity for me to talk to them about the effects climate change has had on their island, like how some fish are becoming scarcer and scarcer, and how the dry season is much longer than before. It's really makes me motivated to get educated and become a person who could really make a difference in conserving places like Pulau Kodingareng.

So for Christmas here, it was actually a lot of fun because I was with the three other exchange students, as well as a few of our Indonesian friends at Akkarena Beach in Makassar. We were singing Christmas songs in Indonesian, Portuguese, English and French with a guitar/tambourine/ukulele combo that was supplied by the Brasilians.
I can't believe how lucky I am to be surrounded by people that love me so much, so selflessly, despite where I've come from, which God I believe in or the color of my skin.

I'm still not sure where I'll be for New Year yet, but I have a feeling it'll be an experience I'll never forget. All of my friends and family in Indonesia are really excited for it so I know I'll have a great time no matter where I'm at.

It's kind of funny, that pretty much everything that I was told at my numerous orientations with the other exchange students, preparing for exchange, hasn't really applied to me much in Makassar. I haven't had a lot of time to miss home since everyday I'm out with friends at the beach, hiking in the mountains, going to school practicing dance or catching up on sleep. Okay, a lot of sleep. I just cant believe how rich my life feels here. Everyday I feel surrounded by endless beauty. The colors, from fuchsia hijabs worn by the women along the streets on their way to the mosque or market, the turquoise and canary yellow sarongs worn by both men and women of the villages. The smells of fried bananas being grilled along the street, doused with brown sugar and wrapped in fresh banana leaves, and the durian  with a thick, prickly shell that when opened reveals a deliciously sweet fruit. The sounds of dangdoot blaring from the speakers of the kaki lima (street vendors) along the side of the road and Bollywood music to be heard from the clothing stores.

I feel at home. 

Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect.

-Native American Proverb 

P.S. My next entry will be entirley of pictures I took from Pulau Kodingareng and of my host mother's village in the mountains. :)