Sooo, here we go!
1. The House
"If you want to find yourself, get out of your comfort zone first."
Majalengka was where we have been following the community service at. We lived in a house which was owned by an old man and his wife. I was grateful that the house was overall clean.
So every morning, this is what we have been waking up to. Bare ceiling with all the crisscrossing canes and spider cobs formed at the corner of the roof. Water would leak occasionally when it rains. But having a roof over your head is really something one should appreciate enough already.
The water supply in the house was also powered by the electricity. And that is to say, when you have your electricity supply tripped in the house, you will be trapped in the washroom with your halfway shampoo-lathered hair in a complete darkness and... an immediate "water-boycott" until you light up the electricity again. So it's no surprise if you came out from the bathroom after one hour after getting the electricity tripped for 7 times during your shower. Hah.
Going through all these, it did made the experience a little less fun tbh. But I think I was wrong. Instead of that, I think it actually made my stay at this village more meaningful to realise how blessed are all of us everyday. One should be grateful to have a roof over their head and have basic supplies to sustain our human basic physiological needs.
The house owner's wife washing up pots and pans behind the house on the first day we arrived. We also help and wash our own plates and utensils too. Was quite intrigued by this corner of the house because don't you think it's just a "painting-perfect" place?
Drew some caricatures for the 3 sweeties who always come to visit us at our place.
2. Food Connoisseur
"Can trying out different food can be a whole new knowledge?"
"Can trying out different food can be a whole new knowledge?"
A variety of Indonesian cuisine
LEFT; Soto (typical indonesian food)
RIGHT; French fries made by our team head and they taste so close to the ones in Mcd like, seriously!
And to name some of the food that I have tried here:
And my all-time favourite tempe! Many people do not appreciate its taste but yeah, it's actually a really healthy food! (Minus off the oil..)
Rp3000 to satisfy my craving for fresh milk.
3. Jogging
"Run for your life, literally."
The grand list of other food that we have cooked here (hah!):
Fried tempe (goreng/tumis=oseng/mendoan), tofu, bakwan,
soto, kentang balado, nasi lengko, nasi goreng, bihun (beehoon) goreng, telor
dadar, telor balado, nasi lemak/uduk, omlet
(dengan mie instan), terong balado (eggplant), kacang teri balado, ikan
goreng, ikan asin, sayur asem, ayam goreng kecap, sop sayur, tumis sawi,
kerupuk, sardine, tumis kangkung, rebon dan kacang goreng, oncom, mie ayam, kentang
goreng, lodeh, rujak...
And to name some of the food that I have tried here:
Basreng, pisang goreng, martabak, roti bakar, jus
alpukat, onde-onde, es buah, seblak...
3. Jogging
"Run for your life, literally."
So the 6 of us people decided to go jogging one evening from our village. I personally enjoyed the lane that we took for a jog. The sceneries were picturesque and the place was tranquil. Not many vehicles passes by the road and the lane was wide enough too. We also jogged to the paddy field too.
Feasted our eyes on this golden field basked in the lovely sunlight on the sides of the lane we jogged. It was windy and the sun was setting too so we stopped by to take some of the photos here :)
4. Paddy Harvesting
"Blessed are the ones who have rice in their plates."
When it comes to muddy stuffs, never had I ever been enthusiastic about the idea. But this time was an exception.
Reaping > Threshing > Drying
Paddy harvesting is never a clean job but also a dark job. Ermm I mean, you get at least fifty shades darker after exposing yourself under the scorching sun in the afternoon (just exaggeration, chill :P). And getting in contact with the hull of the rice grains may also cause itchiness to your skin. But yeah, no harm of experiencing it for once in your life right?
So, everything was done manually. As you can see the picture from the left, you will have to walk through the thick muddy soil in order to get to the paddies to do the reaping with a sickle. Next after we have cut the paddies from the bottom of straw (above the mud), we collect them together aside and do what it's called the threshing. So this is where you will hold a bunch of the paddies and just hit it onto this wooden grain separator. The paddy grains will fall off from its crop and the grains are later collected into the gunny sacks and voila! Until the grains are being dried in the sun, the paddy grains would then later be dehusked and packed in sacks for sale.
So much of effort just to obtain the rice we consume for everyday.
At their so called "Brick Factory".
After the grains are being deshusked, the husk are then collected to be reused as burning materials. At here, people collect and use them to "cook" the bricks at the factory.
5. Harvesting Onions
We found this while plucking the onions. And if you have been following my instagram, I guess you already know what is this :)
6. To Schools
"The name of the best gift you can give your children is called Education."
The children we taught in our class.
Another group photo of us with the bigger gang again! Look at their smiles!
7. Wanderlust
"If not now, when then?"
Yeah, that's how we travelled. We mastered the art of cramming.
Boat rides, wanna join? :)
Trees, plantations and meadows up the hill in the breezy weather.
Photo taken by my teammate. So in love with this!
And this too :)
Of caves and waterfalls.
8. Independence Day
"A little passion will work its magic in your goal"
In conjunction of the independence day, many traditional games were held for both the children and villagers.
That's basically the highlight of the days we spent at the village. So much for today and..
Thanks for reading!
Till then,
xx
