Val here.
We have been here in Solo for two days. It is a relatively untouristed town - at least in the last few years. One is greeted by smiles no matter how hot, how tired, how weary, how young or how old the person on the street. "Salamat Pagi" (good morning) gets an especially appreciative response.
I walk to the palace near our hotel - it has the beautiful name Pura Mankunegaran. I take a tour through the palace and see the area where the royal family entertains and meet the king's brother who is busy arranging costumes for a Wayang - dance performance.
I sit down at the palace performance lobby/stage - it is open air and listen to the gamelan. The dancers come to rehearse and am am lulled by the graceful subtlety of their movements to the quiet gamelan and high pitched but melodic female singers.
The dancers leave and I lean against a post and slowly fall into a light sleep. But wait - someone is speaking to me. Beside me appear two beautiful girls in headscarves with their more confident young male friend. they ask me the usual - where I am from, how long I have been in Solo, where am I staying. We chat for a while and Arieh comes to join us. We chat for a while longer and the girls introduce themselves as Laila and Ita. They are University students who are about to go into education. They declare that they would like us to come to their homes. Saoud, their friend was at one time a guide at the palace, but when the tourists no longer came he had to sell his house and now produces music on diskettes. The three will pick us up on scooters tomorrow at 9 AM if we don't mind. We don't mind!
Sure enough, at 9 the next morning, the three friends come to take us to their village. We clmb onto the back of the scooters and head out to the village of Sukoharjo near Solo. First we visit Laila. Her mother, a quiet but smiling housewife has prepared wonderful local treats for us: longtan, sweets, rice rolled around jackfruit and chillies and cooked in banana leaves, etc. etc.
Unfortunately we had eaten breakfast but we all enjoyed the spread. We then headed out to visit a glass factory, a small furniture making facility. We then observed how they make bricks and how they prepare tofu (pity the vegetarians!). We then proceeded to Laila's very modest brick home. Her father, she explained was at one time a becak rider (bicycle rickshaw), but now sells chickens in the morning and makes and sells bricks at other times. she apologized for the modesty of her home but presented us with rambutans to eat and hot or cold tea.
Two days later, Laila and Ita came to our now luxury hotel. they were delighted to see the facilities and the pool. We went out for dinner together and they told us about thier boyfriends and their country's food and their hopes and dreams. they wanted us to come to their class at the mosque and meet their students.
Today we met their lovely young and older students. Arieh did a question and answer thing with the older students, I taught the little ones three songs: head and shoulders knees and toes, Where is the house, And Tommy Thumb is up. What lovely attentive children. It was a joy to meet them.
Laila would like to travel to Canada and the world if only she had money. l she commented on how hard her father works so that life will be better for her and her sister. Ita was concerned that we thought all Muslims were terrorists. She has a soft and lovely manner about her but an iron resolve to finish her education before she marries her boyfriend.
It was truly a joy to spend time with these young women (21 years old) and their friends, family, and students. We shall long remember Solo and these lovely ambassadors.
1 comment:
What generous people, inviting you into their homes. Hearing about how they value education and schooling is wonderful. Many students here take their education for granted, so it is heartening to meet children who want to learn and parents who will work harder to make it happen. And now, for the serious question: how DO they make tofu?
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