Brief Explanation and What I've Been Up To! (Pictures included)

I know what you're all thinking. Where are these fantastic posts that I should've been posting throughout my time here? I'm getting ready to complete my third month and I haven't posted ONCE since being in Indonesia.

It's true, I don't have Wi-Fi that I can use whenever I please, but that's no excuse.

True, there was a period of three weeks where I was sick and didn't even want to get out of bed, but still, no excuse.

And also, there was a point in time where I wasn't sure if I wanted to be here anymore. And when I tried to start a blog post, I felt like I was either posting just the good parts or too much of the bad parts, and not enough in between.

So that's my explanation, and it's not a very good one, but I'll give you guys highlights of what I've been up to since arriving in Indonesia (in chronological order!)

August:

-Myself and the six YES Abroad students boarded our flight to Indonesia out of JFK in New York City.

-We arrived in Tokyo after an extremely grueling flight, ready to board another plane for 6-7 more hours, where we'd land in Jakarta!

-When we landed it was a little after midnight and my first view of Jakarta was rather dark and quiet. The Americans were the last ones to arrive, and when we finally got to the orientation site all of the other exchange students from the different countries had already arrived. There were 31 of us, and we weren't able to meet any of them until the morning!

My first Indonesian meal! Eggs, rice, and noodles!

Our beautiful orientation site!

My awesome Amazing Race team! The man in the middle was a stranger who we had to ask questions to in our limited Indonesian!

-After a few days of orientation (which included learning a traditional Indonesian dance, playing Amazing Race across an Indonesian theme park, going to the US Embassy, and meeting cool people from all over the world!) we had a welcome party, where some of us got to meet our host families! I met mine!

-The day after my host mother picked me up, she took me with her to 'work', to a mountain range where they have a little dairy farm. I got up close and personal with a cow.  

 

I never caught his/her name but I mean...this picture's priceless.

September:

-I started school. I don't have any pictures from starting school because...well, I was in school, but I do have some pictures of my uniform, which is coming later. But I do have a picture of the school!

It was a Saturday, so no one was wearing uniforms.

-I got homesick. Very, very homesick. But I was holding on!

-I saw Barack Obama's elementary school!

See! He's even got a plaque!

Here's a statue of Obama as a boy!

-I went to Monas, the national monument (the top is all made of gold), and the largest mosque in South East Asia!

Here I am in front of Monas with my host sister and host mom (ibu)!

This was a pic of me in front of the church across the street from the mosque!

The mosque's entrance!

-I hung out with the other Jakarta exchange students! Always a fun time when we're together.

Anna and I visited a few museums, and this was my favorite picture of the day!

We went to Grand Indonesia! From left to right: Ezrah, me!, Anna, Gita (Helene's contact person), Yusuke, and Helene (actually from Bekasi, which is so close to me that she came anyways!)

The Jakarta Kids at our post arrival orientation! Aren't we cute? Left to right: Ezrah (Belgium), me!, Anna(Spain), and Yusuke(Japan)!

-I somehow ended up on an Indonesian TV show? Three times, actually, but this was the first time (I'm wearing my Thursday uniform, which is batik and our white skirts).

These are some of my schoolmates and I after we had just won the big academic competition!

October:

-I 'celebrated' Eid Al-Adha with my family. And by celebrated, I mean I just took a whole bunch of pictures. Warning, these pictures are mildly graphic, so skip on ahead to November if you don't want to see!
  Now some people may take this wrong, but it isn't just some random holiday in which they slaughter animals for no reason. No, in fact it is to represent the story of sacrifice in which Abraham trusted god and was going to sacrifice his son for him. They sacrifice these animals in a quick and easy fashion (after praying), then immediately chop up the meat to give bags of to the poor. It's actually a wonderful tradition--just not for those with a light stomach.

Lots of animal skins left over once they took out the meat.

This was before I left, and when I returned there were about 10 or so more cow heads.

They were cutting up the bones, I believe.

 -For the rest of this month I was sick in bed. About three weeks of doing nothing. It wasn't a really fun time and I didn't take any pictures since they would've only been of me doing nothing. Hahaha.

November:

-I turned 17 and received my Indonesian name: Novitasari!

-I spent time with the Jakarta kids and Helene and Victoria at Plaza Indonesia, where we enjoyed a little dinner.

-I got to see Disney LIVE! in Jakarta--a play done all in English! It may have been for kids, but it was definitely worth seeing. 

I didn't take any pictures this month (as of yet) because I was just getting over my sickness and trying to get over homesickness, and I've been trying to live through my eyes and not through my camera lens.



So that's what I've been up to! I hope that somewhat makes up for the lack of posting, and I hope everyone gets a feel for what I've been doing my last few months. For friends and family, check my facebook to see a ton more pictures (it takes forever to upload them onto my blog)!

Sampai jumpa lagi,
(See you soon!)

-Baillie 

Host Family, Travel Notification, and Vaccine Victory?

Oh my. So much has happened since I last posted. I decided I'd wait to post everything until I got my host family, but now I wish I had split it into more parts. We'll get to the host family in a moment!

First, I have my travel notification! That's right, I'll be leaving to New York City on August 20th (32 DAYS), saying goodbye to my family and friends, and spend the day at our gateway orientation. I believe we have our orientation with another country, which will be cool! After the gateway orientation, the next day our flight to TOKYO (yes, you read that correctly) will leave at 12:30 and we'll fly all the way across the U.S. and the Pacific to get there. Once there, we'll hop on a plane to Jakarta and arrive on August 22nd. How amazing?

I can barely contain my excitement. Everything has gotten much more real...but not yet tangible, so it still feels a bit surreal. Now onto the news you've been waiting for...HOST FAMILY.

I was feeling a bit down. I had to go get my vaccines early on the morning of July 17th, and found out I had missed my appointment due to a mix-up. I had already had a semi-upsetting week, waiting by my computer all day to see if I got a host family email, which didn't happen. It was really disappointing.

However, after getting home and attempting to nap (which I couldn't do, because of constantly getting emails from random places), I sat in bed as my nook went off. I expected another random email, but instead saw this: YES Program: Your Permanent Host Family Placement with AFS-Indonesia.

I will be living in East Jakarta! Yes, that Jakarta, with the tall buildings, and plenty of things to do? 

Here's a map of Indonesia, with Jakarta labeled.

Here's how Jakarta is split up!

I'm so excited to go there! It may have a lot of tourists, which will force me to work harder to learn more Indonesian, but it's a city that gives me access to so many things!

My host family seems awesome! I can't wait to meet them. I have a father, mother, grandmother, sister, and brother, an almost replica of my family back home (though I don't have a brother that lives with me)! They love doing weekend activities, and my sister likes choir, something I love! My mother also seems to like to do community work, which is also one of my favorite things. I can't wait to meet them, they seem like wonderful and fun people.

I've briefly emailed my host mother, and she wants me to call her Ibu! I'm so excited, I can't wait to meet them all. A month is so long to wait...but just enough time.

Back to the vaccines, I still got a victory! I found a place where I can get Japanese Encephalitis, which I couldn't find anywhere! I'll be getting my vaccines next week.

Lastly, I've began packing. It feels crazy to start now, but I feel it's absolutely necessary. I've bought all the shirts (amazing sale at JC Penney's!) for my trip, as well as a humongous suitcase--I'll upload a vlog on that later.

Speaking of vlogs, I hope to receive my new camera soon, so I can make really nice ones. Then I can document this process. Can't wait!

Sampai jumpa lagi!

-Baillie

National PDO

Talk about an exciting week! This week was our National Pre-Departure Orientation. YES Abroad students gathered to our nation's capital--it was the last time we'd all be together in one place.

I arrived by plane to the Dulles airport where I was greeted by friends and other YES Students, all excited to start off this trip. We had no idea what to expect, just that it would be fun and a lot of work. It was definitely both. Definitely.

The second day of our stay was full of long workshops that were both informative and helpful, but LONG. It was alright, though. I met all of the Indonesia group, and we took a group shot!

From left to right (top row then bottom row): Sara (Our group leader), Aiden, Me!, Helene, Madison, Victoria, and Lindsay.

As you can see, we were all excited to take a break from our workshops and get a chance to take this shot. I was so excited to meet them all! I knew the names, but not the faces or personalities. Let me just say that I have an excellent group, and we're going to have a GREAT year in Indonesia. I can't wait to see them again in August for our Gateway Orientation!

We talked a lot about cultural differences we would run into and how to handle them. I was super excited to learn all of that. I feel a bit more prepared for my exchange now that I've not only talked in depth about what we may face, but also got a chance to talk to my group leader who is an alum who went to our country and could give us her experiences. That made these workshops fun and easy to get through.

The third day of PDO was to be our Embassy Visit Day. I faced one of my first disappointments as an exchange student, though minor. Indonesia was not going to our embassy. It wasn't a huge deal, but I did want to go and practice my Indonesian there. Luckily we went to a museum full of Asian art. That was great, and there was plenty to learn and see. I also got to get well acquainted with some group members, and that was the most fulfilling part of that trip.

Here are some pictures:

There were lots of cool things to see beyond these few pictures I shot. I really enjoyed this part of my morning. So much so, that I forgot how early in the morning it was to take this selfie with my friend Brandon (Thailand) on the bus!

I didn't know the flash was on, nor that the picture had been taken. Who cares, we're still too fab for words.

Also, outside of the museum and in front of the Smithsonian Castle, Indonesia group took another picture: this time with a real flag!

We were so excited to get that flag!

 After that was our Department of State visit! We loaded back on the bus and drove down to the Department of State, only to realize we were an hour early. So we took a walk to the park and chilled in the grass for an hour to kill some time. After we had completely relaxed from our morning excursions, we walked back to the Department of State building. I won't go into too much detail on what happened there, but it was very interesting and I believe we learned a lot!

Next we headed off to the Lincoln Memorial to take that well-known group shot that seems to be infamous each year. And boy was it great:

No, no. That wasn't the real group shot. I mean, it was a group shot, but it was taken after we took this amazing one.

Your YES Abroad class of 2014-2015!

Yes, don't we all look great? I can tell you that everyone was looking forward to this shot. I love it.

After this shot, Indonesia took one quick group photo, and then we were back on the bus and to the hotel. Our last day of PDO was tomorrow, and I was honestly feeling a bit down about that. I really wanted to stay longer with these wonderful kids, but it wasn't meant to be. At least I'll be seeing Indonesia again very soon in August!

Our last day was full of goodbyes and there was a mixed feeling of happiness and sadness in the air. We had to say goodbye to the Philippines, who are headed off as I type! And then another goodbye to the groups heading out the next week and so on. I think it really wasn't a goodbye, though. I believe if we want too, we will all meet up again. Fingers crossed.

So overall, PDO was great. I learned a lot, met more people (all of the Indonesia group, except Victoria, were people I hadn't met at IPSE!), and realized just how real this exchange is! It hasn't fully blasted me that I'll be spending a year in another country, but it should soon. Right now I'm reliving my time so far and getting ready for the year ahead. I don't have much more to say, except good luck to all of those traveling now, and halo to my Indonesia group. You guys are great. In memory of that short lived chant our Indonesia table had:

Satu, dua, tiga: Indonesia Raya!
(One, two, three: Great Indonesia!)

Until next time,
Selamat Tinggal!

-Baillie

Regional PDO and Getting Ready to Go!

God, it feels like a year ago when I got the notification that I was going to be spending my junior year in Indonesia.

I still have so much to do, and so much to learn, but I thought I'd give an update on how things are going!

Last night I left my home at 2:00 A.M. to take the 3 1/2 hour drive to Raleigh, NC where my Regional PDO was taking place. With only a few hours of sleep I arrived on the campus of a university where my orientation was taking place. There were only a few students there who were going abroad, but luckily there were also a lot of current exchange students to talk to (we'll get to them later).

"Costa Rica."

"China."

"Argentina."

"Norway."

"Japan."

"India."

The list went on as people named interesting and popular destinations. Each place seemed a little special to the person saying it. It seemed that each student received a smile of glee or awe as they named the country and their duration. When I stood up and said "Indonesia, for a year," the reaction was a bit different. People seemed to know so little about it, or just found it an odd place to choose to go.

When we had a one-on-one group talk with returnees and students getting ready to go abroad, the students' reactions were much better. When I repeated my country, I heard a couple of "Wow's" and "That's so cool." That made me happier and more relaxed. We talked about many different topics ranging from host families to support, and got a little insight to what it would be like as an American exchange student.

After that session we joined students who were in America and would be returning home soon. It was interesting to see their perspective of the U.S. and how different or similar things were for them. Unfortunately, Indonesia was not represented today by any returnees/current exchange students. But I was still glad I went. It was fun and informative.

Now onto the nitty-gritty. I've still gotten none of my immunizations, but I have gotten my passport. I've also been trying super hard to figure out what's going to go on with the credits, but that really can't be determined until I have a host school.

I've practiced my Bahasa Indonesia a bit, but I am procrastinating with all the exams and state tests I have coming up. Still, I've made time to make flashcards and practice when I have nothing to do.

I've also had some time to visit NYC. That was great! It not only helped me get used to those awkward "I-don't-know-where-I-am-but-I'm-trying-to-navigate-this-big-city" moments, but also helped me realize that seeing the world is not only in another country but also in your backyard! Everyday I now I take the time to appreciate something about my hometown or my city or my state, trying to take on the perspective of someone who's never been. You'll be surprised at all the things you'll see or amazing things you'll experience by stepping out and trying.

Overall, it's been a pretty laid-back month getting ready for exchange. I feel the next couple of months will be busier with a lot more to update about. But for now, that's all that's been going on with me!

Until next time,

Baillie.

Selamat tingaal! 

I'm going to Indonesia! (From IPSE and Beyond!)

That is the flag of my future home!


I can't believe it, I'm going to Indonesia!

I'm going to try to make this post sum up the past month of my life in the most timeliest of manners, so bear with me.

On Feb.28th, at around 9:40 P.M EST, while getting a new haircut, I received an email on my Nook HD. The little notification popped up and stated:
Yes Abroad: Semi Finalist Notification-ACTION REQUIRED.

I couldn't contain my excitement. I was literally shaking. The email read that to keep my semi-finalist status I had to attend the mandatory In Person Selection Event (otherwise known as IPSE), and they didn't have to tell me twice!

Within 3 weeks, I found myself at a train station, hugging my dad goodbye while clutching my brown duffel bag in my right fist. The conductor gathered my luggage and put it up in the train, waiting for me to come aboard. I found my seat moments later, and anxiously text my family that I was on the train, and had succeeded in keeping a seat all to myself.
The train ride was extremely long, but that was most likely because I was so nervous! I did message some friends thanks to AmTrak's free wifi, but time did not fly any faster, especially considering I had a 30 minute delay in Richmond.

When I arrived at D.C.'s Union Station, I was happy to see I had successfully memorized the map enough to easily find the police kiosk, where I met with the chaperones who would be leading us to the 4H center. They were really nice, and I was super excited to get this weekend started! (My introduction was a bit awkward, considering they thought I had been wandering around the station because my train was 30 minutes late. I had to explain about the delay.)

Moments later, my friend Victoria (Indonesia as well!), whom I had met on facebook before hand, appeared beside me and we shared a hug. The rest of the group started appearing, and we decided to have lunch on the other side of the station before our Super Shuttle arrived. My new friend Ama (also Indonesia!) convinced me to try Chipotle for the first time, and I was glad I did. After all, YES is all about trying new things, and Chipotle was definitely something new for my taste buds.

We arrived at the 4H center where after signing in, I ran into Lili (Bosnia) and Brandon (Thailand) whom were also Facebook buddies. I got to spend the weekend with lots of awesome people, and they helped me get through my interviews and group evaluations without a hitch. There was so many positive people, that the weekend was so great, I can't even explain it! Here's my favorite picture from the weekend:

From left to right (top row, then bottom) we have: Lili (Bosnia), Abeeha, Brandon (Thailand), Me(Indonesia!), Faber (Macedonia), Andrew (South Africa), Trecia, Victoria (Indonesia), Leah (Turkey), and Va'Trelle.

 

This group, plus Ama, were my good friends that weekend. We had so much fun together, and were all super supportive of each other! I'm so proud of all of us!

So then we had this excruciatingly long (or so it seemed), wait. The guess was we'd receive our notifications by Friday, April 11th, based off of the past years. But we were all sorely disappointed when nothing graced our inboxes.

Finally, the next morning, around 11 AM EST, notifications began coming out! Unfortunately, rejections came out first (for the first time, but the reasoning is understandable: not everyone wants to watch their friends get accepted, then wait and wait and find out they were rejected). My friends and I messaged each other nervously, and some of them were sad to find the email in their inbox. I called my mother and father, who were both away from home at that moment, to tell them that notifications were coming out, and at that moment I was in the clear.

Then around 12 PM, alternates began coming out. I suspected if I hadn't gotten a rejection, I was going to get an alternate. There was no way I was making it into the program!

I waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing came to my inbox. My mother told me she'd call me if she got an email. I waited and waited some more. Around 1 PM, a student got accepted into Bosnia. Did this mean I was in, since acceptances were now coming out? I prayed that was the case, I wanted this so bad! Email after email came out for Bosnia. Then my phone rang. I saw it was my mother, and at that moment I checked my inbox. All I could do was scream when I answered the phone. The subject read:

YES Abroad Program- Indonesia

I ran around the house without even opening the email, flying up and down the stairs and screaming to my grandmother I had gotten in. After my 15 second show, I ran back to my computer and told my friends that I had gotten Indonesia! We were all so excited as acceptance after acceptance rolled in!

Today, the day after I received my email, I sent in my acceptance forms. Now I just have to wait for AFS Indonesia to accept me, and I'm officially going to Indonesia!

I can't even explain how I feel. It's so beautiful and wonderful and I'm so thankful for the opportunity. I can't wait to begin my year (it's a whole 11 months!), and I'm so excited to be reunited with my friends at the Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO). This year is going to be rocking!


-Baillie

Veni. Vidi. Vici.

The title makes much more sense if you've taken Latin.
Veni. Vidi. Vici.
The famous words of the great Julius Caesar.
They translate to this:
I came. I saw. I conquered.

And that's how I feel.

I don't even remember writing that post I apparently wrote last year. I just remember always saying I would apply, and try, and try.

The summer was full of my attempts at practicing writing essays (I tried to apply to AFS's scholarship to Japan. But my heart wasn't fully set on it); reading tons of blogs, and figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.

The day the YES Abroad Application came out, I flew to my laptop and began writing essays. It became draft after draft after draft, most of the original scraps of my essays saved on a file and bits and pieces can be found in the final drafts. During the process, I also applied for NSLI-Y, my heart set on South Korea.

Perhaps I should explain what these programs are.

Kennedy-Lugar Yes Abroad

  
This is a wonderful program funded by the U.S. Department of State, to take 65 students from the United States of America, to Muslim populated countries. The goal of the program is to create cross-cultural understanding, as well as intercultural learning experiences to all those involved. This amazing scholarship not only sends United States students abroad, but also students from various Muslim populated countries, to the United States for a year!
For those who are wondering, the countries the U.S. sends are as follows:
India, Indonesia (that's where I'm headed!), Thailand, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Macedonia*, Philippines*, Malaysia, Ghana, South Africa, Morocco, Oman, Egypt**, Tunisia**, and Mali**.

*These two countries were just added this year, so some lucky students get to be pioneers for these countries!
**These countries were deemed unsafe by the U.S. Department of State, and were terminated for the 2014-15 academic year, though they may open up in the future!

In addition, this program lets you rate the countries you like in the order of which you'd most like to go, but the choice is based off of what the YES team feels like is a good fit for you. Indonesia was my original first, though India stole the official spot for my application. But all those feelings about Indonesia I had months before are flooding back. I'm in love.
This program is competitive in my opinion, but in others it's easier to get into than the one below.

National Security Language Initiative for Youth

This is an equally phenomenal program that allows students to venture into the wonderful world of languages! While students will live in another country for a year, the main focus is to learn languages that were said to be critical by the United States.
A few hundred students will venture abroad, but the country choice is not up to them. Depending on the languages you apply for (you can only apply for up to 3), and how long you choose to go (NSLI-Y offers summer and year programs, as opposed to YES which only offers year).
The programs offered are:
Russian, Persian*, Chinese, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, and Hindi.

*Persian is only offered for a summer program.

For Chinese you may be placed in China or Taiwan. Arabic, perhaps Oman or Morocco, or even Jordan! The list goes on depending on what language you are chosen for, and where you are placed!
This program is very competitive, with over 3500 applicants for this year alone.


_________________________________________________________________________________

I suppose I should also mention CBYX, the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange, though I know very little about it! It is also a Department of State scholarship, that sends students from all across the country to Germany for a year. This program lets you work on the language, as well as form a stronger relationship with Germany. All of my friends who applied received this scholarship, so I'm not sure on the competitiveness! I did not apply to this program.




So those are all of the programs, and I am happy to say that the K-L Yes Abroad Team has chosen me to represent my country with 3 other girls, in Indonesia!

I can't even explain my super awesome excited-ness. I'll explain all of that in another post, but right now I just want to say that I did in fact go to IPSE (The In Person Selection Event), I saw all of the wonderful, deserving people, and somehow I conquered by triumphing and succeeding in becoming a scholar! I can't wait to get this year started!



-Baillie