Sultan #9 vs King #10

As I entered my name and related information into my homestay parent's guestbook after tonight's dinner, it struck me how fortunate we all are to be half way around the world fully immersed in a foreign culture. My name is one among nearly 200 individuals from around the world in their book, but the father assured us that our faces and names would not be forgotten. From what I have gathered about the Indonesian people is that they are some of the most personable individuals I will ever come across. It has been mentioned before in the blog, but this has been one of the underlining points that has made our trip so enjoyable thus far.

This trend continued with our trip to Solo today. I can't tell you anything about the trip over since I was passed out in the back of the van for its entirety (our American desires for sleep and food have followed us everywhere), but the day's activities were very interesting. We began at the Kraton Kasunanan Solo, the King of Solo's palace. Everywhere Mas takes us we seem to be granted VIP access (he is royalty after all). This provided us the chance to see the room where important guests are entertained when visiting Solo. The tour was complete once Mas filled the air with an enchanting performance on the harp which he finished off with a tune on a flute. We also visited Pura Mangkunegaran, another palace. It is strange to me walking around the dwellings of royalty, shoes off of course, but doing so continues to provide insight into the lives of the varying classes of Indonesian people. Today, as with all days, we were bombarded by a variety of people selling a variety of goods on the street. Contrasting these livings with my own is very humbling. Our daily discussions have helped to shed light on this topic though and have been a great means for learning about ourselves and eachother.

The afternoon was spent shopping at a batik store and museum. The cultural experience of it was interesting, but it was unable to hold my attention for quite as long as others. Thankfully my childhood background includes many shopping trips with four women... experience that is apparently invaluable worldwide. It's way past my bedtime at this point (10:42 local time), so I'll sign off. Selamat Malam!

-Jake