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| Port at Jepara taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
I know maybe it’s a little too late for me to share the story about my days during KKN (Kuliah Kerja Nyata—It’s an obligatory community service program held by my university for undergraduate students from all departments) for 2 months, starting from July-August. But I think it’s important for me to write it down and share it with you since I thought it was one of the most important experiences in my life that influenced my 20s.
Okay, so let’s back up a bit. At first I planned on getting into a group with a community service program that would take place in Papua. But My Mom refused to let me fly out to Papua, said it was too far from home, and that I should just look for another group within Java. Then, Vira—one of my classmates-offered me a spot in her group. So then after that, I officially became a part of the Kemujan team in May and we started to gather around doing tons of research on Kemujan, organizing our trip plans and making work plans for our stay in Kemujan.
In the blink of an eye the day we had been waiting for finally reared its head. We were leaving for Kemujan, Karimunjawa around 9 pm from university. After enduring a six-hour trip on a bus, we finally arrived at a port in Jepara. It was at dawn, with the sky still dark.
5.30 am, and the ticket counter finally opened. We dragged, hefted and loaded our personal belongings onto the boat. Here's a little tip: if you ever go to Karimunjawa on a ferryboat, I suggest not taking a seat in the passenger seat; it would be better if you sit on the floor near the window (don’t forget to bring with you a small mat, so you can lie down and probably sleep while the boat crossing the sea for a good 6 hours). Yes! It took SIX HOURS! Hence the tip. Based on my experience, my whole body was sore because I fell asleep on the passenger seat.
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| The ferryboat : Siginjai taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| The Tickets taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| The Passengers taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| Killing Time taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
On the 12th of July 2014, our quest began. But first, let me go into detail about the team I was on. My team consisted of 30 person, and had been divided into 3 main groups. First group was designated in Jelamun, the second group was appointed in Telaga, and the last one was placed in Batulawang. And me? I was in the Jelamun group.
Now, here's our whole Jelamun team :
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| "Sub Unit Jelamun" Up : Syihab, Ana, Anas, Risya, Diko Down : Mahe, Pitra, Rinop, Me, Doni |
Naturally, we were going to live for two months in Pak Sakim’s residence. He was some sort of an important, honored figure in Jelamun. I think he (and his whole family) were one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, even from the very first day he welcomed us to his home as if we were his own children. Once we'd unpacked our stuff, he promptly took us out for some coconut water! He’d took care of us with all of his sincerity. On this occasion, I think I also should deliver a million thanks to Bu Waginah: Pak Sakim’s wife whose cooking couldn’t be beaten by any other foods in the world, and townfolks who had never tired of helping us.
I do believe that most of you must be quite familiar with Karimunjawa. It’s archipelago just off the north of Java that is popularly known for its beaches. People usually pay a visit to the island on holidays with the sole purpose of embarking on the joy of snorkeling and diving in the breathtaking azure of the ocean surrounding the island. Our KKN activities were held in Kemujan—a village that isn’t as famous Karimunjawa as the main village. FYI, they didn't have the power on before 6 in the evening, and it turned back off when the clock struck midnight. There were no grocery stores in sight (not even farmer's markets, for that matter), there were no streetlights, zero signal whatsoever, and the gas price ranged from 10.000/liter, which was about 3.500 more expensive than the normal price.
We were well into the third week of Ramadhan for our first week of staying. All of us were fasting except for me. Our work plans were not going that well because the townsfolk did their usual routines for only half a day during the month of fasting. Now, it’s important to point out that the rest of the group and I weren’t close at first. But because of the fact that we were “trapped” together in a place that weren’t our home and had never exactly been to, we were gradually getting closer, day by day, and we even started to act like family. We confided in each other about anything and everything, we took care of one another, we got to using ‘corny, disgusting endearments’ like “honey” or “sweetheart” on each other, but we loved it! It took less than a month to know everyone’s character and habits; like who the morning person was, who slept a lot, who ate a lot, who the jester was in the group, what shampoo we used, who showered once every three days, what food one didn’t like, our love lives, who cried in the bathroom after a fight with her boyfriend; we even gossiped behind people’s backs and made fun of them (How cruel!). We even had whose clothes that were hung on the clothesline belonged to imprinted in the back of our minds (or maybe underwear? Oops!). There were lots of moments we were going through. We raved on together about what we deemed as our head of the group’s incapability in handling issues, we got into fights with each other but then ended up laughing, we made fun of each other’s weaknesses, as if we’d known each other for a very long time. On those days I felt like I was living another life, in a completely different world, and it was so much fun. If I could, I would turn back the time to those days.
As it turns out, we were finally able to turn our work plans that we’d put together just a month ago into something solid in the second week. I taught English at a public elementary school, I made posters of English vocabularies (I designed them myself!). The elementary school system there was terrible. There were only less than 10 teachers. The students were really enthusiast every time I introduced a new topic or a series of new English vocabulary.
I also wrote an article on the history of the arrivals of the tribes who now live in Kemujan. (there are five tribes who live in this village: the Javaneses, the Madureses, the Bugineses, the Mandareses, and the Bajo. They’ve lived there for 3 or 4 generations). I enjoyed interviewing the informants about the history of what drove their ancestors to settle in this island. They shared the story with enthusiasm. Maybe I should get the tale out on my next post, no?
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| Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| Madame Risya and the boy we called Smurf Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| Planting Season Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| Whatever as long as they're happy Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| Pitra, Diko and the girl Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| Anas, Rinop, Doni, Me, and The Students Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| Our Pretty Boy - Adam Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| With SD 1 Kemujan' teachers Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| With our beloved sixth grade students, a minute after we said goodbye and bursted into tears Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
We were each immersed in our own
share of workload according to the work plans we’d made. Therefore, when we
were all on a day off at the same time, we got down to the beach and did some
swimming. Actually, there was a beach just 50 meters off the back of the house
we were staying in, but it wasn’t really meant for swimming. So we went for
another beach. The beaches we visited were wonderful. It has multiple layers of
color as same as the picture of the sea that I had on my computer desktop
wallpaper. Even in the sandy, shallow part, you could see fish swimming around
the corals. What I liked the most about the sea were the water which was so
very clear that you could see what lied beneath, and there was no wave, so I
didn’t have to be afraid of the wave sweeping me along into the ocean, because
I can’t swim, like really.
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| Tiny Little Shells, we'd collected from the Beach taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| Our little backyard, toilets, and the well taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| The Boys's Ritual. I was one of their victims :( taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| To survive is to break the rule (Call the police!) taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| one of the annual events to celebrate Eid Mubarak : the husbands played football wearing their wives's dress or sarong taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| Eid Mubarak selfie! (without Rinop and Doni) Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| Eid Mubarak tradition in Kemujan : "Kupatan"--gathered on the beach then sharing foods with neighbors taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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taken with Canon EOS 600D
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| Nine of us, except Mahe, decided to extend our stay for 3 days. This was the morning when Mahe left Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
One time a friend of mine had
asked me which one I liked the most; the mountain or the sea. And with no
hesitancy I answered: of course the mountain! I liked to be anywhere with less
people in it. Since I was born and grew up in Bali, there had always been this
conjured up idea in me that the beach was a place where it was always full of
people, full of strangers, and I hated it. Crowds had scared me. I'd instantly
felt lonely when surrounded by the people I didn't know well. That’s why I'd
always chosen the mountain, because it was quiet, cold, and I could be far away
from noises. But from the moments I’ve been through in KKN, I think I’ve
changed my mind. I loved the beach as much as the mountain. It made me feel
warm inside whenever I watched little waves flow as they tried to reach my
feet. Everything was quiet around there. It was like the whole beach was mine.
I liked to listen carefully to the sounds made by little waves. It washed me
with peaceful calmness, and somehow made me feel better.
When I first had arrived at Pak
Sakim’s, I'd known I would be having a hard time leaving this place. And I'd
right. It took us less than a minute to burst into tears the day we had to
leave back home. We'd fallen in love with this place and not only with the
beaches, the constelations that we could see clearly in the sky every night, or
the sunset that we'd run for every afternoon, but also the warm townsfolk—Mas
Wawan, Mas Bagong, Mas Eko, Mas Santo, Sahal, Kak Ali—who had always been there
for us when we'd needed help or simply when we'd needed someone to beat in a
game of UNO. Maybe they were not well educated, they had no car, they had never
gone to any mall, but they were more grateful than any other person I’d ever
met in the city. They taught me that you can’t measure your happiness by
internet access, by a phone signal, or any other modern stuff. You can only
count your happiness on everything you already have, you can make it come true
even when you think you are trapped in the middle of nowhere.
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| Barakuda Beach Taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| Legon Bajak Port Taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| Pulau Tengah Beach Taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| Batu Putih Beach taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| Mangrove Tracking taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| Pulau Tengah Beach taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| Imagine you sit here for hours watching the sky turns black with your loved one taken with Samsung Galaxy Core Duos |
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| Our after-chasing-sunset Routine. Twice a week Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| I can recall Doni shouted : "Cem, there's a boat!" Then we quickly fetched our cameras and took some pictures. We could rarely find this moment Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| One of the best sunsets I've ever seen. Took place in Telaga Beach Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| You can only find this after sunset scenery in particular times, from certain beaches in Kemujan. I don't know what this phenomenon is called. We happened to be lucky to had ever seen this--twice, the other one is even more wonderful. I got goosebumps when I saw this right in front of my eyes. Taken with Canon EOS 600D |
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| Full Team : KKN Unit JTG-22 Kemujan, Karimunjawa taken with Canon EOS 600D cheers -- Ayu Diah Cempaka |
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