Ternate Indonesia!

I’m a Celebrity

(Along with every other white person visiting Indonesia)

            So my day in Ternate, Indonesia was so much better than I had anticipated. Everyone who went on the “city tour” days before me were saying it was “ok”, “eh” and “nothing to see”. PLEASE. We’re at the opposite end of the earth from home! I think there is something to see in Indonesia no matter how small the city is. And oh how right I was.

            So our tour- prearranged by the ship- started at an old Portuguese fort overlooking the bay of the city.  It faced a beautiful island that housed an active volcano that took up the entire island. It was built in the 17^th century, pretty cool-the fort that is.  That’s where I met one of the translators for the ship, an Indonesian guy named Rusli. I’m really glad we made friends because it came in handy in about 1 hour in the future.

            Then we stopped at the “Sultan’s Palace” a building built in 1816 for the Sultans of Indonesia. Yeah, it was big, but you would never think a SULTAN would live there. It was quite surprising. I was expecting something more from the movie Aladdin. It was a simple yet large house with a huge run-down fountain garden area in the front and a large backyard with too many couches to sit on in the backyard area.  We walked around inside, looked at some old metal helmets made in the 1500’s (wow, how do they make such detailed beautiful work? I was impressed) and then took off.  The Sultan works and lives in Jakarta, but he comes to this place on his Bday.

            Next stop- one more Portuguese fort. This time it was perched at the top of a huge hill, overlooking the coast as it towers above all the bright colorful little buildings around it.  While we were up there, the call to prayer sounded from one of the local Mosques.  Mosques in Ternate (and I assume most of Indonesia) are found as frequent as churches in Utah. Every corner has another one.  Indonesia is 88% Muslim, and 8% Christian, so there is a lot of modesty going around.  Most women have their hair covered and wear long sleeve shirts with pants. 

            Ok if you’re going to read this blog, this is the section to read. HOLY COW, we went to the beach and it WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We walked along this gorgeous path that was paved along the edge of the land.  Below us were lava rocks, and to the left of us were palm trees and green green plants everywhere.  We came to our last bend in the path and BOOM! Again like in Guam, all of the sudden this gorgeous beach attacked from nowhere.  The sun came out and lit up the water, it was clear, blue and then in certain sections it was 4 different shades of blue in all different places.  Here is where Rusli comes in.  I was just taking pictures, walkin around, when Rusli and a guy from our tour said, “Hey, we’re going to go out on this boat, wanna come?” YES. I do! So wait a minute this all sounds sketch.  We were in this teeny tiny bay and were in a huge group and there were people from the group all around. There were 2 stands at this beach. One for food, and one guy selling inner tubes (25 cents) and canoes- Hawaiian style- wooden, with those “training wheels” type pieces of wood that stick out from the sides to stabilize it.  Complete with wooden paddles.  That cost $2, and they didn’t expect me to pay any of it. So nice!   So the guys, Rusli and Sam, sat at the ends of the canoe and I sat comfortably in the middle as we paddled out into turquoise water in the beautiful sun. Don’t worry, I pitched in my manpower and paddled to do my part…for 5 mins.  After awhile I jumped out and swam around and put my goggles on and saw angelfish, parrot fish, and cute little electric-blue fish you see in aquariums.  Oh boy, what a glorious day.  Oh wait, then Rusli kept on being super cool and bought fried bananas with salsa- a local dish, and it was SO GOOD.  Then he got a coconut where you stick a straw into it and slurp away and he let me have some. SO NICE.  I love Indonesians.

            Ok so this is why I felt like a little celeb.  As I was walking back to the tour bus, which is about 4 mins, adoring fans mobbed me. Not really, but kind of. In remote places in Indonesia, they LOVE, and I can’t emphasize this more, REALLY LOVE to take pictures with white people. It’s a pastime of theirs. If you have white skin, you’re going to be in about 50 indonesians' cameras or cell phone wallpapers. Minimum. I probably took pictures with about 100 people, no joke.  A huge crowd of mothers with babies, little children, and teenage girls and guys all wanted their picture with me, so now I’m in a bunch of random Indonesian pictures.  The girls are so funny, they wrapped their arms around my waist and got as close as possible.  At the end of the day, our bus dropped us off at a mall, and, once again, the picture taking begun.  I would walk into stores to look at the clothes, but then all the workers and/or shoppers wanted pictures with me. Once again, it wasn’t just me, I’m not on an ego trip. This happens to everyone.  But it was such a funny experience.

            Then it monsooned once we stepped outside of the mall, but apparently, rainy season doesn’t start until DECEMBER. Ummm, “dry season” is a misnomer for sure.  It poured harder than I’ve ever seen, but then again I AM from SD. But still, it was crazy. Everyone who didn’t find cover got soaked through.  As we ran/walked from the bus to the boat to take us to the ship, my shoes were absolutely saturated like sponges and I loved it.  The boat ride back was super tumultuous and adventurous feeling.  Thanks, Ternate, you’re great.

POLLYWOG NO MOREEEE!!!!! I’m an official shellback

I can’t believe I just went through what I did. It all seems like it was a funny dream.  Here we go- apparently it is an old tradition in maritime history to haze sailors who cross the equator for the first time.  Newbies are called “pollywogs” and experienced sailors are called “shellbacks”.  Back in history, the hazing was gross, violent, and gross again.  Nowadays, its all in good fun and harmless.  So 2 days ago, the ship got ready for the “crossing the line” ceremony.  The night before, every department on the ship had to have a skit ready to perform for the shellbacks’ entertainment.  Our group used MJ’s “Beat it” song and redid the lyrics.  Holy crap, the navy is a tough crowd. Every single act except for 2 got boo’d.  And if you were reeeeally bad, they made you do pushups. Luckily our group came away with being boo’d only.  Did I mention the whole ship dressed up as pirates for the occasion? Oh yeah. It was awesome. Everyone did SUCH a good job. People had stuffed animal monkeys or parrots on their shoulders, eye patches, hats, fake beards, swords (made with cardboard and tin foil) . one guy even invented a peg leg out of a toilet plunger. This was no girl’s camp skit. This was legit.

            So we performed and then went to bed in wondrous anticipation for the following day.

            5:00 am. Pots and pans awoke us with yells that we had 5 mins to be ready and all pollywogs had to get in line.  5 mins was a joke. We had about 1 min.  All of us slept in our clothes (which had to be inside out and backwards) because we knew we had no time. So no toothbrushing or makeup luxuries were going to happen. I strapped rags to my knees with duct tape and got in line.  Then on our hands and knees we went up the 2 flights of stairs and waited in the hall way as the torture began.  For an hour and a half the shellbacks paced the halls making us sing songs, making people run down the halls pretending to be airplanes, or Beyonce etc.  The reason we had to wait so long was because hundreds and hundreds of people were taking part. I had no idea what a big deal it was, but there were people there who had served over 18 years in the NAVY and they were still pollywogs. EVEN CAPTAIN Paulson! Haha I can say I was equal to the captain in one way- we were fellow pollywogs. Anyway, after the hour and a half wait, I got to the front of the line and started the physical exertion part. They made us do pushups, sit ups, jumping jacks etc etc. since I’m in excellent condition, it was easy. Just kidding, it was just really watered down because we’re on a hospital ship, it could have been a lot worse.

            Then we had to crawl up the ramps to the top of the ship on our hands and knees through sludge of jelly and go through obstacles.  When we got to the top where the galley is, I was so relieved- Breakfast time.  I was so hungry. And so wrong to think that breakfast meant break time.   I just wanted a simple pancake. They decided to give me the “house special”- everything. This included oatmeal, hashbrowns and meat, syrup, and eggs slushed into one paper bowl. Then we had to eat it while on our stomaches with no hands. As I got my 4^th bite of oatmeal in, the lady with a mop came by my food and bumped into the bowl, ending my eating time. That’s ok, I’m not a huge fan of the house special.  

Then it was time to go outside. Once again, on hands and knees, they hosed us down. With firehoses, they sprayed us with sea water and once again, put us through an obstacle course ( don’t worry, it wasn’t too bad)  I’ll save all the details for time’s sake but I’ll just tell you the grossest psychological horror I faced- we had to put our face in a bowl of dirty water and fish out a whistle with just our mouths and then blow it before heading on to the next station.  Yeah, it took me about 5 tries. I’m trying to forget that happened.  Oh and one more thing- a couple of shell backs i’m friends with decided that I should start over 3 times!  But its ok. Some people had to go back 14 times. Bless their souls.  Oh man, I have more to say but I’ll keep it “short”.  It was so fun.  Let me just say, my shower afterwords was so wonderful I would have paid $100 bucks to take it.  So now….I’m a certified SHELLBACK. Yeeeah.

I want more Singapore

Ok, Singapore was one of the coolest places I’ve ever been.  What a shocker city. I felt like I was in a movie of the future.  We were only there for 4 days as a Navy morale booster after working so hard in Cambodia, and our LDSC group took advantage of every day.

To start with, Singapore is so much like the States in richness level, but it has its own Asian influence.  The city is all A: Hotel Skyscrapers, B: HUGE MONSTER malls, or C: Apartments.  Each building is incredibly unique.  Either its shape is super different and weird, or the decorations on the building are super cool, or they add lights to it and give your eyes a lot to look at. Everywhere you look is a postcard picture. Every street has huge rows of green towering trees and greenery filling in any space. The city is super lush and tropical. It is so beautiful. 

Alright DAY 1: RAINFOREST ADVENTURE

            We took the MRT (monorail public transportation) to a section of town and got out and walked about 10 mins and found the start of our trail. It’s a park right in the city, but this was no central park.  It is a JUNGLE in the city. Once you enter, you only hear sounds of monkeys, or bugs, or just beautiful silence (which is non-existant on the ship) and you are surrounded by green everywhere. We walked and walked like pioneer children for about 2 hours and came across our goal- the canopy bridge!!!  They had a suspension bridge that crossed the canopy so we could look out and see the miles of forest we were surrounded in.  We had to face the guardian of the bridge before we could cross- an angry monkey. He decided to let us cross after showing his teeth.  The view was incredible.  We walked another hour and came out of the park and then BAM you’re right back in the city and buildings come out of nowhere.  Like a popup book. So then we went to a “Hawker Center” to get food. Its just an outdoor food court where the stores line up in a ring and you eat at tables in the center.  All the food was wacky asian food.  I could have gotten fried chicken feet, but then a beautiful thing happened. Me, Georgia, and Amy found a little jem.  We found an Indian food stall and ordered from there the best meal I’ve had probably this whole year.  Murtabak+prata+ Roji John+ spicy rice+ some curry sauce= heaven. Pure deliciousness in my mouth. We spent the entire meal talking about how much we loved it.  Seriously. Nothing else was spoken but praise for Indian food.

Ok moving on.

Day 2: Chinatown and Little india

            This day was really really cool too.  I found some great local art, bought a fun church dress, and walked around in a huge poncho.  It downpoured so I looked awesome with my backpack under a poncho that said “London Tours”, and walking around 5 feet wide.  Indian people laughed at me. But that’s ok because I was as touristy looking as it gets.  Me, Karen, and Lizzie walked into a random Indian food court, ordered something we had no idea what it was and tried it out.  We were the only white people in sight and totally out of our element. And that’s what made my day.  I am loving this cultural immersion and all my experiences trying so many new things.  My mind is being opened as I am learning about other cultures.  It fascinates me and teaches me something different each time I get off the boat.  I can’t really express all the feelings I have about this Mercy trip.  But I am realizing how much I love travel and change, cultures, and trying new things.  This experience is definitely changing my outlook and my life.

Day 3: Sentosa Island

            Beach day.  We also got a “family package” deal and bought tickets for a LUGE! We went on a short ski lift to the top of a hill, and raced down in little go carts/luges. No accidents or casualties.  Just pure fun. We explored the little island off of Singapore and then came back to the actual Island and had yes- more Indian Food. Glorious Indian food. Once again we were the only white people there in a bustling food court of mixed cultures. So cool.  Something that made the trip even better is that I was surrounded by people I love who were appreciating the same small and large joys and fun things as I was. 

Day 4: CHURCH THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

            Ok, I haven’t been in a church building in almost 2 months and I finally got to go to one!!! We took the MRT to the church building and its huge! 4 floors! And so beautiful! We definitely stood out because LDSC says that we have to just wear our uniforms so we went in our great little blue polos and khakis. Oh how I love our outfits. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. So we enjoyed a wonderful Church block/service/ whatnot and after, we talked to a way cool lady. Her name is Kris. She was born and raised in Singapore, Joined the church at 21, served a mission a year later (in Singapore), and then 5 years later, married one of her converts!! How cool is that? Maybe I should try that out…just kidding. Totally kidding. Anyway, She is so bright and happy and strong.  She invited me and Georgia and our group over to her apartment but all 35 of us probably would have made the apartment feel like a closet so me and Georgia got a smaller group together and agreed on a time to meet for dinner at her place.  Meanwhile… about 7 of us in the LDSC group had small world encounters with the members at church. Here’s mine:  I walked out of church because we were getting ready to go and I saw Elders coming and one looked familiar so I just stared at him.  I thought this kid was serving in Switzerland but no, he’s not. This guy was in my freshman ward at BYU and we ran into each other in Singapore!! How crazy is that!??  It was really cool to run into him since I obviously haven’t seen him in 2 years.  And one Elder I met is from my Roommate’s hometown and knows her.  Wow.  Ok back to the other great part of the amazing day.  So then we went to the Botanical Gardens of Singapore and it was free (woop woop! nothing in Singapore is free!)  and after seeing a wide variety of botanical things, we went to dinner at Kris’s.  I gotta wrap things up.  Suffice it to say…the food was SO SO good. The company was SO SO good. And it was the perfect ending to our Sabbath. It meant so much to our group (we brought 8) to be able to keep the Sabbath day holy and relax and have fun. What a trip man.