There’s No Place Like Home…But I Sure Do Like Genteng

For the next eight months, I have the distinct pleasure of residing in Genteng, a town in the region of Banyuwangi in east Java.  It’s a relatively small town (people have given me population estimates that have ranged from 25,000 – 100,000 people….it feels to me like a solid 50,000...as if I knew what that felt like) and it’s surrounded by a whole bunch of villages.   Even now after only two weeks of being here, I already think I could not get myself too lost here…which for me is saying something.  I love smaller towns…it’s what I know best.

There’s no place like home, but I sure do like Genteng.

I get the chance to teach English to 10^th graders at SMK Muhammadiyah 1 Genteng.  SMK (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan) means it is a vocational school, so my students have chosen a field (accounting, business administration, technology and multimedia, etc.) to study that will prepare them for the workforce.  I have only taught one week of classes so far, but I can already tell that my students have a LOT of energy and run the gamut from terribly shy to notably ornery.  It will be a challenge…but I’m up for it!

There’s no place like home, but I sure do like Genteng.

Nichole (another Fulbrighter) and I get to stay together in a nifty little house in an adorable neighborhood.  My neighbors (especially my preciously thoughtful neighbor across the street, Bu Ila) are kind, generous people who are always looking out for the two bule (Westerners) living around the corner.  The sense of community here is incredibly strong—it shows in the way that people leave their front doors open so neighbors can drop by and chat.  I’ve encountered no shortage of kindness or friendliness in my neighborhood, my school, or in Genteng as a whole.

There’s no place like home, but I sure do like Genteng.

Life isn’t always the easiest—but as a whole, I just can’t complain.  Things I have in my house include:

1. A Western toilet.  If you heard me worry about my living situation before I left, you know this was my number one concern.  No shame.  There may not always be running water to flush it…but that’s what a bak mandi is for!
2. A kitchen.  Granted…I’m still scared of the kitchen because it is notoriously home to 4- to 6- to 8-legged creatures with which I’d rather not form relationships.  I’ll adapt, though.  I did swear I’d be “Sarah Hotovy:  Nature Woman” by the time I returned to the US.
3. An air conditioner in my bedroom.  It may be a toasty 30 degrees outside, but I don’t have to sweat it out at night (I do enough “sweating it out” in the classroom).
4. A really fantastic roommate.  It’s nice to have someone you can complain to about getting hit in the face by a bat flying by on your evening run…or cry to about accidently smashing a little lizard in the door when you locked it for the evening…or have stand with you as you cook dinner or hang your laundry in the terrifying kitchen at night. 
5.  WiFi!  As of yesterday afternoon, I will no longer feel pathetic about how my lack of Internet affects my mood…which I suppose still means I’m pathetic. 

There’s no place like home, but I sure do like Genteng.

My home is surrounded by rice paddies—it truly is a tropical paradise.  When I head to school in the morning, I get to stare out at the mountains decorated with palm trees that line the skyline.  Life here is slower-paced, meaning I have more time to simply look around and embrace my current environment.  I have no shortage of time to think, reflect, enjoy, and learn.

There’s no place like home, but I sure do like Genteng.

It’s difficult to be so far from home, but it’s comforting to see so much of my home here.  Staring out across the large, flat rice paddies reminds me of surveying a countryside lined with cornfields.  Already being able to see familiar faces as I’m out in the town is like being back in York where everyone seems to know everyone else.  One of my favorite things is when people in Genteng ask me what Nebraska is like, because I can take great pride in telling them that the thing I love most about Nebraska – the kind, thoughtful, hard-working people who call it home – is something I can also find here.

There’s no place like home, but I sure do like Genteng.