Indo life

From when I was travelling...
I am travelling through indonesia for 4 months and I recently stayed with a family in a small village on the island of Rote, Indonesia. I volunteered for two weeks as an english teacher. I taught classes at night for the older children and adults of the village. In the mornings I would also help out at the pre-school [kindergarten] .

I am not a teacher at home nor have I done a TESOL course. The teacher there is from Surabaya, and speaks fluent English she was pretty much the backbone of every lesson.

Life in the village is very different from anything I have ever exprienced before. The food is simple [rice, noodles, vegetables when available, fruit when available, meat available but you must buy it because the family is very poor. Plus local delicasies from the local palm tree - Lontar palm.]

There are no shops as such, only small kiosks that sell soap, cigarrettes, and two minute noodles. There is a local market which has a wider variety of produce available [ sometimes].
The village is only about 20 km from the town of Baa, where it is possible to buy most things .

The people are fantastic there , really genuine , down to earth country folk. The english speakers are however few and far between so it is better if you can speak some indonesian.

At least to say thankyou etc but the teacher speaks fluent english so she often acts as a translator too.

Cool things to do?
-a boat trip to the local island, uninhabited except by monkeys and goats.
-driving around on motorbikes, watch out for animals, and always wear a helmet.
-sit on verandah watching the herds of buffalo,goats and pigs -eating coconuts, drinking fresh Lontar juice [tuak]
-buying meat - it works on a catch and kill basis. When i went to buy a chicken it took 1 and a half hours!

Best thing about life in the village?
-the kids, the old people, everyone, especially the host family.

Wierd thing about life in the village?
- because the villagers havent seen many foreigners before, if you go anywhere or do anything you will often be surrounded by 12 - 20 people just standing and staring at you. Dont freak out ! Just smile and wave, smile and wave.

Maybe don't?
Bring alcohol to the village. They are alcohol free christians and the young people are very impressionable. For me this was a bit of a challenge as i really do love a cold beer at the end of the day but I managed alright, you can too!