Disclainer

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Friday, May 16, 2014

I will be living in Garout, the capital of Garout Province, West Java. It’s a bit like living in Beaver, Beaver County but Garout is a much bigger city than Beaver. It is located about two hours (by bus) SSE of Bandung the capital of West Java. I have to do the research but I think it more the size of Chicago than Pittsburgh.  Bandung is a big city with several important universities.
My school is MAN 1 Garout. This is an Islamic high school. Although it is an Islamic school it is still a government school but not under the Ministry of Education. The school has 916 students in three classes with 36 teachers.  It is the oldest Islamic school in Garout. The school has waited three years for a Peace Corps Volunteer English teacher. Because my training group is so large (63), PC can start sending Volunteers to cities. Before this only villages got PCVs.
I will live with Pak Ahmad and his wife Bu Nuraini.  (“Pak” and “Bu” are honorary titles given to respected elders. I am always called “Pak Jay”.) They have four grown sons. One of the sons, Maki, is an English teacher at my school.  Pak Ahmed is on the board of directors of the school. He is a farmer but I don’t yet know what he grown unless it is fish. I know he raises some kind of fish in a large pond five minutes from my school. I mention the distance from pond to school because their house is built in the middle of the pond above the water. I have only seen one black and white picture of the house with the bridge giving access to it and it looks out of this world beautiful. Other people in my group have good looking houses but none of them are built on water. 
I am thrilled with the place Peace Corps has selected for me.
We have to more weeks of practice teaching, language classes and a one day ‘camp’ each language cluster is planning for grade school kids then we will be sworn in officially by the ambassador. The morning after swearing in those of us going to West Java will board a train for the 12-15 hour ride to Bandung where we will meet our principals and counterparts. 

2 comments:

  1. Jay - this school does seem a good match for you - I'm pleased for this. Watch out for those night walks! They could get a tad wet.

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    1. I have become friends with the fish but only at a distance so far. There are bridges from one house to the other and in my case from one part of my house to the other. It really is neat.

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