Sulawesi – 28 January to 3 February, 2010
Watampone was wet! In fact a lot of South Sulawesi was wet during my travels there, but I still met some lovely people and saw some beautiful scenery.
|
The trip started with the 4 hour drive from Makassar to Watampone. Although we passed through some heavy rain luckily there were no fallen trees or mud slides and we arrived at the hotel about 4pm. That just gave me time for a quick shower before meeting up with Kang Guru Champion Syahrir and go to Radio Bone Beradat at 4:30. Luckily Andi, a trainer from the ELTIS office came in his car so we could easily transport the boxes and souvenirs for the radio show.
We were warmly welcomed at the station by Mery Syam and Jahid. A group of about 12 listeners had come too. We all moved into the studio and began our special, live on air Kang Guru show. During the phone in show more students arrived at the radio station and somehow we all squeezed into the studio. There were many callers that night and the show was declared a success by Mery the usual presenter of the KGI show. After the show I conducted some interviews and then we went back inside to open the boxes of souvenirs. The station was very happy to receive the promotional material from KGI. |
On Friday I gave the final Kang Guru/ELTIS workshop in Watampone. The ELTIS project is winding down and will close in Watampone at the end of March. Even though the project is drawing to a close the participants were still active and eager to learn more about Kang Guru. After the workshop I was met by some of the listeners from last night’s radio show and we drove to visit a group of students from GRACE or the Greenfield Language College who were having a residential English week. Every day they had activities in English and had to speak English to their friends. They were an enthusiastic lot. We played some games and they asked me lots of questions about learning English, how to get scholarships to Australia and all of them were in English of course!
K:\Storage\PHOTOS\Travel 2010\Sue\Sulawesi 65, 68
The next morning I set off with the driver and we drove north to Polewali Mandar. We stopped for a snack of duck and lontong along the way. I didn’t really enjoy it, as the duck was chopped into such small pieces it was almost all bones with just small pieces of meat clinging to them. However the view was fantastic! We jumped back into the car just before the heavy, heavy rain came which totally obliterated the view! We arrived in Polewali at lunch time and I had a rest before meeting the committee at 4. I recognized several of the committee – including Mr Alluedin from past KGI events and P4TK training in Makassar and Nadrah. We took over a couple of tables in the hotel lobby and discussed the workshop which would take place tomorrow.
Then Mr Alleudin and I and 2 other teachers set off on 2 motorcycles for a tour of Polewali. We stopped down at the beach and had photos taken with some of the students gathering there for malam minggu, then set off along the coastal road. The sun was setting and the view was lovely out to sea on our left and mountains on our right when suddenly the bike stopped. What a great place to run out of petrol! Mr Alleudin was very embarrassed but as I said to him I was happy to wait here while for our friends went to find petrol. Actually as we waited at the side of the road an elderly gentleman came along to talk to us. I was very surprised to hear him speak English! Pak Sahid was the ex- Bupati of Mamasa, north of Polewali and his family had a house nearby. He invited us to sit and wait there. He gave us delicious bananas and invited me to his house in the mountains! I didn’t have time to go on this visit but perhaps next time I will make time to visit him there. Thanks. We called in on the head of DIKNAS on the way back into town - inviting him to open the workshop tomorrow. He was also very hospitable and served us tea and snacks but said he was busy the next day but would send someone else. That evening after a fish dinner down on the beach I slept very well.
The next day we had a great workshop with the teachers from Polewali Mandar regency. They were great – and twice the number of participants arrived! Almost 120 teachers attended the event. There were even some teachers who came down from Mamuju - a five hour drive! How about that for enthusiasm! After the workshop I met with students from neighbouring schools. They performed a song or yell-yell each and they were great. It was very hard for me to pick a winner.
SMP 3 Polewali were the winners for their unique chorus – but well done to all the other schools and English clubs who took part. That night the committee met me and we went down to the sea to eat Pisang Epi and durian! A strange dinner, but very delicious.
The next morning I set off again with the driver and we retraced part of our earlier journey but then we turned north to Enrekang. The rain poured down that morning but as we reached Enrekang the sky brightened. I checked into the hotel – a small family run losman and was just unpacking when Ibu Ijah arrived – still excited about her trip to Malaysia. She and 35 other teachers from Enrekang had only returned late the night before after being on a leadership training course. That afternoon – about 4pm she came to the hotel and we went to the nearby mountains for some cool air and to look at the view. It was quite spectacular but the view only lasted about 5 minutes till the clouds came down – followed by the rain. But it was very nice to relax for a couple of hours. The ibu at the losman prepared a fantastic homemade dinner for myself and the driver so we didn’t have to go out to eat.
The next day we had a KGI workshop at Ibu Ijah’s school. Once again it was so nice to meet such enthusiastic teachers. Even though they live in quite a remote area they are very keen and eager to participate in workshops.
After the workshop Ibu Ijah wouldn’t let me leave without visiting her lovely traditional home. Later on that evening I was grateful for the quick shower I took at her house as the journey back to Makassar took 7 hours! A new road is being built from Pare Pare to Makassar and the traffic was slow! We kept changing from one lane to the other, sometimes on the new road, sometimes on the old road. The weather was very bad too, heavy rain which turned parts of the road to mud and disguised the potholes – and there was no electric! All the roadside houses and warungs were in darkness! What a drive. Finally we made it to Makassar at 11.00 pm and I checked into the hotel and fell asleep!
The next morning Makassar was bright – before the rain came and I had chance to pack my bags and boxes before returning to Bali. What a great trip around Sulawesi I had had and what a lot of interesting people I had met.
|
