Thank you all for reading our yaks throughout the past 9 months! This video shows just a sliver of each day for the past 9 months, through my eyes. I hope you enjoy 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzrthlEsVUI&feature=youtu.be...Read More
Hello friends and family, Just a note of closure to officially recognize the completion of our 18/19 programming in Indonesia! All students have been signed off of the program (Oscar’s ‘Final Goodbye’ yak gives an overview of......Read More
At 7:00 am on May 31st, the Bridge Year Indonesia cohort graduated from baby dragons, to becoming fully grown toddler dragons! Last week, we had our final farewell party which was a huge gathering of the dragons community in Jogja. Friends from......Read More
Every day for the past 9 months, I have written a word or a short phrase in my journal. The intention was to create a list where I could look at any item and have it trigger a memory from the year. It’s been a wild 277 days in Indonesia. 36......Read More
Ribbons of light illuminate our land where the sky meets their sea And if that line is a 90 degree angle, maybe we’re the still life inside a shadowy cardboard box, and those very shadows gave way so as to bring you and me together in this time......Read More
The fasting month of Ramadan has finally arrived, and here in Jogja, everything seems to be moving at a more relaxed pace. People wake up later, the streets are quieter, and life just seems to be slower. During Ramadan, the day starts at 3:45 am......Read More
BYP Indonesia 2.0 just arrived back in Jogja, marking the end of X-Phase and the beginning of our last two weeks in Jogjakarta. Here’s a brief summary of the things we did during our last half of X-Phase (: After leaving the Langa Community,......Read More
Hey everyone! We’ve been having a blast this past week during our X-Phase excursion to Flores! Attached are some pictures from Kelimutu National Park, as well as photos from treks with the Langa Trekking Community guides who doubled as our......Read More
Due to flight cancellation, we have a slight change of itinerary towards the beginning of our trip. April 21: We will be flying out of Jogja into Bali, as planned. We’ll stay the night at a really nice Bali hotel (: April 22:......Read More
Hello everyone! We will be embarking on our journey to Flores this Sunday, April 21th. Our itinerary is as follows: 4/21: We leave Yogyakarta and land in the Bali airport, where we will sleep overnight. 4/22: We will fly to Ende, Flores, and......Read More
A little while ago, my NGO, SAPDA, created an inclusion youth camp (Youth Camp Inklusi) for youth with and without disabilities in Jember, East Java. SAPDA – Sentra Advokasi Perempuan, Difabel, dan Anak – is an advocacy center for people......Read More
This weekend Esha and I walked the length of the city, beginning in the university-dotted North and ending in the familiar Kotagede market. We walked along busy main roads and through narrow alleys, crept into abandoned houses and found ourselves in......Read More
Situated between two stupas on Borobudur’s eighth tier, I sat, attempting the lotus position. I struggled mightily because my legs—gangly as they may be—are not very pliable. The morning sun, dull, hung to my left as I surveyed the......Read More
Whoahhhhh, livin’ on a prayer! I must admit, Bon Jovi has been a pretty prominent part of my Bridge Year experience thus far. In early October, after I first met my homestay family in the program house, I nervously followed them home, sweating......Read More
This is the entire first half of the year! (minus our time in Sampela because of the technology break) https://youtu.be/IiXvx46F7ss Many more seconds to come....Read More
Believe it or not (we can barely believe it…), the former half of bridge year has already come and gone, leaving behind memories, lessons, and emotions that have marked and moved us in our new home away from home. On a night in midcourse,......Read More