Today was so wonderful! We got out to visit our first school in Jakarta, and every time I spend time with students, my soul gets filled up and I am reminded why I teach. We pulled up to a giant welcome banner, which was a sign of the incredible generosity and warm reception we would be receiving.
We were visiting MAN 4 Jakarta, a public Islamic school.
The school's inner courtyard
Students loved hamming it up for photos
There were lines of students waiting to greet us, and when we entered the school hall, they insisted we have tea and traditional Indonesian snacks because we had a "long journey" (45 whole minutes, we deserved food!) Groups of students performed traditional songs and dances, and then there was a student panel with students who had planned their answers to our guiding questions.
One student said her favorite thing about her school is the teachers because of how hard they work and how inspiring they are. ❤️❤️❤️ Another student explained that the thing that empowers her the most is her religion. A teacher asked us what we think of Donald Trump and his anti Muslim policies. I imagine we will be getting those questions a lot while we're here.
Our two fabulous masters of ceremony (after they apologized for all the mistakes they made - there were no mistakes! Such strong stage presence!)
After, we had a reception and spoke informally with students and teachers.
The students all wanted selfies with us
Once again, there was incredible hospitality. They brought out yet more food, and every student made a point of inviting us to have some meatball soup because we must be so hungry. I told a young lady, thank you so much, but I don't eat meat. Her response was, "How do you not like to eat meat? Meat is life!" Agreed my friend, agreed.