Ready. Set....

I first traveled to Indonesia in 1994 for research when I was heading into my last year of college. I got hooked. Now, twenty years later, I am heading up a group of ten undergraduate students who will travel there in January for Oberlin's Winter Term, some of them traveling abroad for the very first time in their lives. I am joined in this adventure by a dear friend and fellow faculty member.

With almost 250 million people, Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world. With almost 90% of the population professing Islam as their faith, the country is home to more Muslims than any other, though it is not an Islamic state. Indonesia is culturally diverse with more than 300 different recognized ethnic groups, each with their own language, cuisine, architecture, customs, and musical practices. We will encounter just three of these.

We will spend 18 days in the country, exploring music, Islam, and disasters in three provinces spanning from the western most tip of the archipelago in the province of Aceh, down to West Sumatra located midway on Sumatra's southern coast where I conduct my ethnomusicological research, to one of the cultural centers of the country, Yogyakarta.

I've been dreaming about such a trip for years, introducing students to the complexities of a fascinating country I have come to consider one of my "homes": taking them off the beaten track into small villages to meet musicians, witnessing the lived experience of Islam, and viewing performances far outside the usual tourist fare. We'll visit a famous Islamic boarding school in the highlands of West Sumatra; learn how to perform in a range of genres that mix sound and movement;  and explore the aftermath of, and cultural explanations wrapped up in, devastating so-called "natural" disasters, including the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2009 West Sumatran earthquake, and the 2010 Merapi volcanic "eruption." I put "eruption" in quotes because the locals don't think about it that way: stay tuned to the blog for that story!

The planning, simply put, has taken over my life in the last year: writing grants, making contacts with the partner institutions in Indonesia in summer 2013, buying tickets (we have some 12 flights!), organizing accommodation and transportation, visas, immunizations, complicated budgets, insurance, packing lists, coordinating with institutions and individuals on the ground, recording equipment, gifts for partner institutions, and so on. This trip will expose the students to new sights, sounds, concepts, and ways of being. It will be exhilarating, challenging, and rewarding. For some, it may even be life-changing!