In the end, the only landscapes I saw of Java was when I arrived by plane and behind the mini van’s window  who drove me from Jogja to Bromo and from Bromo to Ijen. I don’t feel like I’ve been able to experience the real countryside lifestyle but when we came back from the first hike of the tour, I start speaking with the guys working at the hotel we were staying at.

The only reason people are coming in their village is because of Bromo. Tourists are staying over one night and they are gone in the morning. What do you think about it when you are a young man or woman, born and raised here? How do you manage your time to kill boredom or loneliness? What is your goal in life? What do you think about religion, marriage, the truth of life? What kind of music do you listen and how do you connect with people?

The truth is that I felt like these “kids” where like all the kids in the world raised in the countryside. I have been really surprised to see that here like anywhere else, teenagers where reacting in the same way about some specifics subjects. 

Love. It’s all about love. They couldn’t understand why a woman like me were travelling on her own and were not in search of a husband. We had a really funny talk about their love relashionships and their shy reaction to my questions made me feel like it was a taboo but omnipresent subject in their mind.

Somehow, I have been really impressed by how rebellious and how respectfull of the traditions and religion, these guys were. The young generation link rock’n’roll and faith really easily.
  

(I know there is a lot of fingers in this picture but I explained to them what the V sign means in England and they loved it. If you don’t know, here is the explanation by my friend Mazza!)

Time doesn’t have the same flavour here. In the occidental world, we are used to appreciate time like a club sandwich swallowed quickly on the side of the road, putting too much salt on it to fake the feeling of having a nice lunch but on this side of the world, time is more like a big curry that cooked for half a day in a pot, and you need to appreciate every bite of it if you don’t want to burn your tongue with the hot spices in it. 
Well, what I want to explain is that people here takes time. You just ordered your breakfast but you’ll have to wait that the chef finishes his cigaret before he start cooking it for you. The next people coming over for the night arrive in 10 minutes and none of the bedroom are ready yet, but it’s alright, they are going to start cleaning in half an hour, they are just going to finish to sing this Indonesian pop song before. No rush dude!
Anyway, tomorrow is going to be the same. Why not appreciating what today has special to offer.