An island continent, in some respects, Indonesia offers a wealth of opportunities to gain insight into language, syncretic spiritual traditions, environmental conservation and rural community life in the fourth most populous country on earth. Students arrive in Yogyakarta, also known as Jogya, where begin introductions to Javanese culture, Bahasa Indonesian language and Independent Study Projects in traditional arts while living  with host families. We focus on community engagement and through local contacts find ourselves learning the subtleties of country, culture and custom.

After two weeks with families, meeting each morning in our program house for language lessons, experiential workshops and working with mentors in the afternoons, we bid farewell to Jogya and the island of Java. We board a plane heading east to the island of Flores, also known as East Nusa Tengara. Flores is an emerald volcano-punctuated isle with a relatively small population of mainly Christians situated just next to Komodo National Park. In the shadow of the volcano Inerie, students live with host families in the pastoral village of Langa. Time here travels slowly and students find themselves spending long days in the coffee fields, snacking on warm crunchy fried bananas on the porch with their families, hiking up spectacular dormant volcanoes, and learning about local traditions of ancestor worship with gracious hosts.

The program takes continues further east to Sulawesi, where we board another flight to Wakatobi National Marine Park, an archipelago clinging to their southeastern flanks of the island and home to critically endangered mangroves, reefs and cultures. A kilometer from the nearest island, is Sampela, a stilted village rising off the shallow ocean floor and home to a clan of the Bajau people, sometimes called “sea nomads.” While living with Bajau host families, we quickly discover they are some of the world’s most remarkable fishermen and people of the ocean. We find ourselves drawn into their unique lifestyle, snorkeling over fragile reefs, spear-fishing, attending indigenous ceremonies and learning about conservation initiatives from local leaders.

Our departure from Sampela reminds us how simultaneously distant and closely related we are. On the island of Kaledupa, we reflect on the six-week journey and begin weaving together the threads of our immense explorations and learnings.