This summer I decided to do something different, something I have never imagined myself doing in a million years. I decided to learn traditional Indonesian dance, for you it might not be a shock but to my close friends and family it was a BIG shock because I am absolutely hopeless at dancing. I decided to join Warna Indonesia, where we would be attending 2 folklore festival in Czech Republic, one was held in Plzen while the other in Lazne Belohrad.
I honestly don’t know what to expect when I signed up for this, so I just went with the flow. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one, I have 4 of my closest classmate, Shabby, Taya, Tata, Kyana and 2 friends whom I just met in Warna Indonesia, Falya & Sasha, joining me on this adventure. We practiced every Sunday for 5 months, and the whole team, all 25 of us became really close.
5 months flew away so fast that it was finally time to leave Jakarta and head to Czech Republic. We went to Plzen first and stayed there for over a week, it was tiring but after each show you feel rewarded just by seeing how people look so happy after your performance.
In Plzen we weren’t the only country that is joining the festival, we were joined by the other groups from Poland, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia and some of the dance group from other parts of Czech Republic, they were all very fun to be around and all around, really friendly people.
We continued our journey to Prague where we had a much needed break for 3 days. There we went sightseeing, shopping and had tons of fun. But then, it was back to business when we all headed to Lazne Belohrad. It’s a small town, but it was a lovely place and the people there are just so welcoming and nice that you just don’t want to leave. Did I mention that I had the best pizza I have ever eaten here, in Pizza Flora, a small pizza restaurant in Lazne. I have never been to Italy so I don’t really have something to compare it to.
I enjoyed this trip so much, that I already miss it. I miss singing Indonesian songs with the group in the bus and trains, pulling pranks on each other, singing dangdut in the middle of the night and all that stuff. I am forever grateful to be surrounded by amazing people for two and a half-weeks and it is something that I would cherish forever.
I love being apart of the Warna Indonesia team, and to say we went through lots of things would be an understatement, I just would like to thank the Warna Indonesia team for all the memories, it was all very memorable and definitely something that I will never forget. It felt like I now have another family that I love with all my heart. There was honestly no part of this trip where I felt sad or lonely, because we laugh a lot and I will never ever regret joining Warna Indonesia.
By the end of this trip I have learned lots of things not just how to dance, or how to apply make-up and how to play music but I learned how to be independent and selfless and just the experience of the whole trip is just priceless.
I hope I can join again next year!
xx
I K Y U 