Life of a Substitute Teacher

Reservations about No Reservations

I have to stop watching travel shows. I do not have the money yet to go to the places I see depicted on the Travel Channel, such as, oh, Indonesia. I want to go there, experience it, and part of me wants to indulge in the culture. I've already fallen in love with the region, long before I really saw anything about it ever. I bought a bamboo windchime in college at an import store, made in Indonesia. Fell in love with it. Are you asking about the Noah Bell? That's from India. Both are places I now want to go to, even for a summer. So tonight, while watching Anthony Bourdain on television in a little cabin on a lake, the cameraman showed a set of windchimes. The same windchimes I am holding in my hand right now (or will be when I'm done typing this sentence).

But alas, I cannot go there yet. I know I've always been a person to ask someone else, "Why are you making excuses?" but this is an instance where I need to do so. I do not have the money to go there yet. So, why am I instead downloading music from Indonesia and India on iTunes? Because right now it's the closest I'll get to those countries.

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Okay, I knew those hooks in my ceiling from a lamp when I was a kid would come in handy - one is holding the Indonesian bamboo windchimes while the other is holding the Noah Bell. I just have to be careful how I move in this room while writing and composing as any small movement will start a cacophony of bells. Beautiful.

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If you are wondering where Indonesia is, it is a chain of islands north-west of Australia, between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is in the same neck of the woods as Borneo (remember Survivor?) and Papua New Guiana (Going Tribal on Travel Channel).

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So why am I so enamored with the music of Indonesia? Other than I have fallen in love with it? There is so much of it, so many varieties of cultures. Search for the term "Music of Indonesia" in iTunes and you will get back 150 results, with even more results if you click on individual albums, all catalogued and published by The Smithsonian Institute. I don't know where to begin on downloads, and am afraid that I will miss something. I know that I can come back to it at any point, but I want it all now. I love it.

posted by Amanda @ 10:53 PM