Independence Day, Ramadan and my own personal fireworks

Having participated in and organised a few Indonesian Independence Day celebrations at a variety of schools, I was really excited to actually be in Indonesia on the 17th August. The preparations start early - a few months before some of the boys (maybe older teens/early 20's?) in the area started a collection by standing in the middle of the road and asking for money for decorations. Then a few weeks ago red and white bunting started appearing on buildings, and flags (a mix of the expected red and white, plus lots of other bright colours, like the ones below) started appearing by the sides of roads, especially in residential areas. It makes it feel like you are in a parade, driving along with banners and flags flapping merrily :-)

Seeing as the school break started before the actual day, we had a flag ceremony at school on the 13th, where I happily wore my new batik dress (which is conveniently red and white!). It's always fun seeing what interesting things the staff come up with when we wear batik ;-)

On the real day, there are flag ceremonies, where the anthem is sung, the Pancasila (the 5 principles or philosophy of Indonesia) and the text of the declaration of independence are recited and then some other national songs are sung. School students, officials, and anyone else who wants to goes to the ceremony, then the day goes on much like any other. The schools and government offices are closed, but there was a decided lack of interest from the locals I was with! Perhaps it was because I was in a tourist area? Or just like at home, for plenty of people it's just not that big a deal?

What is a big deal is Ramadan (the fasting month) and Idul Fitri (the first day after the fasting finishes).  I'll post more on it later, but I was very surprised to find that every night during buka puasa (breaking the fast) there would be fireworks going off in different places. The noise freaked me out a bit at first, until I realised what it was! It turns out there are no regulations on fireworks, and once I knew what to look for, I saw them being sold in heaps of places, especially at street stalls. So to have my own personal show, I just have to go up on the roof, or out on my balcony. It's a bit special seeing bursts of light all over the city, and last night there was even some from a spot maybe two houses down from me. Even though Ramadan has finished, it appears people's love of fireworks has not :-)