Surabaya: That Time I Went To An Islam School

My English lads left Jogjakarta for Mt. Bromo the same day I did the cave tubing. I half-heartedly looked into going to Bromo as well, but instead decided to just meet up with them in Bali. From Jogjakarta I took a train northeast to Surabaya.

It was a bit of a hassle at the Jogja train station because I got to the station just in the nick of time, but then my ticket that I purchased online still needed to be validated. No matter, I made it on the train and was in Surabaya by the afternoon.

I had booked a bed in a guesthouse online, but Google Maps was a little off when it showed where the guesthouse was. It turned out I was in a suburb of Surabaya. I was still able to find an ojek driver to take me there, but kind of tricked him by accident on the price. He quoted one price but I told him no, and gave him another figure. We agreed and made our way to the outskirts of Surabaya. When we got to the place he asked for the original amount. Usually I would think he was trying to pull one over on me, but he looked genuinely confused and let down when I paid him which makes me think it may have been a miscommunication error. He didn't put up too much of a fuss, though, so I guess it was OK.

The woman who ran the guesthouse was very friendly. She fed me lunch and was super smiley. She told me about an English guy who had been teaching in Indonesia. She said they were going to a nearby school later that afternoon. When the English guy, Robert, arrived he told me the school they were going to was an Islam school. He invited me to come along.

We went to the school at about 4:30PM because all of the children had already attended normal class for the day. The children went here to learn about their faith. Some bigger cities in Indonesia have private schools where Islam is taught intermittently with regular curriculum (not unlike private Catholic schools in the US), but because we were in a small village that wasn't an option for these children. There was no government funding for this Islam school, so the teachers were volunteers and the expenses were covered by dues paid by the families. The teachers told us ask that the students pay $3.00USD/month, but whatever they can give is accepted. No Muslim child is turned away simply because his or her family cannot afford the meager expenses. There were about forty children, boys and girls. They ranged in age from five to sixteen, but the majority of the kids were about nine to eleven years old.

Robert, myself, and a bunch of little Muslim girls.
I'm the one in the back without a head covering. 

Because Robert had experience teaching, knew some Indonesian, and had planned this ahead of time he taught and I observed. The girls were in one classroom and the boys were in a smaller one just off of that. Robert would teach to the girls first, then turn and teach to the boys. He only taught them simple English things like “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” “Good evening,” “My name is…” Then he taught them the song and dance Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. After we sang it in English the children sang it in their language. It was really cute.

The kids were very much like any other children except in how they dress and that they found Robert and me (especially me) fascinating. After Robert’s lesson they sang a few songs and learned a passage from the Koran. After class every day the children display the traditional Islam sign of respect towards elders. They will queue up and at their turn kiss the teacher’s hand, then touch his or her heart. There are about three or four teachers (seven including us visitors), and the whole process takes about fifteen minutes. All but two children kissed my hand goodbye. The experience was very interesting and I’m glad I went.