PA.RL: 4 Indonesia: Festival #2, Summerfest Bountiful 2014 USA

Have you ever played a game, where every level felt harder? Where you had to accomplish new tasks with a higher range of difficulty? Well, this mission felt as if it was a game, with its own levels. After 1 week of stay in the city of Springville, we moved to another city named Bountiful, still in the same state of Utah. The city was indeed yet as beautiful as Springville, but i guess just a bit smaller. I couldn’t really describe its beauty.It was 1 majestic place, with nature so genuine.

There was this 1 place called Park City, where it looks like a living 30s era of Paris. The cute small stores along the streets describes it all, complete with the iconic classic trolley. It was like living in a La Dolce Vista~

Here in the Summerfest 2014 Bountiful, Utah, USA, we’ve moved on to another level, with a bigger task. In 1 day, we had to perform twice, in the afternoon & night. After all, it was a mission, that had to be accomplished. It wasn’t easy having to stay in shape and perform at our best every single day for 1 whole week, and with an additional 2 performances a day which makes us have to be in figure from morning till night.

But, our strength and power was the energy radiated from the lovely local people. Their enthusiasm and never ending motivations kept us going strong and still be at our best. They always left me amazed... on how kindful, friendly, and lovely they were all are. We felt appreciated, a lot. It seems like all of our hard work are completely payed by the sound of their cheers and clapping hands.

We, Komunitas Tari FISIP UI Radha Sarisha, performed all of our dances that we have prepared with different combinations everyday. But it seems like the Saman dance still became everyone’s favorite! People here likes to joke it around and call it the “robot” or “machine” dance, because our hands moved so fast with the exact same beat, as if we were machines. Therefore, the Saman dance became one of our mainstay dance for workshops where we had to teach the dance to the local people.It wasn’t an easy one for them because they find it a bit hard to synchronize their brain and hands. Despite that, they’ve always enjoyed it and find it funny when they have trouble learning it. And that’s one of the things why we love these people so much, is that they always turn something complexing into something enjoyable and indeed funny! Every moment just seemed so fun and beautiful in this whole process... we sometimes forgot how tired we were!

Despite the Saman dance, the Gaba-gaba dance from Maluku also became people’s interest. Its easy beats and catchy music lets people to easily dance and sing along. I remember my hostfamily (mama & papa bear!) really loved the music and learned the music then somewhat have memorized it. So they like to sing along to it, which made me so happy J It’s just a very priceless feeling, when someone that has nothing to do with our culture, attaches their hearts into it. It becomes a culture for all.

MOAB

-The land of the delicate arches-

I always believe god had entrust its wonders in this planet where our feet stood. I always believe that its form is something beyond our imaginations and logical thoughts. But, I have never imagined that rocks, could turn out into something beyond words, beyond remarkable. I have never imagined that the textured layers and gradiated brown color of rocks, could turn into something very artistic. I kept gazing through the ongoing distance of this area of beauty. My eyes didn’t found an end, i never knew how large this whole area was. But i left my self to not know, and let nature keep its mysteries.

Moab, known as the Grand Canyon of Utah, preserves over 2500 natural arches of all shapes and sizes, as well as a variety of balanced rocks, fins, and pinnacles. I didn’t really find any difference between Utah’s “Grand Canyon” and the real Grand Canyon in Nevada, especially if you want to compare its beauty. Its just a matter of name & fame. Perhaps, Grand Canyon was just more lucky to be located in the state that is the home of the legendary city, Las Vegas, and also been visited by many A listers. So this somewhat makes Moab a more genuine and natural place, where this 76.000 acres of the park contain striking contrasts of red rocks, blue skies, white clouds, and green vegetation. This makes Moab a national park with breathtaking views of Southeastern Utah's canyon country.

Being able to reach this place feels like i was in an animated Disney Pixar movie, Cars. Remember route 66? Yea it felt like that. It was a never ending road, with a sight view of textured arches and wide area of grass. I thought the road had no end, but apparently, we made it. Moab is categorized as a national park, and it contents many sub national parks in it, of course with its own special characteristics. We’ve visited the Death Horse Point & the Devil’s Garden. The dead horse point has a unique history, where it received its name from a legend that cowboys once corralled with wild horses on the peninsula around the turn of the century. They fenced them off and then selected the best ones of the herd, leaving the others behind on the waterless point. The remaining horses died of thirst leaving their bleached bones behind.