Selamat datang di Ponorogo!

 These are my new digs:

Yuh.  It's way more posh than I expected.  And way more private (huzzah!), although I don't really have a door to my floor so everyone can hear everything at all times...

Anyway, this is how I was welcomed at my school, a public madrasah (Madrasah Aliya Negeri = MAN): A full-blown Reog Parade by students, replete with gifting of ceremonial scarf and belt by my principal.  Then I was literally paraded down the street.  Oh yeah, and my school is HUGE, and all 1,200 students were all calmly standing at attention in uniform when I walked on grounds.  Frankly, it was a little intimidating, but also fairly amusing: All this hullaballoo for little ol' me!  

Ponorogo is the epicenter of Reog Culture.  [Reog = RAY-Og]  Every Javanese New Year, Ponorogo [Po-no-ro-GO] draws enormous crowds to its Reog Performance.  A Reog is a man who wears a giant tiger’s head cum peacock feathers mask.  The mask weighs over 30 kilograms.  And then he dances and swings the thing around while holding it only with his teeth.  His TEETH!  Only certain men have the wherewithal, stamina, etc. to be Reog.  Some believe they commune with spirits and such for the strength to do it.  So certain houses in the villages are specially marked with a sign that says “Reog,” which lets everyone know a Reog lives there.

The Reog is accompanied by a smaller man in a red mask, a cadre of men dressed in black, and a corps of horses.  They perform the story of Ponorogo.  I’m as of yet unclear as to the details, but this is what I’ve gleaned thusfar: It has to do something with the king being symbolized by the tiger’s head and the queen with the peacock feathers.  They are one unit, because they support and counsel each other.  The smaller guy in the red mask is a sort of demon that tries to overthrow the king and queen.  But I’m pretty sure the king and queen prevail.  Horses are symbols for women, i.e., strength and beauty.  I forgot who are the men dressed in black.

 And this is my principal (left; under that peci, he rocks a fro) and my counterpart, Pak Zain (right).

It was unlike any dance performance I’ve seen.  The way the horse corps dancers move is absolutely enchanting.  And this is just done by students!  I cannot imagine what the real deal will be like.  Every Javanese New Year, Ponorogo draws enormous crowds to its Reog Performance at the town square.  I cannot wait!