I could have stayed longer in Solo but culture shock was starting to hit me, so after three days I went on to Yogya and found a more foreigner-friendly environment.   I met Vero at the Keraton on the second day, and in between her English classes she showed me around Yogya and the surrounding area during the next two weeks.

When I went one night to her family's home in Klaten, I saw fireflies (kunang-kunang) for the first time.   Their gentle little lights were floating over the sawah (wet rice fields) as we travelled along the unlit track in the becak.