There is life in Indonesia.
I am in the town,have been for a few days now. the travel wasn't actually that bad. I was expecting something really arduous, but the worst part of it was the driving. From Halifax to Toronto something was wrong with the pressure in the cabin, andas my nose was pretty stuffy, it somehow deadened the nerve to the top left half of my teeth. It was a little diconcerting to have them all slowly go numb, but that was about as exciting as that flight got. The Toronto Hong Kong flight was actually fun. I got a bit restless towards the end, but I slept for the first 8 hrs and spent the rest dong crosswords, watched a few movies and finished writing in my canadian journal. The time pretty much flew by...
Getting to Hong Kong in the middle of the night was probably a good thng, as the place is huge and greatly resembles a mall. As stores started to open up, we explored what we could, straining our invisible CWY leash. Considering how little time it took for us to feed ourselves, we bascally wandered shops with no real interest to buy for an hr. Even if one of us had the urge to buy an overpriced gucci bag, we didn't have room to store it. We had to take a train to our gate, and soon we were on our way to Indonesia.
By this tme the sun had caught up to us and we could see Thailnd and some of the other Islands of Indoneasia on our approach. Finally getting there, we were hit by a warm moist wave of air. Jakarta at this time of year is a hot place to be. The airport was busy, we had brought a hundred or so Indonesians finishing their trip to Mecca, so the baggage claim was filled withfairly quiet but bustling people making gathering luggage a problem. Driving in general in Indoneasia is done with more care to where you want to go than those around you, which holds truer for luggage carts. More than one of us got hit by a reckless driver. Actually getting into the city was even worse. I have no idea why there aren't more accidents, but they certainly cut it close, and I'm glad I don't have to drive. Its insanity, whipping into the tiniest gap, and the motorcyclists are even worse, dodging cars and people like traffic cones. Pedestrians beware in Indonesia, it's one of the things they were all concerned about.
We got to the hostel type place we were being housed and had to unload baggae and find rooms. The city itself reeked, garbage everywhere, and the heavy air kept the exhaust from all the cars weighed down, like a blue blanket over the city. The heat was oppressive, especially when the sun deigned to peak through the clouds, and we were all greatful for the air conditioned rooms, and the tradtional cold Indonesian showers.
Biggest cultural hit beyond the garbage, which is piled, then burned in the peoples yards, is the bathrooms. We started the trip with si tdown toilets, a bucket full of water and a hose. I didn't have to go for the first while, but the group soon became very comfortable discussing their uncomfortable bowel movements. The only things that has changed is the loss of a sitdown and a hose.
We had 2 days n Jakarta which was kinda nice, as we were all asleep the first evening around 6, time zones finally catching up with us. The next day we were all up around 4 or 5, had an early breakfast and ventured into the city. There was a mall nearby that wasn't open yet, but the AC was a nice change of pace, and we got to take in a bit of the city from it's higher windows, watching people go on their way to work. There is no rush hour in Jakarta, just grid lock and not gridlock. the city is so spread out and massive, that getting to where we went later required an extra couple hrs just considering that, and we still were late to most of our events. I'll cover that and the rest of the trip later.
As a heads up to where Im at now, I'm ok. Thisisn't really what I thought it'd be like. think our main concern herewill be pollution. Like Jakarta, and apparently the rest of Indonesia, there is no recycling, compst or really any kind of garbage pick up. Some plastcicbottles are collected on occasion, but glass bottle are only collected in certain cities, not the villages. Everything else is either buried or burned in ther front yards, or, thrown into the river or woods. Healthy all around, it creates an endless haze over the town which is added to by a constant cloud of cigarette smoke, which the men do anywhere and everywhere, and I don't think the motorbikes and cars are at N.American emission standards. I get the sense they want to change things here, but need a leader to do it. Enter us with our white skin and English voces, which make everything better. I've seen a lot of faces whitened by makeup since arrving. White is in, and everybody accepts it, favours it. We are pretty much superstars here, I was mobed for my photo the first time I got out of the bathroom here. The kjids following us and people pointing and laughing and shouting"Boulays" was kind of endearing at first but it is wearing us down fast. Topped with everyone having dire need of the bathroom and trying every cure we know for stomach illness, spirits here are low. know it will all pass, and we gain stregnth from the group, but a few of us are feeling a little down, trying not to count downthe days tocome home. Hope I'm more hopeful by the next post, but right now I miss home and don't really get things here, even though the family is being pretty nice considering the language barrier. The town is honoured to have us, so I geuss that counts for something.
Love to everyone
Justin