Jakarta, Indonesia- July 19, 2001
Back in Jakarta!! It feels good! As nice as it was in some of those other cities, I think its the big cities where I feel most at home. Just arrived this morning, and it feels good.
Some reports from the road.. I just spent the last few days in Yogjakarta again. I was getting this constant 'where are you going?', 'what hotel are you staying in?', 'how long are you staying here?', 'where are you from?' from everyone I met during the last few days, and now I'm out of Yogjakarta and back to Jakarta, no more questions... ahhh.. feels good. The anomity of the big city makes me feel good.
Actually it was a nightmare for me being constanty asked those questions, I was trying to do little things like change hotels, change money, find a restaurant, drinking some beer with locals, and it put me in constant exposure to people asking me those questions seemingly one after another. I'd start out at a hotel asking how much a room is, and suddenly he is asking me all the questions about myself. I know they are being friendly, but its exhausting to have to answer those things a 1000 times a day. I was trying to ignore their questions and just asking mine pertaining to what I need but sooner or later I got around to it again 'where are you staying?' and at one point, after about the 500th person asked me that same question while drinking a beer, I told him "hey, if you ask that to a person in the USA, it means that later you are going to come by and kill them, or if they are lucky, just rob them.. and why do you want to know anyhow?" I guess you could say i lost it at that moment.
Well, lets see, other observations. OH! If you ever go to any fast food place anywhere in Indonesia, since I've been her I've hit Wendys and Arbys and even McDonalds (which i really don't like), I've hit them a few times. Mainly because as good as the basic Indonesian food is, I really need some kind of variety somehow, even if I have to sink as low as fast food. Anyhow, if you visit any of these places, you'll see they have 'chicken & rice' offered at just about every one of them. Most Indonesians eat both the chicken and the rice with their hands, as they eat everything here with their hands - no forks, spoons, knives, or chopsticks - although of course they are offered to those who do want or need them. But I guess my point is that 'chicken & rice' is offered at almost everyone of them. Oh, and instead of ketchup, they have some spicy tangy sauce. Its not too bad, just a little spicy hot, which I would ordinarly like, but combined with a boiling equatorial sun that has been beating you down all day, it kind of leaves a funny taste in your mouth.
One of the biggest observations I've noticed throughout Java is the large amount of really old expats living here. I haven't seen hardly any young expats like I find throughout Korea. Well, I think I've finally found out why. Mainly they are living on their retirement packages, and things are so extremely affordable here, they can live quite well into retirement. So that accounts for the large amounts of really old expats drinking beer throughout the bars and such. Many of them teach English as a way to give them some kind of social life and meet new people. By the way, renting houses are extremely cheap here, for example, around $500/year (yes, for a YEAR). Plus everything is so affordable, meals are a little over $1, a large bottle of beer in a bar is probably the biggest expense also at $1 each. If you are travelling, you could get a hostel for as low as $2, or you could lavishly spend an entire $10 to get all the amenities of a swimming pool, air conditioning, television, hot water, etc. Sometimes its nice just to get the basics though for $2-3 since I usually only sleep in the hotel anyhow.
One last thing I was thinking about was a waitress/bartender I was speaking to a few times in a bar in Yogjakarta. Her friend had three boyfriends in different countries, and she was translating from Indonesian to English for all three of them. We were laughing reading one of them with all these words like 'if i see you again, it will make me fall more in love with you', and 'i long to see your naked body again' and 'i think about you continously' and on and on and on. I guess the reason it was so funny was because she had several boyfriends in different countries, and she was courting them all at the same time. She was talking about the lavish vacations they could go when he came back to see her in Indonesia and all that stuff. Its always interesting watching the sweet-nothings going on when the native girl's lovers are away, and she is usually in the bars and streets accumulating more. Of course this definetely isn't the case with all of them, but I'm sure they get lonely waiting around for these short-term lovers who have passed through their arms. 99% of the girls are quite sweet and nice, but if they are hanging out with the foreigners, then you can pretty much guarantee that you aren't the first she has met, seen, been with, and you probably won't be the last either.
Well, I'm back in Jakarta and it feels good. I also bought my ticket that goes back to USA today. Its a roundtrip ticket which will be going from Jakarta to Seoul to New York City. Once I get to NYC, I will hang out with some friends and then find a way home to Michigan to see my brother's wedding. Then on the return trip back from New York to Jakarta, I get to stop in Seoul for four or five days! So I'm really excited to see friends in Seoul, my friends in New York, and my family in Michigan. It will be a good month ahead of me. I'm scheduled to be back in Jakarta in exactly one month from today. I'm not leaving until early next week, so you'll see another Jakarta journal before I go.
Oh, one last thing, tomorrow is the big talk about Wahid's possible impeachment. A State of Emergency will be declared tomorrow at 6PM, and either nothing at all will happen, or everything will happen. I guess we just have to wait until tomorrow. (Being in Indonesia now, and everyone seems so indifferent at this point, for some reason I feel quite secure to say that absolutely nothing will happen). But who knows? I could be DEADLY wrong!! Muahahahahahaha!!!
Next Journal Entry:
July 22, 2001
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Wintermoon2@yahoo.com