Indonesia- Jakarta and the airplane prophesy

On the plane from Hong King to Jakarta I sat next to an Indonesian woman who spoke a little English and helped me fill out the customs form since the English translation didn't make a lot of sense.  I thought I had a certain thing that is very normal and legal to have in the US that apparently is NOT OK to have in Indonesia, and can be punished by the death penalty (turns out I didn't have it, but I didn't know that until later).  I showed the woman the word for what I had in Indonesian and she looked at me horrified and said, "You're going to have biiigggg problems!"  Well, I spent the rest of the flight petrified, thinking about the movie "A Brokedown Palace" and spending the rest of my life in prison in a third world country.

Turns out it's not terribly hard to get through Indonesian customs, and no one looked at or in my bags, or at my customs form.  And I figured out later that I didn't have anything that was a problem.  But I was still destined for some big problems (to be explained in later posts).

Chelsea met me at the airport, which was awesome because it's pretty overwhelming there.  Chelsea and I met freshman year of college, and were roommates for a semester abroad in Vienna.  We have stayed friends since then but it has been a while since we really saw each other.  She married Dan seven years ago, and now he teaches at a university in Jakarta, and Chelsea is going to grad school online.  They are really the genesis of this trip as they are moving this summer and this was the only chance I would have to visit before they were gone!  Bonus: They have two adorable children, Claire and Lorenzo

Seen here is Claire.  She is three, soon to be four, and is basically brilliant at making up all kinds of games to play!  She also has a passion for ballet (see lower picture).  Their toddling 19 month old Lorenzo loves his mama and getting into everything he can reach!

Dan and Chels took me to have some unique Jakartan experiences while I was there.  I experienced Reflexology which is like the greatest foot massage imaginable and only costs 100,000 Rupia (about $7) for an hour.  Wikipedia calls it 'pseduo science', but there is an -ology at the end of the word so I'm sure it's very scientific.  Whatever it is, it feels great and I loved it!

Chelsea, Lorenzo and I walked through a street market near their apartment building.  Evvvveerrryyyoonnee wanted to say hi to adorable baby Lorenzo, which made us feel like we fit in a little bit, though I am quite certain we were the only Americans around.  The market was narrow and smokey with yummy looking fruits and vegetables and not as yummy looking meat covered in flies.  The saddest stray cats hunkered under every table, probably looking for food.  We tried to buy eggs but they gave us prices higher than the grocery store...which we have reason to believe are not their normal prices.  Many people shouted hello or good morning, or tried to get our attention.  It was not a feeling I was used to, but it would prove to be a common occurrence here in Indonesia.  I didn't take any pictures there because it felt a little like an invasion of space and normal life.

We visited the biggest Mosque in Indonesia and had a very lovely tour guide who explained the symbolism of the structure (actually designed by a Christian architect from Sumatra), and other aspects of worship in quite a touching way.  She talked about when Barak and Michelle Obama visited, and that Mike Pence is coming soon.  I told her I hope Mr. Pence gets her as a guide and that he can learn something there.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.

Lorenzo was really happy about this carpet at the Mosque.  There were some other people laying around here and there on the carpet, and our tour guide explained they weren't really supposed to do that, but sometimes after work people go there to pray and then take a little nap...for THREE OR FOUR HOURS! Ha!  It did feel good to be out of the heat so I do not blame them but that is a loonnngggg nap!

Lorenzo was also pretty into this giant drum (and you can see our lovely tour guide on the right).  The drum included Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist symbols on it so as not to exclude anyone.

Right behind the Mosque is an old Cathedral.  When Indonesians became independent from the Netherlands they knocked down the old palace and built the Mosque where it had been, but the left the old Dutch Christian church because they wanted to create unity.  I have learned quite a bit about Indonesian politics and history from Chelsea and Dan since I've been here, and it is very enriching to see another perspective on how the world works/should work.

We walked by the equivalent of the White House, and Washington Monument, as well as visiting the old Cathedral, which was a lot like a European cathedral except that it smelled strongly of incense.  I learned that cars don't stop at red lights, but if there IS a red light you can walk out into traffic and hold your hand out, and all the vehicles will stop on a dime for you.  Traffic is very interesting here and kind of scary, so I just leave it to the taxi drivers, close my eyes, and wear a seatbelt (when there is one).

Chelsea and I were getting ready to go on our next adventure to the island of Flores so we went to the bank to get some smaller bills (it's very weird to carry around millions of a currency at once).  The bank had a total of 1,000,000 Rupia in change (about $70), and half of it was in 5,000 bills and half in 10,000 bills....so it was sort of like getting $500 in $5 bills, not the most convenient kind of change, but very funny.  Things are just different here.

Ever seen $500 in 5 dolla bills?!  This picture really doesn't do it justice, that stack is thick.

Stay tuned, the next adventure contains some of the best and worst times!