Emails
home: Wendy
... 2 September 2003
Well I certainly didn't need to bring an alarm clock with me. The system as
it works in the house where we have been accommodated by the Uni for the last
few days works like this. There is the Alarm, with 5 snooze controls. First
there is a rooster which has obviously been imported from Australia. How do
I know this? Well he starts crowing at 4am, which is actually 7am in OZ (the
correct time). 2. This upsets the frogs, who by the way seem to be the party
animals around here and never get to bed before midnight. 3. Just as the frogs
begin to quieten down the man at the local mosque starts chanting, calling every
one to come and pray at 4.30 in the morning. I did his bidding and prayed like
hell that he would shut up and I could get back to sleep. 4. Unfortunately all
the praying and chanting wakes up the birds. BUT WAIT! This is not necessarily
a bad thing because when the birds come out the frogs disappear. 5. Then just
as you start to get back to sleep, the street vendors start walking around with
their carts on wheels, with their bells and chimes. For a small charge you can
get freshly cooked porridge topped liberally with tomato sauce and chilli on
top. Just the pick-me-up one needs after a restless morning. But then, just
as you are thinking that surely now you can get back to sleep the first of the
Garuda Airways aircraft start to land (as luck would have it) in your back yard.
But hey! The best part of the day is the cold of the morning. And all this has
been set up so you can't possibly miss it.
 ...
12 September 2003
I went for a becak ride around town. I was nervous about getting on. I could
just see the rider being catapulted over the top of the seat as soon as I sat
down, as he was half my size and weight. But between the two of us we worked
out a system of counter weights and managed quite well. That is of course if
you ignore the fact that he seemed to like going the wrong way down the street.
I always seemed to be facing 100 motorbikes and sundry cars head on. The traffic
is just amazing. No one seems to get angry. They all just give way to everyone.
U turn in the middle of busy road. Not a problem. On Thursday after class one
of the younger girls took me for a ride to a large supermarket the other side
of town. If I thought becaks were exciting, its nothing compared to being on
the back of a motorbike. What an absolute buzz. I think I am becoming an adrenalin
junkie. I don't know how the local women sit sidesaddle. With my overhang, its
too difficult trying to keep the centre of gravity, to sit sidesaddle.
Feedback...
26 September 2003
I am mastering the bus system
here. It's a bargain at only 1000 Rp (20cents) per trip. I'm just very careful
with my bag and carry most of my money in a money belt if I know I am going
to use a bus. I love the way the streets come alive at night with all the
warungs and street vendors with their mobile wares. Each one tapping the
plate with a spoon, or with bells or the guy on the bike selling ice cream
with the Happy birthday song playing. I had seen around the streets a guy
on a bike with thin sheets of rubber on the back and realised today from
his chant that he was calling out "sepatu". He's the one who re soles your
shoes. I love their ingenuity.
October in Yogya... 4 October 2003
On Friday a group of 5 of us
arranged a car and driver. We were picked up at 4.30 in the morning and
drove to the Borobudur Temple, a Buddhist temple about 45 km from here.
The idea was to view the temple at sunrise, however it was very overcast
and had rained part of the way there so our efforts were in vain for the
sunrise. We spent 3 hours at the temple, which is just the most amazing
structure. Built in about 600 ad and restored in the late 1960s.
A lot of school students studying
English gather there with the sole aim to latch onto English-speaking tourists
so that they can practice their English. So the whole time we were there
we were being approached. They very politely come up to you and say "May
I introduce myself please, my name is ........ and I would like to speak
English to you." I am sure we would have seen the temple in half the time
had we not stopped to chat. You do get a bit bored with being asked the
same questions time and time again. Where are you from? What do you think
of my country? How long have you been here? etc etc. As their English was
limited as is my Indonesian I was restricted to basic topics.
There was a group of students from an Islamic high school there so I was asking
the girls about wearing the Jilbab (headscarf). They explained that it was school
rules that they must wear it. However privately it is their choice. The wearing
of the headscarf is a sign of the level of commitment to the religion. One girl
I met who is a uni student was explaining that she does not wear it as she and
her parents don't feel that she is religious enough. She will only wear it when
she chooses. It seems to depend on the family though. I have seen children of
only 5 or 6 wearing it. Other families wait until the girl has reached puberty
and others have a more open opinion and leave it up to the person to decide
for themselves. Mostly it's just the headscarf that is worn here but there are
some who wear the whole gown with only their eyes showing but these are in the
minority here.
Gone Troppo… 3 November 2003
I think the tropical heat must be getting to me as I now find that my main
source of amusement/entertainment comes from my observance of everyday life
and procedures here. The other day I went into a stationery store to purchase
a 5-cent eraser. Having made my selection from the counter top I was approached
by the first young lady who confirmed the price and that I only wanted to buy
one article. She then handed this to the second girl behind the counter who
wrote out 2 separate dockets. (no carbon paper here). I was then handed the
docket and instructed to pay at the cashier's desk, while the first girl took
the eraser and the other docket to desk. I handed the docket along with my money
to the 3rd girl who entered it into the till stamped the first docket and stapled
the till receipt and handed it to the 4th girl who stamped the docket and the
register receipt and handed me the change and handed the dockets on to the 5th
girl who stamped the dockets, matched it with the article in her basket and
efficiently put it in a plastic bag. So 5 cents and 5 people later I had my
purchase. Efficiency Plus.
With such sources of amusement I now am wondering if I have Gone Troppo.
What the...?... 14 November 2003
Just 5 min walk from home here is a canal about 7 ft wide. On my journey to
Uni I follow a path that tracks the canal for a bout 15 min, or if I go to the
orphanage about 30 min in the other direction. Spending so much time along this
pathway give me a lot of opportunity to observe the canal's contents. One of
my mind games is "Spot the Floater". Identify Animal, Vegetable or Plastic bag"!!
As you can imagine all manner of things can be spotted. Its at its most exciting
after heavy rain in the hills.
This last week, however has seen a different type of amusement as one section
of the canal is currently being repaired and they have dug a parallel trench
for about 100ft. As you can imagine this supplies a lot of entertainment for
the locals and with my "When in Rome" attitude I stand with my fellow onlookers
and observe the workers. One lot taking dirt out of the trench in 2 buckets
suspended from a bamboo pole across the shoulders behind the neck, the other
men taking cement into the trench in 5 buckets hung on a bamboo pole sitting
on the shoulders of 2 men, one walking in front of the other. As you can imagine
I was just busting to tell them about an invention called the "wheel barrow".
Idul Fitri Holiday... 27 November 2003
I went on a sightseeing trip to Kaliurang, which is a small mountainside resort,
popular with the locals due to the fact that it is always several degrees cooler
than Yogya. I caught a mini bus called a Colt from Yogya up there. This is a
12 seater mini bus that seats 15 people. The advantage of this lack of leg room
being that for the one-hour journey you get to rest your chin on your knees.
Also being packed in like sardines means that you don't get thrown around so
much when the bus turns corners or hits potholes.
I noticed also that, like the city buses, several non-essential items had been
extracted from the bus. No side door. Well this saves time having to open and
shut it every time someone wants to get on or off. An added feature with this
also is that it allows the natural cooling of the vehicle and means that air
con in the vehicle is not necessary. No Dash Board. Well they don't seem to
worry about speed limits here so a speedo is not required. No clock is needed
either as everything runs on Indonesian time. The timetable arrangement with
buses here is that they arrive when they get there and they depart when they
leave. You see, that way they never run late.
Another non-essential item seems to be 3rd and 4th gear. Every thing can be
done in first or second. Also the parking brake. Just angle park into the curb
to stop the bus rolling back or if there is no curb you can use the rock under
the back seat and the piece of wood chocking up the drivers seat. Both work
a treat. Another item that was obviously an optional extra that was not opted
for was windscreen wipers. Never mind. It didn't rain the whole way.
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