Jakarta, Indonesia- July 1, 2001
Just arrived in Jakarta last night. I met an internet friend who i've been chatting with for over a year and a half. she met me at the airport, and showed me around the city yesterday evening and most of today.
Let's see.. general observations of Jakarta.. its big, hot, overcrowded, congested, intoxicating, completely different, and very southeast asian.
People here seem very flirtateous and friendly. seems like i'm constantly catching people's attention, or they are trying to capture mine.
Today i took a train to Bogor and back. Its the rainest city in Indonesia averaging 320 rainy days a year, but surprisingly it didn't rain today. We must have hit it one of the 45 rainless days.
One of the more interesting aspects of the train journey, was watching a mother picking lice off of her young daughter, and eating the lice. My Indonesian women friend thought maybe it was because the mother wanted to kill the lice, so they wouldn't become airborne and infect other people.
One of the biggest things I've noticed so far about Jakarta, is all of the many unique sounds and smells. Clove cigarettes are the preferred taste for most Indonesians, which is unique in itself. Plus the completely different aroma of a thousand different kinds of foods coming from a thousand different Indoensian culture which have converged on the city of Jakarta. Nearly all of the smells completely unfamiliar to me. There are also many street musicians seemingly inhabiting every corner of the city. They play some great acoustic guitar too! Within the last 24 hours of arriving in Jakarta, I have probably seem at least 100 to 200 different Indonesians walking around and playing guitar throughout the streets. They also serenade you at street corners, when you are trying to eat, nearly everywhere. The sounds are completely different to me as well. Today in the train, there was a moving band.. three singing guitarists with a drummer (who'd slowly kick the drums down the subway without missing a beat!) They were just one group of many many of them.
So far, Indonesia is endlessly fascinating. Its a completely different culture, nowhere even remotely like it in the world. I can hardly even fathom it or understand it. I'm playing with the idea of teaching English here for a little while as a way to get to know more of the local people, and try to make some better sense of this place.
Next Journal Entry in Jakarta:
July 4, 2001
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Wintermoon2@yahoo.com