September, Bali, and other random items

I surrender. I have to. It's the only way. Up at 5am, can't sleep. Why? Because last night I took a nap pre-dinner, just to recharge, and woke up after dinner (3 hours later), more groggy, and not wanting food anywhere near me. You see, my stomach and Indonesia are in a fight. Not sure whose going to win, but "Operation: get skinny" is looking pretty doable.

Yesterday was the last full day of orientation. Thank the good lord. We're all ready to get to our cities and actually teach. Ready to stop talking about what it is we'll be doing and just do it. I've met my "ETA" (English Teaching Assistant) who is an adorable Fulbright scholar named Courtney. She and I will be good supports to each other in the field. I've also met my "counterpart", Ibu Iis. She's my Indonesian teacher-friend there to help me set up my life and fit into our University, etc, etc. We'll be flying to Malang (pronounced "Ma-long", emphasis on the Ma) this afternoon and she'll take me to my apartment. I'm SO looking forward to unpacking my suitcases and having keys to my place. Love hotels. Just not for this long a stay.

I've learned so much in the past few days that it's going to take some speedy fingers to write it all down before I have to go to breakfast. Quick facts: Jakarta is the third most polluted city in the world. I concur. It's scary. Everyone here drinks bottled water, and they do not recycle. It's hard to watch. That said, Indonesia has amazing marine biodiversity overall, but a major deforestation issue and obviously pollution issues. So, the ETAs (I have three technically, but only one in my actual city) and I have decided to do some workshops and projects together around education and awareness of the environment, etc. at our schools once we get settled. The ETAs are recent college grads (BAs only) with tons of great ideas and enthusiasm. I'm to serve as a mentor and collaborator for them as they navigate through the high school systems. It's nice having them around, to be sure.

Another fact: Indonesia consists of about 17,000 known islands. Only 6,000 of them are known to be inhabited. So, I'm starting with Bali. In late September the ELFs have booked a week long trip to the little island and we're going to whoop it up! I'm so excited. It'll be very. Many of them want to climb volcanoes. I'll be happy to hold down the beach while they're risking their lives. Either way, I'm thrilled!

Fact #3: There is no legal drinking age here. Or smoking age. One of the ELFs literally saw what looked like a ten year old on the side of the road smoking only yesterday.

Fact #4: There is no such thing as a "non" smoking section here either. You see people lighting up everywhere. Sometimes I feel like I'm caught on an 80's movie set when that happens. Very strange.

Fact Five: Obama will be visiting Singapore November 14th and 15th. There is a rumor that he might visit Indonesia while he's at it. The fact that he grew up here and speaks Bahasa is huge. People's attitude towards America has vastly improved due to this fact since the Bush administration finally ended. Oh, and to copy Julianne on this one, we were told yesterday that "Indonesia is the biggest country that Americans know the least about". It's true. Look at a map. I had to. For some reason this country is not on people's radar.

More facts: Indonesia is now a member of the "G20". It has the freest press among all of Asia. It's the third largest democracy in the world. It's a newly independent country as the Dutch only left it for good in 1949. And finally, there are 130 malls in Jakarta alone.

That about wraps it up for now. See you in Malang.