The movie was so funny and cute and wonderful. Everyone should see it. How does Pixar manage to constantly out do themselves?! It was fun to watch it with Indonesian subtitles as Hans and I were able to pick up a few words.
On Friday Hans, Ega, and I did our work in our favorite coffee shop and then Hans and I cooked dinner together. I attempted to make tacos but ended up making really ridiculous and pancake-like tortillas. We still ate them and they tasted fine. Hans even brought black beans from the US, but we realized we'll have to find a can opener now before we can eat them.
I also finally caved and bought some cheddar cheese for the tacos. Unfortunately the cheese tastes "false" to put it in Hans words. I'll still probably eat it and be happy to have real cheese again once I've made my way back to the western world.
On Saturday Hans and I woke up at 3:45 AM, ate some avocado toast, drank some guava juice and then took a taxi to to north harbor Pelabuhan Kali Adem where we would catch a boat to Puala Harapan, the island where we would explore this weekend. Once the taxi got close to the harbor there was a lot of flooding so he kicked us out of the car to walk. The water was gross and deep so Hans and I got in this man's little cart and paid him about 30 cents to take us across the flooded area. Once we arrived at the harbor we found our boat after a lot of pointing and showing people our trip information text (very few people spoke English).
Once we were on the boat we got a text from the number we were supposed to call when we arrived (we called them before and they did not answer), so we texted back in English and contacted the organizer who helped us arrange the trip. After tons of back and forth and getting hung up on we finally confirmed we got on the right boat. Through this I realized how terrifying language barriers can be. We could've ended up on a boat to anywhere and not known how to get back. And so many people were just spewing streams of Bahasa at us that we couldn't possibly comprehend. It was rough.
Once we arrived at the island someone fetched us from the boat and brought us to a little house where we would stay. And after settling in we ate some food and got on a boat to begin our day of adventuring and snorkeling around the nearby islands. Snorkeling was pretty fun and the coral reef was neat to see in person. Of course it's sad to see the obvious damage that has happened to the reef, but it's still so beautiful and fun to swim with the fish.
After snorkeling and watching the sunset on the dock at one of the islands we went back to our cabin and ate before falling asleep. We woke up to attend a fish barbq that night, but ended up leaving in order to sleep more since we were so exhausted.
On Sunday we woke up to tour around more islands (fun fact there are 179 little islands included in Indonesia's Thousand Islands outside Jakarta and only 7 of them are inhabited). On Sunday we went to a couple special islands as they were owned by the family of Suharto, the second president of Indonesia. It was a little weird to explore the islands, but also kind of neat. After exploring we packed up and got on the boat to go back to Jakarta.
Sunday night Hans and I reunited with Ega, grabbed dinner from our favorite Warung and headed to sleep to get ready for the work week.
On Monday we spent the day working in a cafe with Hans and then I made some good old American food for dinner (pasta, mashed potatoes, and broccoli).
On Tuesday night I got brave and tried some street food. Ega and I bought chicken and goat sate and some fried noodles. The sate was good, but not my favorite. Turns out goat meat is really chewy...
Now I'm looking forward to a quieter weekend full of a bit of work, board games and sleep.
Bad news is I still haven't found a post office. Maybe I will this weekend, but I'm sorry if it takes a while.
Underground:
My current name for Jakarta is Jankarta. Not that clever of a pun, but a necessary one. After watching kids swim in dirty trash water next to the harbor on Sunday I lost it. This city is the grossest place I've ever been and I can hardly tolerate it. I am not too happy about the mosquitoes or the ants everywhere (in the shower and my water and my bed) either. I really wouldn't recommend that any friend visit this insane place unless they're sure of what they're getting into.
I feel a little bad for hating it here and mildly culturally insensitive, but then I realize that it's actually costing me years of my life to survive in this polluted hell hole so I'm not that sorry. I'm happy to enjoy the culture and the food but when it comes with stinky, trash-filled streets I'm ready to run away.
At least I can play frisbee tonight with some nice ex-pats and pretend that this place doesn't suck.
I don't have a poem for this city yet, but I'm not sure it's gonna be a sweet one. It's complicated here and it makes me guilty and sad and angry and grossed the fuck out.
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