Catching up!

Sorry for the radio silence, readers! I got back from Lombok early Tuesday morning and have been laying low since, working on some human rights research and figuring out how to present the country's views on women's issues in five pages or less for a report due later this month.

Tuesday I met Julia, our newest intern, and zombied my way through the day until finally getting some sleep that night. Wednesday, the interns all wet out for a nice lunch at Cali Deli--Vietnamese sandwiches being a nice break from Indonesian food! Their Black Magic iced coffee (Vietnamese coffee, condensed milk, ice, and sugar) is fantastic, though overpriced (we aren't in America, folks!).

Julia and I adventured to Little Tokyo for dinner to get sushi at a place her friend recommended. Unfortunately, their menu was in Japanese, so not even my paltry Indonesian skills could help, and I'm not even sure what one of the sushi rolls I had contained. The food was decent, though extremely overpriced, and finding the location in a maze next to Blok M was interesting. Sticking to my 1 USD gado gado for lunch for the next few days.

The big question of the day is: what is the next adventure I have desperately been searching for day trips or weekend trips from Jakarta, and there really aren't many less then 3 hours away. It looks like Hugh, Julia, and I may attempt a day trip to Mt. Krakatau on day this weekend, if we can figure out how to rent a driver for the day to take us to Carita, the launching off point!

Kari and I finalized our plans for Penang next weekend (woohoo!), where we will finally meet the travel goddess Kathy who has dispensed numerous pieces of advice to us. For some reason Lion Air, one of the acceptable-to-fly-on Indonesian airlines, will not take either of my Visa cards as payment, but after a quick transaction with Hugh, I now have a plane ticket time (as well as a copy of his credit card information....heh heh heh!)

Kari and I were all set to visit Bangkok her last weekend in Asia (nooooooo), and I had even gotten the go-ahead to take a day off to travel, when Brian noted that the Thai elections are coming up, and the last two elections have actually resulted in mass riots as well as political parties taking over the airport and suspending flights for a few days. He told me to check the date of the election, and lo and behold, our planned last day there was the same day. So long, Bangkok. Now considering: Borneo, Phuket, Manila, Bali, anywhere else we haven't yet been to...suggestions welcome!

So that's pretty much it. Today's mosque singing includes a duet, but not a good one. That is what I am listening to as I write...boy oh boy I am glad Ramadan will coincide with the end of my time here. Tomorrow Julia, Hugh, and I are going with Stephen/Steven, our South African consultant, to an Indonesian friend of his's house/restaurant for some steaks and beers. My stomach is already excited. Talk to you all soon!