Welcome to Jakarta

We left home around 8:30 a.m. on Friday, August 5th for the long flight to Jakarta. First layover in Narita, Japan and second in Singapore where we were able to sleep 5 hours at the airport hotel. I had a big fright with my most important bag, but won't go into details here. We landed in Jakarta approximately 45 hours after leaving home in pretty decent shape, all things considered. Our hotel was cramped and stuffy with no internet access, 2 dingy towels, no shower door and insect fogging in the corridors (note under door stated "sorry for your inconvenience.")

First order after finding something to eat was to locate a place where we could purchase internet time which turned out to be a filthy hole in the wall - for 7,000 rp an hour (less than $1) and let our family know we had arrived safely. Even though I was not at my personal best by that point, it felt so good to be able to "reach out and touch!"

Ronnie at Fulbright Headquarters

The next day we were able to change to a more comfortable hotel. Never mind that there was still no hot water, wash rags and the water was not potable, it was a huge improvement!! The next morning, AMINEF, the organization that administers the Fulbright in Indonesia, sent a young man (Terab) to accompany us to RISTEK (Ministry of Research) and the police station. We take cabs everywhere we go and at each place, mirrors were used to scan the underside of the car to make sure we were not harboring a bomb. Thankfully, we weren't.

Ronnie and I were most anxious to get to an electronics store to purchase some local cell phones. Traveling and not being "connected" makes one feel very isolated. By 2:30 p.m. we still had not had so much as a drink of water. Jet lagged, parched and hungry, Ronnie asked Terab "don't you eat?" He wasn't thinking that he was probably Muslim and fasting for Ramadan. Oops - our first cultural offense, at least that we were aware of. I'm sure it won't be the last.

Not sure we could have bought phones without Terab's help!

After a day of long waits, sweaty cab rides and lugging heavy computer bags around the city, we were taken to the Fulbright offices to meet Mike McCoy, head of Fulbright, Indonesia. His strongest advice for us while in Indonesia was to be careful crossing the street! Having already been in traffic and having tried to cross the street a few times, we understood why.

Terab accompanied us around the city.