Can We Talk?

giant electronic store, Bandung

Technology is everywhere, even in Indonesia. Almost everyone uses cell phones (Indonesians call them "hand phones"). Much like at home, it is common to see people on sidewalks, in cars and on motorcycles texting or checking their mail.

In the States, we typically choose a service provider, purchase from a selection of phones available and then sign a two year contract. We pay a fixed amount each month for the plan we choose, unless of 

buying phones - later we found out that prices are negotiable!

course we go over our minutes in which case we pay additional fees. But that's not the way it works here. Here you buy a phone - whatever phone you like best. Then you select a service provider and pay for internet access and pulsa. Pulsa? Pulsa is a system of pre-paid credit for hand phones in Indonesia. It can be purchased just about everywhere. It is generally sold electronically where credit is transferred to the number associated with the phone’s number. Often people will buy a scratch card with a new SIM card and give the phone a new number (people can have multiple phone numbers here—they simply change the SIM card in their phone).

everyone sells pulsa!

Selling pulsa is a common way for Indonesians to make a little money – by buying and re-selling it for a few cents more. Even our taxi driver sells pulsa. So you buy pulsa and you can continue to talk or text. Instead of saying “text me,” Indonesians say “SMS me.” People buy pulsa again when it runs low…. and talk more….and so on…..basically whenever you start to run out, you buy more. And you really need to pay attention so you don’t run out of pulsa in the middle of an important phone call!

buying sim cards

In the same way you have to keep on buying pulsa for your hand phone, you also have to keep on keeping on buying electricity, internet access, propane gas and water. These are all things that you use up and have to keep re-purchasing. It’s not like at home when we sign up for a service and pay a monthly fee. You can be in the middle of cooking a meal and run out of gas. What to do? Call for more gas. You can be going about your business and the power goes off. Not a problem, just buy more electricity. Will you have enough water to wash your dishes tonight? Call for more water! What I’m basically saying is, we don’t realize just how good we have it – on so many levels!

propane tanks - used to cook on stove top