INDONESIA!!!! Part 1

Hellooooooooo,
We made it and we love it. The food is AMAZING, or enak as they say here. I am stuffing my face on all the local delicacies and my stomach is coping a treat, which is good news. We're in Jakarta at the mo, staying with Ragil's parents. The flooding has receded a lot, although traces remain - we passed a bunch of shelters the other day, people just sitting around waiting for their homes to dry out. There's a fair bit of mud and rubbish around too, but the pictures I saw on the internet a few weeks ago do not resemble what I am seeing at all.
I am having a really fab time. I was expecting to feel 'different' and to experience culture shock. I have been shocked by a few sights but apart from the odd stare and smiles at me, I don't notice our differences at all.
So the sights that have shocked include seeing a guy walking along with a pet monkey, the sheer vastness of Jakarta and the ridiculous traffic - the amount, the size of the roads - either ridiculously narrow, or crazily wide, with no road markings in sight. Everyone rides on mopeds here which means driving is a complete nightmare as bikes come at you from all angles. The lack of lanes on the main roads also mean that people drive pretty much however they want. It's pretty tiring being a passenger so I feel bad for Ragil when he's behind the wheel.
It is hard to describe what Jakarta is like but it is totally different to anything I have ever seen before. The density, the number of people and the size are all super large. The structure of the city is also pretty strange to me - not really much planning to be seen, or maybe that's just the way it looks to me.
I was scared of the wildlife before we arrived, but only lizards to be seen and they are fairly cute really, plus they eat mosquitos :)
We are planning on heading to Yogyakarta on friday and have just booked our flights, not with Adam Air... It's pretty cheap but fingers crossed it'll be fine. In Yogya we are staying in a hotel and I am very much looking forward to the warm shower/bath. I feel really happy here and in Ragil's house but after 4 days, I still have serious issues with the cold shower...
Erm, what else. The heat - well, it is pretty hot. About 32 degrees so nice and sweaty, but at night it's more like 20 degrees and lovely to sit outside in.
Sleeping habits - jetlag wasn't much of a problem but my sleep is still somewhat interrupted. At 4am every morning I am awoken by arabic bellowing out of the neighbourhood loud speakers, calling people to prayer. It sucks. It's like a neighbourhood alarm clock set to a ridiculous hour that it is impossible to avoid. I have usually just gotten back to sleep when the next noise starts - the bells/shouting/musical notes of the local 'takeaway service'. This is people walking the streets pushing pushcarts which are basically mini-restaurants. They offer everything from tofu to porridge to household brooms. Would be a good service if it wasn't so loud - they work from about 7am to about 11pm and every 10 mins or so between these hours you can here one go past. Anyway, enough complaining. It is all part of the parcel.
I am having a fab fab time and the irritating nighttime noises are but a small price to pay.
Ok, time to say farewell. Hope everyone is well. You can stop worrying about me now, cos it is ACE.
Hugs xx

Media Control

I just read on the BBC that Anita Roddick (inspirational founder of the Body Shop) has Hepatitis C. Here official comment is: "I have Hepatitis C – it’s a bit of a bummer but you groan and move on" and she is now using her fame to promote awareness of the disease. She's a strong woman. Anyway, I visited her website and came across something interesting. I am currently revising for an oral this evening on intercultural communication, more specificially 'otherisation'. Otherisation is reducing the foreign other to less than what they are. It is linked to stereotyping and can be seen as a common phenomenon in the media. Everytime I go to the Guardian Online I find at least one article about Muslims in Britain, whether it be about the growth of extremism, their lack of integration, or a defence of Islam, in response to the negative discourse that is currently rife in the West. The extent of the media coverage of the activities of Muslims means that they no longer fit into British society. Muslims have a long history in Britain and they have never been the focus of attention before. Now, all of a sudden, they are the focus of everything and the fact that the focus is on 'Muslims', that is a set group of people, Muslims are now a separate group within society, a group that has certain characteristics (read: conservative, insular, extremist, unwilling to integrate), and a group that, due to the ridiculous amount of media coverage, the non-Muslims in British society are becoming increasingly suspicious of.
This is just one example of media's power to control discourse and the opinions and feelings of the public. The thing that I wanted to tell you about is linked to this. I found it on Anita's website. Before you visit the link though, I want you to think about all the images that spring to mind when you think of Iran. Think of the images created by the media, the way the country is currently being depicted, the comments by politicians about the country. Then watch THIS. Isn't the difference between the media representation and the actual reality frightening? It would be a lot harder to make a case for war if these were the images propagated by the media.

Counting down

Not long to go now. Only two more full days before the off. Jobs are starting to get done: a money belt has been purchased, travel insurance arranged, clothes neatly piled and a humongous pile of ironing has been tackled and reduced. Indonesia here we come...

It still feels like there's lots to be done: an oral tomorrow, a job application to send off, irritating admin to be done at uni and a decision on the Master thesis to be taken. But, bla, that stuff just doesn't seem very important right now, we're going to INDONESIA!!! I have never been to Asia before. The furthest East I have ever been is Poland and I presume it will be quite different to Krakow.

I am starting to panic about important things like how you say "pleased to meet you" in Indonesian, which, incidentally, I have forgotten again. Sanang bertamu dengan anda. Ah, that's it. Just rolls of the tongue, doesn't it?! Also slightly worried about the old banjir - that's flooding to me and you (not including Ragil :P). Apparently the waters have been receding but it is still chucking it down and where the waters have gone, mud and rubbish remains. Our excellent timing thus means Jakarta will be a lot smellier and dirtier than usual, plus there will be more rats and disease issues. In case Mum wasn't worried enough... On to a happier note though, I can still say "not spicy please" and "I'm ill" and even "help" and I described my dream to Ragil in Indonesian this morning, albeit pigeon Indonesian or Engonesian (as my language for the next month shall now be known.)

So, that's how things are looking right now. Onto an unrelated topic: photologgery seems to be going down well. I have been updating it fairly recently so if you haven't returned for a while, check it out. Am hoping to take some good pics of Indonesia's magnificent scenery and those will be posted as soon as we return (March 17th). And, before I go, here's a picture I took today whilst I was playing and Ragil was cooking ;-)

Revising

Well, it is that time again. Time to eat whole packets of biscuits without realising, time to drink copious amounts of tea and time to see doing the housework as a task that must be done without delay. Yes, exams are approaching. My case of revision trauma isn't that bad at the moment - I haven't gone down the housework route yet, although the tea and biscuits are being consumed with a scary velocity, or even ferocity. Current topic of revision: EU Economics. Yes, well, you can see why I am using consumption as an avoidance strategy.

Onto another unrelated matter. Has anyone ever seen, heard of, or eaten this fruit? I am just wondering if it has an English name. It is from Indonesia and can be literally translated as 'the hairy one'. It is basically a hairy lychee with a slightly rougher stone. I was quite disturbed by the hairiness but there is little doubt that I will be scoffing them down once in the tropical climes. Mmm, hairy lychees