Plans? ha...

Its been a long time since that odd Bali post. It feels incomplete. I might try and summarize it.
My bali trip: Rain, Beaches, Coughing, AUSTRALIANS so many, Tannah Lot, some other places, cheap souviner stores and trying to surf with over-priced god awful boards. But I guess that's Kuta for ya. Bali was nice. Probably the weather and my being sick ruined its image of heaven-like qualities. But I'll be back. So much left to explore. So different than Java yet similar.

My more recent endevours. School started again! whoop. That's slightly sarcastic but it was nice becuase I got to see friends again. Physics however will never catch my eye I think.
So far the new year has been good. Though I and some others got off to a slightly bad start. Me and the other Americans plus one Indonesian had been romping around Jakarta till the wee hours of the morning, us being obsessed with seeing the new year sunrise. We did and hung out in Omar's bedroom watching it rise above the rooftops. Of course then we all fell asleep. To make things short, boys n girls should not sleep in the same room, so the host parents were slightly miffed about that. To make things a tad worse we forgot to thank the host parents for hosting us which I was our bad seeing as we kinda left in a rush, eager to get to our own beds. We came back and thanked them. But the whole morning felt like a butchery of the new year. Whatever. that was ages ago. We learned from our blunders.

Now, my more recently.
I've been really enjoying myself. I find myself eating so much and food is so good. I've discovered at least 10 new delishous places to eat and for not much more than a dollar. It's absolutely ridiculous and awesome at the same time. I dont think I will be able to go back to expensive food.
I've also found that people can be very kind and very friendly despite the newness of a friendship. I was in Bandung last weekend with an AFS volunteer (for those who dont know his name its stephan) and after the first day of watching gorgeous countryside from a train, having a taxi driver drop us off now where near our hotel (after overpaying him considerably) tromping around the sketchy alleys and streets surrounding the bandung train station looking for our place to stay, we decided to climb a mountain to see the massive crater at the top. And indeed it is massive (i will post pictures to show). We were a wee bit famished so we got some Mie/Baso in a little shack at the edge of this crater. And as Stephan warned about an hour before, it started dumping, in massive quantities. The outside seating quickly turned into a small lake and everyone joined us in the shack, a couple and a family. One man decided to stay out protected by a umbrella. It was quite the image, the rain pouring down and this old man smoking a fag and sipping his tea, sitting cross-legged on his chair so as not to get his feet wet, seeing as the ground was covered in at least a couple inches of water.
The rain continued for a couple hours and eventually the young couple decided to introduce themselves by buying us a couple glasses of this spicey tea which was nice. It was genuinely cold on the crater top. We chit-chatted for a little while and eventually he offered us a ride back down the mountain after us telling him that we intended to return to Bogor by bus that afternoon. He was like "sure ya, ikut!". we ended up being stuck for two hours in traffic going down from the mountain back to Bandung. and of course they didn't know where the bus station was. Bless em for being kind people but they were from a different city. We spent another three trekking around the city looking for the bus station. We finally got there and we tried to pay him for his genorosity. He wouldn't accept it and even walked us onto the bus making sure we got home safely. And we had just met him that day. me and stephan were fairly amazed.

Bali impressions

Bali. The land of surf, sun, rice patties and Hindu temples. Even the flora is greener it seems. A paradise. Of course when I went I was met with polluted ocean water and an endless amount of rain. And the place has been invaded by the Aussies seeing as Bali is like Mexico to Americans, a next-door neighbor where responsibilities go out the window. I guess 80% of the bules that come here are Australian. Not that this is a bad thing. Just something I noticed. Anyways me having a cold didn't help either. To top it off I got an ear infection. That's not to say I didn't like it. In the few short days that I was there I learned alot, like that the Balinese calender is different than the rest of Indonesia. A month is closer to 35 days and a year somewhere around 14 months. Not sure how it works. I also found out that Balinese Hindus do it beef, cow whatever, while those in India do not seeing as the cow is sacred to them. Balinese Hinduism is a combo of the religion and local beliefs which result in a very unique and intriguing result. MORE LATER. I promise

Masuk Angin

Masuk Angin. Is AWESOME. Not at all. It quite possibly one of the most uncomfortable predicaments to be in. They describe it as a bad wind that enters your body. Masuk means enter and Angin means wind i believe so it translates to something like the wind enters or the entering wind or something. You get the picture. Anyway, for the past two holidays I had a rather nasty case of Masuk Angin making Christmas and New years eve a tad unpleasant. Most Americans would probably just call it gas but here its Masuk Angin. It's the crazy thing that you dont really understand cuz most indonesians dont know how to describe it. At first I was under the impression that it was something to do with nausea and throwing up. Well no frankly, it is air, wind and gas that builds up inside you because (as I have heard) you missed a meal so your stomach is empty, therefore it fills up with this nasty wind sent from Satan. It can even make you throw up as I experienced. Do not throw some mediocre cheese and bean burritos from a extremely expensive mexican restaurant ontop of some pre-existing masuk angin. It will create for some nasty stuff later in the toilet. But there is hope! In soda! Soda does what, it makes you burp therefore making for an easy and effective way of getting rid of all the wind.

Anyways, that was my little rant on Masuk Angin.

As for me myself I have been good apart from Masuk Angin and a little cold. I am on vacation right now which is very nice after several months of very long school days everyday. The weather is pretty much the same as it was. Still in the rainy season. The hot season doesnt start up again until...maybe june? maybe? i forget. Anyways break, break consists of what a normal school vacation would be like actually. Of course i got sick on the first few days of break, got better and then hung out with friends, explored a bit, bought a new pair of shoes and went on a very random trip to Jakarta. I pop down to the small school where the two Germans in Bogor work at, Jascha and Stephan. They teach English at a very small school for poor children. I go down there, grab some food hang out or play some futsal with the boys. Usually afterward i follow Jascha and his friend to the local gym and try and get a little exercise. its pretty crazy trying to get there. One has to navigate back alleys, small rivers and narrow walkways to get the the place. I like it, the alleys, the winding twisting paths that lead up a hillside. And that is only on place in Bogor. The gym. Its very tucked away and if you didnt know it was there, you probably would never spot it. All the fellas there are extremely friendly. It is like a ritual to go around and acknowledge everyone in the gym before you begin your business. I like it, makes it feel more friendly. A interesting tidbit from the gym.

More to come later. Using someone else's computer. Can't use it for too long.

Selamat Tahun Baru Semua! Happy new year to all!

Watch out for Masuk Angin.

Impressions

I have alot of things in my head. Images over the past few weeks, and even months are whirring about my head and my lack of blogging isn't helping me put them into words to satisfy my need to do so. So here we go.

We were driving today. North Jakarta I believe. On a freeway but one of those high up ones on pillars and everything. What are they called again? freeway i guess is the only name. anyways i saw these things in the air. they looked like slips of paper being battered about in the wind. I leaned forward in my seat and asked Heru in the front what was going on. I imagined a truck stuffed full of the things losing a few on the way to it's destination. Heru looked around for a bit trying to find what I was talking about.

"apa?"
"lihat! itu apa?"
"oooh. They are kites!"

Of course they were. But they were plastic. Made out of blastic bags it seemed. As we drew closer I could see the strings attached to various ends of the bags. The strings led down under the overpass (is that the right word?). The highway curved and I could finally see the source of the strings. At first all I saw was a filthy futsal court and piles of rubbish. But then I saw people. Children, running about the pillars that supported the moving metal animals above. Some were playing ball and some had the kites, watching them get bumped about by the passing cars. Then I saw more people, food carts, vendors small shops shacks, a minature world from this distance. And some of those people might stay only in that world, have no means of going anywhere else. that is where they live what they know. Their world. A strange concept not to know what other places look like or feel like. It's probably the case for many many many other people in this world.

The mountain. Shit it's big. Like the watcher of Bogor, a sleeping one at any rate. It's a inactive volcano. But it could become active again. The last time it erupted was sometime in the era of ancient kingdoms and wild mystical gods that hovered around the clouded mountaintops, such as the mountain I am discussing now. Most of the time you cant see it. It stays hidden in the clouds most of the time, unseen. Or you can only see the bottom of it, it's jagged peaks invisible. But on some mornings, the sky's are clear and you see it, bold and forboding. It's so big, you really got the scale of just how big it is. I stare in awe everytime I can see it in this state. My face is glued to it. My friends think its funny. Yeah its the mountain, it's big so? Well I guess in PT I live next to the water. Yeah i live five minutes from a bay. So?

I find that simple things here can be so much fun. Like cheering on your school team at a Futsal competetion. The place was gretty grungy. Trash was everywhere and it stank of sweat and ciggeretes. Flickering lights lit up the makeshift Futsal courtt. It kinda reminded me of a boxing ring oddly enough. A fair amount of students showed up to watch our team play. When it was finally gametime we clapped and cheered and bellowed the YPHB song. The ringleaders of the moral support had us stand in organized rows and clap. I sang and cheered, trying to sound like a actually knew what I was saying which I didn't of course and I was too lazy to ask. It was a blast, cursing when they scored and whooping when we did. Sure we lost, but that didn't stop us. Danar and the other players jumped up from the court to the stands and joined in, shouting at the top of their lungs despite the defeat. No matter. We still got spirit. We're YPHB. And we will be coming for you next time around.
That is if we get our act togeather and start training seriously. I've got alot of kinks to work out in my playing. Jadi latihan, latihan latihan! Practice.

Lunchtime again. Sorry that they are sooo short. Its all i have time for.

Superman SUCKS!

The argument was intense, but not in a bad way. We were grinning and laughing through the whole thing. I had a slight advantage. I could swamp him in fast english sentences which weren't even that good in supporting my argument but made him feel as if I had better reasoning. I could see his of it too but we were looking at the whole thing from different angles. His was from the physical prowness and strength aspect while I was arguing as if we were talking about the entire concept, how intresting it was and the complexity level. The density of it. Batman vs Superman. We should have been doing our assignment. Translate some words from Sundanese to Bahasa but no, this was far more important. Yuri is a funny guy, the fellow student I was having the debate with. He's a goof. A crazy good musician, magician and artist. He's clever but I can't say I like his music tastes to much despite his skill with the drumkit. Bad pop can get old sometimes.

On somedays Bogor reminds me of Washington. Only when it is cloudy, windy and overcast. Or raining. But the rain here is intense. It feels like a hurricane at times, watching palm trees in the distance flap and bend in the storm. Lighting and thunder is a regular occurence. Wild stuff. Me and a few other students were trapped at school once because it was raining so hard. None of us wanted to brave it walking or even on a motorcycle. We waited and waited, eating food and snacks until it calmed down enough that you could see. So then I walked to the bus station and rode it home tired and wet. You somehow get wet even if you are sheltered from the onslaught. I like it though. Zipping through traffic on the back of a moped with the rain in your face is quite the experiance. Something I will miss.

Yet again school is out. I should go. The internet works again in my house. I'll try write more and complete. For now I have to go. After school buisness calls.

Pulang

Getting home was crazy. Not that Indonesian streets aren't crazy anyway. It was night. Malam. I was riding shotgun with Dimas and we were heading home. There was traffic and a big grudgy yellow truck in front of us. The going was slow. Barely a crawl. Then there were kids. Dozens of kids and children, mostly boys running towards the truck. They mobbed it and began grabbing whatever they could to get aboard. Most of them made it inside the bed of the truck but some were still dangling off the sides when the truck started moving again. Some of the kids hadn't even gotten on and were chasing after the quickly accelerating vehicle. The boys were urging their pals on from the truck but they were going to fast. Me and Dimas passed by the rest of the bunch, most of them exhuasted after running after their friends. It happened so fast that I took me a little bit to make anything of it. But afterall, stuff like that happens everyday. Eventually its normal. Odd but not out of the ordinary. We go on, straight straight, under the overpass. And then, a rolling motorcycle in the middle of our lane. Dimas begins to try and turn but realizes its too late and straightens out the wheel. The helmet disappears under the hood of our car. Theres a thump from beneath but nothing else. We continue on. I look for the helmet behind us. I dont see it. Strange. Then we hear it, a kind of scraping sound from beneath my seat. We look at eachother. Could it? No...but..really? it keeps up. Dimas pulls over and I get out to check. Sure enough trapped under the car is the helmet, smashed to bits but caught on a pipe. I dislodge it from the car and we go on. Crazy. Almost home, Yasmin (our neighborhood) is in sight. Bam! A truck changes lanes suddenly and almost collides with a motorcycle, the driver of it braking just in time. The truck driver seems infuriated though and sticks his head out of the window yelling in Indonesian at the motorcycle. Damn motorcycles, hes probably thinking. They are reckless and crazy but then again, maybe the truck driver should have checked his mirrors before turning. We go on. We get home. I shower and do my homework. I fall asleep listening to the sounds of some Indonesian talk show. I understand a little but I'm too tired to care. That was tuesday evening.