recap and catch up

The problem with having a full-blown adventure is that we're too busy living it (and then too exhausted afterward) to document the activities. This is Day 3 and should be a quiet day. But even a quiet day is full of adventure. We had a wonderful breakfast of bubur ayam (sort of cream of rice with shredded chicken and other goodies on top). Plus our favorite green bread with Skippy peanut butter. 

Meals are always an adventure and always delicious.

Pandan bread with Skippy peanut butter.

Dale went with Nana's dad to take her to her 5-hour salon appointment to get beautiful and relaxed for the wedding tomorrow. I went with Nana's mom and Iin (Nana's sister) and Reza (Iin's husband) to the tailor's house to fix Nana's mom's wedding outfit. She is very beautiful and tiny--the outfit was too large.

Now we wait to all go to the hotel this afternoon so we will be there for the vows, which start early in the morning. Given Jakarta's traffic, there is no way to get across town with any confidence to be there by a specific time. After the vows there will be a reception that will go until 1 pm. They expect about 700 people, most of whom stay for a short time--shake hands, eat, go. Iin had 1000 people at her wedding.

So, a few of the highlights so far:

The plane ride was pretty harrowing for a nonflyer but quite calm and perfect for those who like to be balanced precariously high in the air in a huge machine that's obviously too heavy to stay aloft. But no matter how smooth, it was not fun to be on planes for over 24 hours and we were pretty exhausted and disoriented by the end. We came in about 7 am Jakarta time and Nana, Iin, and Reza were there to meet us. We got the tour of Reza's house where we have a room to ourselves, went out to a fancy mall to find shoes for me (Dale still only has his black Keens because nobody liked the dress shoes), and ate a traditional Indonesian meal. The food is fabulous here and I keep meaning to take photos of my meals but don't think of it until I've almost eaten it all. We also went shopping at a large market and were astounded by the number of fruits we didn't recognize. Went away with dragon fruit, snake fruit, kalanking (?), jackfruit, and others (I can't remember all). My favorite is the snake fruit. We managed to stay up the rest of the day and then went down for a nap around 6 pm that turned into an all-night sleep in the bed that was prepared for Nana's parents.

Next morning we woke to the call to prayers from a local mini-mosque. Very beautiful music and singing that is repeated 5 times a day. There are prayer rooms everywhere in Indonesia--in the airport, the mall, museum, just about everywhere people gather, although our hosts explained that they have had to be creative sometimes to find a place to pray (in the cinema, a park, the train). Nana had to work all day so Iin and Reza were in charge of us. 


We went to the National Museum (they are so gracious--I'm not sure whether they were bored or not), which was much better than we expected. Some great cultural displays. Then to eat at a food court in another mall. Yum. Around 5 we got to the airport to pick up Nana's mom and dad. We will call them Ibu (mother and also a name of respect to women) and Bapok (father, respectful name for men). Ibu is lovely and doesn't speak much English. The first question she asked me is "how old are you?" and, since I had practiced that one, I answered confidently in Bahasa Indonesia "ninety-nine." Guess my language isn't as good as I thought, in fact, I just catch a few words here and there. Very humbling. Bapok surprised us with his ability to speak English, and especially to ask questions. He is charming and outgoing and wants to know all about us, especially Dale. Questions about pensions, cost of gasoline, number of people in Sacramento, number of cars…

There can be no discussion of Jakarta without mentioning traffic. Like Dale says, we need a new word, traffic doesn't begin to describe the situation here. Reza has been our driver for trips all around Jakarta. Iin won't drive and neither will Ibu. I wouldn't consider it, ever. It is beyond anything that can be described, it can only be experienced. The vehicles drive on the left hand side through mostly narrow streets that curve and twist. Cars are going all ways with a river of motorbikes passing constantly on both sides and weaving between cars with inches to spare. Pedestrians walk confidently with their backs to traffic, motorbikes turn around in the middle of the road, a few courageous bicycles ride along (with no lights) in the dark, and all the cars are close enough that we would call it tailgating. Sitting in the car (no seat belts there) I've felt surprisingly calm and relaxed, just fascinated by the kaleidoscope of movement. It actually feels choreographed since every second there is a close call (within inches and seconds) but I've never seen anyone upset, never heard screeching brakes; I have no idea how people survive this but they do. And we hope to also.

Traffic in Jakarta is beyond words and photos are inadequate to describe it.

We still haven't decided what we'll do after the wedding tomorrow. Go on to Jogjakarta? Or Bali? Both are on our list but we still haven't had time to make plans. Nana and Eko have some family visits to do before they go to Bali so we'll get there first. We still haven't met Eko, by the way. Look forward to doing that tonight at the hotel.