Move to Bandung

Yesterday was our last day in Jakarta and I can't say that I was sad to leave.  Jakarta didn't stand out as particularly exciting.  In fact, it was just like any other major city; dirty, filled with smog, and crazy traffic. The traffic in Jakarta was unlike any that I have ever witnessed.  San Jose, Costa Rica has been hailed as having the worst traffic/drivers in the world but after these past four days, San Jose pales in comparison to Jakarta.  The cars seemed to be in a constant battle with each other, aggressively competing to be ahead of the other.  Drivers had no regard for pedestrians or motorcyclists (we witnessed a car knock down a guy on a motorcycle who luckily got back up as if nothing happened).  While traffic signals were few and far between they were blatantly ignored and people even drove on the wrong side of the road just to get through. Each ride in a taxi was an adventure to say the least.

Outside of exploring a few of the hundreds of malls in Jakarta there really wasn't that much to do in the city. However the shopping experience did unveil an all too common social quandary: the vast difference between the "haves" and "have nots".  Poverty stricken neighborhoods were starkly juxtaposed with towering luxury hotels and mega shopping centers at their doorsteps.  Even more interesting, but not surprising, is that the patrons of the malls and luxury hotels were foreigners ("westerners" and northern Asians).

One of the highlights of my experience in Jakarta was meeting with Antih, a former Indonesian Fulbright who taught one of my fellow ETAs  Bahasa Indonesia at the Univerisity of Georgia.  The ETA who took her class last semester asked a few of the ETAs to join her in her reunion with Antih.  Antih turned out to be very sweet and super excited to meet us.  We met over dinner and talked about her experience in the U.S. and about life in Indonesia.  I was particularly happy because I had the chance to pick her brain about an area of interest of mine, the Anti-Suharto student movement of 1998. She happened to be in college during the student movement and was actively involved in demonstrations urging the then President of 32 years to resign. Hearing her share a first hand account about something that I researched extensively was so surreal.  She was also pretty impressed by my knowledge on the topic and joked that I should do a dissertation on the subject with her as my research assistant.  Her suggestion was duly noted :)

After a four day orientation to the program in Jakarta we moved to Bandung today where we will be staying for three weeks.  AMINEF has really spared no expense with the orientation/training by providing us with the best accomodations.  We even received Fulbright book bags and coffee mugs today and we are scheduled to receive cell phones tomorrow.  For the next three weeks we will undergo intensive Bahasa Indonesia and teacher training classes.  At the end of training we will spend three days working with our Indonesian counterparts (teacher that we will be assisting in the classroom) to develop a working relationship and work on ways that we can collaborate effectively in the classroom. 

I can't wait to start learning Bahasa Indonesia but even more so I am anxious to get into the classroom.

Best,
Kal

P.S.- I saw the requests to talk more about the food...I promise I will once I get some good pictures.

 Jakarta

Ab, Kelly, Nina (Antih's friend), Antih, Carrie, Me

Bandung (view from hotel room)