Saturday - Feb. 20

It is hard to believe that I have been in Indonesia for over a week. But today marks the end of the first half of the trip where I was sponsored by the US Embassy in Jakarta. I travel today to Medan and will be hosted for the second half of this adventure by the Embassy contingent in Medan.

I received the morning newspaper, delivered to my hotel room. Of course the paper is written in Bahasa Indonesia so while I can’t understand it, I looked through it anyway to see if I could spot a story about my visit. It didn’t take me too long to find the words “Community Colleges” interspersed among the Bahasa words. A little more skimming and I spotted my name. So, I did make the Indonesian news! And, I had breakfast with two more reporters. The Embassy promised to send me the articles that they find in the various papers. It’s funny to be in the news here.

So a quick trip to the Balikpapan airport. The airport was very confusing and crowded. Before you can even go through the door, you have to go through security. Then have your bag wrapped with a cord (I am really not sure why….. but when in Indonesia, one does what they do). At the ticketing counter there was some adventure as my bags were overweight. The domestic flights have some pretty strict limits and my big bag violated them. I was not happy with the extremely high penalties. I had to pay the equivalent of $75 for excess baggage!!

The first airplane ride to Jakarta was uneventful – always a good thing for a flight. I was served a nice lunch and was able to unwind a bit. At Jakarta I bid farewell to my two escorts – Arend and Raizma. They were very helpful to me and we got along quite well. They were home and I had to board another plane to go to Medan.

The transfer from Jakarta to the Medan flight was a bit confusing. There was another security point and I wasn’t sure I was in the right place. But again, it all worked out and I was able to find the gate without incidence.

Medan is located in the north part of the island of Sumatra. It is very close to the Aceh area where the more Islam extremists live. As a matter of fact I saw some interesting sights at the airport – people who practice the more extreme versions of Islam. I saw a woman in a complete black veil-like robe that covered her from head to foot leaving barely her eyes visible. She even wore black gloves!! I can’t imagine having to be draped in all of that in a country that lies on the equator. The heat here is quite oppressive. It is common to find men in shorts and even shirtless – while the women are veiled and in the case of some covered 100%.

I was met at the airport by Karim, a public affairs assistant for the Consulate of the USA. He was able to spot me as I was the ONLY Caucasian in the airport!! We rode to the very modern Marriott hotel.

I am looking forward to tomorrow – my day off –. I am going with the cultural officer and his family to an orangutan reserve. EXCITING!