an entry somewhere else

I have made it back to Manado after a few lackluster days in the nation’s capital i.e. Jakarta. I’ve moved in slightly to my flat. It appears that I live appallingly close to a church that deigns to give mass starting at 4.45a. I have been told that the Protestant church association has forbidden their churches from sing loud speakers to do anything anymore. Apparently, I don’t live near a Protestant church. The first day I woke up right as they played two songs and stayed awake. Today, I awoke at the first sounds, dozed, and woke up nearer 5.30a. The years in Nepal have trained me for this sort of toxic noise…

The flat is great. OK, it’s good enough. I have the enormous top floor of a house. It has been decorated with Indonesian artifacts from all over. I’ve got rib bones of cows that have an agricultural calendar etched in them; I have large wooden cabinets from Java; I have creaky wooden floors that tell the family below where exactly I am at any given moment. What joy! I have a stiff bed and a cold vat of water from which to dump mugs of water over my body for bathing. I don’t have a sink-but that’s ok because I have chosen to employ a ‘pembantu.’ My premises are cleaned nearly every day and my clothes are washed and pressed. What will I do with all my free time?

Note, only Apple users need read further: Now, I need some help. I’ll be going into Jakarta on Sunday but I’m stuck with a computer problem. Every time I try to connect to the local ISP I get ‘connect script failed.’ I’ve run the netword setup assistant and the network diagnostic. Nothing helps. I’ve scoured the help information on the computer to no avail. I’ll be able to take it to the Apple Store in Jakarta but if I could get some information before then I would be most appreciative…