an entry somewhere else

Upon returning from Jakarta and the wacky plane monsoon time plane flights in which the planes dodge the clouds by cutting through the sky at strange angles, I was met by a dirty apartment and the feeling that I was slammed into by a speeding becak. A good ten days with colleagues and in the big city pumped me full of surreal enough that returning to my reality in Banda Aceh was a little disturbing.

I was looking forward to returning because my favorite get-away, a Western-style coffee shop and eatery complete with brownies, had installed a hotspot. Now, hotspots are usually pay-to-play here, and it’s pre-pay via a voucher system. So, one needs a voucher to use the internet hotspot. I arrive at the cafe and see the advert for the hotspot on the sidewalk for all to read. Good sign, I think. I go in and have a late lunch, then try my hand at seeing if the hotspot is active. It is active. Good sign, I think. Then I inquire of a voucher with password and log-in to use the internet. The cashier says they are out. She doesn’t know when they’ll have more. I fail to point out that they are willingly advertising a product they have no way to sell. I pack up and take a walk to the Telkom office, the state run monopoly for land lines. They are the owner of the hotspot and produce these imaginary vouchers. The office that produces said vouchers had none in stock. This means supply is less than demand and the company is losing money. Again, I had no recourse. What could happen if I got a bit unnerved and tried to convince them they are losing money? I’m sure the people I talked to would not earn any more money if they sold more. It’s a wicked world that taunts me in the wrong way every so often.

My presentation at the TEFLIN conference went ok. The room I presented in had a broken air conditioning unit and no CD-player. I was presenting on how to use music and songs for English teaching. I had to roll with it. The room was full and there were no questions to me afterward. I’ll take that as a good workshop.

Next week, I’ll be off to Borneo to visit some orang utan! Should be a good time for all.