Ten days of vacation: check.
Six flights: check.
Being arms-length from an orangutan: check.
Five hour jungle trek on Borneo: check.
A couple hours on a bamboo raft: check.
Ten hour bus ride: check.
Christmas karaoke: check.
Good company: check

That was my holiday, briefly. I’ve got some decent photos that I’ll put up somewhere soon. The whole business was quite a pain in the arse as I was in charge of getting seven people on the same page and in the same city and paying the guide fees up front. After that, it went pretty well. As it turned out, the only place that one can fly into Pangkalan Bun, the closest airport to Tanjung Putting National Park, is from Semarang. It was a prop plane and only just over an hour. For some reason, the nice and slow prop planes scare me less than the big jets I usually have to take. From Pangkalan Bun, we were picked up and ushered onto a boat in the river town of Kumai. The boat was a two deck affair with a toilet in the rear from which a could peer out at the foliage, or my comrades, while having a wee. The small area could also be used for showers if we were to stay on the boat. Luckily, we were booked into a place a little more posh, Rimba Lodge.

The ride upriver was a good retreat for all of us. The jungle had some fresh air and the aura of Borneo jungle took us in. Splendid. The next couple days were visiting orangutan rehabilitation camps—places where rescued orangutan have been sent in hopes that one day they will venture off into the wild. In those three days, we saw quite a few orangutan. Unfortunately, many were quite used to having humans watch them take their daily feedings and even provided some entertainment in trying to snatch water bottles and bags from visitors. Overall, it was amazing to see orangutan in the flesh and see them move from tree to tree and hang around. We even were caught in a line with a few female orangutan who were holding their babies as they marched to the feeding platform. A very nice and quiet time in the jungle. We did manage to see one wild orangutan from the boat as well as some proboscis monkeys. No crocodiles though.

The third day, we set off by afternoon bus for Pangkalang Raya. We arrived around 3.30a after bussing through some pretty deep water that disappeared the roads at some times. There were also a couple stops to helps the ‘economy’ bus of the same company and wait for a passenger who missed the bus at one of the stops. Never a dull moment. We went looking for the hotel the guide recommended. The ojek drivers told us it was too far away to walk, and a local getting off the bus told us it was not 200 meters away. Off we walked. We checked into a room with a gold bed spread, dark wooden ceiling and cold water from the bath. The sign on the wall behind the reception said that the hotel was given a two-star rating in 1997. The Hotel Adidas has seen better days. We spent that night and the following in Pangkalang Raya but were only charged for one at check out. Lucky.

Using the public transit, we arranged a jeep for the ride to Banjarmasin for Christmas day. Then we went exploring to the two places the guidebook listed as tourist sites. The first one was some type of provincial museum that was closed despite our collective wandering to find someone to open the darn thing up. Following that, we visited a longhouse. We only were able to wander the outside of it, even after jumping the locked gates (sorry, mom). Our other wandering put us at a building for karaoke. Pangkalang Raya had the most churches I’ve seen in a while and they were all busy throughout the day. We supposed the karaoke was closed for Christmas Eve as well, and it was.

The next item on the agenda was beer. As I’ve been here the longest, it was up to me to ask the taxi driver where we could get some. His face lit up at the question and he said, of course. He then stopped in front of a shop with cases of beer and several varieties of spirits indigenous to Indonesia. The evening would not be dry. Little did we know, one of our compadres had lugged a bottle of homemade wine from my great state to Indonesia for such a splendid occasion. Excellent and sweet.

My colleagues also had it in their heads that we should ‘dress up’ for the evening. This meant batik. All six of us bought a new batik shirt in either red or green to mark the festive occasion. The hotel we were staying at had a Christmas tree in the lobby and we congregated there with our drinks to sing Christmas carols before trying to find karaoke once again. In the end, we got rained on and couldn’t find karaoke. Damn. Pangkalang Raya did have a club that was open that night but it was quite far out from where we were staying.

The jeep picked us up at noon for the four hour trip to Banjarmasin. We just all barely fit with our bags. It was tight. Christmas Day was spent sleeping, talking, and watching the jungle and clear-cut forest pass by. We finally made it to Banjarmasin in time to clean up for dinner. As I was the only male in the group, I had to take a hotel. The others stayed with a colleague there. It wasn’t such a sacrifice as I got a nice, hot shower and A/C. It also turned out that my colleagues took pity on me and chipped in on my bill for the night. Bonus.

We ended up hitting Pizza Hut for Christmas dinner. It was my first time there since I lived in Makassar. It wasn’t so much the quality we were looking for, but a little more Western ambience to accompany our Christmas cheer. Then we hit the karaoke place next to my hotel. It was clearly a karaoke/hostess place, but we booked a big room for the five of us and started it up. Karaoke with friends in a private room is really the way it should be. I don’t feel so bad singing way off key if it’s just friends. I did, however, channel Elvis with “Heartbreak Hotel,” much to the surprise of my colleagues.

Next stop: Loksado. This jaunt was arranged by one of my colleagues acquaintances. We took a small van four hours to Loksado village. A place billed in the guidebooks as quaint and a bit of the old world here. A nice and new guesthouse stood in the middle of the village. That’s where we stayed. A couple beds to a room, Western toilet, and clean. That’s 12.50USD for you. We then took a stroll to a longhouse about 40min from the guesthouse. It was getting old and a newer one was being built closer to Loksado village. A glimpse at the past for us.

Day two in Loksado was the near killer. Our guide spoke little English and we only knew that we were going to a waterfall and a jungle walk. The waterfall was nice and some of us went swimming in the chilly waters. After that we proceeded to take the one track through the jungle, fording streams, slipping up and down hills, swatting mosquitoes. We didn’t bring all that much for lunch and definitely not enough water for the four hours of trekking we did that day. We visited another longhouse and saw some great vistas along the way. A few of us got scraped up well and all of us had some nasty shoes from all the mud and waters. We were more than happy to wash up and get ready for dinner at a nearby warung that we commissioned to find us some vegetables. We actually arrived at the warung just before the rains started up and were ushered off the benches in front of the house into the living room and on the floor with kerosene lamps lighting the evening. We ate rice, eggs, and green beans. For some reason, vegetables were scarce at the time. In the end, the dinner cost 50,000 for six of us, a little over 5USD. By the time we finished dinner, the rain had let up and all of us were ready to hit the hay.

The third day in Loksado wasn’t a lot. We met our guide and found out that we couldn’t leave at the time we wanted because we needed another river guide. It turned out that another group of travelers were plying the river that day. Eventually we hopped on the bamboo rafts with benches in the middle for the tourists. The rafts were triangular with the front being lashed together tight. For the next couple hours, we sat while the boatman kept our raft from getting stuck on the rocks. He was a workhorse for the whole time. We stopped for a bit for a swim, but that was it. It was 150,000 rupiah for three people for 2.5 hours on the raft. Definitely worth the price.

After the rafting we were looking forward to the hot springs nearby. Unfortunately, the hot springs were in a state of disrepair with only a small shallow pool heated up. Two larger pools were either brown or green-watered. The changing rooms were not particularly clean either. The local collection of young men were also very keen to have a look at my traveling companions and followed us all around, tossing their cigarettes in the only clean pool while we were in it. The hot springs at Tanuhi are best skipped. Back to Banjarmasin.

The next morning put nearly all of us at the spa next to my hotel. Again, I was charmed to find out that my colleagues got together and sprung for a 90 minute massage as a birthday present for your correspondent. It cost around 20 bucks and got very personal. I entered and the masseuse told me to strip and put a towel on. I did so and lay down. She came back in and promptly took the towel away from me, leaving me in my birthday suit. I’ll just say she got as near to my bits & pieces as she could without actually touching them. I did get a good rub down that countered the aches from the jungle trek up near Loksado.

I stayed on a couple days to explore Banjarmasin proper. My colleague there and I had New Year’s Eve dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant only a short rickshaw ride down from where I was staying. We then returned for dancing at the pub adjacent to my hotel to ring in the new year. Good times for all.

I’m not back in Banda Aceh and exams to end the first semester will commence on Friday. After a couple weeks, I’ll have another break between the semesters. I might end up in Kuala Lumpur and probably head to Jakarta to get my fungus looked at again.

I’m also battling another vicious case of athlete’s foot that has left me limping in pain. I saw a dermatoligist in Banda Aceh with delightfully competent English. She had a look between my toes from her chair as I pulled them apart, then prescribed two creams and two prescription medicines. The doctor’s visit cost 50,000 while the medicine was 260,000. I’ll go get a check-up the middle of next week.

Virginity test idea withdrawn

A controversial proposal to conduct virginity tests on female high school students in Indramayu regency, West Java, has been dropped following strong objections from students, parents and activists.

The rest of the article goes on to say that everyone except the one who proposed the idea objects to it. Or nearly everyone.

I also received an email from another in my organization giving me some tidbits on going to Banda Aceh. I’ll include some choice quotations:

IAIN Ar-Raniry lost a big number of it’s lecturers when the tsunami struck, and among the few that survive, a bigger number is more attracted to join the mushrooming NGOs than teaching. So they keep on recruiting the fresh graduates to be teachers with the hope that they will be staying, but in vain. The calls from NGOs are louder.

What this means is that people are going where the money is for the time being. Eventually, the teachers will start teaching again, but we don’t know when that will be as the speed of rebuilding cannot be predicted.

More information: Since many of the donor countries provide scholarships, there are now more scholarships available than suitable candidates.

This could put a curse on any down time I might have envisioned. There is no telling how many people will be calling on me to increase their TOEFL score–fast. That doesn’t really happen and won’t happen with me. It’s great that many people are getting the opportunity to study abroad, but the donors also don’t want to send someone that is going to fail. They want to see people succeed.

I did take picture of the Lecturers’ Apartment where you will stay later. Most of the remaining lecturers stay there. It’s very close to campus, but it does take effort to go out. I am still in communication with your counterpart about local transportation especially when you need to do your personal things. But to find a decent house for you will be a real struggle.

Hmm, living in a dormitory-style housing isn’t my first choice. I’m flexible, but I’m also an avid fan of privacy and separation of work and leisure. It’ll work out somehow.

Aceh is less developed than Makassar. So, be ready to live less decent than when your were in Makassar. I did not have time to locate a gym for you, since I was there only a very short time. I arrived at 13:30 PM, went around the city (and remember that a woman is not supposed to still be out after 5:30 PM, and, since Aceh’s situation was warmed around the celebration of Indonesian Independence, it was suggested to go straight to the airport to catch an earlier flight after the short meeting with the Rector. The hotel they helped arranged for me happened to be a small pavilion with no facilities at all, and yet the rate is similar to a five star hotel in Makassar. Things are more expensive in Aceh.

Yes, it will be different. The price inflation is something that I had read about and am ready to see. I may be applying for a little extra living allowance if it’s as bad as it seems. Only time will tell on that one. That’s all for now. I think I’ll be off to Indonesia by next week, if not before.

500m swim: 13:02, pace: 2:37/100m
T1: 4:44 (this included a 400-500m run from the water to transition area)
20k bike: 40:18, 18.5mph (this had some big hills)
T2: 0:53
5 mile run (~8k): 41:53, 8:23 min/mile
Overall: 1:40:48, 2d in my age group (9min behind leader); Overall: 18 out of 40, (20min behind leader)

The swim was nice and enclosed in a harbor. I had a decent pace considering I hadn’t swam since Colorado. The pace was actually near to the pace for my Oly in late June. The bike had some big hills that dropped me down into the single digits for speed. The run was longer than the usual sprints (and only about a mile less than an Oly length), so I started off pretty slow and picked it up once the path went into the trail with a heckuva kick on the last mile. I’m happy with the pace for the run as well. That’s it for this season for me. I’m going to winterize the bike and take it easy to settle in.

Last year: 3d of 8 in my age group, 69/125 all men

Swim: 20:02, Pace: 4:01/100m, Rank: 6
Transition 1: 3:52
Bike: 40:31, Avg speed: 18.5 mph, Rank: 3
Transition 2: 1:08
Run: 27:36, Pace: 8:53/mile, Rank: 3
Total: 1:33:06

This year (with change in time from last year): 11th of 24 in my age group, 71/158 all men

Swim: 16:11, Pace: 3:15/100m, Rank: 9/24 Comparison- 20:02 v 16:11
Transition 1: 3:18 Comparison: 3:52 v 3:18
Bike: 40:14, Avg speed: 18.5mph, Rank: 12/24 Comparison: 40:31 v 40:14
Transition 2: 1:20 Comparison: 1:08 v 1:20
Run: 25:37, Pace: 8:15mph, Rank: 11/24 Comparison: 27:36 v 25:37
Total: 1:26:38 Comparison: 1:33:06 v 1:26:38

A 6:28 minute improvement! Got whacked in the head a couple times on the swim, plus I hadn’t swam in two weeks. The bike was wet and I did take the turns a little slow and felt the burns on the quads…. I may turn in one more sprint this season.

1500m swim: 39m26s
T1: 2m47s
40k bike: 1h25m20s
T2: 58s
10k run: 58m06s
Total: 3h06m35s

More on all this later.

UPDATE: The swim started out wild as all 150+ swimmers had a mass start. I just let all the fast swimmers run into the water and I moseyed out after them. I’m no fish. I tried to work a little drafting but seemed to be working too hard and tapping the guy’s feet in front of me. I moved over a little, thinking it would be better not to piss someone off. I’ll need to get someone to practice drafting with this summer. I predicted 45-50min for the swim. I don’t know how I made it in 39min considering I had to stop and clean my goggles quite a bit as well as sight the buoys. I wasn’t exhausted coming out of the water and really looked forward to the bike.

The bike was pretty flat or small grades over long distances. Fine by me. Except the middle of the first loop. I met up with some hills. Anyhow, I expected to hit 1:20 for the bike, but I hadn’t factored in the hills or how bad my bum would hurt after 30km. Hot and soaking wet, I headed out for the 10km run.

I knew I could finish it up. I kept going steady and passed a couple people. I tried to keep quick tempo like I trained but found myself having long, loping strides. The last 50 meters or so was on the beach, and some guy I pass 100 meters before came running up and forced me to sprint for the last bit, which was on the sand. Oh, the burn! I finished and met up with my colleagues who had come to cheer me on. We relaxed for a bit and then I had to ride my bike back to the hotel.

Next, 15 July 2007: Interlochen Music Festival Sprint Triathlon

I also received a text message from another Fellow on Java:

Showed up to work today, they completely emptied out the english dept and moved to a new building. I hv no clue where my stuff is. Wish they told me b4 so i could keep all my papers/books safe. Welcome back to reality!:)

Part of this ill communication may be because another Fellow is not replacing her there. The word has been that no Fellow is replacing another Fellow at the same institution; we have also been ‘warned’ that relations between us and the host institution may be cool. Definitely cool for my colleague. My university has been fabulous and I’m gearing up for a little song and dance in Bugis language to keep the kids laughing. I’ll be singing for about 300 people!

It’s already too late for me now as I’m still running on sleep deficit from travelling. The fungus has retreated and now I’ve got a bit of impetigo. Will this never stop? Bali on the 21st…

I also took my chances with the dermatologist this week. My counterpart graciously acccompanied me and informed me after the fact that he would have paid the doctor half what I did for the same services. I paid 20,000 for lab work, 100,000 for consultation (the doctor was walking around in bare feet and took a three second look at my fungus BEFORE washing her hands), and 195,000 for medication. The medication came unlabled in two bags. I have no idea what I’m taking. No one asked me if I was taking any other medications that could contraindicate usage. Hmmm. I’m just happy I’m relatively healthy.

Next week I’m off for Malaysia for more meetings and a presentation at Asia TEFL-a nice pad to the resume that has not been getting any bites. Doh! This trip, along with skipping off to Bali on the 21st for the triathlon, leaves my days in Makassar numbered to less than 20. It’s going to fly by… Some of my Fellow colleagues have lined up jobs in Burma and Greece while others are in the same boat as me–unemployed. I even recently emailed the Overlord to say I’d take another year in Makassar if there was trouble filling the post. He politely reminded me that I said nothing in January about re-upping, and the post was already filled. Fair enough.
The next step is… Perhaps the important thing to take away from this is that I’m not freaking out about lining up a job right now.

I’m now taking a class in using Power Point for language classes. It’s interesting and my first foray into a full course (15 weeks) online. I can always use a few more tricks in my bag and can pass along the details to my colleagues here. Next week is off to Jakarta for a conference at Universitas Indonesia and another couple days in Puncak with most of the other Fellows for work purposes. I hope to also meet up with a friend from my days in Nepal for a coffee at the very least. At the very least.

As I’ve been sick lately and have had plenty of time to rest my eyes, I’ve been coming back to a few moments in the last few months here. My mind keeps pitching a moment in Medan to the front. I’m not sure why this is sticking in my mind, but it is. I was checking out of the glorious two-star hotel in Medan and happened to be the first of our group to be ready. The lobby was cold from A/C and akin to the smoky bar feel in the air. One could feel the smoke oozing into the clothes on you. The lobby also had a small room with large, plate glass window for the wall. It’s own A/C cranked into it and there were two chairs. I sat down and closed the door to keep some of the smoke from my lungs. My supervisor joined me in a few minutes and we chatted, but I couldn’t help but feeling odd sitting apart from the other guests, somewhat like a caged animal. As I said, I don’t know why this keeps coming back to me.

For another expat view on things, check out Jakartass. He tossed up a link to me on his page, I’d thought I’d return the favor.