January 24, 2006 @ 1:56pm. Mission impossible appeared to be finding an umbrella yesterday. Believe it or not, I actually had a difficult time locating an umbrella despite the fact that it’s the rainy season here. I went to two malls and looked on multiple floors. I also looked in small stores nearby. I finally found one at an electronic store of all places. I also bought an iron so I can iron all of my collared shirts and long skirts. I generally get to wear blue jeans when I want to, but I need to dress nicer when it comes to the government offices and going to work at the Freedom Institute, hence the need for an iron. I don’t mind dressing up, though, since I don’t get to do it often back home. 
Yesterday, I also had the pleasure of meeting up with one of my mentors, Professor Bill Liddle. He is from The Ohio State University and happens to be here for a month. We have been in touch for some time, but this is our first face-to-face meeting. We’ll wait to have lengthier discussions about our research after we’re over our jet lag. Professor Liddle is set to give a speech on a panel tomorrow for a new book launch at the Freedom Institute. The book is a compilation of work by Indonesian economists and historians.
I continued my office runs today. I returned to the police department to pick up some paperwork, but they made a mistake with the dates, so we had to wait longer than usual. After the correction, we brought the document back to the LIPI office, where we received more documents. We then headed to the Home Affairs Department and dropped off some of them. We’ll return tomorrow morning if all goes well. If we’re lucky, we can go to the immigration office the same day. It has been wonderful having Rizma, an assistant with AMINEF/Fulbright, bringing me around Jakarta and helping with the papers. I feel like this time around is much easier than last July. Perhaps it was good I had such a difficult time in the summer; I don’t have high expectations going in this time.
I still have jet lag unfortunately. The weather is hot and humid, too, so that adds to it.
So far so good with the food. On past trips to Indonesia, I get a stomachache during the first week, but I’m taking it slow with the spicy food this time. I want to eat more because it’s all so tasty and full of flavor, but know I need to pace myself in the beginning.
Before I forget, if you happen to want to send mail instead of or in addition to email, please send it to the following address:
Jenny Epley
Freedom Institute
Jl. Irian No. 8
Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10350
Indonesia
Mail usually takes up to two weeks. Though I would love to receive packages, please do not send anything unless it is really important and/or you are really patient. Packages can take up to several months to get here.
