Jenny’s Journies

Tuesday, 28 February 2006 at 4:39pm. I made it back to Jakarta and even got to the office today. Yesterday was quite tiring. My plane was supposed to leave at 1pm, but we didn’t take off until a little after 4pm. When I finally arrived in Jakarta a few hours later, I had to deal with a not-so-nice taxi driver who kept trying to con me. I got to the point where I had to raise my voice and order him to stop the car immediately. He then let up and agreed to use the meter as long as I paid a “small tax,” which was really a “tip.” The trouble started because I was so tired that I had accidentally flagged down a blue taxi that was not in fact a Blue Bird taxi. I’ll avoid that mistake next time if I can. So I arrived safe enough home, but not necessarily sound of mind. It was very late by the time I got home, but I had to stay up to do laundry. The kos is full right now, so one has to use the laundry machine whenever it’s available and then find space to hang up the clothes afterwards.

I had internet and printing problems all day today unfortunately. I was trying really hard to be productive, but it just didn’t work out. I guess I will just have to try again tomorrow. On a positive note, I ran into Julie (Colorado) and Tom (Yale) today in the office. Julie is here for about three months and Tom is here for a few weeks.

Sunday, 26 February 2006 @ 11:46am. Let’s see… I wake up yesterday morning at a ridiculous hour to have my little ration of toast. I take a quick shower with low water pressure and need I mention that the water is freezing? I somehow manage to get dressed and try to get ready to start work. But before any work can get done, I almost electrocute myself! I plugged in an adapter into a STAVOL, which is a red box that is supposed to stabilize electricity. Let me just say it was a unique kind of pain that shot up my left arm and I cried. I was eventually able to laugh at the ordeal, but it took some time. I did end up doing some work on my laptop, but was interrupted at least five times because of power outages. I later had to soothe my soul by getting a creambath (hair conditioning treatment) and refleksi (foot and calf massage) at a local mall.

I think I need to compile a list at some point of the various obstacles to getting this fieldwork and dissertation done. Some of the hardships include:

(1) Not getting enough nutrients or exercise for energy and staying coherent.
(2) Battling mosquitos (at least three people I know have already come down with dengue fever within the past month or two).
(3) Not sleeping enough (e.g., the stranded kitten stuck in the roof tiles above my room cries every minute of every hour of every day since I arrived in Makassar).
(4) Exposure to toxins: If it isn’t the pollution from buses, cars, motorbikes, burning garbage, or factories that gets you, it’s the constant cloud of cigarette smoke created by the young and old alike or the insect repellent that you have to spray, burn, or apply to your skin. I won’t even start on the potential toxins in the foods because of environmental degradation or chemical processing.
(5) Limited access to certain technology: Stable electricity, decent light bulbs, and high-speed internet are the three that come the most quickly to mind.
(6) Getting from Point A to Point B: The traffic is beyond anything that one could imagine in terms of time and safety. I have yet to be early for anything, even when I do my best to plan ahead and leave earlier than I think is necessary. The taxis are sucking my finances. I’ve tried taking buses, but the comments, pickpockets, and touching are just too much. Walking can be a nice alternative occasionally, but only if the destination isn’t too far, there are actually sidewalks to use, it’s not too dark, and the weather isn’t too hot or raining.

I could go on further, but let me be optimistic… Why am I here, especially if things can be and usually are so difficult???

I can’t imagine being anywhere else because…

(1) Indonesia is such a lovely, crazy, special, interesting place that one could easily get lost in and addicted to any research topic. Really.
(2) While there are some people that grate on your nerves, many Indonesians are so nice, helpful, and genuine. In this past week alone, the number of people that have been willing to discuss openly and honestly about their personal experiences with me - a relative stranger and a foreigner no less - has been amazing.
(3) The food can be really good (though more money always helps).
(4) I am learning a lot about who I am and more about others each day. I like to think that this personal growth is a good thing.
(5) I laugh a ton. You have to have a good sense of humor to get beyond the stress, no?

There are highs, there are lows, and sometimes I think I’m just along for the ride whether it’s voluntary or not!

Friday, 24 February 2006 @ 3:15pm. I recently read in a magazine that Jim Valvano, a basketball coach for North Carolina State who died of cancer, once said, “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day.” I’ve tried to keep my blog positive for the most part, but in all honesty, researching and living abroad is hard. I was already at my wit’s end before I left Jakarta, looking forward to getting out of the city, but Makassar just pushed me over the edge instead of relaxing me. I cannot express how tired, hungry, frustrated, and just plain exhausted I am. There are times my self-esteem is not on the floor, it’s like beneath the floor or something. At the same time, on that very rare occasion that I actually obtain some data or some interesting piece of information from an interview or discussion, I’m in 7th heaven! The majority of my days consist of getting the basics: food, shelter, transportation, and maintaining my fragile mental health. Fortunately, I have two friends here in Makassar that help me to laugh about the craziness. I’m getting work done, but I really didn’t know it was going to be this difficult no matter where I am in Indonesia…

Sunday, 19 February 2006 @2:53pm. Each day goes slow, but the weeks are going quickly. Today marks my first month since departing the U.S. While on the one hand I don’t feel I have been very productive, I do know that I have been as much as possible regarding my work. It’s just hard considering getting settled and networking as “work” sometimes. Professor Bill Liddle left today. We had a nice going-away party for him on Friday night.

A few days ago I was really sick and sitting in traffic for most of the day to and from the medical clinic was just plain awful. I’m fine now and just have to keep in mind getting all the vitamins I need, particularly iron.

I’m just continuing to read interesting things, meet new people, take in the sights and sounds of Jakarta, negotiate traffic (I honestly don’t do well in this area, though!), help the Freedom Institute and Indonesian Survey Institute where I can, and plan for upcoming research.

I will be leaving tomorrow for Makassar, South Sulawesi to attend a national meeting of Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam (HMI), or Muslim Students Association. I will be there for a week and hope to attend various seminars, as well as network. I’ve heard really nice things about Sulawesi and hope to enjoy some of their famous seafood.

For an interesting commentary on the controversy over the Danish publication of the Muslim cartoons, please see:

New York Times Op-Ed Contributor - “The Silent Treatment” By ROBERT WRIGHT / Published: February 17, 2006

He writes at one point, “With freedom comes responsibility.” He also brings up an important point about the difference between censorship and self-censorship.

Until next time…

14 February 2006 @ 2:27pm. I’m not sure what’s in the air, but it does not appear to be love. Despite today being Valentine’s Day (a lovely U.S. - and more and more internationally - commercialized holiday that seems near impossible to avoid), everyone at the office seems to be in a not-so-great mood. It may be the weather. It could be that there’s a big panel on Thursday, which requires lots of preparation. It could be that everyone’s personal lives happened to be irritating them on the same day. It’s okay, though, since today in some way balances out my wonderful birthday (the 12th). I had a very nice time. Today and the 12th are perhaps like yin and yang.

My computer finally arrived and I tore through the box like a child at Christmas. I now have my little computer set up in my little cubicle and now, more formal research, here I come!

Recent news concerning religion and politics in Indonesia…

(1) Said Agil jailed in haj scandal
National News - February 08, 2006
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

“Former religious affairs minister Said Agil Hussein Al Munawar and his official responsible for haj affairs received jail terms and fines Tuesday for embezzling Rp 652 billion (US$70.7 million) from the Haj Trust Fund over a four-year period.”

The article continues:

“The corruption case underlined the pervasive nature of graft in Indonesia, and is seen as a test of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s stated campaign to stamp out the rampant stealing of state funds.

The religious affairs ministry — long regarded as one of the country’s most corrupt government agencies — has a near-monopoly in the lucrative business of transporting about 200,000 pilgrims annually to Saudi Arabia for the haj, The Associated Press reported.”

***This example suggests that no domain seems to be free from corruption.

(2) When religion becomes sin
Opinion and Editorial - February 13, 2006
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

“Imagine Bali adopting bylaws based on strict interpretations of the Hindu faith, or the Christian majority in Papua taking advantage of its special autonomy privileges to embrace Christian conservatism as a legal precept to regulate daily life.

No doubt Muslims throughout Indonesia would be up in arms.

Why then are our politicians acting so obliviously to the legal misnomers that have resulted in the unnecessary employment of shariah law by regional administrations? — a practice which blatantly contravenes the 2004 Regional Autonomy Law.

Regencies and mayoralties such as Padang, West Sumatra, Cianjur, West Java, and Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, have issued bylaws implementing sharia[h]. Conservatives in other regions are also making headway in their attempt to impose their religious views as law.

This development is, perhaps, a telling sign of the political elite’s (lack of) commitment to the Constitutional vision of pluralism and equality before the law.

…Law No. 32/2004 on Regional Autonomy clearly stipulates that religious affairs are the realm of the central government. Article 28 of the law forbids regional administrations from taking decisions that discriminate against any citizen.”

***Whether one sees religion as a central government issue or a local one, there is an underlying assumption in this and related articles that religion is fundamentally a part of the state.

And what about the following quote?

“Head of the PKS faction at the House of Representatives Mahfudz Shidiq said that religious identity was within the authority of the central government, but religion, as a set of norms, was not.

According to him, there are many spheres in which religious norms were permitted. “Education, the economy and social sector are areas which are in the hands of the local administrations,” he said.

(Political parties waver on controversial bylaws, National News - February 09, 2006, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta)

***Aren’t education, economics, and certain social sectors - and how religion interacts in these areas - also said to be under the purview of the central government? Can one really separate “religious norms” from “religious identity,” and then determine the “appropriate” boundaries of state and local-level authorities?

10 February 2006 @ 3:10pm. “This ODD World” is my favorite section of The Jakarta Post. It usually features two short stories from around the world that are funny, controversial, or just plain make you think. One of today’s features on page 2 created quite a buzz in the office:

Title: ‘Gay’ penguins fend off female advances

BERLIN: Six gay penguins at a German zoo are still refusing to mate with females of the species flown in from Sweden in 2005, the zoo said Wednesday.

The zoo has 10 male penguins of which six have shown strong signs of preferring male company and formed couples among themselves.

The initiative to “turn” the penguins and make them mate had prompted a furious response from gay rights groups.

In a statement posted on its Internet website, the zoo sought to defend itself from fresh criticism.

“We will be delighted if the penguins form even one heterosexual couple and manage to produce first an egg, and then a little one,” it said.

“But of course we accept the male couples that have formed and we are not trying to enforce heterosexuality, as we were accused of doing last year.”

The problem is that the female Humboldt penguins have proven too shy in their advances, the director of the zoo in the northern port city of Bremerhaven said.

“The Swedes wil not make the first move,” Heike Kueck said. — AFP

10 February 2006 @ 2:05pm.

“Disiplin dimulai dari diri sendiri.” / “Discipline begins from within oneself.”

(Sign seen in my neighborhood)

It takes discipline to start and maintain one’s own research project. Things seem to be easier when you’re in classes and a professor is there to dictate to you what you need to do and when it is due. It also takes discipline to wear heels all day. I have to alternate days of heels and flats because I just can’t do heels everyday! Finally, one needs discipline when it comes to dealing with bureaucracies. I have finished reporting to the most local levels of authority, but still have to return to the Governor’s Office and Police Department in the coming weeks.

I finally made it to LSI’s office yesterday. LSI stands for Lembaga Survei Indonesia or the Indonesia Survey Institute. I am usually based at the Freedom Institute, but LSI and I will be working closely together on surveys. The office itself has a more business-like environment; Freedom Institute is a renovated old house.

I am now trying to flesh out more of my research proposal, but hit some blocks, so I have had to turn to looking up books that are more Indonesia-oriented. I found several that may be quite useful. I’m waiting for copies to be made of certain chapters and then I’ll start reading.

I also ordered business cards and look forward to getting them next week.

Things are “biasa” (usual/ordinary); no major adventures to report. I did have some fantastic Sundanese food two days ago. One interesting note has been the peculiar experience of speaking with some people and completely understanding everything they say in Indonesian, but then speaking with someone else and not following one word at all. In some cases, it’s almost like I don’t know any Indonesian! It can be very confusing, and I wonder how much of the problem is me and how much it is the other person…

06 February 2006 @ 1:16pm. Apparently, my new nickname among some of the staff at the Governor’s Office is “Jennifer Lopez.” Today’s immigration run wasn’t too bad, except that we kept getting lost in the massive building because different elevators went to different floors. We took a long time figuring out how exactly to get to the 10th floor. I have to return tomorrow or Wednesday, as well as go to additional offices this week. I can see the finish line in the near distance and hope to be finished soon.

Some or all of you may have heard about protestors who set the Danish Consulate on fire in Lebanon. What a sad, sad affair. Yes, there was a protest here in Jakarta (and another this morning), but it was very small and non-violent. Official meetings were later held to discuss various matters of concern. I have seen some of the debates on the BBC and CNN about “free speech vs. respect for religious differences.” This reminds me of the controversy at Vassar College during my senior year concerning free speech and community respect for people of color. I hope that the dialogues continue and that some consensus/balance may be found.

I had a nice weekend and hope you did, too. I spent time with a friend. We went shopping, watched movies, and visited a salon. She got refleksi, which is essentially a massage for the calves and feet. I had a creambath, which is a deep conditioning treatment for hair. The humidity does crazy things to my curls, so I have to find ways to keep my hair under control. Health and beauty are really emphasized here for women (and to some extent men as well), so the salon was really busy this weekend. What’s great is that taking care of yourself (e.g., regular massages, refleksi, haircare, jamu (vitamin drinks), etc.) is considered normal and necessary, so costs are relatively inexpensive for everyone, not just foreigners. The weekend was nice as well because I got a lot of practice speaking and listening to Indonesian, which I appreciated. I also tried some East Javanese food (soto ayam, or chicken soup), which is somewhat stronger in flavor than the food I tend to eat each day.

I have yet to get into working full-time as I’m still waiting for my computer to arrive. Unfortunately, there were some issues with it before I left. I’m fortunate to be able to use a computer at the office, but downloading and uploading take a long time. In the meantime, I’m doing what graduate students tend to do: read, read, read.

03 February 2006 @ 2:47pm. I went to the governor’s office today to “report.” I must return on Monday for another letter. One of the staff there remembered me from last summer, which was nice. She was actually chatty this time around. I also went to another government office in West Jakarta, which was an unexpected addition to the list of offices I have to visit. Apparently, I have to report at the West Jakarta office, get a letter, and then give copies to the local Pak RT (local-level official) and Kelurahan (another local-level official). I hope to do those things on Wednesday next week. Today I remembered my handkerchief, but my eyes hurt. People don’t usually wear sunglasses here, though. There are bike helmets with plastic fronts, which I sometimes get to use. Traffic was bad today, but not surprising. We drove on sidewalks today to avoid some of the traffic, which was a little fun. We also drove on some side streets, which were amazing. There were gigantic fancy houses on some of the streets and lines of palm trees, which made me think of scenes out of Hollywood movies. I asked who lived there, and the response was “officials.” Apparently, it pays to be in government.

My health and well-being seem to be intact for the most part. I finally found a gym, and for once, I was really excited to see a treadmill! There aren’t any parks to walk around or lots of walkable neighborhoods, so I have to exercise indoors. Food hasn’t been a problem. The heat can get to me in the afternoon, though. It’s not even the dry season yet! Mosquitos aren’t as rampant as when I lived in Yogyakarta, but still annoying. Perhaps they are more annoying lately for psychological reasons — a friend recently got dengue fever (low-grade version, but still serious) and so of course, the idea of getting sick from a bite is in the back of my mind. Supposedly, the day mosquitos are the carriers of dengue and the night mosquitos are the carriers of malaria (or is it vice-versa?). In any case, they’re bad news. I’m trying to stay really healthy to counteract any potential sickness.

As for my mental state, I’m pretty happy. I have a good support network here, especially at the Freedom Institute. I am still getting used to some of the “catcalls” from people on the street or comments said under someone’s breath, but sometimes it can be really hard. For example, I was fingerprinted at the police department the other day and was told by the fingerprinter that I was “very beautiful.” I said thank you, but wondered if he would have said that to all the women coming into the office or if there was a sense of exoticism present. In certain places I “pass” as Indonesian or mixed with Indonesian and in other places I stand out. A friend told me that Americans don’t just look different, we walk differently, too. Occasionally people attempt to speak Spanish or Italian to me. In general, when people find out that I am indeed mixed, but with American and Filipino, they smile and think it’s really cool or interesting. The exchanges I’ve had about my hair, skin, and body have been numerous. There are almost no boundaries. While I don’t mind most of the time, it can be wearisome, especially on a “bad day.” Just trying to keep things in stride for now…

02 February 2006 @ 1:04pm. I just spent my whole morning and early afternoon going to more offices (e.g., immigration, police department). I didn’t mind riding on the motorbike with an office assistant, but I did mind the awful pollution. I think I inhaled more gas fumes in a few hours than a human being is supposed to have in a lifetime! Next time I’ll remember my handkerchief. The offices are spread out all over Jakarta, so I got yet another taste of macet (traffic), too. At least the motorbike is small enough to squeeze by the bigger cars and buses, which shortens our travel time from place to place. I had two observations this morning: (1) It is actually possible to feel so tired that you are tempted to fall asleep on a whizzing motorbike, and (2) people’s jackets can have interesting statements. Case in point, I saw the generic names and logos of businesses like “Suzuki,” but I also saw strange ones like “BitchBrother” (excuse me?!?). My favorite today was a jacket that said “Wanderer.”

I had lunch with my U-M friend yesterday and we chuckled about how low our expectations are these days about what can be accomplished in a day. Back in the States, my to-do list would have a million things on it. Here, I don’t even have a to-do list (at least not yet!), in part because it’s a good day if I can get up, cross the street safely, and get one thing done. Seriously. For instance, getting certain paperwork to the correct office and person today was a huge accomplishment. The fact that I was able to do it at two offices, well, that’s just fabulous. Though being forced to slow down and not expect (or be in control) so much of the world can be stressful at times (I am American afterall), the process is actually healthy for me. I’m much more patient. I go with the flow, so to speak. I get things done when they can get done. Things eventually get completed anyway, so why not enjoy the slowly-but-surely process?