Thursday, 23 March 2006 @ 3:45pm. I had a great interview today! I met with the Chief Editor of The Jakarta Post, the national English-language newspaper here. The interview took place at a really nice coffeehouse/lounge at Hotel Mulia Senayan. What a fancy hotel!
Yesterday was tiring, but interesting. I went to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) for one of their seminars: “Memperingati 60 Tahun Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia - Disain Baru Sistem Politik Indonesia” (”Remembering 60 Years of Indonesian Independence - Design(ing) a New Indonesian Political System”). I didn’t know ahead of time who would be present, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that the opening speaker was the Vice-President himself, Jusuf Kalla. He didn’t stay long and I didn’t get to meet with him personally, but I was able to snap his picture:
He’s a lot shorter in person. 
Most of the sessions were about improving political institutions. Though the panels’ topics weren’t closely related to my research, I did manage to network a little bit with other participants.
Later in the evening, Julie and I went to a discussion in East Jakarta for Jaringan Islam Liberal or JIL for short (Liberal Islam Network). It is their 5th birthday. The speakers touched on a few issues of interest, which provided me with some more food for thought. I was tired, though, by the Q&A session, so I had to leave early. Thinking and working in Indonesian - and not eating enough at the right times during the day - can make one exhausted.
I can’t wait for the weekend actually. A few friends are going to get together on Saturday for a BBQ/potluck. This week has been long!
