Jenny’s Journies

Monday, 30 October 2006 @ 2:32pm.

The Good:

* One learns many lessons while abroad. Sometimes the lessons are new and other times the lessons are reminders of things you already knew but needed to know again. For example:

— It is important to remember to take care of your health and well-being.

— It is crucial to prioritize your life based on your value system (e.g., compassion, family, friends, hard work).

— You cannot do it all alone; you may need to lean on others for help and that’s okay.

— Even when things are going poorly, there is still hope.

— Stepping out of your comfort zone can be nerve-racking, but it is so worth it.

* It is great when a good idea comes to you (and when you least expect it). For an example of one of my latest ideas, see Indopedia.

* Holidays. They are great for family and friends, taking time out to relax and have fun, and important reminders of what’s important in life. Sure, many holidays have become overly-commercialized, but I like to think that most folks are not so much into the material aspect of holidays as much as the personal, familial, spiritual, etc. aspects.

The Bad:

* Poverty. It’s a terrible, terrible thing. I saw a little homeless boy the other day who apparently spent his earnings from begging on McDonald’s french fries (or someone gave them to him). This image was sad on a number of different levels.

* There are some moments or days when I don’t understand the Indonesian language at all. I have no idea what it is, but sometimes I can’t read, speak, write, or understand it. It’s like my mind has frozen or something. I don’t know if it’s the accent, grammar, content, or what. What I can say is that it is immensely frustrating. One day I could have a very smooth interview or read a transcript without any major difficulties; the next day, I don’t get anything and am just thankful I have some data on tape or paper.

The Ugly:

* An ugly situation develops when someone on the street, in a store, at an office, or wherever says something that offends me, but I don’t feel I have the power to respond. One holds it in and then it festers. You try to keep a positive attitude, but many “small” situations adds up over time and you find yourself thinking bad thoughts about others, having stereotypes, or avoiding certain situations altogether in the hopes of not adding to the terrible cycle. Unhealthy stuff.

* One’s attitude and appearance when you haven’t had enough good sleep. Fighting cats, buzzing and biting mosquitos, loud boarding housemates next door or on the floor above, cooing pet pigeons, adjusting the AC repeatedly, early sunrises, and more have their own special way of disrupting your sleep pattern.

Thursday, 26 October 2006 @ 4:07pm.

I haven’t posted recently since there isn’t much going on. In many ways, Jakarta feels empty. So many people mudik (go home to other cities and villages) for the Lebaran/Idul Fitri holiday. Things will return to “normal” (i.e., crazy) again next week. I must admit that I like the lack of traffic these days, though!

Other than work, I’ve been visiting friends and relaxing. Yesterday I saw the movie “Cavite,” a film by Ian Gamazon and Neill dela Llana (2005). I highly recommend it. It’s a great indie flick, even if you do get stressed about the main character’s journey and see some of the really sad situations of poor Filipinos. I also saw a hilarious episode of “Extravaganza.” Extravaganza is a two hour bi-weekly comedy/variety show on television based in Jakarta. It debuted in April 2004. It reminded me of “Saturday Night Live.”

Recent Observations:

While riding on the back of a motorbike last Friday (20 October 2006), I noticed the following:

* lots of construction work for the new busway route (and while it’s creating even more traffic, I think it’ll be worth it in the end)
* sales and promotions at all the stores for the holiday
* plenty of government, political party, business, school, etc. banners related to Ramadan and Lebaran
* puppies and kittens for sale in small cages on the side of the street (I felt bad for the long-haired older cats in particular)
* the word “Anti-Jews” spraypainted on some corrugated metal near a construction site (this was shocking since I have not seen anything like that before here)

A few nights ago (23 October 2006), I rode public transportation earlier in the day and had no problems. Evening was a totally different matter. The streets were crowded because of takbiran (night of the last day of the fasting month) activities. There were people on motorbikes driving in circles around the city; truckloads of people singing and pounding on drums; people lighting sparklers and cheap fireworks; street vendors selling clothing, shoes, food, etc. at heavily discounted prices; and last minute travellers trying to get home. The taxi driver was really nice and protective. For example, he told me to put my handphone away so as not to attract attention while our taxi was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic and surrounded by lots of young men walking or on motorbikes and trucks. It also took me longer to get home because the police blocked off most of the streets that led to central Jakarta.

Lately, I’ve also come to really appreciate Skype. It’s an amazing FREE program that allows people to talk to each other (domestic and international) via computers. All you need is a headset with a microphone. The connection is often better than regular phones! There are discounted rates in case you need to call computer to landline or computer to handphone. As far as I’m concerned, this is one of the best things since sliced bread.

Wednesday, 18 October 2006 @ 3:20pm.

Today’s little gem was a short video of some comedic magicians at http://www.nationx.dk/coats/ that was sent as an email forward with the subject heading “lucu banget” (very funny).

I am a bit tired today because yesterday I stayed out late to have an all-out gab fest with an American friend of mine. She’s in Jakarta for a few weeks and we had a lot of catching up to do. When she visited my boarding house, the first thing someone said upon seeing her was that she has curly hair like I do! She’s taking a break from Kalimantan research because the haze is so bad there. Apparently, the fires are going unchecked and smoke and debris are everywhere during all hours of the day. Needless to say, the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Singapore are not happy about the drifting smoke. Foreign and domestic environmentalists are very concerned.

I just started the visa extension process. It looks like I will be in Indonesia until the end of December at least. I’m disappointed I’ll miss the holidays in the U.S., but the work needs to get done. No rest for the weary…

Monday, 16 October 2006 @ 4:23pm.

Lebaran (also known as Idul Fitri) is the big celebration after the end of Ramadan (Muslim fasting month). I believe the Arabic meaning of “Idul Fitri” is to “become holy again.” Idul Fitri falls on the 24th of next week, but some groups will celebrate it earlier. A popular tradition here is to provide gifts or parcels to family, friends, co-workers, and even government officials. There has been a recent controversy, however, since the government has ruled that people may no longer give parcels to government officials (though they can continue to give gifts to each other out of respect, politeness, etc.). This is essentially an effort to reduce corruption in the country. In any case, I went in search of the right gift today for the office staff. They have been really helpful to me, and I wanted to return the favor. Parcels come in an array of shapes, sizes, prices, decorations, and the like. For Americans, think giant Easter baskets if you need a visualization. Choosing amongst the parcels can be a daunting task since one has to consider a variety of factors like status, contents, others’ personal preferences, and price ranges.

Some of the things I thought about…

* I couldn’t buy the parcels that only had one can of Coca-Cola or one nice chocolate bar or one bottle of honey. The question would then be who amongst the staff got what? This could bring unnecessary tensions about who deserves what.

* I couldn’t buy a fancy parcel that came with a complete dish set or kitchen set since again, who would get it? You can’t really divide a dish set, right?

* I couldn’t afford the really expensive parcels even though I would have liked to buy the best ones. Some parcels can be well over USD $100. On the other hand, I didn’t want to be “too cheap” when it came to the gift.

* Some of the parcels looked expensive and cost a lot, but in actuality, I questioned the quality of the contents. For example, some of the desserts looked pretty, but were obviously dry or didn’t exactly look like they would be tasty. Another example was fancy wrapping, tissue paper, ribbons, etc., but then little or few contents inside the decorations.

In the end, I realized that I couldn’t buy any of the fancy or big parcels because I didn’t have a way to get it home or to the office. Go figure. I couldn’t really walk down the street with one of those things. On second thought, I probably could have taken a taxi, but traffic has been absolutely terrible and I had things to do. Walking is often faster anyway.

What I did do was purchase two large cookie tins and two large bags of coffeemix. I managed to carry stuff in my backpack and in plastic bags. I was happy with the purchases because the cookies and coffeemix came in individual sachets, which would be perfect for dividing amongst the staff. I decided to give the gifts early since I was worried that I might not be in the office much this week (it’s time to do the immigration run all over again!) and the office is closed next week. The funny thing is that I think the staff are going to eat the cookies and drink the coffee tonight or this week at each buka puasa (breaking the fast). I guess if I got a gift early I wouldn’t or couldn’t wait to open it either…

Sunday, 08 October 2006 @ 4:12pm. Okay, so this blog is usually about Indonesia, but I can’t help but take some pride in my Filipino heritage and say “Happy Filipino-American History Month!”

Did you know…

…that a Filipino invented the flourescent light/lamp? Agapito Flores invented the flourescent light/lamp in the early 1940’s, thus the name “FLUOR-RES-CENT” [Source: Information adopted from Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) Instruction Kit 1992].

—-> CORRECTION/DISPUTE: “Many Filipinos acknowledge Agapito Flores as the inventor of the fluorescent lamp, which is the most widely used source of lighting in the world today. The fluorescent lamp reportedly got its name from Flores. Written articles about Flores said he was born in Bantayan Island in Cebu. The fluorescent lamp, however, was not invented in a particular year. It was the product of 79 years of the development of the lighting method that began with the invention of the electric light bulb by Thomas Edison.

Among the other inventors who claimed credit for developing the fluorescent lamp were French physicist A. E. Becquerel (1867), Nikola Tesla, Albert Hall (1927), Mark Winsor and Edmund Germer. French inventor Andre Claude was recognized for developing the fluorescent tubular lighting systems. Yet, he was not officially recognized as the inventor of fluorescent lamp. It was reported that the General Electric and Westinghouse obtained Claude’s patent rights and developed the fluorescent lamp that we know today.

According to Filipino scientists, fluorescent lamp was not named after Flores. The term fluorescence first cropped up as early as 1852 when English mathematician-physicist George Gabriel Stokes discovered a luminous material called “fluorspar”, which he coined with “escence”. The National Academy of Science and Technology also dismissed Flores being the inventor of fluorescent lamp as a myth. “No scientific report, no valid statement, no rigorous documents can be used to credit Flores for the discovery of the fluorescent lamp. We have tried to correct this misconception, but the media (for one) and our textbooks (for another) keep using the Flores example,” a Filipino scientist wrote in her column at the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The fluorescent lamps were introduced into the U.S. market in 1938. Still, Filipinos recognize Agapito Flores as the inventor of the product that illuminated the world.” (Source: http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/inventions.php)

…that in 1902, the U.S. Congress passed into law the Cooper Act which made it AGAINST THE LAW for Filipinos to own property, vote, operate a business, live in an “American” residential neighborhood, hold public office, and become naturalized American citizens? Thank goodness the law was later repealed (year?) [Source: Information adopted from the National Filipino-American Empowerment Conference 1997 brochure].

To get your dose of daily Filipino factoids for this month, go to http://www.geocities.com/fasa_usc/culture/filamonth.htm.

Fore more information on Filipino-Americans (”Fil-Am” for short), click here.

Tuesday, 03 October 2006 @ 4:10pm.

I tried a bit of “retail therapy” today, particularly since I need new clothes. I may have to start handwashing more as the little washing machine at my boarding house likes to eat clothes. Unfortunately, shopping isn’t always that relaxing, especially if you can’t find things that fit well. While women’s clothing tends to be the right length here (i.e., many women are short just like me), they don’t usually fit that well if you have curves or a slightly different body type. In addition, I like colors, but not a lot of patterns, and well, let’s just say that there are patterns galore here. There are polka dots, stripes, flowers, plaids, pictures, paisley, logos, cartoons, animal prints, traditional motifs, etc. Solid color shirts often have ruffles, extra buttons, special stitching, fancy collars or cuffs, or additional items that add some flair. Who would have thought it would be a challenge to find a plain jane outfit? The funny thing is that when I’m in Michigan, I lament about how rare it is to see bright colors and patterns! I did luck out today and found three dress shirts (all the same style, but different colors, and yes, there were stripes) and a jean skirt.

I also searched for shoes, but that was a bust. Though flip-flops are quite comfortable, they are not appropriate for many places of work and business. One usually has to wear closed-toed shoes and a covered or strapped heel. It’s best if you can wear slip-ons since you never know when you’ll have to leave your shoes outside or near the door. I had some good pairs to start with, but they are all wearing out quickly. I laughed an unhappy laugh the other day when I realized that one pair had insoles that were practically coming off because of the heat. I then checked some of my other shoes, and sure enough, those insoles are pretty much out of commission, too. Tried good old fashioned super-glue, but it’s no match for Jakarta’s heat, pollution, rough sidewalks and streets, and the amount of walking I do. I was thrilled with a pair of sandals I bought a few months ago and just out of curiosity, I kept track of how long the shoes lasted. Grand total was 2.5 months, and I didn’t even wear them everyday. So much for that!

I probably shouldn’t complain that much, however. Some of my foreign friends and colleagues here have a more difficult time since they tend to be taller men with bigger builds. They end up going to the really expensive malls or using tailors a lot. Tailors in other cities can be quite affordable, but prices here in Jakarta can break one’s budget.

Currently, there are plenty of store sales because it’s Ramadan. The store sections with busana Muslim (Muslim clothing) seem to double or triple in size during this period. Here are some pictures of outfits:

Young girls’ attire:

(taken from Akbar’s Collection, Sidoarjo, East Java, http://habibah2004.tripod.com/id2.html)

Young boys’ attire:

(taken from Akbar’s Collection, Sidoarjo, East Java, http://habibah2004.tripod.com/id2.html)

Women’s clothing:

(taken from Nova Women’s Weekly Magazine, Jakarta, http://www.tabloidnova.com/articles.asp?id=1208)

Men’s clothing:

(taken from Cahaya Mitra Kreasi, Surabaya, East Java, http://chavitakidz.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=66)

Sunday, 01 October 2006 @ 6:59pm.

Not much to report… I’ve just been working on my survey questions. There are interesting challenges regarding how to word questions given certain political science concepts, potential biases, possible language or cultural interpretation issues, and balancing simple and more complex questions (e.g., “what” versus “why” questions).

RAMADAN (also spelled “Ramadhan”):

Click here for information about health guidelines for Muslims fasting during Ramadan. The site recommends avoiding fried and fatty foods, foods with a lot of sugar, too much tea, and smoking cigarettes. Hmmm, this may be a bit of a challenge for many people here…

Click here to find out who is exempt from fasting during Ramadan and certain permissible acts during the fast.

BALI News:

Gathering in Bali to Mark Bombing (cnn.com): People gathered today to mark the first anniversary of last year’s bomb attack. Sadly, twenty people were killed. Bali was also struck by bombs in 2002 where 202 people passed away. May peace remain constant there and everywhere…

JAVA News:

Mud Flood Threatens Java Residents (bbc.com): Sidoarjo has been very badly affected by heavy hot mudflow, which came as a result of problems with a gas drilling project. Thousands have been displaced.

PAPUA News:

Kamoro festival showcases art, culture (thejakartapost.com): The annual Kamoro festival includes dance performances, musical shows, cooking demonstrations, and plenty of arts and crafts.