Visiting Friends in Jakarta

Trips to Indonesia are to visit friends whom we have known for 20 to 30 years. The  young children that we knew in Raleigh are now grown and starting to build their own lives.It is a pleasure to see them and learn how they incorporate their international childhood into their lives. Friends who tutored us in Bahasa Indonesia reminded us that our Indonesia is no better than it was 20 years ago. They are being kind - it is worse. We know enough words to communicate with becak drivers and merchants, but not with friends. We made other Indonesia friends through NC State's International Friendship Program.

In Jakarta we stayed with my brother and his family, who have lived in Jakarta on and off for 15 years. With luck my brother's next assignment will give us a chance to visit a new and interesting part of the world. During our stay we had dinner with Bambang (PhD in economics), Endang and their two sons.  Endang had prepared a culinary tour of Indonesia - all our favorite Indonesian dishes and a few new ones.

Don't overlook food in the background. I'm hungry just typing this

This is the food in the background - I'm ready to search for an
Indonesian restaurant

Bambang works in the Ministry of Finance. Endang works with a NGO that is responsible for assuring the Gates and similar foundations that their money is used as intended. As a side note - a great conversation starter is to ask "Is corruption getting better or worse?" Endang said that she finds traveling to the small towns and villages energizing. Sadly she confirmed reports that sexual exploitation in Papua continues unabated. (To learn more and be saddened do a Google search.)

Very happy diners

Adit, in the foreground, recently received a master's in logistics in the UK. A wise career move as products are moving across the globe. He said that his favorite cities are London, New York, and Solo. He sent a list of 16 food/restaurant recommendations in Solo.(Contact us if you want the list - it is meant to share.) Afi, in the background, is a university student in accounting.

My brother and his wife graciously lent us their home, cook, and social skills to help us host a lunch. Gwendolyn suggested Louisiana barbecued shrimp. We weren't entirely sure who would show up - our estimate varied between 3 and 9. Shrimp ended up being perfect. We bought enough for the maximum number of guests. What wasn't needed could be put aside for later, and we could add shrimp to the grill to easily accommodate the final number of guests. As it ended up 7 people traveled from Bogor to join us. Geri, Subagyo and Herni's son, did yeoman's work by arranging the details.

Shrimp on the grill

A reunion of old friends

After lunch we returned to Bogor with our friends - more on Bogor later,

Our stay in Jakarta was largely limited to seeing family and friends. We first visited Jakarta in the early 1970s. We marveled how much cleaner and prosperous it is. Forty years ago the air was dirty from diesel fumes and dust from cement factories, now no diesel fumes and the cement factories have been overtaken by upscale developments. On thing that has not changed is the traffic. In 1974 traffic jams involved few cars, but now lots of beceks, motorbikes, carts and people. Now the jams consist mostly of cars. A MRT system is under construction. It is badly needed.

A note on the international friendship program. We participated in the program for 20 years. Along the way we made life long friends. The program matches American families with international students. The "host" family  meets with the students from time to time. We have had students to dinner (popular with single male students on a limited budget and with limited cooking skills), the farmer's market, the state fair, and the polls on election day. Many stories developed from these friendships. For example, when we asked students to view election result the Chinese student pointed out that the Chinese (in China) never voted (not even in classrooms), the Indian student said that it took weeks to know the election results, and the Egyptian student said that the outcome known before hand.  Americans with young children should consider participating in similar programs - students miss their families and appreciate going to school programs, which can stimulate conversations on schools and customs in child raising.