February 19, 2013

The original plan was that I would stay for one month in Semarang, Java and one month in Denpessar,  Bali. But having had a little taste of Denpessar in January, I decided that one month of Denpessar was too much.  It wasn’t just because the surrounding are not optimal but also the company is run by a very nice Danish guy but I didn’t come here to learn about Danmark.  So I extended my time in Java as long as I could.

Before I left for Bali I spend a few days with Marnix in Jakarta.  Marnix is teaching English to mainly young kids in an after school program. His post is in Bekasi, a city (more an outskirt) outside of Jakarta.  Not the most exciting of places but Marnix lives in a nice neighborhood with shops, stores and the school, all at walking distance.  I apologize but I have no pictures.  By the time, the taxi finally found the place from my hotel (a 10 minute drive turned in one hour) it was dark and my phone was out of juice.  The next day we went to Jakarta. This is not a city easy to appreciate let alone like.  It is big, busy, dirty, noisy.  We visited the old city, Kota Tua or former Batavia and capital of the Dutch Indisch. It could have been beautiful and probably was before the war.  But like all the old Dutch buildings in any city it is not maintained at all.  Even the buildings that house some of the major museums.  It is actually sort of sad.  I don’t know if it is because it is out of spite towards the former colonial power or that this is a reflection of the corruption of the Indonesian government who provide very little services for her citizens (not even decent garbage collection and infrastructure).  Again, also in Jakarta we spend a lot of time in transportation where the driver had no clue where we were going to.  The funny thing is that they don’t bother to ask anybody either.  The high point of the our stay was actually getting totally soaked on the boat that took us to one of the islands of the Thousand Island north of Jakarta.  After getting back, all wet and actually chilled, nothing is more satisfying than a hot shower (doesn’t happen that often here) and a fabulous meal in a beautiful restaurant called Dapur Babah.

And now I am in Denpessar, Bali.  I am working for Soucila, a small little export company also run by the great Dane, Jostein (he is in Danmark), and an other great Dane, Steffen (who actually lives here in Bali).  It is housed in a slum in Denpessar (no idea how to get here, and again, neither does the taxi).  The house it self is actually sort of interesting but surrounded by mud and rusted corrugated sheet metal houses.  And off course the holy cows (this is hindu land) and singing roosters. The “staff” not only works in this house they also sleep here.  The staff consist of the Dane, Nisak – the administrative assistant and translator- and four girls who do the beading.  Steffen sleeps in one room with a matras on the floor.  All the woman sleep in the other, also with one big matras on the floor! I declined the one mattress deal and am staying in a “hotel” next door which is like an oases.  I spend my time designing necklaces from Rudraksha beads.  They are the seeds of the Rudrashka tree and are used for Hindu prayer beads.   Hindu is the dominant religion in Bali.  It means that each house have little temples (as does this one) and there are little offerings of rice everywhere.  Which is very much appreciated by the rats! The rats here are bigger than the cats.  Selamat datang Bali!

House and Surroundings

Neigbors

Staff and House Temple

My work