Office-hopping

Monday in Jakarta is a busy day!

I woke at 4 am this morning to singing from a nearby mosque. Not quite as bad as howler monkeys, but enough to keep me awake. Luckily the singers stopped singing at some point before 5am, and so I was able to catch a bit more shut-eye.

At about 8:30am Martin met me at my hotel and we walked to the bus station. Buses here are abundant and cheap -- only about 2,000 rupiah, which translates into 25 cents per ride. The first stop was LIPI, the Indonesian department of sciences. I filled out the same information I'd sent LIPI over the Internet, gave them yet another copy of my passport, and yet another red-backed photograph. They typed two letters for me -- by typewriter! -- one to the immigration office and one to the police station. I was told to take these letters to the respective offices to retrieve paperwork, which I could then bring back to LIPI.

So Martin and I went to the police station, which felt like the DMV, with long lines and bored people. I gave them money, and a copy of my passport, and was told to return the next morning to pick up my police permit. Next was the immigration office, where I felt I was in a movie -- a dark smoke-filled room, a man in a uniform and dark moustache, and me not understanding the language. As with the other two offices, I have to return to immigration tomorrow to get my immigration permit.

Thus I get to take the bus all over town again tomorrow -- this time without Martin (eek!) but I think I'll be okay, as I'm starting to learn some Indonesian. This is an incredibly easy language, especially after Thai! Bahasa Indonesia (as spoken) rarely has a subject, just a verb and object. I'm sure it will get more complicated as I learn how to talk about things in the past and present, but for now I'm happy with "how are you" (apa kabar), "no" (tidak), "yes" (ya), and "bus" (bus).

After all the office-hopping, I decided to be a tourist for a bit and visited the national monument, a ginormous tower built by Suharto in the 1970s. Some call it Suharto's final erection. I can see why -- it is the only building in a huge green square near downtown Jakarta. The only green for miles around, Jakarta doesn't have many parks. While walking to the monument it started to downpour outside -- a true tropical storm -- and I took shelter along with some other tourists underneath a small hut built for construction workers. The construction workers were covered with mud, and looked cold and miserable, but were friendly enough to ask (in very limited English) where I was from and offer me a cigarette. It seems everyone smokes in this country, inside and outside. I smell like smoke always.

Gotta run as my time in the Internet cafe is done, but more tomorrow.