September 28, 2007

Some other weird things in Makassar:

• 405: I’ve been interviewed twice by teen boys on the street since arriving – it’s for school or something
• 406: No Burger King
• 407: No Starbucks (yet)
• 408: It’s still harder to get vegetarian food in Chicago than in Makassar – and let me tell you, it can be a challenge here
• 409: Being told you have a “long nose” by an Indonesian is a high compliment
• 410: We live about a block away from one of the homes of Indonesia’s vice-president – sometimes they block the street to traffic when he’s in town, but soldiers with automatic weapons and grenade launchers still say, “Hello, mister! Hello, missus!” to Sarah and me and let us walk by
• 411: People here will answer yes to everything, even if they don’t know what you’re talking about (I had to sort through a giant plate of meat and noodles because of this and then deal with the guy trying to overcharge us Rp. 10,000…)
• 412: Sarah was yelled at for eating a cracker outside during the day – it’s Ramadan, remember
• 413: I’ve been listening to a lot of ABBA lately
• 414: We’ve lost about Rp. 675,000 (about 67 USD) – half of the average Indonesian’s monthly income – through scams, pick-pocketing, or just falling out our pockets (that last one was my fault, actually)
• 415: One night, we walked into Nu Bliss and The World’s Most Extreme Vidoes was on the big screen TV and Christian praise music was playing
• 416: Indonesians wear coats to keep cool – they don’t really sweat and the long sleeves keep the sun off their skin when they ride their motor bikes
• 417: I haven’t gotten diarrhea yet, even though I brush my teeth with the tap water and eat local food that is definitely not up to Multnomah County’s health code standards