Indonesia First Impressions and Lessons

Jakarta.
Green lush foliage and crumbling concrete. Tropical sun and low gray smog. Sudden mirrored high rises and rusted corrugated shacks. Crazy lawless traffic and powerful pedestrians. Surprise and contrast, including the people--at once shy and friendly, embarrassed and solicitous.

Things I learned.
Pray you are never in an ambulance in Indonesia. No one pulls over for you.

If you need to get somewhere quickly, a motorcycle is best--you can weave, dodge, use the sidewalk, use either lane (or the space between), and bring your friends, family, or cargo along. (Actually, cars seem to have most of the same advantages, they're just too big to fit into the spaces that a motorcycle can!)

Deep fried crickets taste like crunchy nothing. The fact that they are splayed out with legs in all directions is not something to think about until after you eat them.

Putting sunscreen on short minutes before jumping into the waves of the Indian Ocean is not very smart.

Aloe vera plant products are apparently not carried in pharmacies or stores...but it grows in many garden pots and if you're lucky, a nice person will cut some monster slices to help heal your sunburn.

Pocket knives are very handy to have. Especially when you need to slice monster Aloe Vera leaves.

Pocket knives are not great to forget about and leave in your carry-on bag--they may make it through the x-ray machine once, unseen, but be confiscated the second time through.

"Brains Suck" is a weird name for a coffee shop.

"Panties Pizza" is a funny name for a pizza place, but the slogan "I love panties like I love you" makes it downright hilarious.

America's architectural obsession with beige and gray is embarrassing. America's fear of using bright colors is kind of pathetic.

The blossom from the end of a bunch of bananas is very pretty.

Teakwood furniture makes me drool.

I wish I could fit a gamelan in a suitcase.

If you're old enough to reach the handles, you're probably old enough to drive that motorcycle.

"Not very hot," as in spicy, is a completely subjective and useless measure. There is no such thing as mildly spicy food here. "Mild" sambol will scorch you.

Apparently the hottest chabes (chiles) are green, not red, and they look exactly like pickled green beans in a mix of pickled vegetables. They do not taste like green beans. They taste and feel like lava, except crunchy. And can't be spit out in polite company when one accidentally ends up in your mouth.

Food that is so spicy that it hurts going in feels similarly painful on the way out.

There are so many more plants in the world than one can imagine. I wonder how many kinds of "palm trees" there actually are?

Anyone who wants to complain about taxes spent on infrastructure or government building oversight in the U.S. needs to walk the crumbling streets of another country. I am grateful for sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic lights, storm drains, sewer systems, water treatment plants, clean air, smoke-free public places, building codes, and health inspectors. I am willing to pay for the luxuries I enjoy in America.