First Impressions

Greetings from Novotel Bandung - the hotel. I'm very pleased to find out that our accommodations are just as great as in Singapore, and we get to stay here for the next 18 days. We arrived in Jakarta last night and were greeted by the coordinator of AMINEF (American Indonesian Exchange Foundation - the partner organization for Fulbright), Nelly, right at the gate. She led us through a series of hallways which eventually led to the immigration office. Let me just say this about Indonesian immigration: I have no idea how I got through or what exactly happened there. I handed over my passport to Nelly and was escorted right through. Didn't even have to turn in the customs form...I suspect something might have just been taken care of. After grabbing our bags (which had made me a little nervous because one of my zippers was open...but all seems OK), we immediately boarded a private bus to take us to Bandung, a major town East of Jakarta. If you've ever experienced Southeast Asian traffic you can imagine how a drive, which should only take 2.5 hours, took us over 5 (2 alone to get through Jakarta). I'm surprised to see how many Western chains are here - Starbuck's, McDonald's, Carl's Jr, ACE Hardware, Dunkin Donuts.

Once we reached the hotel we were greeted with warm towels and juice. The place is pretty modern and very nice. The restaurant has grass on the walls and rocks on the ceiling. I have my own room with a Queen bed and free internet. Yay!

I woke up this morning and, admittedly so, was surprised at what I saw outside my door. My hallway has rooms on one side and windows on the other, so as I walked out my room, I was finally greeted with the reality of daylight in Indonesia. Our posh hotel butts right up next to local homes. There are more homes and buildings as far as the eye can see, except for the mountains which lie far out in the distance and are covered in a haze of clouds and pollution. It is the seemingly raw way of life which surprised me most - people live right on top of one another, the rich right next to the poor; there doesn't seem to be a real middle class. As we walked throughout the streets this afternoon, I was very much on sensory overload. There were smells of food and pollution, sounds of always present traffic and the calls to prayer for Muslims, and colorful, crowded streets and buildings. The people here don't on the whole, stare at us, but we a group of 8-15 Americans certainly does garner some attention. The sidewalks are...well, I certainly would never want to traverse them in a pair of heels. The day was a "free day" so we were able to hang out, rest, and walk around. For dinner, a bunch of us visited a mall - the social gathering place of any Indonesian city - and had traditional food. I ate Nasi gerung, or friend rice. Yum.

Tomorrow officially begins our orientation, and I am excited to get started. We're lucky enough to have 3 returning ETAs, and we have done nothing but pester them with questions. But I think we're all ready for the bureaucratic interpretation of our coming experiences, and I'm ready to hear what they have to say.

I do have to note: this blog is not an official Department of State website, and the views and information presented are my own and do not represent the Fulbright Program or the US Department of State.

I also want to apologize for any poor writing - I'm still recovering from this jet lag. I mean, it was July 31 for like 3 days!