Went to the national monument today. Essentially a mix betweent he statue of liberty and the washington monument. we also went to an old bank (not quite significant) we were told later we only wne there bc they woulod allow us to eat lunch there. then to the old jakarta museum which used to be the dutch governors house. at least five wives of governors who lived there hung themselves fromt he belltower...
am adding photos on flickr...yes i gave in. so if you would like to see any of the great photo skillz...please chekc them out at:
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Today we went to a place called Taman Mini…semi equivalent to Minimundos in Europe, except larger (actual size houses) and specific to
not much new...still not sick...but everyone else is.
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The 50 of us have now been briefed on all thelocations we have to choose rom in terms of cultural centers. Our choices are:
Solo: In Solo we will be learning Javanese Dances. The instructor was selling people to her program by telling us how cheap everything is in Solo, about the markets, and delicious food. Also we will be learning batik in Solo.
Bali:
Yogya: The presenter for
Everyone is anxious to know where we will end up. We are allowed to give our first and second choices, but clearly not everyone will get to where they want.
Some random bits of information:
I am beginning to take photos of how many interesting things I see on mopeds. So far this includes: entire families, a palm tree (appox. 4 ft. tall), an air conditioning unit, chicken coop, 10 bags of gardening soil topped off with planting pots.
The air here has made everyone cough constantly. I feel bad for some of the islanders who are from such beautiful pristine places and now here they can barely breathe because of the pollution.
The Indonesians LOVE facebook.
They have: KFC, CFC, and TFC.
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The program today began with a delicious breakfast in the morning. Rice! (There were also these cold potatoes, an egg mixture of some kind, and porridge) And some of the best coffee I have ever had.
The opening ceremony was very beautiful and held in the
The ceremony proceeded with music and the recognition of each country. Following the ceremony we had a delicious lunch and met with our respective ambassadors and other attendees. I felt like I was in a networking meeting in DC again—collecting business cards and small talk.
We then had an interesting dialogue with the Director General for Information and Public Diplomacy. He made sure we wouldn’t do drugs or have sexual relations…or what he called “good things”. Also he wanted to make sure we understood the nature of this “Cultural Diplomacy” and how we were to use it in our respective countries. He didn’t want us to stay in
Tonight we will go hear Balinese music somewhere in
I still have not gotten sick…but have started the malaria meds and cant wait to see if I begin having insane lucid dreams.
The ceremony proceeded with music and the recognition of each country. Following the ceremony we had a delicious lunch and met with our respective ambassadors and other attendees. I felt like I was in a networking meeting in DC again—collecting business cards and small talk.
We then had an interesting dialogue with the Director General for Information and Public Diplomacy. He made sure we wouldn’t do drugs or have sexual relations…or what he called “good things”. Also he wanted to make sure we understood the nature of this “Cultural Diplomacy” and how we were to use it in our respective countries. He didn’t want us to stay in
I still have not gotten sick…but have started the malaria meds and cant wait to see if I begin having insane lucid dreams.
Pictures to come soon...