Indramayu

Provincial, slow paced intensely friendly and charming; I love Indramayu so far. No pictures yet since the internet is very slow, but I hope they will do the place justice. We took an early morning car on wednesday through the country side. Its times like this when its easy to appreciate the immense potential of the country. Once we got off the highway and onto the back roads, the rice fields stretch off in every direction endlessly with small villages dotting the landscape. Every few paddies is a small berm of dirt with a few workers lazing under an overhang out of the rain. Its the dry season, but its raining anyway. This is apparently a rare respite but it really cools the air so I am grateful for it. We passed the Java sea, and went through a few fishing villages with boats of all colors. Each village we drive through is packed with bicycles and small carts hauling all manner of produce. Small family eateries dot the sides of the road and when people are not working they are sitting at the counters smoking and making small talk. You can really feel the pace of life slow down here. I have been meeting with various agricultural officials to announce my presence here (more on the ins and outs of indonesian local politics later) and we are never on time. It doesn't matter though, the tea comes out and we are treated like guests of honor. After introductions we get down to business of our business here which usually involves lots of jokes and pictures. Every person we meet here has to have a picture of us. At one meeting today of representatives of local farm cooperatives, it was like being in a zoo. At the end of the meeting, people crowded around us to snap pictures of our faces, no doubt to bring back to their village and announce our presence for the next few days. Following the business at each meeting, we usually chat for awhile and snacks generally appear. I have been made to feel very welcome everywhere I go and the hospitality is overwhelming. Following the meeting with the farm reps today we were treated to an excellent meal made by one of the wives of the men. Duck, chicken, bean sprouts, veggies, spicy tofu, rice, chips and fresh fruit. Outstanding, and spiced to perfection. Now that my stomach is in working order, I can enjoy the food again. Daniel is our translator and he has been doing a marvelous job translating all of the agricultural terms. Kusmomo is our guide. He used to be the head of the agriculture department for all of Indramayu so he knows everyone here. It cannot be stated what a resource he is. He is retired now and works with CCROM on agricultural development in the region. He drives us around and gets us access to everyone who makes things work in the region. I don't know what we would do without him. He is great to ride around with as well. He grew up in the region so he knows every road, field and landmark. He really reminds me of grandpa. He takes us on a different route every time we return to the building where we are staying. Its always entertaining driving around as he teases Jess about her boyfriend, points out what is going on in the fields and names every volcano that comes into view. The fields are lush green, surrounded by mango trees (Indramayu is the mango district) with towering volcanos up to 10,000 feet in the distance. As we are at sea level, this is quite impressive.

Now, the accommodations. I don't think I'm going back to bogor. I'm on the third floor with a balcony overlooking the city, there is a full kitchen and a washing machine. The floors are hardwood and best of all the bedroom has air conditioning. It doesn't get much better than this.

This evening we went out and ate some meatball soup from a street cart. Its called Bakso. Good stuff. The carnaval is also in town. They have cotton candy, a merry go round and a ferris wheel. Quite the scene in this sleepy little town. Its about the only thing still open after 7pm. (sound familiar waterville?)

I have really been able to chill out and relax here. Everything runs late and there is no sense of urgency to anything. The locals smile all the time and seem to enjoy the idyllic lifestyle. Indramayu is one of the most productive rice regions in Java so I don't think there is a big issue of starvation here, although there surely are other risks. When we spoke to the head of the food security office, he indicated that the biggest issue is distribution of rice during bad years not production. However, being Indonesia, the area is still teetering. Just before I left, I heard that one of the office staff's nephews died of typhoid. I am vaccinated but its sad everyone here doesn't have access to something that only costs a few dollars to administer.

Its too slow to post pictures, but I will be here until Sunday so look for another update before then. After that I go to Pacitan, where Andrea is. I hear they don't have internet there.