Sunday was fairly uneventful. I wandered around bogor a bit. Mostly its a lot of the same, narrow, winding and crowded with locals selling anything and everything. Everywhere I went seemed very safe, but also very poor. Funny, I can get a starbucks coffee, KFC or shop for any number of high end western clothing brands, but consistent electricity and running water escape me. (see http://www.botanisquare.com/ for the local upscale mall) The concept of "sanitation" has also not fully taken root here. I have 4 fawcets, 2 sinks and 1 drain in my room here. The drain is a hole in the floor. Strangely enough, one sink has no drain which I suppose makes it more of a basin or bucket than a sink and the other one drains into the cabinet below. Didn't realize that until I brushed my teeth a few times into my own cabinet. You learn to check these things. So far I believe my toilet discharges to some sort of rudimentary treatment system I walked by on sunday, but all other water goes out the hole in the floor into the gutter. Indonesians love to sing. As I write this the bros next door are belting out santeria by sublime. Its 11am. Surprisingly they are actually on key and they are constantly baffled that I don't have a library of songs I can sing at a moment's notice.
Soccer. Sunday night. The bros were waiting all day to head down to the club to play the weekly game. One of the bros (Yoga) has parents who are very well off and I think they rent out this small fieldhouse to play. The pitch is great. Really nice artificial turf; as good as I've seen anywhere. All the indonesians really know how to play, a couple I would say are close to my skill level. However, the big problem is that they are just too small. I'm way to big and fast. Its like playing with skilled 13 year olds. However, they know how to pass and move so its still a ton of fun. I'm much stronger as well so I was unloading some cannon shots at the goal and getting a round of applause after each shot. The field is really to small for me as I had a pretty good chance of scoring off the kickoff. Exhaustion was a constant struggle. You haven't played soccer until you have played it at 90 degrees and 90% humidity in a stuffy fieldhouse. The indonesians didn't seem to mind the heat but they kept smoking a cigarette every time they were subbed out so I think it pretty much evened out the stamina. After the game I felt like I was at risk of a heat stroke, but getting outside helped. It was probably still 85 but I felt cold. When the humidity is that high and with a slight breeze you really can feel cold. Its like being sopping wet at all times and not being able to dry off. I figured out a bunch of the guys names too during the game which is key. I have more to learn but this is what I know. Yoga, Wesley, Ronal, Reza, Ling Ling (a nickname, they say its because he has a chinese face. I suppose. No such thing as PC in indo).
After that Andrea made some food for dinner which tasted good and may have made me sick. (more on that later). I offered the guys some food and they didn't really take it. I think I may have committed a cultural faux pas, but oh well. I was hungry so I just kind of went over and took some food, and motioned them to come grab some too. When they didn't come I assumed they were not hungry and sat down with them in front of the tv to eat. When I had finished Andrea asked again if they wanted some and they all jumped up and finished it. I think, culturally, you have to insist that your guests should eat food and never eat before they get their share. I remember now that none of them would eat until I had some on my plate at the bbq and they basically wouldn't take no for an answer when I said I wasn't hungry. So when they came back I apologized for not being more forceful and they said it was ok. Lesson learned.
After that Andrea made some food for dinner which tasted good and may have made me sick. (more on that later). I offered the guys some food and they didn't really take it. I think I may have committed a cultural faux pas, but oh well. I was hungry so I just kind of went over and took some food, and motioned them to come grab some too. When they didn't come I assumed they were not hungry and sat down with them in front of the tv to eat. When I had finished Andrea asked again if they wanted some and they all jumped up and finished it. I think, culturally, you have to insist that your guests should eat food and never eat before they get their share. I remember now that none of them would eat until I had some on my plate at the bbq and they basically wouldn't take no for an answer when I said I wasn't hungry. So when they came back I apologized for not being more forceful and they said it was ok. Lesson learned.
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