Some first thoughts on Indonesia

When we first arrived in Jakarta and got out of the airport and onto the toll road I felt like we could have been on any major highway on the east coast of the US, but with a few more banana trees. I told Jeff I expected a much different looking place. More exotic or something. My wish came true once we turned off the main tollway! Holy people on scooters! Crazy traffic and tons of road side stands. I''ll try to take some pics on the way back to the airport tomorrow. I was too distracted to do so on the way here.

Our hotel compound is nuts. It's huge. And ornate. Jeff did not have to go to the math conference, so he explored the hotel. Here are some photos.

 






The day we arrived was the first day of Ramadan. Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world and it turns out there is a mosque very close to our hotel. During Ramadan, the Muslims fast from sunup to sundown. So, every night at sundown and every morning around 2am there are these calls to eat. They are amazing. I don't even mind hearing them in the middle of the night. Fascinating. I tried to capture a video of what it sounds like. It lasts for quite sometime. --hope to post video when I have better Internet.

 

I typed all of this on our patio. This was my view. Pretty fantastic.

 

 

Food: still figuring this out. They love their rice. Most of the time I have no idea what I'm eating. The first night we went out and had satay at a local joint. Yum! All our other meals are here at the hotel. Jeff's taken some pics.

 

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