Since I graduated in May, I have been to 5 countries and 20 states plus Puerto Rico and DC, including two road trips with my sister that together connected the coasts. I have slept on 36 different beds (using that term loosely, of course), and shared conversations over food or drink with at least 124 different people.* This hectic and fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants unemployment contained many truly wonderful mini-adventures and celebrations and reunions and quiet moments with friends and family.
And yet let's be honest here: it's high time for me to do something or another with these six-month-old Masters degrees. Pending the Republic of Indonesia granting me a visa, I will head to Jakarta in early December, migrate to Yogyakarta to take Indonesian language classes for a couple of months, and then start on my assigned project for a very cool Indonesian NGO.** Hopefully more projects will follow.
I'm going on a short-term contract, meaning that the length of my stint depends on how well I pick up the language, and - more so - on how much the people funding the initial contract and at the NGO like me. Thus far, I have mostly managed to view this slightly precarious situation as "exciting" and "sky's the limit." There is no question that going to Indonesia means constant opportunities to learn. In fact, I turned down a different job offer based largely on my gut feeling that after 6 months in the position, I would coast along without new challenges or learning. The lesson: I sure as you-know-what better make the most of this opportunity. At the very least, I hope for these letters home to be a record of my efforts in that regard.
***
After I broke the news to my grandma that I was going and she realized that earthquakes and volcanoes were not enough to deter me, she asked me to tell her something about the country. I don't have any personal experiences to share as yet, other than my impressions from a visit in 2006: I'm looking forward to eating consistently crave-able food and to year-round warm weather, not so excited about equally constant humidity or Jakarta traffic. For Grandma and anyone else who's curious, here are a few other tidbits I've picked up so far:
From A History of Modern Indonesia:
- Indonesia's is the the 4th largest population in the world after China, India and the U.S.
- Its 19,000 islands span a geographical space as large as the U.S. and contain 200+ culture/language groups
- The country has the largest Muslim population in the world, with significant Hindu, Buddhist and Christian minorities, underlying traditions of animism or ancestor worship, and a long history of religious tolerance
- People aiming for an end to Dutch colonial rule started to promote a version of Malay as a unifying national language in the 1930s; Bahasa Indonesia is now the official language and lingua franca
- About 3% of women smoke cigarettes daily, compared to 58% of men
- Less than 25% of women complete high school or higher, although more than half of the people who finish college are women
- About 20% of Indonesians are considered poor on the combined dimensions of living standards, education, and health
- 29% of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day
- "Indonesia is an infinitely varied mosaic ... remote islands, exotic cultures, teeming cities, perfect beaches, captivating wildlife and extraordinary arts are just a few parts of the bigger work of art that is this huge and diverse nation."
Happy Thanksgiving,
MMS
*Yes, I counted. Making the original list helped with a tidge of insomnia on bed number 15-ish and I was so awed/horrified that I kept the tally going from there.
**I won't go into details about my work situation on this blog, for the same reasons I won't use my name, or yours, or those of people I interact with. I am conscious of the potential professional ramifications of writing publicly about work, and of my social work ethical obligations not to break confidentiality or share other people's stories without their participation.
