Marcus

1. Yogya

“Ah… born in Jerusalem?”
This was, more or less, the first thing we heard upon arrival in Indonesia, when I was 11 and the Soeharto-era immigration officer looked through our passports.

A couple of weeks ago I heard it again, this time accompanied by a big smile from a dean at an Islamic university. I was touring a few departments soliciting permission and assistance in recruiting their students for my study. Recommended response: make a reference to the Arabic origin of a word, comment on a similar Arabic word, and in general give a vague, equivocal, deniable impression that you speak Arabic.

Not that there’s anything wrong with it… I actually have no problems here with my place of birth. I’m not the only one (a friend here grew up on Cremieux street) and besides, Americans like me are born in many places (Silver Spring, Vineyard Spring). “Islamic” can also mean many things. And yet, when my next stop turned out to be the Faculty of Islamic Religious Studies, on a Friday, there was that moment of: “Right….”

Turned out completely fine, of course.

Yogyakarta was a long string of these meetings, explanations, interviews with potential assistants, etc. It was also an opportunity to revisit places and people after two years. Some have unfortunately moved on, of course, but it was good to be back. Yogya (pronounced “Jogja”) is the university city of Indonesia, full of young students and academics and is also a center of Javanese tradition.

2. Borobudur

Yogya is also close to Borobudur, a beautiful giant stupa from the Buddhist period, around 800 CE, which I had shamefully not visited before:

3. Jakarta

The rainy season has really arrived. The Jakarta airport was shut a few times last week, and the road to the airport was shut for much longer. When we finally landed at night, I embarked on a two hour ride into the city through West Javanese countryside. I doesn’t help either that my neighborhood name, “Bendungan Hilir" (“Benhil”), literally means “Dam of the River-Mouth” (or something to that effect).

Tip: don’t watch the Lost pilot episode just before flying in Indonesia.

4. Washington

But only in Jakarta can you actually vote in the U.S. primary. The Democratic Party now has a “Democrats Abroad” section, with delegates and all…

5. Arkansas

Slightly out of context, but still scary:
"I didn't major in math," Huckabee told a cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Washington, D.C. "I majored in miracles."

- Huckabee disputing the inevitability of a McCain candidacy

6. Beijing

As ironic as it is, Chinese New Year is a biggish deal in Jakarta (among all the other new years). A partly-Tionghua (ethnic Chinese) friend noted bitterly that until the democratic period, it was illegal to even celebrate it. Now everyone seems to join the party.

Happy Year of the Rat!

7. Padang.

That’s where I’m headed tomorrow.