Friday, February 29th.
No meetings, up at 7:00, shopped in mall and walked around town, couldn’t even spend all of my own money. Went in bookstore again to look at anti American shit. Daydreamed about helping the poor and stopping illegal logging. Packed. God did I pack. One problem with this trip, maybe the only negative really, is the packing and unpacking. Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya, Pakanbaru, Singapore – six hotels in two weeks. And everywhere you receive a gift == plus you buy some things for people – you get name cards, receipts, paper of indeterminate importance, books in Indonesian, and your luggage multiplies like naughty small mammals left alone. Every night empty your pockets, sort your clothes, organize, and go to bed. When time comes to go you pack it all up in newer and more innovative, space-saving combinations, and move to the next place. I packed too much, I kept too much, and I carried too much.
Left the hotel at 3:30. I was on my own at that point – no one from the Embassy was around – although Rachma had organized a car for me no one in the hotel could either a) remember that she had or b) tell me that I was taking the car she had organized. This illustrates a basic rule of the inexperienced traveler – you only vaguely know what is going on. The only way to approach it I guess it to be clear about your goal (must get to airport at this time) and smile a lot and be a dumbass. I was a serviceable insistent, polite, dumbass.
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