First impressions

I have been in Indonesia for three days now. The journey was lengthy, but there were no complications or delays, and I could even say that it was a pleasant trip across the world. I left Carbondale Monday afternoon after having been lovingly sent off family and friends; J drove me to St. Louis where I got to hang out with Erin, one of my besties, one more time before leaving the country. The next morning J drove me to the airport, we said our goodbyes and I-will-miss-yous, and I carried my belongings to the airline counter. After so much packing and repacking—which I did again twice the night before—I had no issues with my luggage and it was sent to a safe place in the belly of an airplane. This was really happening!

The flight St. Louis-Chicago was brief and painless, and the Chicago-Tokyo leg was surprisingly easy too. 12 hours of reading, watching new releases, eating delicious Japanese airline food, drinking beer and wine, and napping in my two-seat makeshift bed. The five-hour layover in Narita gave some time to buy oleh-oleh for my counterpart Ibu Mira, take silly photos posing as a samurai in one of the shops, charge my phone and computer, and get sleepy enough for the next portion of the trip. Tokyo-Jakarta was a long, uninterrupted, 7-hour slumber that went by quickly. And then there I was: Indonesia! So close to the finish line, yet I still had a 6-hour wait before making it to Lombok. I got to the Jakarta airport around midnight, when everything was closed. Somehow I struck a conversation with a photographer from Georgia and we made an unspoken agreement to accompany each other throughout the night. We walked around the airport, sat by the entrance to the security checkpoint (which was not open until 3am), exchanged travel stories, and when the airport began to wake up, went to get some coffee and then went our separate ways towards our respective boarding gates. I boarded the plane to Lombok around 5:50am, and it felt like it took a second to get to my final destination. After a couple of very long flights, a 2-hour one felt like nothing.

Hello, Lombok! Nice to finally meet you! I had been imagining you for the past 6 months and here you are now, embracing me warmly.

Welcoming committee

I arrived Thursday morning and after retrieving my luggage at the baggage claim, I walked towards the front door to meet my welcoming committee: Ibu Mira, a kind and smiley woman who was to become my number one source of information; one of her students, Pak Mul, who also offered his help easing my transition; and last but no least, the vice-rector of the university, Prof. Suwardji, who happened to be coming back from a trip to Java the same morning. One of the university drivers, Pak Sukri, was waiting for us in the parking lot, ready to take us to the campus of Universitas Mataram. We were all excited to meet each other and happily chatted on the way there. Once at the school, I was shown my office, was introduced to an array of people, and was taken to an amazing restaurant where I ate lots of delicious Indonesian food. After lunch, Ibu Mira took me to my new apartment and then we went to a few stores to buy some basics. Afterwards, she left me at home to get some rest and told me that she would come to pick me up in the morning. Miraculously, I wasn’t even jet lagged and I ended up going to bed around 11pm and getting up the next day at 7am. Time change? What time change?

First lunch in Lombok

Enak!

Professor Suwardi and Mira

The next morning Mira picked me up at 8am to go to the university and meet more people. I was welcomed by the rector, Prof. Sunarpi, and met the heads of the English, Education, and Bahasa Indonesia departments. We talked about possible projects and ways how I could contribute to their programs. Since it was a Friday, a day for prayer in Muslim communities, the university closed early and Mira and I went to get some incredibly delicious (and cheap) street food—rice with vegetables, tofu, peanut paste, chili paste, a boiled egg, potatoes, and fish balls. Yum! We went back to my place to eat, and when Mira left, I sat the gazebo outside my house and met two of my new neighbors. Galih and Augus recently moved to Lombok from other islands to complete their masters in ethnomusicology, and we immediately connected. Galih gave me some traditional Indonesian music, and when the sun went down, we all walked together to the student zone where many shops, cafés, and restaurants abound. They took me to a minimarket where I bought some groceries for breakfast, a clothing store where I got a batik dress to wear around the house, and we stopped at a fruit stand to get some strange looking, but very tasty fruit. We had dinner together and walked back to the house to get some sleep.

My new landlady, her husband, and their granddaughter.

Today is Saturday and I can’t believe it’s been only 3 days since I got to Lombok. I already feel like I have good friends here, and I’m almost completely settled. This morning Mira came back to help me negotiate my rent for the next 10 months with the landlady. Things couldn’t have gone any better: I got a comfortable place to live at a great price; my neighbors are extremely cool; and Ibu Kop, the landlady, is a very sweet old woman who assured me that she wants me to be happy here. So far, I have no complaints about this new life in Lombok. I’m leaving for Bali tomorrow morning for a conference and our in-country orientation, and I am excited to see all the other fellows again, and hear about their experiences at their sites so far. Bali also sounds pretty okay. I think I can deal with a week of that… I’m sure I’ll get back full of ideas and ready to tackle my new position at the university. As for now, I’ll keep soaking in all these new experiences, trying to learn as much Bahasa Indonesia as possible (I can practice with my neighbors), and readying myself for what it is ahead. I’ll keep you posted.