Really Out There Experience (ROTE)

The Next Adventure

2010-07-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

Well with less than two weeks to go before I set off for my second placement I have found time to set up my next blog. If you wish to follow time in Uganda please go to the following web address:-

http://ugandawithvso.blogspot.com/

Time to go home .. Time for reflection

2010-05-26T07:59:00.001-07:00

20 May 2010

As I am about to exit Indonesia I though it was important to think about what I will miss and what I will gladly leave behind. Interestingly although I have been immensely happy here my list of things I will not miss had turned out to be quite a bit longer than the things I will miss.

Not Miss
Mandi – I do not mind the cold water but I miss standing under running water

Hand washing clothes

Oppressive humidity – far more disabling than the heat

Hello mister – the constant call as you walk down the street

The joint loosening roads

Six day week

Limited fruit

Screaming kids

Lack of discipline for children

Smoking in the office

Spitting – any where and everywhere and particularly prolific when people chew siri

Rubbish – so much food and water comes in plastic containers and people just discard them when the item is finished and it is not cleaned up so plastic waste is an increasing problem

The bed – I did eventually find where I could lye without having springs sticking into me!

Mosquitoes the high pitched whine and the itching after they bite.

The lack of post

Difficulty of internet connection Sambol – the hot accompaniment to all foods

Lack of meat and cheese – meat and particularly chicken was available but not in small enough quantities for one and generally very tough

Volume of music in bemos

Red tape

Lack of treatment options; particularly analgesia and anaesthesia in A&E

That once invited into the house people just browse your cupboards, fridge etc

The expectation of oleh-oleh – presents being brought back when ever you have left the island

Listric mati – regular power cuts
The animals leaving mess on my porch – I mop the porch morning, noon and night and still sometimes have to do it again
Jam karat – people come to a meeting when they feel like it not at the agreed time
Ants getting into all the food - just never seem to have enough plastic boxes and just because a packet is not open means the food is secure, a mouse will come and open it for the ants!
Rotten eggs – even from the best shops there will be an odd rotten egg in the tray
Electric shocks – go with over loaded sockets and poorly maintained wiring
Risk of seeing snakes in the house/garden
The assumption that I have lots of money because I am a Westerner

Will Miss

Squat toilet – just so much more comfortable to use

Gheckos
Heat

Colleagues – the staff at RSUD Baa have been so supportive Beauty of the island

Challenge of Bahasa Indonesia – it is so frustrating to have to go when my language skills mean I can chat for hours in small groups and am proficient at sms

Parties esp dancing

Tempe - a fermented soya bead cake; an excellent source of protein

Community spirit with neighbours – such a relaxed atmosphere with people wandering over to chat for a while then drifting off again

Sopi sessions – a
chance to drink and chat with a real cross section of men and towards the end women were joining to chat

Amount of free time I have – I have done so much craft work and read lots of books

Variety of fish

Friendliness of public transport

Nurses thirst for knowledge

Swimming in a warm sea

Markets – with fresh organic products

Fruit juices

Sun sets

Clearness of the night sky without light pollution – there are just so many stars up there!

Deserted white sand beaches

Challenge of riding the bike on unmade roads

Instant repairs – if the bike breaks down I know all I have to do is sit and wait for the next rider to come along and he will stop and get the bike going again – or sms a friend who will come and fix it.

There are still so many things that I did not find the time to write an entry on including:-

Food and eating places

My daily routine

Religion

Refuse disposal

Post office

Sunsets

Beaches

Animals and insects

Siri pina

Would I do it again – you bet I would; thanks to am amazingly tolerant husband 16 July should see me heading off to Uganda for a year. Details of my next blog will be posted shortly: watch this space!

Long ferry journey

2010-05-26T07:54:00.001-07:00

14 – 16 May 2010

The earliest I could get a plane from Sumba was 21 May so I decided to take the ferry, so after 6 hours on a bus I arrived at the ferry terminal at 20:00. The first one to leave went to Aimere on Flores. I used my contacts from VSO to check if there was a flight from Ende within a couple of days of the ferry’s arrival. There was not so I decided to stay on the ferry as far as Kupang; a 36 hour journey; as there are several flights a day from Kupang to Bali.

As there had been no ferries for over a week this one was rather full and I was lucky to find enough floor space to put down the sleep mat I hired for the two nights. People were lying anywhere and everywhere – how they managed to get to some of the places I have no idea but I know it would not be allowed in the UK! Despite the discomfort and the high level of smoke pollution I had a great time on the trip.

Ikat

2010-05-26T07:38:00.001-07:00

Ikat is a form of weaving where a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dying is used on either the warp or weft fibres prior to the weaving. It is the dyed threads that create the final pattern. Each of the regions of NTT have their own style of ikat. The colours and patterns make it possible to identify where a piece comes from. The women sit an weave whilst it is the men who trade the ikat. There are still a few weavers using natural dyes but now chemical dyes and synthetic threads are being used to make the cloth attractive to tourists.

Sumba

2010-05-26T07:08:00.001-07:00

6 – 14 May 2010

I had a great time in East Sumba and had just started to explore West Sumba when I received an email from VSO offering me a second placement in Uganda starting 16 July. I therefore cut short my visit to Sumba to get home to see Steve. The countryside was far more rounded than the angular hills of Flores. Sumba has many traditional villages and I was invited to one Kampung Tarung as a friend. Like so many other events it meant that it was not really appropriate to be taking photographs. The traditional villages have large grave stones but even modern houses have huge ornate constructions over the family graves that have to be saved for and often mean the families develop large debts. I have shared transport with chickens, goats and pigs but this was the first time I had shared a bemo with a horse! I had been waiting on Sumba as I wanted to go to Sabu by ferry but the wind meant the waves were too high for the ferry to run - it will just have to wait until another visit.

Return to Rote

2010-05-26T07:07:00.001-07:00

27 April – 4 May 2010

I decided to go back to Rote whilst I waited the decision on my visa extension. Chilpa had kindly offered to let me stay in her room in the nurses’ mess. I received such a warm welcome from everyone at the hospital and had such an amazing time in the mess. The nurses were so generous with their hospitality. I learnt a lot about Indonesian cooking not only in the mess but also at the house of Naema’s family. He father had died the day before I arrived back on Rote and I went with Chilpa and many other of the nurses on 28 April to help to prepare all the food before the funeral. A couple of cows and a goat had been killed and then boiled before then being cut up to be cooked in various dishes. Mass catering is relatively easy here. Several fires are lit around the grounds of the house and then large vats are put on the top. The meat was boiled in old oil cans.

Visa Extension

2010-05-23T14:13:00.001-07:00

Since February this year it has been possible to extend the visa on arrival by a farther 30 days – but this means hanging around by an immigration office for up to a week. I had enquired about using an agent whilst in Bali but they wanted at least 800,000 Rp to do it – when the visa itself only costs 250,000 Rp. As I was keen to go back to Rote I decided that I would try to process the extension in Kupang. I again contacted an agent – I never got to find out how much he would have charged me as his KTP (identity card) had expired so he could not sponsor me. I therefore decided to do it myself and contacted a friend in Kupang to see if he would act as sponsor and he agreed – many thanks .Dominggus. I ended up paying 350,000 Rp and as I was not prepared to pay anymore for the administration of the sponsor letter had to wait a week instead of 3 days. Day 1 I had to fill in the application form and submit it with photographs and copies of my passport, visa and my sponsors KTP and a sponsor letter had to be produced. Then day 2 I had to return to pay the fee and then day 6 the passport complete with visa extension was ready for collection. As day 1 for me was a Friday this meant I had to hang around in Timor until Tuesday before I could go to Rote – I will know better next time. I was able to get another friend to collect the passport for me on the following Friday so did not have to rush back.

Alor

2010-05-11T00:05:00.001-07:00

20 – 22 April 2010

I exited Flores from Ende after a three hour delay due to torrential rain and strong winds which made the landing too dangerous. I transited Kupang – had intended to stay with Sam but John was still there as they had been burgled the night before and had police interviews and all sorts of other traumas so I left them alone. Like Riung I am told Alor is very beautiful but the downside of travelling in the rainy season is it does rain a lot so I did not get outside the main town. It certainly has the most amazing natural harbour and some quite passable eating places particularly at night. The owner of the losmen where I stayed was lovely and I spent most of my days and evenings talking.

Riung

2010-05-10T23:58:00.000-07:00

16 – 18 April 2010

It took me two days of travelling to get from Labuan Bajo to Riung which is on the north coast of Flores. Most tourists go along the south coast using comfortable people carriers but I decided to take the more challenging route and use public bus. From Bajawa to Riung there is only one bus a day so people and baggage are just loaded whether there appears to be room or not, including a fridge on the back and two goats on the roof. Part way there it started to rain so we stopped and much of the luggage from the roof was brought inside to stop it spoiling – hardly room left to breath. Riung is just a small traditional fishing village but has many small islands just off shore that are apparently idyllic to visit – unfortunately due to rain and wind I decided this was not a wise move and just explored the village and surrounding area and spent many pleasant hours chatting with people.

Labuan Bajo

2010-04-22T03:02:00.001-07:00

10 – 14 April 2010

I took the slow ferry from Sape to Labuan Bajo – 8 hours. I had sinusitis so was not at my best and did not enjoy it as much as I would have done if I had been well. We were always within sight of land – mostly in the form of small islands.

The family of one of the policeman I had drank with on my last night in Kupang own a hotel in Labuan Bajo and he invited me to stay there. The other policeman met me from the ferry but I had to wait a while for him to arrive and the local guides were all trying to lure me to their hotels or tours.

I did a lot of walking in and around Labuan Bajo visiting local caves, viewing points and finding people to talk to. I also took a boat trip to Pulau Riung and island which as Komodo Dragons. I must admit I found then a little bit disappointing. As can be expected from lizards in the heat of the mid day they were all just lying about although I was lucky enough to see a couple wandering about. What disappointed me was their size – yes they are a lot bigger than any other lizards I have seen but I remember seeing a Blue Peter programme about them as a child and my recollection was of something about twice the size they actually are.

My evenings were spent in the company of the two policeman, drinking at their home, in a restaurant and then in a karaoke bar. All very pleasant.

Sumbawa

2010-04-19T12:40:00.001-07:00

9 April 2010

I had wanted to fly direct to Labuan Bajo on the western tip of Flores – which is the place to get boats to see Komodo Dragons but as this is what most tourists who are going to venture outside of Bali want to do the flights are very expensive a book up early. I therefore flew to Bima on Sumbawa – for half the price; even with my other transport and accommodation costs I saved over 400,000Rp. Bima has extensive salt pans and is quite spectacular from the air – although a little unnerving as you are coming into land so low over the water.

I got to the bus station and the familiar pattern began – wait, wait a bit longer, off round the town, wait a bit longer. At least by the time we set off I knew a lot about all my fellow travellers and we had shared various food items. The main local transport here are horse drawn carts which buck dreadfully when loaded.

I stayed right next to the port and chatted to the locals including an ojek driver who wanted to practice his English – he took me to his house which was a traditional bamboo structure. The family obviously have very little money but still insisted on giving me a snack and a drink.

Kuala Lumpa - Malaysia

2010-04-19T12:39:00.001-07:00

2 – 7 April 2010

The Malaysian F1 Grand Prix was timed perfectly to fit in with the need to renew my visa for Indonesia. I treated myself to tickets high up in the grandstand at the end of the start/finish straight. The view of the first two corners was excellent but I was able to see much of the rest of the track as well. I was also situated ideally to be one of the first out of the ground so made it back to the hotel fairly quickly both days. The race was exciting, with overtaking manoeuvres right in front of me but would have been liven up even more if it had rained during the race. Sunday was the only day I was in Kuala Lumpa when it did not rain!

Although it should be possible to get a visitors visa on the day in KL I allowed 2 days – which turned out to be wise as the Friday had been a public holiday and the embassy closed the queue for visas was very long and I spent most of Monday reading a book and waiting. Unfortunately when I went back on Tuesday my visa application had been refused – no reason given so instead of having a further 60 days in Indonesia I only get a 30 day visa on arrival and will have to rethink my travel plans.

I did get some time look around and went to the KL tower and the twin towers – these are particularly spectacular when lit at night. I was disappointed in the fact that what is meant to be a very spectacular Hindu temple was covered in scaffolding and cladding for restoration also in China Town which was so commercialised it was untrue. I visited a couple of malls but found then overpowering and the choices bewildering. There were several things I had planned to buy but in the end I left Malaysia with nothing new in my bags.

Jakarta

2010-04-19T11:46:00.001-07:00

31 March – 1 April 2010

After a couple of days in Yogyakarta I travelled to Jakarta to stay with Dr Justine and her family. The main activity of this stay seemed to be Justine finding interesting stalls for me to try the traditional foods of the Chinese Indonesian community. In between eating we visited a couple of temples and museums including one devoted to banking.

Surabaya

2010-04-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

26 – 28 March 2010

I travelled from Malang to Surabaya by economy train 4,500Rp (30p) for a 4 hour journey. This was even more interesting than the bus as there were far more food sellers with a very wide range of wares. I was sat on bench seats which faced another seat and each time a different item was offered for sale one of us bought it and then shared – a great way to get to know people. There were also sellers with children’s toys and small gifts for adults. At one point the buskers were a 5 piece group including a double bass! I was going to Surabaya to stay with Dr Meli and her family – they were horrified to find I had travelled economy and not business class! Travelling across Jawa what I notice is that

although there are vast tracts of farmland as in Flores and Bali there are also industrial areas that I have not seen anywhere else. Also the towns seem to stretch much further. The proportion of cars to motorbikes is also higher.

This was a combination of touristy and family/friend type activities. There are several staff from RSUD Baa studying in Surabaya so we all met up for a meal on Friday night.

I was taken round an art gallery, a cigarette factory/museum where cigarettes are still rolled by hand operated machines and had a bus tour of the city. In the evenings we went to various places to hangout.

The highlight was that a friend of Meli’s was married on the Sunday and I was invited along. During the morning the local beautician came to the house and did my hair with a traditional Javanese hairpiece – bit odd as this was black and my hair is brown. Between then they rustled up a full set of clothes that fitted well and a set of accessories including shoes. This was a wedding of families with money and the bridal party was ushered in by live music and dancers. The range of food available was amazing – I could have browsed all day.

Malang

2010-04-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

23 – 25 March 2010

Travelling to Malang by public bus got me off the tourist route again. The public bus was great fun at each stop 1 or 2 people get on who will be selling drinks and snacks, you are also likely to get some buskers, these pass along the bus then get off the next time it stops.

Apart from the brain ache of reading through and critiquing Sonya’s final year project on three occasions I spent a pleasant couple of days wandering around the city and travelling further afield on local bemo and buses. There is nothing spectacular or exceptionally remarkable about the area but sometimes it is nice to be somewhere where you are not over stimulated. When I eventually got to it I did enjoy Kibun Raja which is a large botanical garden and arboretum. As so often in Indonesia people do not know where the place you want to go to is but tell you confidently to head straight, left or right and I went round in a very large circle and was put on bemos that did not go anywhere near the gardens but at least I saw a lot of different villagesJ

There is a very large bird market in Malang – these are primarily sold for their songs. From what I gather these are captured in the wild then kept crammed into communal cages before being sold to spend the rest of their lives in solitary existence in a small cage. The market also had a small selection of other pets, rabbits, dogs, cats, lizards, snakes and monkeys and all the cages and food needed for their keep.

Gunung Bromo

2010-03-25T20:31:00.001-07:00

21 - 22 March 2010

Well I expected to arrive in Cemoro Lawang on the edge of the crater overlooking Gunung Bromo yesterday but my travel plans did not allow enough time for waiting for other passengers. I had used ojek, ferry, bemo and public bus to travel to Probolinggo about 6 hours travelling and 3 hours waiting at various points along the journey. At least there was a steady stream of buskers and food sellers jumping on and off the bus to keep me entertained as well as ever changing scenery. I had not allowed for quite this level of delay so by the time I arrived there were very few people wanting to travel further. I was not prepared to charter a bemo to do the trip alone so had to stay in Probolinggo over night.

Cemoro Lawang is on the edge of the Tengger caldera in which three volcanoes have emerged from the sea of ash. Gunung Bromo is one of these and send out a constant stream of sulphurous steam. The rainy season is not the best time to be visiting any high peak but I did manage to catch some excellent views during my stay here. The area around Cemoro Lawang was incredibly fertile with lots of small vegetable fields clinging to the steep hills.

I did not particularly enjoy my stay here as I found the locals totally money and the men sex obsessed. It did not matter how much I spoke with them they are convinced all Westerners have loads of money which they should be parted from by paying extremely inflated prices for everything and that any Western woman travelling alone must be desperate for sex; a service they all seem to want to provide.

Bali barat

2010-03-24T06:20:00.001-07:00

17 – 19 Maret 2010

Travelling the day after Nyepi was not the brightest idea the roads were very busy with people heading home from their villages after the holiday. We encountered four or five broken down lorries which caused absolute chaos with the already dense traffic on the narrow winding road from Denpasar to Gilimanuk. Gilimanuk is the port where ferries leave for Java and little else happens there.

I took a local guide to the National Park where we spent three hours walking. He was an excellent bird mimic and managed to bring several males of different species close to us. We heard but never managed to see barking deer – the vegetation is too lush due to the rainy season to see them as they are timid. We did however see a large family of monkeys and lots of insects and an amazing selection of snails.

I also travelled back along the south coast to Medewi which is another surfers mecca. The surf break is very close to shore so I was able to get a good view of the surfers whilst talking to some of the locals.

I discovered a great warung near my hotel and spent several hours talking to the proprietor and customers. At one point a soldier left only to come hurrying back about 5 minutes later – he had put his gun on the side at the back of the warung and forgot it when he left!

Ubud for Nyepi

2010-03-24T06:19:00.001-07:00

15 – 16 March 2010

For details of Nyepi read entries for March 2009 earlier in my blog.

This year the ogoh-ogoh (monsters) parades were allowed to take place and as I travelled from Lovina to Ubud I saw vast numbers of these being prepared for the local parades which take place in each village. In Ubud the parade was massive with all the ogoh-ogoh initially being taken to the football field then in turn going to the main square where the teams carrying them made them ‘dance’. Most villages seemed to have submitted 3 ogoh-ogoh, one from the kindergarden, one of school children and then a very large one from the adults. To get these large ones through the streets needed guys with long poles to lift the wires up whilst the teams lowered the monster as much as possible to get underneath. As if the monsters on their bamboo plinths were not heavy enough a couple of men would be stood on the plinth to help the monster to gyrate and to let of fireworks, doves etc.

For the day of silence I stayed in a small hotel with two other volunteers. We had the luxury of a swimming pool and WiFi. There were lovely views over rice fields and it was wonderfully tranquil. Basic Indonesian food was provided for out meals.

Lovina

2010-03-24T05:44:00.001-07:00

11 – 14 March 2010

Lovina is an area in the north of Bali consisting of several villages along the main road. It has a narrow black sand beach. The main attraction here is early morning dolphin watching boat trips followed by snorkelling.

I was here in the run up to Nyepi – the Hindu New Year and there were various ceremonies going on including one on the beach that I attended at the invitation of the homestay proprietor.

I used the homestay as a base to go walking and exploring further afield by local bus. I did struggle to get anything approaching local prices anywhere in Lovina or on the buses. Even when passengers did the same journey as I did and the conductor knew I had seen what they paid they tried to charge me more.

Singapore - visa run

2010-03-16T19:04:00.001-07:00

5-6 March 2010

My contract with VSO ended as I was unable to extend my visa to work in Indonesia due to issues with the Memorandum of Understanding. However VSO pay for health insurance for volunteers for a further 3 months at the end of the contract to allow time for travel on the way back to the home country. I decided I wanted to travel more in Indonesia but therefore needed a new visa. This entailed a 24 hour trip to Singapore.

My second impression of Singapore was much like my first – it is not a place I would choose to spend time. It is so Westernised and organised. I did manage some sightseeing but the best sight was the lights of Singapore receding as I flew back to Bali.

Finishing my contract with VSO

2010-03-16T18:50:00.001-07:00

The next few days were spent sorting out the final end of placement issues with VSO and putting my luggage into storage at the office.

Farewell to Rote

2010-03-16T18:32:00.001-07:00

26 February 2010

Today was spent giving away things that John did not want and I could not afford to or did not need to send back to the UK. I was also giving out small thank you cards I had made. Then in the evening quite a group of us got together to drink the last of my alcohol and to eat a pizza I had cooked with the last of my cheese.

27 February 2010

I had made the decision to leave a couple of days early as the waves were getting larger and I could not risk not getting to Kupang. This morning was frantic as the ferry was leaving from Papela – due to the large waves making docking in Baa impossible - at the far east of the island so we had to leave very early. The director arranged for his car to be driven by one of the drivers and agreed for Ibu Femi to spend the morning accompanying me to Papela and for Om Jek to come to Kupang so we did not miss out on a final night of drinking and so I was not alone for too long in Kupang. Even the Bupati was at Papela and shook my hand - he was actually returning from Kupang and not there especially for me but it felt special. It has been the most amazing 11 months of living on Rote and I hope I will be able to maintain contact with some of the amazing friends I have made.

2 March 2010

Ari one of the policeman I had drunk with on Rote was in Kupang for a conference so I met up with him and some of his friends for drinks this evening.

My leaving party

2010-03-16T16:40:00.001-07:00

25 February 2010

Today saw most of the nurses working in and around the hospital kitchen preparing food for my leaving party. Another group were preparing es buah a mixed fruit drink with a base of coconut juice so a couple of the men had been scaling the palms to get enough coconuts. The guys were also involved in carrying all the benches from out patients to the area where the party would be held.

The turnout for the party was amazing and there was a MC. I was invited to speech first then there was a presentation of the most amazing piece of ikat – local woven cloth, more speeches of thanks, then photographs with various groups of hospital staff and then prayers before the food. Then the inevitable drinking and dancing which went on until about 02:30. It was an amazing event and very emotional to think so many people cared enough to work so hard to make it such a good event or turned up to wish me well.

Another party

2010-03-16T07:46:00.001-07:00

22 February 2010

Tonight saw yet another party this time for Om Jek’s kakak (older brother). More speeches, eating, drinking and dancing. My last few days on the island seem to be just one long pesta with drinking on the nights when there is not a party laid on. The timing is perfect but will make it even harder to leave.

Exploring further

2010-03-16T07:25:00.001-07:00

21 February 2010

Today I again set off across the island from north to south taking random right and left turns and had some most amazing views, I also came across a tree which was heavily covered with honey combs – I had noticed this after coming across a piece of comb in the road.

In the late afternoon I arrived at a beach Batu Termanu which is a favourite local picnic site. I had been there a while reading a book when a lorry arrived along with a car and several motorbikes and the occupants spilled out. They were having a birthday party for one of the children who was six and when it was realised I spoke bahasa indonesia I was invited to join them.

There was a slightly traumatic end to the day when I discovered another snake in the house but one of my neighbours kindly removed it for me.

Neonatal unit

2010-03-16T01:14:00.001-07:00

20 February 2010

The new incubator was put to use for the first time today. A premature baby who had been born at home had been brought to the hospital as it was failing to drink and was being nursed in the incubator. I helped the staff to understand the instructions which although intensively were in English had been written in Brazil and it took me some time to understand some sections.

This should have been my last working day at the hospital but due to the previous frequent cancellation of meetings I actually went into work each day for the next week as well.

Pesta Selamat Ulang Tahun Ferlyn

2010-03-16T01:08:00.001-07:00

17 February 2010

Today is Ferlyn’s 25^th birthday and again she is having a party at the mess. Nixon came over in the afternoon to clear the ground outside the mess and benches were borrowed for guests to sit on. The party started with a service of thanksgiving then food, drinking and dancing. The last of the guests crawled home around 03:00.

Jalan-jalan

2010-03-16T00:56:00.000-07:00

16 February 2010

I had borrowed the motorbike to go to the market in the morning so took the opportunity it afforded me to explore a little further. I had planned to take another road from the north of the island heading south but was thwarted when I came to a ford that was quite full of muddy water so I could not tell how deep it was or what sort of surface was underneath. I waited quite a time to see if a local would appear to show me the best way through as I had learnt elsewhere straight through is often not the best way but when no one came I turned round and went to a beach for a couple of hours.

Children

2010-03-16T00:22:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of children who live in the complex and an increasing number have been coming to play on my porch or in the front room. When I was first learning Bahasa Indonesian I had bought some children’s puzzle books and the children come to use my crayons to colour these in and the older ones do the puzzles. They would also come to play cards.

Often when I was sat on the porch preparing vegetables I would get an army of helpers who would pinjam (borrow) a knife then peel and slice the vegetables. Sometimes they would also want to help with the cooking and at the end would try the result particularly if it had a Western basis to the cooking.

Busalangga pasar

2010-03-13T03:21:00.000-08:00

10 February 2010

Busaalangga has a large market twice a week and I try to go at least once a week as the range of vegetables, fish and particularly fruit is much better than in Baa. Besides food items you can buy just about any portable item from nails and machete to huge woks and buckets in all sizes along with locally woven ikat (fabric) – which is mostly black with white and red patterns of varying intricacy. There are certain things I buy each time including tempe, tomatoes and bean sprouts along with a selection of what ever greens are in season. The stall holders know this and call me over to see what they have this week. I have always been quoted local prices here and never had to haggle. The range of fish and vegetables at the moment is staggering and the best I have seen – I was off the island this time last year.

Tolama

2010-03-13T03:18:00.000-08:00

8 February 2010

John is still in Kupang – he had been there to do work with Sam on a database for medical records but had received the sad news of the unexpected and sudden death of his grandmother. He delayed his return to Rote whilst deciding with his family if he should return home for the funeral. As a consequence I still had use of the motorbike and went for a ride to find a beach that John had visited and given me very vague directions to. Incredibly I managed to get directly there another magnificent white sand bay. Unfortunately I decided to take what looked like a better road back from the beach as the one I had arrived on was treacherous. Although a better road it ended up taking me away from Baa and it was almost dark before I got back.

Abbreviations

2010-03-13T03:06:00.000-08:00

Officialdom in Indonesia is full of abbreviations that if you do not know what they are you have very little way of working it out.

Abbreviation	Full title	English meaning
Balita	Bawah Lima Tahun	The underfives (0-5 years old)
Batita	Bawah Tiga Tahun	The underthrees (0-3 years old)
Depkes	Departemen Kesehatan	Ministry of Health
Dinkes	Dinas Kesehatan	Local (provincial or district) Health Office
Dinkes Prop	Dinas Kesehatan Propinsi	Governor’s Health Agency
Dinkes Kab	Dinas Kesehatan Kabupaten	District Health Agency
Juklak	Petunjuk Pelaksanaan	Operational guideline/manual
Juknis	Petunjuk Teknis	Technical guideline/manual
Kesling	Kesehatan Lingkungan	Environmental Health
Posyandu	Post Pelayanan Terpadu	Monthly Mother and Baby Clinic
Puskesmas	Pusat Kesehatan Masyarakan	Public Health Clinic
Pustu	Puskesmas Pembantu	Sub-Health Clinic

Besides the abbreviations in official life as my Bahasa Indonesian has improved and my friendship group extended I have I started sending and receiving a lot of text messages – the easiest and cheapest way to communicate out here. Like in English there are lots of abbreviations used and a tendency to drop prefixes and suffixes to make it just that bit harder.

Abbreviation	Full word	English meaning
Mlm	Malam	Night
T4	Tempat	Place
Jgn	Jangan	Don’t
Blg	Bilang	Say – colloquial; just to make it harder
Plg	Pulang	Return
Mat	Selamat	Greeting

Like with Gr8 numbers can be used but not that not just the vowels are dropped. To begin with I often had to ask my neighbours or colleagues what the abbreviation represents but now I have got used to it I can normally work it our.

Alcohol

2010-02-20T16:33:00.000-08:00

Beer is relatively expensive a bottle of Bintang – the only one worth drinking will cost around 25,000 Rp. A 750 cc bottle of spirit in Bali will cost around 600,000 Rp however a 1,000 cc reused Sprite bottle of the locally distilled spirit will only set you back 30,000 Rp. As it is somewhere between 50 and 60% proof one bottle goes a long way. There is a local wine which I had the misfortune to have to drink on three occasions – as I was not impressed I never thought to find out how much it cost.

It is very unusual for women to drink and if they do it will be discreetly at home. Men tend to sit around outside in communal groups. The alcohol for the night will be on the table in front of the bandar – sort of bar tender – along with one glass. The bandar then pours a shot and downs it in one. He then pours the next shot and gives it to the person on his right and so on around the group. As you can imagine you do not want to join a small group as the glass returns rather swiftly. It is not acceptable to opt in and out but once you have had enough you can sit back from the group. Drinking continues until the bottle (or as at one party I was at the ewer) is empty. Some form of food is provided; this can range from peanuts to a whole BBQed chicken via fish and mango. You normally eat after you have had a drink each round.

Whilst out here I started brewing my own wine again and have got one of the locals hooked as he liked the result so much. At least I do not have to worry about what to do with my kit and spare ingredients.

RIP Arthur 6 months 1 day

2010-02-12T22:54:00.001-08:00

3 February 2010

After an illness of only 5 days Arthur Leopold Christian died in VIP ward at 14:30. He was the only child of the principle pharmacist who lives in the mess opposite my house. Her husband had been home for some time but had only gone away again to work last Friday – leaving a healthy son. Arthur is thought to have died of aspiration pneumonia; but we have no post mortem facilities here. The hearse took his body immediately to his father’s family home the other side of Baa.

As I was going out to eat one of the other neighbours came over to tell me I would be collected later to go to the house for prayers. I was very touched that I was seen as part of the wider hospital family and it was just assumed I would want to go. About 20:00 a group of us set out on motorbikes. At the house Arthur was laying on a double bed sized dais surrounded by drapes. With the immediate family around him. There were prayers and the rest of us were sat around outside the house but with chairs angled to see in through the door and window. After this we had cake and coffee before filing in to pay our respects.

5 February 2010

Today was the funeral and again it was just assumed I would go. Desi came round to tell me the service was 15:00 and that was the real time so we would be leaving at 14:30 sharp not jam karet – literally rubber time – which means anything up to an hour after the time stated. Just about everyone from the hospital went and transportation was a logistical nightmare with helmets and motorbikes being borrowed from anyone and everyone. The service was again at the house with us all sat outside under tarpaulin which kept the worst of the sun off. At the end of the service the coffin was finally shut up – this was rather traumatic as the mother her sister-in-law had to be pulled away to allow it to happen. The funeral procession then moved to the top of the garden where the family members were buried and Arthur was interned. As I am sure you can understand I did not take any photographs although the number of flashes from mobile phones indicated that it would have probably been quite OK. As we had cake and water the male members of the family filled in the hole with stones and then concrete.

7 February 2010

The final formal act of morning was a requiem mass this evening. The grave had been built up and decorated with what looks like crushed coloured glass. Lots of candles were being lit and being put on and around it. This time the service was followed by a large spread of food. However since then there has been a candle lit each evening outside the families room at the hospital. They are yet to come back but colleagues have been in a removed all Arthur’s things.

Work

2010-02-07T04:52:00.000-08:00

With my date for leaving rapidly approaching I am finding work spilling over into leisure time as I try to finish all the things I have set myself to do. I have now had two meetings with the hospital director, head of nursing, ward and department managers having a final check through Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and getting them authorised by the hospital director. I decided to group the SOPs and to concentrate of finishing all those in one section at a time. So far we have had 24 approved covering, observations, catheters, nasogastric tubes and infusions. There are another 15 covering medication ready to be presented. I am trying to finish the group on infection control but this is very challenging due to the limited resources the hospital has available. These will all be bound in a book before I leave. I have also been working on the audit tools and have agreed a programme of audit and review for all 61 SOPs we have identified.

I submitted a grant proposal before Christmas and was successful in securing 10 million Rupiah which has been spent on books. These will provide reference material for the remaining SOPs as well as many other aspects of patient care. We have bought 98 books that will support all the departments in the hospital not just nursing. I have found the majority of staff have a great thirst for knowledge and have been looking through all my resources even through the majority are in English and anything I provide in Bahasa Indonesia is read from cover to cover.

Kamar Mandi

2010-01-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

20 January 2010

It has been relatively cool recently as we have had a lot of rain – 5 days with hardly a break in the rain of more than an hour and significant winds. This has made the process of washing a little less pleasant than normal. This made me realise I had not described the kamar mandi (washing room) on my blog. Basically by kamar mandi consists of a small tiled room where most of the tiles assist the water to drain towards the drainage hole, unfortunately there are a few tiles that defy the system and part of the floor is always wet. There is a squat toilet and a bak mandi (a large trough which is filled with water from the tap). The bak has to be drained and cleaned every three days before the mosquito larvae grow big enough to turn into mosquitoes. Every time I am going away I have to remember to empty the bak and all other stores of water to prevent the house being full of mosquitoes on my return. Unfortunately there is a reserve of water in the toilet so there is always a small rise in mosquito numbers when I have been away.

To mandi (wash) you scoop cold water out of the bak mandi using a gayung (see photo) and throw it over yourself. Sadly I did not record the noise emitted by Chris the first time he did this – I think Sonya did very well to remain smiling for the camera.

Malaria

2010-01-17T02:50:00.007-08:00

12 January 2010

I had been suffering with a headache for a couple of days but so had John so had not really thought anything of it. However as the day progressed I began to feel really lousy and my temperature went up so I wandered along to UGD (the A&E department) to ask for a blood test. They knew exactly where to find the lab technician as her friends work on maternity so rang her there and arranged for her to meet me at the lab. There were no patients on maternity so the two midwives came along as well. I had my blood smear taken then we all wandered into the lab and sat around on the benches talking whilst the slide was processed. As I had unfortunately suspected it came back positive for malaria falciparum. VSO provides us with a self treatment pack so I went straight back to the house and after reading the instructions started my 60 hours of treatment.

I do feel slightly hard done by as I have been taking my malaria prophylaxis every day, I use lotion containing 50% DEET every evening, wear long trousers and sleep under a net yet still get malaria. At least it was fairly mild.

Exchange of Presents

2010-01-17T02:50:00.005-08:00

All the wards have a gathering sometime around Christmas to exchange gifts. Last year I was invited to the events but not invited to participate in the exchange. This year all the areas where I had been based asked me to participate. Gifts had to be to the value of 25,000Rp and wrapped, they were then allocated a number and then after prayers we all picked a piece of paper from a bowl and took the appropriate numbered gift away. After this there was some form of meal provided. Purchasing the gifts was a little challenging as none of the shops have any prices displayed so I was having to take intelligent guesses as to the value of things, in the end I asked the shop keeper in one shop I used early on for most of my household equipment for ideas at that price and had a good selection to choose from. I really did not need the clock and bowls I acquired but was delighted to be invited so had decided to take part.

Abdurrahman Wahid

2010-01-17T02:50:00.003-08:00

Sometime over New Year Abdurrahman Wahid died aged 69 years. Wahid, or Gus Dur as he was also known, was part of a prominent and politically active Muslim family. He initially worked as a teacher and rose to be a headmaster before receiving a scholarship to study in Cairo then later studied in Baghdad and Holland. He returned to

Indonesia

in 1971 and worked as a journalist. In the late 1970s he became actively involved in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)

Indonesia

’s largest Muslim organisation that his grandfather had founded becoming chairman in 1984. Following the fall of President Suharto in 1998 he formed the National Awakening Party (PKB) and was officially declared a presidential candidate in February 1999; being declared president in October of that year; even though his party had lost the parliamentary elections. He was seen as a reformer and democrat but the transition to democracy was not easy. He did curb the influence of the military, released political prisoners and liberalisation of Chinese culture an religious expression. The coalition began to turn against him and ultimately his presidency collapsed following unproved allegations of corruption. He was impeached in July 2001 and replaced by his deputy, Magawati Sukarnoputri.

All public buildings were flying flags at half mast for many days and several private residencies erected flag poles specifically for this.

Natural Resources

2010-01-17T02:50:00.001-08:00

Rote has some of the most beautiful and peaceful beaches I have ever been on but they are under treat from sand extraction. My travels over the holiday period lead me to realise how much this is happening. I had been aware of a sign in Nembrala saying that sand extraction was prohibited and had seen occasional evidence of extraction before but as I toured around it was a frequesnt occurrence. On one beach I discovered the level had been reduced by almost 2 meters and piles of sand were waiting collection.

The hills are also being eroded for their stone and there are several quarries around the island.

The stone is then delivered to individual homes where people sit and with a hammer reduce large slabs to small stones.

Road Closed

2010-01-02T01:50:00.001-08:00

31 December 2009

As I have already mentioned there have been a lot of road laying activities going on around the island in recent months and this has often involved road closures with diversions. This is signalled by a police motorbike across the road and if you are lucky the policeman will actually indicate which track you should take. It is then a bit pot luck if you get back to the man road in the correct place or not. However as I discovered today on rural roads a few branches are laid across the road. As I approached the diversion there were three palm tree branches scattered across the road, one or two is not unusual so I thought nothing of it. It was not until I had passed – with great difficulty the road works and came to another tangle of branches that I realised the significance of the branches. No wonder the workmen had been surprised to see me!

Christmas

2010-01-02T01:49:00.001-08:00

24 December 2009

I went into Baa this afternoon and it was like Merry Hill on Christmas Eve – virtually impossible to find anywhere to park; I had never seen so many motorbikes in Baa. I spent a very enjoyable evening sat on my porch with neighbours. John had given me a Christmas cake which his parents had brought over when they visited and we shared some of this along with whiskey or Sprite. Chilpa was playing my guitar and we had a wide ranging discussion mostly in Bahasa Indonesian with occasional resort to the dictionary.

25 December 2009

After going to church I went down to Delha for my Christmas present from me – CHIPS. There is a rumah makan there that does the best chips I have had in Indonesia and I had been told they were open. When I arrived they were busy catering for a funeral and did not want to do chips but offered me rice. I declined and explained I had ridden down to treat myself as a Christmas present – I obviously did a very good sob story as I was told if I would wait then I could have chips. They were well worth the wait – enak. In the evening everyone who lives in the complex visited everyone else in the complex to wish then a Happy Christmas. I had phone calls from the family and lots of sms and email messages from home. There was also a party in a house just behind the complex which we had all been invited to which went on until about 03:00 with lots of dancing. All in all a very pleasant Christmas.

Motorbike Maintenance

2010-01-02T01:46:00.000-08:00

On going sagas

John and I have experienced a number of problems with the bikes we have borrowed. I will describe here the latest couple of incidents that have lead us to visit the bengkel – local version of a garage. John had been riding up from town when the clutch cable broke. Thankfully in town there is a bengkel every few 100 yards so he did not have far to go to find help. A new cable was attached to the clutch lever and then quite literally just tied to the entrance to the gear box.

I took the bike in as the throttle was tending to stick open and the back break had a lot of play in it. The bike was almost stripped down completely to sort out the throttle but unfortunately they failed to reconnect the fuel hose and when I turned the fuel tap on to start got covered with benzin. Not quite as dire as when John had a puncture repaired and they forgot to tighten the back brake. The standards might not be as high as the UK but prices are much more reasonable 7,5000Rp for puncture, 15,000Rp for the throttle and break problem.

Christmas decorations

2010-01-02T01:45:00.001-08:00

December 2009

At the moment I am based on the children’s ward and staff have been busy making decorations in the run up to Christmas – then it was necessary to get up to hang them. An assessment of the step ladder (see August entry on decorating) was made and decided this was not safe to use. Instead a plastic chair was placed on a desk which in turn had been placed on a bed – when the chair legs started to splay a second chair was stacked to give it some more rigidity. The bed was then wheeled along as Marlon secured the decorations.

New beds and other improvements

2010-01-02T01:42:00.001-08:00

14 December 2009

Before I left for my holiday and the study tour new blue curtains were being put up throughout the hospital. On my return to work I discovered that a lot of new beds and other equipment had been delivered as well. The new beds were a very welcome arrival particularly in the children’s ward. The very poor condition of the cots had been compounded over the years by adult family members lying on them. Complete families come with patients bringing sleeping mats, cooking equipment etc but why sleep on the floor if there is an empty bed in the ward? The mattresses are therefore removed from beds and cots to make this a less attractive proposition. Besides the beds there was a ventilator, small steriliser, baby warmer and two incubators.

Study Tour to RSUD Johannes Kupang

2009-12-30T00:54:00.001-08:00

7 – 11 December 2009

I managed to secure two grants from VSO to assist the hospital in the work I have been helping them with. The first 10million Rupiah has been spent to buy 95 books to provide a library for the use of all the professions at the hospital to supplement the 30ish medical books they already had.

The second grant allowed two of the ward managers and I to spend a week at the referral hospital in Kupang. We were looking primarily at the process for ratification and implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) but also much wider at all the nursing documentation that is required for a hospital to gain accreditation – something RSUD Baa is working towards. We looked through lots of documents and had discussions with many of the senior nursing staff. We came away with a mountain of documents to use as templates and had the time to put our own SOPs into the approved format.

Five days travelling for a party

2009-12-30T00:53:00.001-08:00

1 – 6 December

The number of volunteers in Indonesia continues to fall with another group leaving before Christmas. There was at least good news this week in that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has finally been signed between the Indonesian Government and VSO. This means that volunteers who have been temporarily at home pending visas should be able to return at the end of January and a new intake are due to arrive at the end of February.

Festus a Kenyan volunteer who has been based in Ruteng – Flores for the last two years sent out invitations a while ago to everyone for his leaving party on 5 December. This seemed an ideal time for me to catch up with many volunteers before I also have to leave Indonesia. Flights to Ruteng are rather expensive so I decided to fly into Maumere and then travel across Flores sightseeing on route. I had to fly out of Ruteng to get back to Kupang as I was leading a study tour starting 09:00 on 7 December so there was not time to travel anywhere else for a cheaper flight.

This was a week of early starts:-

Tuesday 1 December – To Kupang

I was up early to finish packing and shutting up the house to be away 2 weeks – this includes making sure all the water reserves are emptied so I do not return to a house teaming with mosquitoes. I travelled as far as Kupang today, where I stayed with Sam.

Wednesday 2 December – To Maumere

I had to get up at 04:30 to get to the airport for my flight to Maumere. I was staying with Teresa another VSO volunteer and arrived at her house before she had eaten breakfast! I took the opportunity of a rainy day to visit RSUD Maumere and was able to talk to their head nurse and have a tour of the hospital – much bigger than Baa. In the evening four of us met up to eat and chat.

Thursday 3 December – To Moni

This was a very civilised start not waking until 06:45. A friend of Teresa’s was travelling to Bajawa in a hire car so I joined him as far as Moni. The road was generally good but very steep and winding with a few places where it was narrow due to landslides. The views were amazing. My sightseeing in Moni was also curtailed by the rain but at least I had time to do some of my studying.

Friday 4 December – To Kalimutu and Bajawa

I had arrangedto be collected from the homestay at 04:00 – yes totally insane. I had hired an ojek to take me up Kalimutu to see the three coloured crater lakes at dawn. When I had flown over these in April they had been three different colours, unfortunately at the moment two are

virtually the same colour but still fairly spectacular. There was a distinct lack of tourists and initially there were more guides, coffee and ikat sellers up at the summit than tourists. It was a clear morning and I had a good view of the sunrise. I eventually got back to the homestay in tim

e to have some breakfast before getting a bus for the next stage of my journey to Bajawa. This was about 4 hours away but we did get astop in Ende for lunch. I was to stay with friends of Teresa’s in a small village just outside Bajawa. Philip is a local our guide and in the afternoon took me round his ancestral village. The villages have two ancestor spirit homes per tribe in the cent

re of the village. The parasol – ngadhu – is the home of the male ancestor’s spirits and the miniature house – bhaga – is the home of the female ancestor’s spirits. There are also large stone slabs near the center of the village – which are used for sacrifice. The houses are arranged in two rows either side of the central

courtyard. There are high roofed thatched houses on stilts, that

have various symbols on the roofs to indicate the status of the head of the household (woman) in the government of the village. The houses with ordinary roofs are for other families.

Saturday 5 December – To Ruteng

A very civilised start at 06:00 today – Festus had made quite a lot of friends in Bajawa through water projects he had done there and two car loads of us set out on the 4 hour drive to Ruteng. Just outside Ruteng one of the party phoned a relative of his there and invited us all (10) to lunch. The meal was excellent and was served within 90 minutes of our arrival. When I complimented the wife on the food all she could do was apologise we had to wait so long for it. How many of us could prepare a meal for 15 in under two hours – which would have undoubtedly entailed a trip to the market as well? The sopi drinking started immediately after lunch with a litre swiftly disappearing. We then went to where the party was to be held as one of the group was responsible for BBQing the goat – we had to try to local Ruteng ‘gin’. We also had to deliver 25 litres of sopi which had been flavoured with cinnamon. The rest of us went to the homestay we were booked into and the drinking continued with a mixture of beer and sopi flavoured with vanilla. We did eventually go to the party to start the serious drinking and dancing.. Part way through the evening the goat was ‘served’. It was placed in a large dish with a sharp knife and you just went and hacked off what you wanted – it was excellent.

Sunday 6 December – Back to Kupang

It really was hardly worth having a room for the night as I had to be at the airport for 06:00 for my flight back to Kupang, so woken at 05:15. I did at least get breakfast three times – at homestay, on plane and at Sam’s. I then went to bed to catch up on all the sleep I had missed this week!

Police Certificate and Bureaucracy as only the Indonesians can do it

2009-12-18T07:22:00.000-08:00

November and December 2009

As part of my clearance for another VSO placement I need to acquire a police letter of good behaviour – the nearest equivalent to the UK CRB check. I started this process at the end of October by requesting a letter from the hospital director, requesting the police letter. Once this was produced I went with one of the nurses to the main Kantor Polisi on the island to the Departmen Inteligensi where I had get every page of every identification document and immigration paper I owned copied four times along with the letter from the Direktor. I was then given three envelopes containing all this information along with copies of a letter to the Departmen Inteligensi, Kantor Polda, Kupang requesting they issue the letter of good behaviour.

This therefore involved me in an unscheduled trip to Kupang. I had hoped to go one day and return the next but no such luck. I arrived at the office about 15:00 and although the staff were still there (and due to be there until 17:00) they were not keen to process any documents that day; so after a long discussion I left to return the next morning at 09:00. All was going well, I was taken to another office and had two full sets of finger prints taken and two additional thumb prints. I then had to get 8 passport size photographs and got issues with another identification card. I then went back to the Departmen Inteligensi and as they checked through all my documents I was asked for my SKLD – a police registration card; unfortunately I had not got one. I was then told that without this I could not get the police letter and that as it was so long since I got my KITAS visa even if I had one issued there would probably be a problem in Jakarta and they would still not issue the letter. Initially I was given the blame and I felt things were turning a bit nasty. Then they put the RSUD for not taking me to be registered and for the local police for not having picked up the fact I did not have the document. They phoned both the Direktor and the local police. In the end I was told I would have to go back to Rote to get my SKLD processed. A Kupang agent that VSO use to help to facilitate the processing of our immigration papers offered to help me to sort this without a visit to Baa but that is a story that is not for publication – suffice it to say after 1.5 days of waiting I went back to Baa.

I then had to get more letters signed from the Direktor and a copy of the document permitting me to work. One of the letters had to have an official stamp costing 6,000 Rp on it. There was a delay in getting all this as Pak Suardi went to Flores for a meeting. Once I had everything I went to the Kantor Polisi again and filled out a form in duplicate – this meant hand writing it twice and had a general discussion with the staff, mostly around dancing at parties and my trips to Nembrala (both of which had been observed – well it is the Departmen Inteligensi! I was then told the person who needed to sign the SKLD letter was in a meeting and would be a long time so it was suggested I come back besok.

Besok was the day I was going to Kupang and had to leave the hospital at 10:30 to get the ferry so the driver arranged to take me to the Kantor Polisi at 08:00, he was down town at that time and had not returned at 09:00. The other driver was too busy to take me – he was washing the ambulance and then unable to take me in case the ambulance was needed. I was about to get an ojek (could not use our bike as John had gone down town on it to buy my ferry ticket) when the post delivery driver was dispatched to take me on the hospital bike. It would have to be the day that the road was shut for surfacing and we had to go on a long detour over unmade roads and fields. I had expected to be there for a long time as I knew the SKLD needed a photograph and I had not been asked for that yesterday; but I arrived and was given a letter and copies of all my documents. When I questioned it I discovered – in case you had not already guessed They just recommend to the Kantor Polda in Kupang that I am issued with an SKLD. I got back to the hospital with 15 minutes to spare before I had to go for the ferry.

When I reached Kupang I went straight to the Kantor Polda in the hope they would process the SKLD. The initial reaction was again come back besok; but when I explained I was flying to Maumere pagi-pagi besok Pak Made agreed to process the paperwork. I had a couple of very long forms to fill in the first did have an English translation but the second was in Bahasa Indonesian only. After a lot of discussion I think the upshot was that as I was leaving in February there really was not point in processing the SKLD and they would just send for my police clearance to Jakarta. I was told it could take 3 months and I was asked for a relatively high sum for postage but when I asked for a receipt the amount reduced.

Well all I have to do is wait – well so I thought! Two and a half weeks later I received a message that another letter was needed. The sponsor letter from the Direktor and to be reproduced with the address of the office in Jakarta as the too address! Now I wait again.

Photographs - or lack of them

2009-12-10T23:27:00.001-08:00

I apologise that I have not added any photographs to the blog for a while. This time it is not due to poor internet access but due to a glitch with Blogger. I am unable to access the button to upload photographs so despite very good internet access in Maumere and Kupang several entries remain picture less. The further I get behind the harder it will be to catch up so please be patient.

Drought - What drought?

2009-11-27T23:59:00.001-08:00

27 November 2009

Well yet again the press has got it wrong – the last four days we have had at least one rain storm a day and today we have had over six hours of rain. The ground is so dry that the water just sits on the surface until the sun comes out and evaporates it. Then it is humid as well as hot.

However, somewhere the water must be soaking into the ground as the level in our well has risen dramatically. Also the number of fish in the well has increased so a couple of the boys were fishing and managed to get a couple of small cat fish

A lot of insects have arrived long with the water. Most notably are flying ants which arrive just after dusk and make it impossible to sit outside or leave doors or windows open. The geckos are having a wonderful time eating the ants and in the morning my porch is strewn with the wings off all the ants that have been eaten over night.

Water and Sanitation

2009-11-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

The local paper ‘The Kupang Post’ recently reported problems of inadequate water and sanitation in and around Baa. ‘The head of the Ba’a puskesmas,’ (health centre) ‘Dr Mulat Daruranto, told KP on 26/9 that of the ±4 500 houses in Lobalain Kecamatan,’ (this is the area where I live) ‘Rote Ndao Kabupaten, almost 50% lacked toilet facilities. Even in Ba’a, the capital, many houses were toilet-less. As a result, people were defecating at will in bushland and undergrowth. Dr Daruranto said that a key factor contributing to this situation was the difficulty people had obtaining clean water. This situation was adversely affecting the health of the overall environment in which people lived. “What are people to do” he said, “if they have difficulty just getting clean water, needed too for flushing toilets?” So it was the supply of water that had to be attended to as a matter of priority. Only then could attention be turned to making good the environment in which people lived.’

Drought

2009-11-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

The local paper ‘The Kupang Post’ recently reported the impending drought in the region. ‘The Indonesian Bureau of Meteorology has announced that eastern

Indonesia

is about to be beset with an el Niño weather pattern. The Bureau predicts that this year’s rainy season in NTT will slip to December (instead of beginning in November as normal). Indeed a rainy season starting only in January is not ruled out. Not all parts of NTT will suffer equally serious effects, but areas prone to drought (Timor, Rote Ndao and Sumba in particular) are likely to be badly hit. In fact, many villages in Pantai Baru and West Southwest Rote (RBD), Rote Ndao Kabupaten, are even now experiencing the effects of drought, with 253 households in RBD already threatened by food shortages. To anticipate the effects of these weather patterns, all relevant government agencies and agricultural extension workers should avoid acting like firemen, i.e. hitting the road only when fires are flaring. They need to be proactive now, giving farmers the best possible advice they can on emerging weather patterns, what to plant and when, and how to avoid crop failure. Farmers must not be left to cope alone, as has often happened in the past. NTT is dubbed the “dry province”, so we should have drought prone areas clearly mapped out so that, when drought hits, we can move quickly to help areas most in need.’

From a practical perspective the level of water in my well is very low, I can only fill the bucket if it is on its side, the water is no longer deep enough for the bucket to sink into it. Even the areas of green around ponds and rivers are going brown as these areas of water are shrinking or have disappeared entirely. However we are now getting a few clouds in the sky and on Thursday there were a few seconds of rain.

Volley Ball

2009-11-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

19 November 2009

Tonight saw the finals of the volley ball contest that has been running for about two weeks. I was invited down to watch by one of the locals and arrived at 19:00 just as the women’s final was starting. It was taking place on the volley ball court next to the football pitch and was lit by two lights. The football pitch was half full of lorries, bemos and motorbikes which had brought people to watch and round the court we were standing 6 or 7 deep with every possible vantage space around in trees and on roofs of vehicles being taken. The quality of the game improved once the teams settled down and there were some very long ‘rallys’ (well that is what it would be called n tennis). The crowd was very excited, knowledgeable and appreciative of good play. At 21:00 just as the men were warming up for their final there was listric mati – power cut – so I used this as an excuse to leave as it was very hot standing amongst so many people.

Road Works

2009-11-21T04:39:00.000-08:00

November 2009

On several occasions I have mentioned the poor state of the roads in Indonesia and particularly on Rote. There are the unmade – never been made roads which come with the territory and then there are the unmade but used to be made roads where maintenance has lagged behind usage and finally the made but so full of holes you would be better off without the bits of tarmac. This is due to a combination of subsidence, rain /flood water damage and excessive usage particularly by trucks. The road from the hospital into Baa down the hill was a particularly bad stretch; as was the part of the road from the hospital to Busalangga the next large town - where I go to the market. This month work has been underway to resurface the road. First the really big holes were filled with rocks, then a cement like layer was put down, next came the nasty bit – a layer of small stones and finally tarmac. The majority of the work was carried out with traffic still using the road – where there was an alternative route then a one-way system was instigated so that single file traffic was allowed through the road works – otherwise it was just a matter of playing chicken with on coming vehicles. As you will see there was generally enough room for motorbikes to squeeze through but cars and trucks often had a long wait until the road was side enough for them to pass. Riding over the loose small stones was challenging – particularly after a lorry had made ruts in it. Going down the hill on loose stones is interesting particularly around the sharp bends. Walking along the road is also quite challenging as there is no longer enough room to walk beside the road and the slope is such that you have to walk quite a way onto the road and as this has caused the road to be quite a bit narrower than before you really need your wits about you particularly when walking at night. Whilst the work is in progress the journeys are more ‘exciting’ than before but once the work is complete the challenge of getting into town or to Nembrala is going to be lost.

Fishing

2009-11-18T07:08:00.000-08:00

14 November 2009

About 18:00 I had a text message from Octo to say a group of doctors were going to go fishing tonight and did I want to join them. I had nothing else planned so decided to give it a go. About 19:30 eight of us set out for the fishing harbour. Three of them had proper fishing rods and reels the rest had to make do with line wrapped around drinks cans. It took quite a long time to get the gear set up and regularly someone would loose their weights and hooks so like fishing the world over more time was spent sorting out the tackle than actually fishing. It was a very pleasant evening as we had a sea breeze taking some of the heat out of the night. In the end more fish was used as bait than was caught by the anglers but I am not sure having fish for supper is ever the main purpose of leisure angling. We returned home sometime after midnight.

Picnic on the Beach

2009-11-03T21:19:00.000-08:00

1 November 2009

This morning some of the nurses from the mess called round to invite me to a picnic on the beach this afternoon. I had been aware of a lot of activity outside the mess with coconuts being opened and chickens gutted but not really thought anything about it. I had been cooking pizza that morning so packed one up in my cool box to take as my contribution.

At 13:30 one of the ambulances arrived outside and we started to pile all the food on board. Then the process of shoe horning people in – not too bad when we first set off but we had various stops on route to the beach and eventually had 14 people inside. We drove for about 45 minutes before turning off the main road onto a narrow dirt track that culminated in another beautiful and deserted beach. Six other staff had come on three motorbikes so we were a big party. Just like in the UK it was the men that set about laying a fire and cooking the chickens and fish. Besides the BBQed food a bucket of rice and a large bowl of noodles had also been brought. There was a second bucket full of es campor – this is an iced drink with coconut milk as the base with condensed milk, mixed fruit and small cubes of jelly. Whist the food was prepared we all lounged around in the trees chatting.

It had originally been planned that we swam before eating but the water was too low. After eating we still had to walk a very long way into the sea before the water was deep enough to swim. None of the problems we British have in trying to get changed discretely into swimming costumes under towels – here you just walk straight into the see fully clothed and later travel home dripping wet. As it was so shallow the water was incredibly warm. When I got back to the shore, those who had not been swimming were dancing so I joined in with that as well. It was an excellent afternoon – made all the better for being able to join in conversations and no longer being the centre of attention.

Pesta

2009-10-31T08:34:00.000-07:00

30 October 2009

Rote might not have any pubs, night clubs or actually anywhere that opens much after 20:30 but it makes up for this with parties. I have lost count of the number I have attended. A birthday, confirmation, wedding, funeral are all an excuse to hold a party. The invitation for a wedding will generally arrive just a couple of days in advance – well your diary will not have filled up yet will it?

During the day the extended family will have been very busy. Tarpaulins will have been erected in an open area outside the house – often in the road; causing it to be closed. Plastic chairs are put out in rows. An elaborate dias erected with lots of plastic flowers and flashing lights. There will be at least one large sound system erected. These will often be over 6 feet tall and almost as wide and have probably been removed from a bemo for the evening – at least at the party you are not in the confined space of a bemo so the booming base is not quite so invasive. Hugh amounts of food will also have had to be cooked.

For me the evening start by gathering with the other staff who are going to the party about 15 - 30 minutes after it was due to start. We then all pile into an ambulance and set out for which ever part of Baa the party is being held at.

On arrival at the party you give a very limp handshake to the hosts who are waiting at the gate then place an envelope of money into a box and more to sit in one of the rows of chairs. The speeches will be in full swing but eventually they will draw to a close and we get invited up to have some food – this is done in a very orderly way with each row directed, in turn, to a table of food. After the food everyone goes up to shake hands with all the important family members and then there are two options – go home or stay for the dancing and drinking.

Dances are generally quite formulated and many of them are along the Western line dancing style. However unlike in the West there are often more men dancing than women. There is also no problem with a group of men dancing together. There will be a quite dark place somewhere with a group of men drinking the local spirit - sopi. The party can easily go onto 03:00 and sometimes later than that.

Money

2009-10-26T01:36:00.000-07:00

The local currency is Rupiah (Rp). The conversion rate whilst I have been here has varied between about 15,500 and 17,500 Rp to the pound. There are several notes in circulation - 100,000, 50,000, 20,000, 10,000, 5,000, 1,000 and a new one 2,000 that as yet I have only been given in Kupang. There are coins of 100, 200, 500 but these are rarely used. In shops if you owe less than 1,000 Rp then you are likely to get your change in sweets.

On Rote and across a lot of NTT it is very difficult to use 100,000 Rp note. The most expensive things I buy on a regular basis are a tray of 30 eggs – 31,000 Rp and pulsa – phone credit – 27,000 Rp. Text messages within Indonesia to the same network are only 110 Rp so 25,000 Rp credit goes a long way. My evening meal costs about 12,000 Rp and consists of a protein source, rice and vegetables. Fish is generally 10,000 Rp, this will either be several small fish, one medium fish or a steak from a large fish. Green vegetables will be 1,000 Rp and depending on the time of year how much you get for that money. One kg rice is 6,5000 Rp. Bensin – petrol varies markedly in price, 5,500 Rp / litre in central Baa, 6,000 Rp in rest of Baa and on main roads, up to 7,500 Rp in more remote areas. In Kupang from a petrol station it was only 4,000 Rp. Although things are generally more expensive in NTT than Bali there are far less luxury items to be tempted by so money does seem to go so much further here.

My monthly allowance from VSO is just in excess of 2,000,000 Rp – yes I have been a millionaire for over a year now! This is well in excess of the local basic wage for civil servants – although they have all sorts of schemes that add to their basic wage. Farmers and fisherman have much lower incomes. As part of the monitoring of children with malnutrition a family survey is undertaken and one family of farmers last week declared a monthly income of less than 500,000 Rp per month – they had three children.

Soe

2009-10-26T01:27:00.000-07:00

7 – 19 October 2009

October has been a month of disappointments. The latest is that John has been told the motorbike he borrowed had to be returned to Soe – on Timor. I gallantly volunteered to take it back – well it gave me an opportunity to explore Timor that I had not yet had.

After work on Friday I set off for Panti Baru – the natural harbour where the slow ferry docks and which is used by the fast ferry when the sea is too rough to use the jetty in Baa. Panti Baru is about an hours ride from Baa along a hilly, windy but good quality road. I had always thought I should use the slow ferry at least once whilst on the island but with the ports being further out of town at both ends this was not really practical without my own transport and the savings on cost of tickets is partially offset by the extra bemo costs involved; so this was the idea opportunity. The fast ferry costs 104,000 Rp per person economy and 100,000 Rp per motorbike; the slow ferry was 110,000 Rp for motorbike and rider. The ferry is due at 13:00 but did not actually arrive until 14:45. I will admit when I saw it my heart sank – it was a rusting ex cross channel type ferry. The loading was very quick as all the motorbikes just drove on about 8 abreast and then the lorries and cars reversed on whilst we parked up. Foot passengers took their chance amongst the traffic. In the economy passenger area people stood sat and lay wherever they could find a space – although much more crowded that the fast ferry it actually felt safer as the cabin was open so in an emergency there was a good chance of getting out – which there is not out of the lower section of the fast ferry where the inadequate exits are blocked by luggage. I had been warned that the journey would take 4 hours but it actually took 4 hours 45 minutes. Once off the boat I then had to find my way to Sam’s house in the dark – I decided to follow the majority of the traffic on the basis that most people would be heading for Kupang and eventually reached a road that I knew. At Sam’s I met an ex volunteer who was back in Indonesia on holiday and discovered he lives in Stourbridge.

On Saturday morning I set off to ride to Soe about 130km. I had been assured that the way was easy to find and I was relieved to discover that this was in fact the case; with signage at almost all the junctions. The ride started off through very flat area, with a combination of lush fields and dry barren areas. It was soon possible to see the hills in the distance. The road was good quality both in terms of maintenance and visibility and I was able to do a constant 70 – 80 kph. It then proceeded up into the hills, generally the road surface remained good with occasional undulating areas, three areas there the surface had been washed away – including a bridge where the road was diverted into the dry river bed; I hope they mend it soon otherwise the road will be impassable once the rains start – and a few areas with pot holes. However the riding was not as easy as the road climbed up with steep bends. The views were magnificent and there were a lot of traditional houses and grain stores. The thatched roofs on some were quite ornate. After a rest in a hotel and lunch I set off further north on the road towards Kefa. I then headed off towards Oinlasi the road deteriorated here with lots of pot holes and stretches of unmade road but the scenery and villages were spectacular. I over took an icecream seller and when I next stopped to take a photograph a guy came past eating one. I asked him if it was enak – tasty and he said yes and stopped and chatted; he is a fish seller from Kupang who makes the trip to remote villages three or four times as week. Later on her overtook me again whilst I was stopping to drink and again chatted for a while. I did not quite make it to Oinlasi about 5 km short but my shoulders were beginning to ache and I knew I had to retrace my steps. When I got back to the main road I went on past Niki-Niki for several km. I returned to Soe just before dusk. That evening I handed the bike over to the NGO who now own it and returned by bus the next morning. I stood waiting for the bus with a group of young ojek drivers, as they were in the only spot of shade. We talked quite a bit and then they flagged down a bus for me and then evicted a passenger from the front seat so that I could sit there. It was quite unnerving as I was sat in front of the front wheels so on several hairpin bends I was over the sheer drop.

Jalan-Jalan

2009-10-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

11 October 2009

I decided to try to explore the north of the island today – so far I have only gone south and west on the bike. I loaded up with water and food and set off on the bike. The first thing was to get some fuel. There is not a petrol station on the island but lots of kiosks and stalls sell it beside the road. The larger kiosks buy in barrels and decant the contents into various bottles and containers of 1, 2, 4 and 6 litre capacity. The smaller stalls buy the 6 litre containers and decant these to 1 and 2 litre containers. The fuel is poured into your tank via a funnel which is covered by cloth to filter out any large particles – if you are lucky the proprietor will not be smoking.

Although riding around the island much of the land is arid there are a few areas of green with crops growing. The first hour of riding was on a good quality tarmac road – by this I mean that the surface was generally in tact and that the areas of subsidence were not to extreme so that a steady 30 - 35 mph could be maintained. After that the surface deteriorated – initially with areas where the surface was broken or very bumpy but soon the tarmac ran out and I was on unpaved road but initially it had been graded so was relatively easy going but even this deteriorated and I was soon bouncing up and down and the wheels skidding around on loose stones. Progress became much slower and my shoulders began to let me know they were feeling abused. The unpleasantness of the ride was rewarded by finding an area of traditional housing.

Is this the end of my dream?

2009-10-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

30 September 2009

VSO used to work under the auspices of the British Council but for at least the last twelve months VSO has been in discussions with the Indonesian Government to establish a Memorandum of Understanding to manage it’s own work within Indonesia. The status of VSO will be strengthened as it will be a legal entity in Indonesia and the position of volunteers in relation to visas will be much easier. The negotiations have already had a big impact in the volunteer community (from more then 40 colleagues down to 20) as volunteers who work for Non Government Organisations (NGO) have had to finish placements early or leave the Country on a temporary basis as their previous visas expired as it is almost impossible for NGOs to comply with the requirements to sponsor a volunteer on a KITAS (stay visa). Negotiations are now in the final stages which has involved clarification of the scope of the agreement. The scope of work should cover the following objectives

1. To improve local/regional capacity to support creating job opportunities

2. To improve the capacity of disable human resources

3. To support Indonesian (national) volunteers and volunteering institutions

Unfortunately it is now certain that VSO cannot have clinical health placements and possibly have to scale down the Health programme. Even though Depnaker (Ministry of Manpower) are also supportive of our work in health, as their mandate does not include support for clinical work (which falls under Ministry of Health) Depnaker suggested that once VSO are a legal entity with a signed MOU, they can start exploring additional agreement with the Ministery of Health. The provincial Health department in NTT is very supportive of this and is willing to give recommendation or any other support for this additional MoU.

In response to this news, VSO had to cancel three new clinical placements in hospital or clinical training in health colleges that were originally planned for January 2010 intake.

There are also some restrictions for new non-clinical placements in hospitals. Most of the current health volunteers will not be affected and can finish the placements as planned, however those of us currently in clinical placements in hospitals will not be able to continue (although not immediately). At present it is not clear if I will have to leave when the MOU is signed or if I can work until the expiry of my KITAS in early March 2010. Either way I will leave a lot of work unfinished.

I have asked VSO to explore other options for me. This is unlikely to be within Indonesia given the current restrictions that the MOU are putting on health work – so watch this space.

International Surfing Competition

2009-09-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

15 – 20 September 2009

Nembrala (Dela) hosted the 2009 International Surfing Competition this week. Seventy-seven surfers came to the island along with supporters and event organisers. It was Justine’s last week on Rote and we had already decided to spend most of the week down in Dela. Teresa another VSO volunteer had also asked to visit the island as she had already been in Kupang for the meetings. Through friends of acquaintances we were offered a bungalow on the beach right next to the best hotel on the island as the homestays were already fully booked. I needed to work so drove down each day after work – about 65 minutes and then back at 06:30 in the morning. This meant I had the afternoon to enjoy the beach, watch the surfing etc and the evening to enjoy the entertainment.

When the competitors arrived on the ferry there was a welcoming committee including music and dancing. As I had gone down to meet Teresa I was able to watch all this. Most evenings the Nembrala Beach Resort had laid on traditional music but most of the action was round a fire on the beach.

The surf was good the first day but the swell got less as the week progressed. The Friday and Saturday were public holidays so a lot of locals went to Boa to enjoy the spectacle. Unfortunately we had the first rain of the season Friday afternoon which sent people hurrying away at the end of the contest rather than continuing to scialise. There were quite a lot of surfers from Bali and a reasonable gender split.

Kupang a Weekend of Meetings

2009-09-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

10 – 14 September 2009

Many of VSOs health programme volunteers across NTT have been supported by money from GTZ whose programme of work is finishing at the end of the year. Those volunteers still in placement were invited to a meeting in Kupang on 11 September to review the partnership and develop recommendations for how such partnerships should be formulated in the future.

For the rest of the weekend 17 volunteers from across Flores, Timor and Rote came together to share learning, undertake skills development and socialise.

Ndao – an Island Paradise?

2009-09-09T03:44:00.001-07:00

4 - 6 September 2009

Well normally when I write my blog I can easily select a reasonable number of photographs that sum up the subject; this has not been the case with my weekend in Ndao. I know that words alone (and there are a lot of them) are not going to give you a real feel for the magic of the experience, the beauty of the island and the shear calm – even all the photographs I have selected fail to capture all I want to share with you all. I had the privilege to be invited to join a doctor when she went to visit a colleague on Ndao.

The day before our trip we went shopping for vegetables and other perishable goods. The boat ride to the island was amazing. It was a small open decked fishing type boat. It took a long time to load on the beach as everyone seemed to have even more luggage than us, which the crew had to carry out and find somewhere to stow it – this included a generator and a wardrobe. We were then taken out in a very small and unstable dug out canoe. It was then a case of finding somewhere to sit or lye on the bare wooden floor. We stayed very close to the shore so had an excellent view of Rote as we went along. We passed other boats fishing and saw large flocks of birds fishing as well. At one point we saw a small school of dolphins breaking the water and also saw a flying fish. The water was deep blue and bright turquoise, it was so clear and quite shallow, we could often see the coral. We passed by two other islands off the tip of Rote before reaching Ndao just over 4 hours after leaving Baa. No luxury of a canoe to ferry us to the shore this time just jump in and wade ashore.

Ndao is a small island lying of the west tip of Rote and has only 600 residents, one pickup truck and 10 motorbikes on the island. No electricity although a few people have generators; where you can pay to get mobile phones etc recharged. So there are no street lights and just a hurricane lamp in the house. There are only two places where you can get phone signal and this is of a worse standard than in Nembrala; as this is where it is being transmitted from. There are two kiosk style shops. Water is a bit of a problem as the well water is brackish so it is hard to get any form of lather for washing anything and salt residue is left in clothes, hair etc. Access to vegetables is also an issue – either you grow them yourself or go without. On the plus side at this time of year the variety of fish was amazing. Ndao has quite a large fishing fleet and men fish with rod and line from the pier whilst others go out swimming amongst the coral with spears. Part of the pier was washed away a few years ago and has not been repaired. There is now a ladder which is a little challenging to climb to get up to negotiate with the fisherman for their catch. One time we agreed a price for 12 with the guy with the most fish beside him and then his younger brother went round negotiating to borrow another 4 to fulfil our order! We had a BBQed fish on the beach each night using drift wood and coconut husks – the doctors were impressed by my fire making skills. There was a full moon which reflected off the sea but meant we did not get a good view of the stars – sad as there was absolutely no artificial light pollution.

Justine and I walked most of the way round the island on the beach taking about 4 hours. For 3.5 hours we did not see another person. Apart from one small rocky outcrop the beach ran all round the island – white sane and turquoise sea. On three sides of the island there were excellent surf breaks the fourth side was where the fishing fleet anchor and the sea was very calm here. The island does get occasional visitors on day trips from Nembrala but there is no where for them to stop on the island so I caused a lot of interest when I was seen evening, night and morning.

The trip back to Rote was much shorter as we went into Nembrala – under 2 hours. This was probably a good thing as the sea was quite a bit rougher and I had trouble sitting up and kept toppling onto other passengers. We were travelling into the early morning sun and again the journey was very special. This weekend was a really special privilege and I am grateful to Justine for inviting me and Octo for letting me sleep on his floor – yes even the discomfort of that did not distract from an amazing time. I will be back when I need refreshing again but am pleased that I have a little more in the way of facilities for my 2 years out here.

Cooking

2009-09-03T01:14:00.001-07:00

When I first arrived on Rote I had two pieces of equipment I could use to cook. A rice cooker and a kompor. The disadvantage of the rice cooker is it requires electricity – not a problem in the evening as the hospital uses its generator if the electricity supply fails after 18:00 but as I tend to cook at lunch time and go out in an evening it can be very frustrating when the rice, noodles or vegetables are not ready when the sauce is! I have found that I can cook a wide range of dishes in the rice cooker.

The kompor is a single, kerosene powered, cooking ring. There is a real art to adjusting the flame to give the right amount of heat as there is a significant time lag between turning the wick and the heat altering – this is a skill I still have to perfect. It is a very portable cooking devise and when people are preparing for a party extra kompors are just borrowed from neighbours to allow the range of dishes required to be prepared.

In March I acquired an electric oven from another volunteer who had finished placement. It is only small but has allowed so much more adventurous cooking. I now bake my own bread – I tend to do this on a Friday as I finish work early and can put the bread to rise in the sunshine on my porch. It took a few attempts to get a reasonable loaf as the flour here does not absorb water in the same way and I can only get an all purpose flour. Sonya was slightly scathing about the bread but it is so much nicer than the slightly sweet breads we can buy here. I have made pizza and cakes and can toast my bread – if I have long enough to wait for breakfast!

Long Legs – Big Problems

2009-09-03T01:12:00.001-07:00

19 – 25 August 2009

Sonya and Chris traveled back to Rote with me. Chris at around 6’ 3” caused even more turned heads that most Westerners. The length of his legs gave him really big problems with public transport. On the plane he could not put his tray down for his food as his knees got in the way. We were fortunate that the ferry was not very busy and I was able to book a front row seat, which for once was not obstructed with luggage. Then we used a bemo – these are much shorter than those in Bali and once he had folded himself up to get inside he had the problem of low ceiling and a hand rail preventing him bending too far forward. Not the most comfortable way to travel. I then put him onto an ojek – only about 100cc and quite short so his knees were up under the riders armpits and the bike was struggling up with hill out of Baa. The final problem Chris had was he was not really the right size for my house, the sink was too low and he had big problems with the squat toilets – his legs were to long to allow him to squat properly as his knees hit the wall. When Sonya and Chris were together the stares were even greater because of the difference in their heights.

Family Life

2009-08-26T20:09:00.001-07:00

14-18 August 2009

Steve and I flew to Bali to spend a few days with Sonya and Chris before Steve flew home. It was really nice to experience family life again and to show them around places I am now so familiar with. This was a particular pleasure with Chris who was on his first visit to a developing country. It was wonderful to hear his reactions and watch his face as he experienced all the new sights, sounds, tastes and smells. We were fortunate that the Sanur festival was on the week they arrived and they saw kite flying, fruit and ice carving, local races and lots more. We also hired a car and toured a lot of the east of the island including the largest Hindu temple and a ‘traditional’ village. Whist in Ubud we went to a shadow puppet performance – an experience that I will not bother to repeat but pleased I can say I have done it; particularly as the one we had used a real oil lamp rather than electric light to give a less harsh silhouette. The traditional plays last many hours but this was thankfully only an hour. The play is accompanied by music, the puppeteer knocking on the puppet box and him narrating the story. The story was also not totally traditional as it included references to usual local interactions with tourists eg ‘Transport’, ‘Maybe tomorrow’, ‘No problem’.

On the evening of my birthday we met up with Dorothea and went to a very good Italian restaurant as a special treat. I was horrified that we spent nearly 600,000 Rp for the five of us this equate to a weeks allowance for me but was less that £40 so for Steve was nothing. My adaptation to the different value of money was further illustration when helping Sonya and Chris to plan the rest of their trip after leaving Rote. To take a car rather than the bus to Moni from Maumere would only cost them an extra 50,000 Rp each a difference of £3,30. I see the car as expensive luxury they see it as a cheap necessity.

DIY Continues

2009-08-14T17:39:00.001-07:00

10 – 12 August 2009

Having finished the painting Steve turned his had to woodwork. However before he could do that I had to borrow tools and help him to source the wood. The tools were easy as one of the nurses in UGD (the A&E department where I am based at present) does a lot of DIY and was happy to let Steve borrow all the tools he required; he also told us which wood yard to go to. Trying to get the message across there that we wanted to buy the wood and Steve would make it rather than us trying to commission them to make a shelving unit. We did eventually chose the wood and they cut all the pieces to length. Once home Steve set to work to plane the timber and build me a shelving unit to store my food. It is made to measure and fits between a wall and the fridge. Having everything on it does make the back room so much tidier and I can find things. It has been a very productive few days and the house looks so much better as a result. Shame he did not have time to make me a table as well.

Painting

2009-08-14T17:38:00.002-07:00

4 – 7 August 2009

Steve has come to stay – as a surprise I went to Kupang to meet him at the airport and travel back to Rote with him. Once we had taken his luggage to the house we went down town to buy a large tub of paint. I was after a cream, beige of light yellow but my first four choices were habis – finished – so I had to settle for a rather bright yellow. It is actually quite a pleasant colour; it just not go with the pink curtains which I have in all the rooms.

The rooms in the house are all quite tall and even standing on a chair Steve could not paint all the way up the walls. I therefore asked to borrow a step ladder from work. When it arrived we discovered that the side restraints were missing and it was only held together by wire cable. Steve sensibly decided to wait until I was back before climbing the steps. Unfortunately they were definitely designed for people of his weight and started to buckle so I had to paint the top of all the rooms. The one large tub of paint just lasted to finish all the internal rooms.

Public Transport

2009-08-14T17:38:00.001-07:00

I have been writing a lot about motorbikes and thought it was probably time to cover transport links in general.

Indonesia

is a huge archipelago. There are between 17,508 and 18.000 islands – although not all these are inhabited.

Plane

There are a lot of different operators flying to the islands, some airports accept international flights and others like Rote only have two flights a week and very basic facilities. Planes range in size and quality of service.

Boat

These come in all sizes from small charter boats to the more remote islands, via passenger ferries to larger cargo boats that will take passengers.

Train

There are only trains on Java. Daddy was intrepid enough to agree to travel between Jogjakarta and Solo by train and despite the experience agreed to used it on the return journey as well. Actually not as crowded as the tube in London. The big problem was that at the stations we wanted to get off at there was no platform near our doors so it was a long jump down. The level of safety at the stations was poor – you needed to walk across the tracks to get to the train.

Taxi

In the main cities there are conventional taxis which are salon cars with details of the taxi firm on them, these are generally metered although the driver may try to negotiate a flat fare. In smaller towns they are unmarked 4x4s, sometimes with set fares to specific areas of town but certainly not metered. It is quite normal to have the phone number of the individual driver and send a text requesting him to collect you.

Bus

Buses travel between major towns on the island and advertise their destination on the windscreen. They take passengers and copious amounts of luggage. They have a flat fare for the route irrespective of how much of it you travel. If you want to catch a bus – other than at the terminal you leave some luggage beside the road and then go and sit in some shade until the bus stops. As you approach your stop you call out to the driver and then pass your fare forward as you get off.

Lorry

Lorries travel to more remote areas that the buses but are also used if you have excessive amounts of luggage. If very lucky you get a seat up front with the driver but generally you just climb into the open back along with your luggage. I have yet to work out how you know where the lorries are going but when I used one in Sumba a local organised it for me so I did not have to worry.

Bemo

These are small minibuses with bench seats at the back. In Bali the route is denoted by the colour of the bemo. In Kupang all the routes are numbered and on Rote the destination is displayed in the stickers on the front of the bemo. The bemos in Bali are plan inside and out and just have a driver who collects the fares as the passengers alight. In Kupang and on Rote the bemos are all individually decorated with various stickers obliterating the drivers vision on all sides. They also have lots of internal decoration and the addition of sound systems with the speakers taking up all the space under the seats. You can hear these bemos approaching by the loud thumping music emanating from them but in case you should miss that they have very distinctive horns that they sound at the sight of anybody within close proximity to the road. The also have conductors who ride the running board and jump off to try to persuade people to ride in their bemo. It appears there is always room for one more passenger however over full you already think the vehicle is.

Ojek

These are motorbike taxis. In Bali they are obviously regulated and all wear tabards else where it would appear that anyone with a motorbike and a spare crash helmet can pick up passengers. The are useful for short distances when the destination is not on a bemo route. You either go to areas where ojek drivers congregate or as in Kupang I have the number of a couple of drivers and just send them a text when I want to go anywhere.

Becak

These are found in Java and are bicycle driven transport where the passenger sits at the front and is exposed to what ever is approaching you – a bit hairy as the becak drivers do not worry about one way streets so you are often being propelled towards on coming vehicles. It is necessary to negotiate the price for the trip – interestingly when I came out of the station, shops or even a basic hotel I could negotiate a very reasonable rate however when we emerged from a more expensive hotel where we had been to eat I had to pay far more than I felt was reasonable.

Dokar

These are horse drawn carriages – I have yet to try on of these as they feel a little too decadent.