I recently had the opportunity to spend 3 days in Bogor - hanging out with a family I know there, touring the famous botanical gardens, and meeting with professors and other government officials in agricultural and community development. Institut Pertanian Bogor (Bogor Agricultural Institute) is the top ag school in Indonesia, boasting more than 25,000 students.
Afif (above), my personal tour guide for the trip through the botanical gardens, is the son of an Indonesian man, Pak Firdaus, who studied his Ph.D. in Plant Breeding at Kansas State University from 1985-1989. When I first met Pak Firdaus, who is now the director of a national vegetable research center, we felt an immediate bond as fellow KSU Alumni. He's since been a great help as I pursue experience and opportunities to understand Indonesian agricultural development better. He and his wife dusted off their photo album to show me their memories of living in Jardine Hall, driving through corn fields, and protesting in front of the Union.
Don't let anyone fool you. Bamboo trees are not small.