Transition

I'm back in Kansas again, much to the shock of my system. On Sunday, Jakarta was around 90 degrees F, rainy, and humid, not to mention very green because of the rainy season. On Monday, Kansas was around 5 degrees F, snowy, and very brown (and white). On Sunday, I sweat just sitting around with a T-shirt and shorts on. On Monday, I wore an undershirt, a shirt, a light jacket, a fleece, and a winter jacket, and still shivered. The view out our front door this morning.
The view from one of my favorite places in Bandung last week. The view out my bedroom window this morning.

View on the way to a restaurant where I ate with a friend on Thursday last week.

Thanksgiving Indo-Style

What do you do when you can't be home for Thanksgiving? You make Thanksgiving right where you're at. That's what my friend Jordan and I did this past week. We happened to be the only two foreigners in the whole city that day. In some ways we are like the first Pilgrims, coming to a far land and being helped by the "natives" that surround us. Here's a glimpse of our memorable day. For Christmas some families have the tradition of going out to buy the tree together. Jordan and I decided to start a new tradition - going out to buy the turkey together. This wasn't as easy as it sounds. We went to the city's bird market, found the only turkey among a million other birds, bargained for 40 minutes, and finally walked away with the gobbler.
Here is our fine-looking gobbler the night before Thanksgiving...

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all through the coop,
the turkey was gobbling so afraid that it pooped.
The butcher knife was hung on the post with great care,
knowing tomorrow turkey meat we will share...'

Our Thanksgiving dinner received a great boost from Jordan's mom who sent a care package ("long distance hug," as I like to call them) filled with ready-mix boxes of stuffing, pie crust, and pie filling. This, however, did not assure success for two bachelors with no cooking experience. We still had to do the hard things like add eggs, butter, and milk and mix it together.

Cooking utensils were hard to come by, so substitutes had to do. A rolling pin was replaced by a round glass with a little extra flour on it.

The Pilgrim and Indian worked together cooking throughout the afternoon, starting at 1pm and finishing by around 6pm.

A metal box over a burner substituted as our oven. Preheating to 350F was a little tricky. The turkey didn't fit, so we helped make it fit with a knife.

The absence of a can-opener required us to resort to primitive tools (just like the original Pilgrims) to open up our cranberry sauce.

The final spray of food. For the most part it was traditional foods - stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, bread rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, mashed potatoes (not pictured) and gravy. But a few elements of Indonesia snuck their way into our meal, including the red fruit "rambutan" as well as a hot chili sauce called "sambal" (in the middle).

Just like the original Pilgrims, we celebrated our Thanksgiving with the natives.

...but some of the natives didn't like our food, choosing instead to eat a plate full of rice, a little bit of turkey, and some chili sauce to top it off. I didn't complain. It meant more food for me!

Instead of sitting around a table, we ate Indonesian-style, sitting on mats on the floor. I tend to like this idea, because after stuffing yourself with delicious food, you don't even have to get out of your chair to sprawl out and take your nap!

Most of the Indonesians enjoyed these new foods, as evidenced by the empty bowls and bulging stomachs.

After eating, Pilgrims and Indians alike posed for a few good pictures. That's why we have pictures in books right? All in all we had a great time. Jordan and I have been warmly received by our native hosts, and are more than thankful for the ways they have helped us. Eating Thanksgiving dinner together was our little way to say thanks to them and to God who has blessed us richly!

Lampung Panoramas

These are panoramas in opposite directions as I stood on a hill in Lampung, a city I recently visited in Southern Sumatra. Notice the classic red-tiled roof tops that are common throughout Indonesia. The red comes from the natural color of the clay used to make the tiles. Notice also that there are mountains in one direction (above) and the ocean in the other (below), a common scene in this archipelago of 17000 islands.

Biggest Pineapple Farm in the World

Where do the pineapples you eat come from? Some of you quickly answer, "the can." Thanks, genius. If you eat processed pineapple products such as canned pineapples or pineapple juice, its likely you've eaten a product of Indonesia. Indonesia is the home of the 39,000 hectare (nearly 100,000 acre) Great Giant Pineapple Company, the supplier of 15% of the world's pineapples and the largest pineapple farm in the world. I recently made a trip to south Sumatra to visit this farm. Where do these pineapples grow? Some of you quickly answer, "on pineapple trees." Wrong. Pineapples grow out of the top of a grassy, shrub-like plant that gets about waist-tall. The pineapples emerge out of the top and are pickable after about a year's growth. After one pineapple is picked, the plant will produce a second and smaller pineapple. After two fruits the plant is chopped up and new "tops" are planted. Pineapples don't grow from seeds, put rather from "tops." Tops are harvested from the top of the pineapple fruit and then placed back into the ground, where they grow and produce new pineapple plants.Pineapples are harvested using a large, two-winged contraption. Laborers walk along picking the fruits and placing them on the wings' conveyor belts. The conveyor belts carry the fruits into trucks. Time for a middle-of-the-day nap. Two-layer thick clothing (pineapple leaves are sharp) adds to the already overbearing heat. The Great Giant Pineapple Factory has more than 15,000 employees and harvests more than 2,000 tons of pineapples every day, all year long.The "tops" are unloaded and will be reused for the next plantings.I almost felt like I was in Kansas when I saw this scene. It's very rare to see tractors in Indonesia. Almost all farm labor here is done by muscle-power or water buffalo.
This factory at the center of the farm produces canned pineapple and pineapple juice. When the product leaves the factory its still unbranded, but is then bought up and labeled by brands like Dole, Del Monte, and others, and then shipped to countries like the USA. From this factory in the center of the farm, you can drive 20 miles one direction and see nothing by pineapple fields, and drive for 20 miles in the other direction and only see pineapple fields. Thinking about how big it is almost makes you go fruity.

Kansas

When Indonesians hear that I'm from Kansas, two things pop into their mind. No, they don't thing about the yellow brick road and Wildcats football/Royals baseball/Chiefs football. Instead they think of cowboys and cigarettes. "Kansas" brand cigarettes are one of the most popular here, and their advertisements are similar to Marlboro's - cowboys riding horses across the open plains as the sun sets in the background, ruining the fresh, clean air with a smoking cigarette hanging out of their mouth.
When Indonesians hear that I own cattle and had childhood dreams of being a cowboy, their idyllic image of Kansas is further confirmed. I do, however, try to point them straight by explaining that we have no Kansas-brand cigarettes in Kansas, nor do we grow much if any tobacco. Their quizzical look reveals feelings of betrayal that Kansas is not as picturesque as they had first imagined. Not wanting to disappoint, I quickly explain that two of my uncles are cowboys and my dad wears cowboy boots and has used a lasso. The smile returns -Kansas isn't much different than they had first imagined.

Village Visit

Badminton

The Olympic Games touch and inspire millions, if not billions, around the world. I am among the inspired. Indonesia claimed 3 of its 5 Olympic medals in their beloved sport of bulutangkis, including the stunning 2-1 thriller over the mighty Chinese to claim the the men's doubles gold. With a touch of cockiness, Marcus Kido said "we just weren't quite warmed up in the first game." Indonesia doesn't have much else to be cocky about in the sports world, but when it comes to badminton, they expect to excel. And excellence inspires, even to an American who grew up with the idea that a net dividing the players meant that they weren't manly enough to play a contact sport. But a smashed birdie, able to fly nearly as fast as 200mph, is very, very manly.
After playing off and on for a couple years in college, I've taken up badminton more seriously here in Indonesia. There's still a lot of progress to be made, but I'm playing 1-2 times per week, slowing increasing the power of my smash and honing my backhand. Playing badminton with friends is one of the highlights of my week. When I get home I want to see if my dad will clear out his shed/garage and let me set up an indoor court. We'll see how that flies...