Out and about

Today was a bit of a struggle after only 4 hours of sleep last night, but it was an ok frame of mind for editing the assessment I'm compiling. Much of it was written by non-native English speakers so editing on that level is an interesting challenge. My plan was to get some groceries at lunch time and I discovered that there was someplace I could actually walk to from work! It was my first real experience walking anywhere in Jakarta. It is really easy to get into the routine of hotel-taxi-office-taxi-mall-taxi... because everything is too far away from each other to walk, the sidewalks are often tiny or non-existent, and the traffic is constant and insane. However, there's a big mall across the 6 lane road in front of my building and a nearby overpass allows you to actually get across without having to take a taxi a few miles up the road and back.

Getting out of my air-conditioned, business-traveler bubble made me realize all the more what a city of contrasts Jakarta is. My desire not to stand out in a Muslim country means I always have long pants and long sleeved shirts on (even though I occasionally see women in short skirts or tight pants, many also have head scarves and long tunics over their slacks) so walking in the heat was overwhelming. The Indonesian women I was with from work also seemed to think it was hotter than usual and we all hoped for a crazy downpour, though none ever came. The number of people on this stretch of sidewalk and in the overpass, combined with tiny elderly women crouching shoeless by blankets spread with umbrellas and belts for sale, made walking a slow, almost intimate process. The smells in the street were intense in the heat as well, with sewage and car exhaust and food all combining.

Ultimately the grocery store wasn't much of a success as it seemed to be filled mostly with Ramen instant noodle packets or ingredients for complicated Indonesian dishes I can't make without a kitchen. The smells of the produce section were overwhelming again, making me wonder if jet lag is enhancing my sense of smell or if the plastic wrap on the durian wasn't really sealed. This is a grocery store and mall for "regular Indonesians" meaning it isn't full of the Prada, Ferragamo and Versace that some of the malls have (who is buying this stuff I wonder?) but even so the idea of regular Idnonesians can sometimes seem strange. On the way home tonight I went through a route of open shacks serving as homes and shops separating the roadways from the garbage filled rivers. And the open air streets off the main road near my office building seem a lot more accessible to the "regular" in a country with per capita income of and street corner restaurants where a meal can be had for Rp5000, or a little more than 50 cents.