Thursday, 19Oct06
Highlights: sahur, drive to Surabaya, staying at Army housing, help for Nina’s paper, KODAM
3am came around pretty quick today. Ugh… part of the Muslim “self-control & taste of suffering” package that makes them well rounded people. (=
Bu Ida made rice, Gudeg, fried noodles, bottomless sweet tea and chocolate milk. (= I crawled back to bed stuffed! Ha ha.
I meant to comment on this yesterday, but there’s no tub to mix boiled water here for the morning shower… meaning - the shower is a touch “refreshing.”
My lungs shrank the moment the water hit me. Whew! Well,,, it wakes you up!
Maj Franky worked today, so we left the house at 4am to drive back up to Surabaya. His engineering unit is working to clean up the Sidoarjo mud mess: assembling piping to pump the mud out to the ocean (20km away), clearing the roads, and doing their best to contain the mud that is still gushing out. One of the dirtier jobs the engineers do is clearing out all the porta-johns & septic tanks. Someone’s gotta do it.
I had hoped to get out to Sidoarjo & see for myself today, but that didn’t happen. No worries. Maj Franky had a 2” fish bone stuck in his throat from this morning too, and had to go to the hospital to get that pulled out! Ugly feeling there.
Meanwhile, in Yogya, Nina was stressing out. Her thesis advisor (pak Djoko) was riding her hard, and wasn’t happy with her paper. He’s the head of the English department at UGM, which makes him particularly difficult to get a hold of, and scrupulous. Without his signature, she doesn’t graduate in November. She had to translate ancient Javanese into English in her effort to research the controversial history of a local Javanese hero from Jipang village, near her home. She’s in a near panic. Her friends are breezing through their advisors offices, with approval in minutes; no meticulous English grammar scrutinizing, etc. Pak Djoko is turning the vice screws on her, demanding another complete revision by tomorrow, the deadline, before he graduates her.
I hunted down an internet café & looked at her paper through e-mail, trying to help smooth out her English as much as possible this afternoon. whew! Tough day for Nina. When the girlfriend is crying & stressing out, there’s no peace on either end of that phone call.
Maj Franky and I drove around downtown Surabaya, “city of heroes” and had dinner (after I could break my fasting). We visited the KODAM V headquarters (Komandan Daerah Militer) responsible for military activities in all of East Java. Across the street is a large field, humming with night market sellers & local people stretching their legs & getting out of the house. It’s a nightly social activity. Almost has the feel of a free amusement park.
Highlights: sahur, drive to Surabaya, staying at Army housing, help for Nina’s paper, KODAM
3am came around pretty quick today. Ugh… part of the Muslim “self-control & taste of suffering” package that makes them well rounded people. (=
Bu Ida made rice, Gudeg, fried noodles, bottomless sweet tea and chocolate milk. (= I crawled back to bed stuffed! Ha ha.
I meant to comment on this yesterday, but there’s no tub to mix boiled water here for the morning shower… meaning - the shower is a touch “refreshing.”
My lungs shrank the moment the water hit me. Whew! Well,,, it wakes you up!
Maj Franky worked today, so we left the house at 4am to drive back up to Surabaya. His engineering unit is working to clean up the Sidoarjo mud mess: assembling piping to pump the mud out to the ocean (20km away), clearing the roads, and doing their best to contain the mud that is still gushing out. One of the dirtier jobs the engineers do is clearing out all the porta-johns & septic tanks. Someone’s gotta do it.
I had hoped to get out to Sidoarjo & see for myself today, but that didn’t happen. No worries. Maj Franky had a 2” fish bone stuck in his throat from this morning too, and had to go to the hospital to get that pulled out! Ugly feeling there.
Meanwhile, in Yogya, Nina was stressing out. Her thesis advisor (pak Djoko) was riding her hard, and wasn’t happy with her paper. He’s the head of the English department at UGM, which makes him particularly difficult to get a hold of, and scrupulous. Without his signature, she doesn’t graduate in November. She had to translate ancient Javanese into English in her effort to research the controversial history of a local Javanese hero from Jipang village, near her home. She’s in a near panic. Her friends are breezing through their advisors offices, with approval in minutes; no meticulous English grammar scrutinizing, etc. Pak Djoko is turning the vice screws on her, demanding another complete revision by tomorrow, the deadline, before he graduates her.
I hunted down an internet café & looked at her paper through e-mail, trying to help smooth out her English as much as possible this afternoon. whew! Tough day for Nina. When the girlfriend is crying & stressing out, there’s no peace on either end of that phone call.
Maj Franky and I drove around downtown Surabaya, “city of heroes” and had dinner (after I could break my fasting). We visited the KODAM V headquarters (Komandan Daerah Militer) responsible for military activities in all of East Java. Across the street is a large field, humming with night market sellers & local people stretching their legs & getting out of the house. It’s a nightly social activity. Almost has the feel of a free amusement park.
posted by jonathan adventures at 11:13 AM
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