Tuesday, 7Nov06

Highlights: updating site, meeting Prof. Brannon Wheeler, Bandung

I spent most of the day glued to the computer,,, tapping out notes.

5:00 slipped up on me before I knew it, and I had to pack for 5 days + drop by the air-travel office to pick-up tickets before heading off to the airport to meet Prof. Brannon Wheeler.

A few weeks ago, my bosses in the Pentagon let me know there was a professor from the U.S. Naval Academy coming to Indonesia for a conference on Islam, and if I could fit it into my schedule, he was interested in visiting Yogya and Borobudur afterwards. I don’t need many excuses to visit Yogya again (= 1 is enough. I was happy to meet the professor & show him around.

Prof. Wheeler is the Director of the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies, as well as a professor of History and Politics at the USNA. We had coordinated the trip a bit over e-mail, and I met him at the airport.

I met my faithful Ojek driver, who’s always on the corner in front of the house, and sped off to the airport, thinking it would get me there faster. Here’s what Jakarta traffic looks like at night from the back of a scooter (=