Highlights: rain & rainbow on drive to work, a/c class, CBT till 8pm, organized all my taxes paperwork

Back to the grind stone!
It was raining on the way to work today… and since that happens so rarely here in San Diego, traffic gets crazy anytime any water hits the pavement. I got a few cool pics of a rainbow as I entered Camp Pendleton though. you don’t see both ends touching ground like that very often!
(insert rainbow pics at campen) [1]

In addition to working my way through 8 hours of CBTs in the computer lab, I joined a class given by crew-chief instructor, SSgt Ruiz… going over much the same stuff that the computer training is teaching us,,, but hands on.

It’s always beneficial to crawl around the aircraft and see where everything is in relation to each other,,, follow where the wires, pipes, shafts & control rods go,,, and how they interact to make the aircraft do what we ask it to do.

I left base at 8, got home by 9, and then got all my income tax paperwork together in one place.
(insert pic of SSgt Ruiz class) [1]

Highlights: talk with monitor about my summer PCS orders & temp DIFOP status, a/c class & CBT till 6. dinner at Cass St. Bar & Grill with Becc & friends

As a Marine officer, the guy who controls our next job assignment is called a “career monitor”. There’s a big, complex system out there that he uses to fill in a career peg-board with names… ie: Squadron A has an opening for a Captain in June, and there are 3 guys who can fill it. He chooses who goes where.

That’s an item of interest for me, because I would like to know where I’ll be assigned later this summer, when I leave Indonesia. This all falls under the rubric of “managing our career”.

I could have done this better, by communicating more frequently with this guy- but…

Since I plan on making a career in the Marines (at least 20 years), I have to compete for promotion among my helicopter pilot peers. The higher you move up in the rank structure, the less room there is to stand. This is where a guy in my position has to start thinking several years ahead.

The best way to manage my career is to get back to my primary job, which is flying helicopters in a tactical squadron. All the cultural expertise I’m developing in Indonesia is great, but it’s not going to help me become a potential squadron commander someday, so I have to fly. And you can’t fly if you’re not in a squadron.

So… I spoke with the monitor today, hoping to hear about plans for checking-into a Miramar squadron, where I was stationed before. “Not so fast mister…” came the paraphrased response. “All the pegs in my career board are full. I’ve got no place to send you this summer, except maybe as an instructor pilot at the training squadron…”

Hmmm. Wasn’t the news I was hoping for… but that’s another interesting dynamic of being a Marine these days. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks. Hopefully something will come up.

Another issue, a touch more pressing is getting authorization to fly in written orders. Duty Involving Flight Operations = DIFOP. There has to be a piece of paper with my name & the right signatures on it, authorizing me to fly legally, since my job for the last 3 years has had nothing to do with flying. A round of phone calls later, the paper was on the way.

After all the administrative gymnastics, I buried myself back in the computer lab, getting through my CBT as quickly and efficiently as possible. Whew! it’s painful sitting through all this stuff… but I have to do it.
There’s something about being forced to sit through these things which makes you instantly sleepy.
I had to get up & walk around every hour or so, just to keep pressing through it.

Dinner tonight was out at a favorite Pacific Beach joint: Cass St. Bar & Grill. Their kitchen produces hot, fresh, tasty sandwiches that are just huge,, if not a touch greasy- but delicious.
Becc & her boyfriend John introduced me to a few of their friends.

Going back to a bar made me think of how most of my Muslim Indonesian friends feel about alchohol & establishments like this in general. I can hear their oversimplistic rationales why alchohol is bad in my head. (= ha ha. It’s clear that most have never experienced it. They just get it beaten into their head that Mohammad said “no” to alchohol and drunkenness.

My friends here think it’s terribly important to see your friends drunk at least once, because your “true” personality comes out then. (= ha ha,,, well- for the sake of argument. Whatever. It is entertaining sometimes to see what people do when they’re not working with all 6 cylinders. Alchohol is a fundamental part of entertainment, relaxation & enjoyment of life here in America. I don’t have to be a drinker to appreciate that culturalism about America.

An Iraqi friend pointed out a contradiction to me once. In the Koran, Mohammad says “don’t go to prayer drunk.” Later somewhere he is quoted saying “alchohol is evil.” So,,, many Muslims selectively interpret his later words to mean he was against alchohol. Others interpret the first part to mean, “just don’t be drunk when you go to pray.”
Anyways- few Muslims hear the seemingly contradictory statements together. That’s one mans explanation why Muslims have strict policies about alchohol.

Just being in a place like this,,, by Indonesian countryside standards, is bad.
Here in PB, it’s life as normal, if not encouraged as the social meeting place of choice.

It’s funny how cultural norms are so different from one place to the next. I knew some Baptist friends in college too who were taught that alchohol is evil, but as Americans, the social baggage they carried was much different.
(insert pic of Becc at Cass St. bar & grill) [1]

Highlights: set up Yahoo IM, pool project, CBT at CamPen till 10pm

I discovered the world of instant messaging today,, and almost got knocked out of my chair with sudden contact overload! (= ha ha. apparently everyone from my e-mail inbox gets a notice that I’m signed up, and 10 of them responded all at once! Sorry guys! What a great little feature,, but a touch overwhelming at first. So yeah- I’m a little slow on the technological uptake with some things. Anyways-

I had the pool resurfacing guys come to the house to look at the pool & give me an estimate for how much it would cost to fix it.

I’m discovering how many “did it himself” projects the previous home-owner messed up. Faulty wiring, bad concrete work, improperly installed toilets. Whew. He worked for Home Depot corporate office, and thought he could do everything cheaper & better himself. I’m the one stuck cleaning up his messes.
Pool plaster is rated for 5 years or so, and there were some chips & flakes that needed attention when I bought this house in 2005,,, so it’s time to look into it.

Mike from Gardener Pool Plastering came over & walked me through a few options. I could do this job as cheaply as possible ($8 grand or so), or invest in it a bit more- and make it an awesome pool. I’m leaning heavily towards the latter option, but of course it’s gonna cost me. I’m probably looking at $16 grand sometime this summer. Ooooh! When is it ever a good time to drop double digit numbers like that on a Captain’s salary?

Well… I’m investing in the house.. my improvement projects are tax deductable next year- and my tenants will love it later, so,,, when I scrape the money together- it’ll be worth it.

After that, I drove up to CamPen & worked on the computers till 10pm, knocking out some computer based training (CBT) & tests over aircraft systems.

As if I wasn’t truly tired enough by 11, when I got home,,, half-way into checking my e-mail, Ben comes down to the kitchen and decides he wants a little confrontation.
I think he was miffed he didn’t get more of a reaction from me yesterday with his little announcement. I didn’t explain my thinking then, but I made up for it today. He flipped a switch with me.

At one point he said he wants to come back & settle this man to man in the parking lot. Who talks like that anymore? Come on. Grow up.

Aaaaaahhhhh,, Applebees! American dining (=

Thursday, 8Feb07

Highlights: Embassy run, then airport

I finished some business at the embassy before rushing back to get myself to Bloc M & catch the airport shuttle in time for my flight. I’m taking no chances with Jakarta traffic today. I left the house almost 4 hours early.

My flight left at 9:45pm, & we got to Singapore by midnight (factoring in my first time zone shift).

Changi airport, I have to say once again, is just the greatest ever. It’s the one airport I really don’t mind hanging around in for 7 hours. Free internet computers all over, massage tables, comfortable chairs & sofa TV lounges, cafes & restaurants still open at midnight for us overnight travelers,,, and the couchettes! Oh! Bless whoever came up with the idea of putting sleeping & shower lounges in the airport! NorthWest gave me a 6 hour pass to the Rainforest Lounge, where I found feng shui approved little private rooms with beds! I stretched out for 3 hours on a mattress & sheets more soft & comfortable than what I’m working with in Jakarta & just fell into heaven over the span of 40 winks.

the sleeper rooms. this bed was more comfortable than home! Not your typical airport! i love this place. and this is just after midnight on a Thursday

Wednesday, 7Feb07

Highlights: packing, travel claims for Vietnam trip, getting started on trip report.

Ahhh… I’ve got 3 deadlines weighing on me: getting myself ready to jump on a plane tomorrow, getting my travel claim in, and getting a Vietnam Trip report written in as timely a manner as possible.

I’ll start throwing water on the closest fire to me.
Packing didn’t take too long, but assembling all my trip receipts, scanning them, signing forms, etc took the better part of the day.

I hate making promises I can’t keep. Getting through the Trip Report is gonna have to wait till I get back to the states.

Tuesday, 6Feb07

Highlights: visit Eli’s house to check on her & the family (no flooding), Jakarta flood tour

Lydia & I walked over to Eli’s house this morning to make sure she & her family are ok. They were, but shoddy roof construction at their home made leaks down the walls turn into all night “sopping up” operations with available t-shirts, to keep the foam mattress on the floor as dry as possible.

the whole back wall of Eli's home is wet from a leak in the roof.

I’m happy they’re safe & told them to stay at my house if the flooding gets worse.
After that, & a quick trip to the store with Lydia, I found my favorite Ojek driver (scooter taxi), and we set off around the city to see where the flood hit.

Jakarta has been blessed with 2 days of no rain (today being the 2nd). The flood waters came quickly, with 3 days of torrential rains (starting last Friday), but in many places- the flood waters receded quickly, leaving trails of high water marks around the city,,, and dunking the city with a nasty mixture of mud, sewage, waste & brown water. This flood cocktail ruined homes, vehicles, furniture, potable drinking water from wells, cooking equipment, and killed many people… estimated in the dozens today.

Many survivors have flocked to neighborhood mosques for support: shelter, food, water, a meeting place, help to get back on their feet. I visited a couple.

I think most people thought I was working with some NGO, because I carried my camera & was wearing white pants & a collar shirt. (= When asked where I was from, I always said, “I’m a U.S. Marine, just trying to help.” They were happy because I was there. I left 500,000 Rp ($50) with the folks at the mosque closest to my house in Kemang.

Interesting to note,,, several people warned me to be careful about giving aid directly to people… even those who claimed to be mosque or neighborhood leaders- because the ‘corruption’ effect frequently means the money I gave with the intention of helping the many, will disappear into the pockets of a few.

My aim was just to travel around the city & see how things looked during the sunlight hours… but you can’t help but want to help these people when you meet them. I think it leaves a positive impression for them to see an American non-Muslim take the time to visit their mosque & spend a few moments talking with them, and sometimes leave a little money from my pocket, so they can buy some food for the night.

Just a little further down the road, I stopped at another mosque & visited a poor neighborhood across the street. The people I met there showed me how high the flood waters had come in their homes. Between 4-5 feet! They were lucky that waters receded fairly quickly after a day & a half of no rain, and no-one died here… but now a new set of considerations sat on them. Cooking is done on small propane grills. Between the 15 households in this complex, only 2 were salvaged… so the ladies were sharing & cooking rice & vegetables for everyone. They got bottled water from the mosque across the street.
Beds & furniture were ruined in the muddy ooze of flood waters. Several were able to save clothes, a TV & small things by throwing them on top of other furniture or up in the rafters of their home…

Here, you can see what their homes look like. Even with nearly everything they own in ruin, people here can still smile, and are tickled when a Westerner comes to visit them & pay a little attention.

scooping out water & mud from a restaurant visiting a mosque in Kemang, maybe 5 min. from my home
friendly kids
everyone here was super friendly & happy to see an American stop to talk to them. I gave them $50 to help out a little,,, and said i'd make them as famous as i could (= ha ha.

openings to the sewer/drainage system are common, even among living spaces. they're easy to fall into. view from the homes i just visited. the mosque is across the street on the left. note the mud on the ground. it's all over.

flood waters came up to this point on 2 Feb 07

one woman welcomes me into her home, where piles of furniture are stacked up in as much protection from flood waters as they could manage. tickled to see a strange-looking American standing in their midst (=
the pots & pans where cooking magic happens everyday,,, salvaged & hung high along the cement walkway which leads to several homes. the sewer runs openly below
some streets are still flooded. this one only a few inches

Jakarta flood video:

The worst hit flood area I came across was a few more miles up the road, next to the Ciliwung River.
I saw an interesting blend of political opportunism and aid giving in action here. Aid posts for flood victims (Posko Banjir) are not regulated, per se, so organizations representing a rainbow of political groups advertised, essentially, with images of themselves passing out clean water & food for victims in this neighborhood who lost everything. It’s an interesting scene for a westerner like myself. Obviously- they’re helping,, and yet obviously there is political motive, so parties can say “remember who was there to help after this disaster or that”. I don’t know how effective it is, but it’s interesting to see. And the street is lined with them, side by side.

There are over 40 political groups in Indonesia. Just to name a few in action here: GOLKAR (the polital machine assembled by former President Suharto to keep him in office for 32 years, driven by patronage: political favors in exchange for votes. Vice President Kalla is from this party); PKB (National Awakening Party, with a picture of Gus Dur, Indonesia’s 3rd President & former leader of NU, the worlds largest Muslim organization, oriented around traditional values instead of strict scripturalist readings of the Koran); PBB (Stars & Moon Party, a Muslim party); NU (Nadlhatul Ulama)… there were more.

GOLKAR aid post National Awakening Party (PKB) flood post, with picture of former President Gus Dur
Betawi society aid post, with a prominent gubernatorial candidate (Fauzi Bowo) listed
Star & Moon Party (PBB) with their "humanity" aid post

Justice & Prosperity Party (PKS) flood station Dangdut kitchen, sponsored by 97.1 FM
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) flood aid post
MER-C flood aid post

the main street leading towards the river mud sludge still covers the street. it's slippery and thick...
these men are soaking wet from head to toe after pulling things from the banks of the river. many peoples belongings got whisked from their homes into the rushing waters... now that things were settling down, some of that could be retrieved.
flash flood took this section of housing out. there used to be buildings here. no more.

banana trees from the rivers edge which were swept up with the rising waters & clogged the flow of water under this bridge, were pulled up by heavy lifters, to be trucked away later. you can see the mud like sludge above. Here below, the chocolaty brown waters of the river rush by,,, allready several meters lower than 2 days ago.
hanging laundry is everpresent in Indonesia
more ruined furniture & household effects, piled in the street to be taken away.

an alley mosque with flood debris piled up in front computer store a few doors down,,,
this young guy is cleaning off the mud soaked keyboards & computer parts... with the hope they might function again. whew. good luck there guy.
well someone was pooped after all the commotion (=

looking down the staircase to homes which were completely submerged in water 2 days ago. going about the messy job of clearing out all that nasty mud & guck from their home.
the mud left mark all over the walls, windows. good luck finding anything clean in here. i wish i had the means to help these people more. i left them 200,000 Rp ($20) which should feed 15 of them tonight.
mobile toilets,,, so important!

A radio station was also in there, with a mobil kitchen feeding flood victims & showing that Dangdut Radio 97.1 FM cares.

Meanwhile, through the newspapers, a lot of finger-pointing is going on. Plenty of folks are upset with the Mayor for his leadership. The Mayor blames overdevelopment of surrounding cities for building on natural flood plains. Wellfare Minister, Abduraizal Backrie, isn’t helping with foot in mouth statements like “people are laughing, so they can’t be suffering as bad as the papers make out…”
After coming back from Vietnam, it seems healthy to see that there is little censorship on the newspapers here. There is plenty of criticism of government and specific leaders, to include open speculation about whether President SBY would step down over this or that.

It’s interesting that the President and Vice President here come from two competing political parties; a concept Americans are unfamiliar with. In today’s political atmosphere, the President and Vice President are both openly competing for the heart of the nation in preparation for the next elections in 2009.
It’s never too early to seek public approval. Disasters are ripe moments to make political heros or to blow it. In this era of growing democracy, that point is lost on nobody here.

Jakarta traffic being the monster it is, made getting home a journey in & of itself. I got home about 6 hours later, after the sun had gone down. The good part is, most of the city today is dry again.

most of the streets are allready dry. traffic is a nightmare though Indonesian Marines carrying rubber raft after working to help some flood victims earlier, and clear debris.

Monday, 5Feb07

Highlights: home to Jakarta

Vietnam has done a remarkable turn-around since 1986, when Moi Boi (reform) began, which allowed all this "guided" capitalism. They have really taken to the new financial opportunities, and the amount of development here is astounding. I'm really hopeful for the Vietnamese people,, even though the layers of political obstacles are not allowed to be openly discussed or printed about.

example: the government printed a new 10,000 dong note last year. The picture (Ho Chi Minh, of course) is identical to the 100,000 dong note and the 500,000 dong note. In fact,, if you're not paying close attention to the number of zeros, it's easy to mistake them.
Many people complained about the new bill, and one audacious newspaper company dared to print some of those complaints. The government promptly shut the newspaper down for 6 weeks for openly criticizing a government decision.

Communism appears sugar coated in many respects, because the economy is doing very well... but according to some friends i met who are living here- after a while you start seeing the camouflaged repression. Another example: Vietnamese have to register with their local police department weeks in advance if they wish to travel outside their district. They have to provide a full itinerary, outlining where they wish to travel, when, and why. This is for travel within their own country, by the way. Bureacracy always has the perogative to say "no", without explaining itself. so,,, of the people i asked about their own travels in Vietnam,, the answer, 90% of the time was a polite smile & acknowledgement that they had never been 50 miles beyond where they lived now. few exceptions. It’s even more difficult for them to leave the country, as one woman explained in Saigon. Her husband is a tour guide in Cambodia at Angkor Wat, so his company gets him permission to cross the border- but he can’t take his own wife over to see where he works in Cambodia, because she doesn’t have a justifiable enough reason to go. Hmmm.
After 12 days, i was more travelled than most, and had to describe what Saigon or Hoi An looked like to most people from Hanoi.

I don’t mean to hone in on the less flattering aspects of Vietnam… I just point them out as I see them, since I’m here to learn about how life is like in Vietnam, and develop an ability to compare a few different places within the 11 country bloc we call “Southeast Asia”.

Vietnam and Indonesia are both great places. I’ve enjoyed my time in each, and it looks like a lot of examples of “success” are shaping up here. That’s great to see, because it’s so easy to form a connection with the people here when you visit. I wish the best for them.

Parting shots
ha ha.. i appreciate when a store can call a spade a spade,,, right up front. (=
and i had to tip my hat to the lady wearing a USMC scarf around her face, with the Eagle, Globe & Anchor affixed proudly front & center (=

I was in a cab at 5am to the airport for my flight back to Jakarta. I was a little nervous, not knowing exactly what to expect, considering all the international headlines about the flood, and Jakarta being underwater.

I got a few reassuring e-mails from Lydia, saying the house was just fine, and the streets were still mostly dry around our neighborhood.

With a lengthy layover in HoChiMinh City, my flight, which left at 7:30am, got me home to Jakarta by 9pm. All that for what amounted to about 5 hours in the air.
Taking the bus home from the Jakarta airport through Bloc M at 10pm, it was hard to see much, but the toll road & streets were mostly dry, except in one place (near the Slipi mall) where even the highway flooded out.

Sunday, 4Feb07

Highlights: Ethnology museum, History museum, Don Xuan market, another side of old quarter shopping, Ngok Son Temple, Water puppets

The ethnology museum was a really interesting place. I was surprised to see how many of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups were traditionally matrilineal, for instance. I counted 7 of the dozen or so they talked about. The exhibits pointed to just a few characteristics distinguishing one group from another; clothes, traditional beliefs & architectural designs, but some of those really jumped out at you.

There was actually a fairly substantial exhibit dedicated to describing life in Vietnam under the early Communist system (1975-1986)… which looked rough. No money was used. People paid for things with stamps which were distributed by the government. Poverty & hunger were typical experiences shared by most. Few were allowed to have radios. People had to apply for permission to get a bicycle, and many raised pigs & livestock in their homes to supplement some form of income. Didn’t smell pretty, according to the descriptions.

There’s been unbelievable economic & social progress since 1986, which is clearly evident from Saigon to Hanoi (bottom to top). A few interesting hold-overs remain that I saw or heard about though. News, for instance, is strictly controlled. Many Vietnamese never travel outside of their home district, even within their own country, because doing so requires getting permission from the authorities first.

Ethnically speaking, most Vietnamese belong to the “Kinh” ethnic group (86%). I smile at the differences you experience on this side of the Pacific Ocean. From an American perspective, I thought “Vietnamese” was the ethnicity of most people from here. (= It’s funny for me to see Vietnamese talk about their own minorities. Indeed, the Hmong, Cham, Ede, Giarai, Coho and others appear to be very colorful groups of people; many among them living in mountainous highlands, or remote places.

I wish I had the time to travel up to Sapa and meet some of them, in the hills & mountains of northern Vietnam, near the China border.

welcome to the Ethnology museum. French is still in common use around the Country there is a bicycle inside this mountain of fish traps... i don't know how anyone rides it, but, i've seen a few bicycles loaded down like this in Hoi An. The guy strapped a broom to the handle bars & pushed from the side.

the spiritual gods of the four worlds: Sky, Earth, Water & Wood