Chikungunya Fever

I finally got to visit my first Indonesian school and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Living in a resort with 40 other people, no matter how gorgeous that resort is, can get tiresome quickly. Being confronted with a school full of excited kids was just the soul soothing reminder I needed as to why I’m here in the first place. The ETAs were split into 5 groups, and my group went to visit an SMAN (public upper-secondary school) here in Bandung. We were met at the door by a little spitfire of a woman in a violet power suit and matching jilbab (the bahasa Indonesia word for hijab, or head scarf), who serves as the headmaster. The pride in her school practically radiated off this woman and every smiling teacher we met.  My purpose here, however, is not to perpetuate the myth that all Asian schools are populated by perfectly angelic diligent students. The kids yelled, texted, avoided doing some of their work, squirmed and asked questions. But that’s sort of the point. They weren’t much different from any 15-17 year olds you encounter. Spotting an iPod on one girl’s desk I asked her what type of music she was in to. Smiling she responded “ American hip-hop”, I asked who her favorite artists was and the answer was….Flo Rida!. Although I couldn’t suppress my internal cringe at this response, the whole day gave me a renewed sense of hope in the fact that I can actually maybe handle the situation I’ve gotten myself into.

On another note, one has not experienced a country that touts one of the largest concentrations of Muslims in the world until one has experienced that country during Ramadan.   The energy is absolutely nuts right now and it’s all contained and just pulsing under the surface. All I can think of to compare it to is Mardi Gras, which in my part of the country is a legitimate holiday. Although Ramadan lacks the drunken revelry and boobs, I still have that feeling I used to get when I was little and knew all of the weeks were leading up to the biggest  emotional explosion of the year. The daily calls to prayer are even different, longer and more emotional.  What was once the distant background music of the country is now currently un-ignorable in its magnitude.

In a completely non-related note, I have now experienced my second scared straight medical session. I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that I WILL get dengue, typhoid, parasites, rabies, chikungunya or/and malaria. At least the PowerPoint presentation explaining all of the reasons why I’m probably going to be on the toilet or have to receive medical evacuation to Singapore was accompanied by some pretty amazing clip art. Dr. V maintained a chipper sense of humor while effectively scaring me shitless (no pun intended). Apparently the island of Sulawesi is a high malaria region, yet there’s a possibility I’ll be fine since I’ll be living in a city on the coast. Needless to say, I’m foregoing the malaria meds; I’ll take 3 days of treatment over 9 months of pill-popping any day.

Wish me luck.