The Hedonist Center of Indonesia

I Recently I went on a little jaunt around Indonesia with my friend Judith.  Both of our schools were in mid-semester exams and according to our contracts we’re not qualified enough to administer those, which is true, so we were free to travel for the week.  Many lessons were learned on this jaunt. First, if I am breathing Makassar air, I can, in no way, avoid the fried mystery treats and mugs of tea I am forced to eat on a daily basis. Judith arrived on Sunday and we were to set off on our adventure Monday morning. I however needed to pop by my school and pick up some mail, which was basically walking into the lion’s den of fattening treats. Just so you know I asked my teaching counterpart/gal pal Tini blatantly one day if she was trying to fatten me up, and she replied with serious and deadly calm…yes.

But I digress.

So about an hour and a half later Judith and I finally emerge from my school and headed to the Makassar airport. Apparently it flooded the last time I was there, but I was lucky enough to catch a taxi to my new home before Moses was needed to part the seas. One thing this week has taught me is to trust no one when it comes to air travel. Once you pass the laughable security check, there is no information to be found. Rather you have to continuously trick people into giving you the right information, such as your gate and departure time, by asking incessantly. Sometimes it helps to don a minor disguise such as scarf or wide brimmed hat. However, it seemed as if only us Americans were concerned about such trifling matters, as the Indonesians traveling around us casually lounged about, munching fried treats.

After two planes, a taxi and a horse drawn cart we finally made it to our hotel in Lombok, where I got to sleep in a tree house bungalow. Needless to say I felt very one with nature as I gazed up at the stars while squatting over our non-western toilet in the open-air bathroom. The next morning we were off to find a public boat to ferry us to the Gili islands, which Lonely Plant deems the “ hedonist center of Indonesia”. Well, it’s no Ibiza, but the beaches were beautiful, the Europeans Speedo clad and I go to eat homemade pasta while sipping cocktails, so no complaints.

All to quickly it was over and back to my little home in Makassar. Come to find out another species of insect has taken up residence in my home along with the militant ants, mosquitoes, roaches, caterpillar type things and of course the geckos (which are obviously not insects but creaturey non the less). It’s sort of like a large ant with wings. However, the small ants have been attacking, killing, and dragging them up my walls. Which of course makes me rethink my position on mass killing the small ants, even after the bed invasion.

In other news, this loquacious blog is inspired by my evening viewing of “Julia &Julia”.  I’m now tempted to blog about cooking my way through “ 160 Nasi Goreng Recipes”, but I feel like that would really benefit no one.

*Nasi Goreng is fried rice, slightly crunchier and spicier than your local Chinese brand. It’s unfathomable that there are 160 ways to make it.