Climbing Krakatau

The adage "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" popped into my head last weekend. I thought of this as I was hot and sweaty and dirty and tired, and climbing up the side of an active volcano. Because, if you live on the ring of fire, why not climb an active volcano?! If you're surrounded by volcanoes and scraping tectonic plates, why not tempt fate just a little bit more.

So that's exactly what we did. We joined a group of friends for a long weekend out of Jakarta, about 4 hours southwest of Jakarta on the west coast of Java. We spent the weekend at a sailing club on a peninsula called Tanjung Lesung. The beach was pretty nice, quite a bit of coral but plenty of sand for nice walks and sand castles. The water was also quite calm so C was able to play in the ocean by himself, which he seemed to really enjoy. The lodging at the sailing club was very, very basic, and overpriced in my opinion. But it was roomy and the open air restaurant had good food and was a lovely place to sit and relax, have a cold beer, and lose yourself in the sound of the ocean. The place was also extremely quiet and we didn't have to listen to traffic or the mosque for 3 glorious days. There were also huge grounds, and C and LC had a fantastic time running around and exploring.



On Saturday morning 8 of us headed off in a speedboat for Krakatau; we left the children behind as this was definitely a non-kid friendly outing. The boat ride there took about 1.5 hours. It was a bit choppy and most of the way I was fantasizing about big boxes of Dramamine. Fortunately though none of us lost our breakfast and we all recovered once we landed. One of our friends on the boat is a geologist so lucky for us we heard some history of Krakatau and lava and magma pipes, etc. Krakatau was quite striking, to say the least: an island fully consumed by a volcano and as barren as a desert, with hardened lava at it's base, rising out of the ocean 100 miles from land. Knowing its history made it even more amazing.

Anak Krakatau

Actually, Krakatau doesn't really exist anymore - it blew itself up in 1883. The explosion was heard as far away as the island of Rodriguez, more than 4600 km away (and is the loudest sound ever recorded), and sent up ash 80km high which fell on Singapore 840 km to the north and on ships as far as 6000 km away. In the explosion most of the island fell into the ocean, which sent tsunamis to Java and Sumatra, destroying 165 villages (Lonely Planet). Before the explosion Krakatau was estimated at 2000 meters above sea level with a radius of 9 km.

What remains of Krakatau today is about 1/3 of the original island, called Pulau Rakata, and Anak Krakatau, which means child of Krakatau. Pulau Rakata distinctly shows visitors just where the rest of her broke off (see below) and is covered in heavy vegetation. Anak Krakatau is the growing, active volcano you see above. Anak Krakatau has been growing out of the sea for the last 80 years, and regularly belches smoke, ash and lava. Rumblings from this volcano can be heard in W. Java, 50 km away. It is about 200 meters above sea level and has a radius of 2 km (wikipedia).

Pulau Rakata

We boated through where the mighty Krakatau once stood, and it was hard to imagine there once stood a volcano there 2000 meters high. We circled around Anak Krakatau, seeing the crater from where smoke and lava emits, and seeing where the lava spills into the sea. The boat landed on the eastern side where there's vegetation. Our group hiked up the side of the volcano, which was HOT! The sand is grey/black, and the intense heat emanates both from the sun above and from the sand below. The steep gradient, the heat, and the sand made the hike challenging, although mercifully not very long (1/2 hour). We couldn't hike all the way up the volcano; it is too dangerous to get too close to the crater. In the end it was worth the climb, but it wasn't exactly "fun" while we were doing it.

The crater on Anak Krakatau

Midway up the volcano, looking out at Pulau Lang

J's legs after the climb, covered in black sand

After the hike we had a picnic lunch and then the boat took us over to a nearby island, Lang (I think) for snorkeling. It felt great to get into the water after the sweaty, dirty hike. The snorkeling itself was fine; the coral was nice but we only saw a few interesting fish. Then it was time to return back to Java. We had been warned that this stretch of water can be rough and that we'd have to return a bit early because it was expected to be bad. But none of us was quite prepared for the crazy 2 hour journey back. The boat was constantly hitting waves that sent it airborne before crashing back onto the sea. We all had to continuously hold onto the boat for fear we'd be thrown out. Many of our friends' rearends were sore for days afterwards. We were also all wet the entire ride home from the sea spray, and our friends in the front of the boat had to stand most of the way so their backs wouldn't get broken. We were actually enjoying about the first 15 minutes. It was just so crazy and ridiculous and we were all regularly crying out "ohs!" and "ahs!". But then we hit a wave that sent us sideways and suddenly it stopped being so fun. I never felt like we we were in danger, but I was very happy that we had a good, sturdy boat and experienced drivers, and that the sky was clear.

All in all it was a great adventure, but definitely only a once in a lifetime experience.

Ramadan again

I was about to write a whole post on the holy month of Ramadan, which we are 10 days into here in Indonesia (and for all devout Muslims around the world), and then I realized that I've been writing this blog for well over 1 year and probably wrote about it last year. And I did! Yippee! That's one post I don't have to write because if you're interested to know more about it you can go here to see what I wrote last year. Not much has changed since last year. The biggest change is that we moved to a new house in a complex last year, so our neighborhood isn't nearly as noisy. We can still hear the mosques, but they aren't as loud and we can no longer here the neighborhood "festivities". Since we're non-Muslims and we're in a huge cosmopolitan city, Ramadan doesn't change our lives in a big way. There are a few minor inconveniences here and there, but compared to what our Muslim neighbors are doing it is nothing. This year for Idil Fitri we will be staying in Jakarta. We were late in our planning this year and by the time we looked into getting away airline prices were already pretty steep. Jakarta will pretty much shut down for the 2 days of Idil Fitri, as in, I don't even think we can order a pizza or go to the grocery store. So it's a good time to get away, but on the other hand it will be nice to live in such a quiet city for once!

If you want to read more factual information, you can click here. I "get" the principles behind Ramadan; I can see how fasting all day and sacrificing sleep could make one more humble, more patient (maybe), more faithful. But, I also think it's crazy. I can't imagine not being able to drink a glass of water for 12 hours straight, all the while working, taking care of children, tending fields?! Plus, in order to eat enough calories to last throughout the day, you have to eat a lot during the night. So, you're eating at the expense of sleeping. I understand that during the month of Ramadan people will eat on and off from 6-9 p.m., and then sleep until 3 a.m., when they will wake up and start eating until the sun rises about 6. That's 6 hours of sleep every night for 30 nights.

That's gotta take a toll! There have been plenty of sleep studies showing that people need an average of 8 hours of sleep/night and that sleep deprivation makes people overly emotional, less capable of working machinery and doing general tasks, influences the brain's ability to make memories, etc. It makes me wonder just what a month of fasting and sleep deprivation does to people and to their country as a whole with regards to productivity, incidences of traffic, home and industrial accidents, etc... If anyone comes across any studies looking at this, let me know!

So, as you're enjoying your 8 hours of sleep every night (hopefully!), your morning coffee, your lunch, that refreshing glass of water during the day, just remember that during the entire month of September millions of people around the world are not...

Birthday

It was my birthday on Sunday. We started celebrating on Friday night though with presents and my favorite chocolate cake in Jakarta (from a place called Gourmet Garage). Then on Saturday J and I stole away to a hotel in the center of Jakarta for the weekend. We spent a lazy day shopping, getting massages, relaxing at the hotel, and enjoying a delicious dinner at one of our two favorite restaurants in town (we went to Scusa, the other being Blowfish). The best part of the meal was that I discovered why people think tirimisu is such a big deal, because when it's done well, it really is a big deal (see photo above)! Yum! We slept in on Sunday, although unfortunately didn't sleep well, thanks to the idiot who kept calling my phone at 5 a.m., even though it was obviously a wrong number! We then enjoyed a lazy brunch and then headed back home to take care of the troops. And that's when my husband informed me that the "festival of B" was over. So sad.

So yeah, I turned 36. I've decided that this must be the official start of middle age. At least that's the way it feels to me. I'm on the downward slope to 40, I can't get away with saying I'm in my "early 30's" anymore, when life held the excitement of starting my career in earnest, buying our first home, having children. Now we've been there - done that. What makes the late 30's exciting and spectacular? I don't know...compared to our early 30's and our 20's it doesn't feel like much. Granted there will be another big move in there at some point, either back to the US or to another country, but other than that, it will be about career development and the kids getting older, but "excitement" doesn't come to mind. Don't get me wrong, I'm not depressed about turning 36, just reflecting on my life thus far and feeling like I've entered my era of middle-ageness (yes J, I know that's not a word). I guess that's all ok, in a kind of mundane way.

Sports and such

Wow, wasn't the Olympics fantastic this year?! So many amazing athletes and exciting races, so many great events. The summer Olympics are my favorite because gymnastics is by far my favorite event, plus the swimming, diving, and track and field events are so good too. I just spent hours in front of the tv because it was just so exciting.

Oh wait! No, that wasn't me. I must have been dreaming about seeing the Olympics. Because, even though I am just one time zone away, even though I could have watched the Olympics in real time, I didn't see any of it. Not one single event. Not one flip, not one relay race, not one breathtakingly close finish. Why you may ask? Because Indonesian cable did not carry the Olympics this year - too expensive is the reason I heard. So while you were all glued to your tv sets watching the US of A take home the most medals of the Olympics (although China took home the most gold) I was here languishing in my pathetic pity party wishing that I too was enjoying the sacred Olympics. So alas, I will have to wait another 4 years before I get my fill of Olympic fever (winter Olympics doesn't do it for me nearly as much). Boo hoo hoo!

NBC has exclusive broadcasting rights in America to the Olympic games and pays dearly for this right - 600 million dollars! This amount makes up 40% of the total Olympic committee's budget. I'm not exactly sure what Indonesia would have had to pay, but I think it's about 1 million US$. Definitely not pocket change, but you'd think they would be able to make it up in advertising, especially considering Indonesia's favorite sports are represented in the summer games.

On to some little tidbits of sports trivia. Indonesia took home 5 medals this year. Two of these medals (both bronze) were in weightlifting. The other 3 (a trifecta - gold, silver and bronze) were in badminton. Had no idea, did you? Indeed, Indonesians are brilliant badminton players. They have won a gold medal in badminton ever since the sport became an official event in the 1992 Olympics. They also regularly win championships in badminton around the world, such as the All England Open Badminton Championships, the Thomas Cup, and the Uber Cup. I have yet to see a game here, but hopefully I will before we leave.

Indonesians also love soccer and it is the most popular sport. The Indonesian team has always qualified for the Asian Cup but has had only limited success. I don't think the Indonesian soccer team has ever made it into the Olympics. They also play Australia Rules Football here, although only in Australian clubs. No Indonesian team has ever played in the Australian Football International Cup.

And evidently they are good at weightlifting - that was news to me. There are a few stables around Jakarta and I know there's a polo team so equestrian sports is somewhat popular. When we went to Bandung a few weeks ago we saw a bunch of cyclists riding up the mountain, so I think cycling is somewhat popular here as well. Then of course there's golf. There are tons of golf courses in and around Jakarta, and really all over Indonesia. It's a popular sport, although I don't know how popular it is with Indonesians. The courses are pretty cheap too, so if you're a golfer this is a good place to come!

Course at Bali Golf and Country Club, rated one of Asia's 5 best courses in Fortune magazine

USA visit - first half

I think I just have to catapult myself into this daunting task of writing about our enormous trip. And it really was enormous, in every sense of the word... From the long, oh so very long flights over and back, the feelings of exhaustion, the number of people with whom we visited, the number of activities, the amount of fun we had, and did I mention the exhaustion? It really was an enormously fun trip, but we definitely won't do this more than once/year.

The trip sort of got off to a bad start. We took a night flight from Jakarta to Tokyo, but no one slept well so by the time we arrived in Tokyo (8 hours later) we were all already exhausted. Our layover in Tokyo was 6 hours - far too long and in the wee hours of the morning. J and I were able to take a shower in Tokyo though so that helped to revive us bleary eyed parents. The flight from Jakarta to Dallas (12 hours) would have gone fine except that the kids slept at completely different times, so we never really got a break from the kids. One of us always had to be "on", and the other one who should sleep couldn't really sleep. After a few hour layover in Dallas, where we had to go through immigration and where J got pulled aside (he's such a criminal you know) for having been to Indonesia, Philippines, and New Zealand all in one year (a certain red flag evidently), we were off on yet another plane to Minneapolis (2 hours). By the time we arrived in Mnps, we were beyond exhaustion. My poor father, who drove 2 hours to pick us up and who was excited to tears to see us all, had to wade through unintelligible conversation in the airport and a completely passed out family of 4 on the whole drive to Eau Claire (LC never woke up from when he fell asleep on the airplane, C made it about 3 minutes into the drive before he fell asleep, and J and I made it about 5 minutes...pathetic).


And this whole trip was in business or first class. I know, I know. Totally and completely spoiled, I KNOW! And yet it was still quite miserable! I can't imagine how much worse it would have been in coach. And no, we're not able to afford first class tickets to/from Asia. J racked up a ton of miles for his job and first class actually isn't much more than business class, and yet it's soooo much nicer: 5 course meals on real china, ice cream sundays that they make by your seat, Bose headphones, real quilted blankets, and of course chairs that fold completely flat to make a pretty comfortable bed. It was so awesome. This will probably never happen again, and it was almost glorious. "Almost" glorious because the damn kids ruin things every time! :)

C enjoying his first class seat

The kids and I stayed in Wisconsin with my mom for over 2 weeks, but J had to go to NC for 1.5 weeks of work (but his ticket was paid for so we couldn't complain too much). J stayed long enough in Wisconsin to get over the worst part of the jet lag and to help me get the kids over the toughest parts. He also stayed long enough to celebrate LC's first birthday party. My little love is a one year old already, I can't believe it! We had a very nice party for him and my dad and mom and cousins and second cousins and aunts and a friend from Peace Corps all came to help us celebrate. C seemed to have a good time playing with his second cousins (is that what you call them - they're my cousin's kids...?) and we had such a nice time catching up with family. My father's side of the family lives mostly in Wisconsin and I try to see them every time I go "home" to Eau Claire. They are a really incredible group of people and I always enjoy spending time with them.


LC blowing out his bday candles with a little help from his big brother

The weather was perfect the entire time we were in Wisconsin. It rained only once and otherwise it was sunny skies and in the 70's/80's. I couldn't have asked for better weather. We were quite busy during our 2 week stay. I thought we would do a lot of relaxing and this would be our "down" time, but instead we had a lot of people to visit with and there were a lot of activities we wanted to do.

Once we took a couple days to rest after our flight, we went to the farmer's market. I really miss farmer's markets. This has been surprising because in every other developing country I've visited or lived in, going to open air markets/farmer's markets is a part of life. I fully expected that we would be buying all of our produce from open air markets here. Instead, we get everything from the super market. I also did a lot of indoor shopping during our visit. Every time the kids took a nap and some evenings after they went to bed, I'd race around town trying to get some shopping done. We can actually get just about everything in Jakarta, but not in one place and not always for a good price. Plus, we can't get American medication in Jakarta and most of the clothes are made for tiny Indonesians. It's a bit cruel to go shopping here and find you're an XL, when you're really a S or M! So, instead of spending days driving through horrible traffic in Jakarta to get some of the items on my list, I saved it up for our visit to the US. And although this was still time consuming and ate into my relaxation time, it was a lot of fun. I went to Target like 10 times, it was awesome. I'd practically give my right arm to have a Target in Jakarta.

Before J left for NC we were able to take in a Cavaliers baseball game, the Eau Claire home team. The games are very quiet and hometown, and perfect for 2 small kids. C enjoyed running around the stadium and playing with the new camera his Peepa had just given him, and LC had fun "walking" up and down the stairs and charming the other attendees. And they even watched the game once in a while... C also got to go to his first circus! We had a great time watching all the performances, eating cotton candy and slushies, and going on pony rides. C's favorite performances were the acrobats and the motorcycle show. I thought he might be a little scared of the whole thing, but he was instead enraptured.

A main activity during our stay in Eau Claire was to spend as much time as we could outside. This included many walks around my mom's beautiful neighborhood and several visits to playgrounds. One of the things we hate most about Jakarta is the lack of green space in the city. Neighborhoods do not have community parks and playgrounds like many communities in the US do, nor do streets have sidewalks or any public green spaces. And with 2 young kids and 2 parents who really enjoy walking around outside, this is a problem. Fortunately we live in an area of Jakarta that has 2 outdoor playgrounds and 2 indoor playgrounds within a 5-10 minute drive of our house. The downside is that we have to pay to use them, but at least they're really nice (the outdoor playgrounds have water features like slides and sprinkler type equipment). But still, I really miss just being able to take a long walk in a quiet, peaceful, and nice smelling area (Jakarta does not smell good), and then to stop at the free playground on the way home. Therefore, while we were in Eau Claire we made sure to take a lot of walks and to visit the wonderful and free playgrounds that dot the city.


As part of our quest to be outdoors, we also went to a few outdoor concerts. This was among my very favorite activities during our visit to WI. The university puts on free concerts every weekday at noon during the summer, and again a couple times in the evening during the week. So we would walk over (my mom lives a block from the university) and plop down on a blanket, listen to some good music, and let the kids run around. Another venue, Phoenix Park, opened up a few years ago and they also hold evening concerts during the week in the summer. These free concerts are very well attended and there are a lot of families there. Many of the young kids go down to the area just in front of the band and dance and play with bubbles, etc. And C, being the Leo that he is, joined them in the fun. He's a pretty good dancer too! There is nothing even remotely like this in Jakarta...

C enjoying an outdoor concert with Peepa

We also spent a day at our friend's house on a small quiet lake about 45 minutes north of Eau Claire. The lake doesn't allow motorboats so it is so wonderfully quiet and peaceful. We took a canoe out onto the lake and looked for frogs on the lillypads, and just enjoyed the beautifully fresh air and peacefulness. I've grown up most of my life knowing these friends of my mom's, and they are among my absolute favorites. It was a glorious day to spend all day with them relaxing by their lake.


We also spent a lot of time visiting with a few of my friends from high school who either still live in the area or came home for a visit. It's amazing to think we've been friends for 20-25 years, and that we still enjoy eachother's company so much. And speaking of long friendships, I also got to see friends of my family who I've known since I was about 7 or 8. I love meeting new people and making new friends, to learn about their experiences and their lives, but there is something so special in being able to maintain friendships for so long and to have such history with people. I value these relationships so much and feel so lucky to have these people in my life, and that they're willing to make the effort to maintain a friendship with me despite my seeming desire to live so far away! And of course, it was wonderful to spend so much time with my parents and for them to see their grandsons as much as possible. We had a fabulous time together. And my brother even flew out from Washington state for a weekend. C and I hadn't seen him since C was 4 months old, so that was a very special weekend. The most important reason for this whole visit was to reconnect with our loved ones, and I'm so glad we did. It took an amazing amount of effort, but it was well worth it.

I still have to write a post about the second half of our visit when we went to Baltimore and DC. Who knows when that will happen, but hopefully it won't take me over a month like it took me to write this one!

Happy Independence Day Indo!

Yesterday, August 17, was Independence Day here in Indonesia. This date marks the declaration of Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands in 1945. The Indonesian National Revolution lasted for 4 years between Indonesia and the Netherlands, as well as some internal conflict. Fighting during this time was sporadic but violent and was one of the largest revolutions of the 20th century. The Dutch military was able to prevail in the urban areas of Java and Sumatra, but unable to do so in the rural areas throughout the country. Outside forces also influenced Indonesia's eventual success. The Netherlands was crippled by losses during the second world war and were therefore unable to pour a great deal of resources into their fight to hold on to Indonesia. In addition, the United Nations and the United States both supported Indonesia in their quest for independence. The revolution came to an end in 1949 when The Netherlands officially recognized Indonesia as a sovereign nation. If you're really interested in this topic, you can go here for a lot more information.


Indonesians take a great deal of pride in their independence and there are flags and banners all over Jakarta. Indonesians celebrate with food and family like Americans do, but grilling out is definitely not a part of the tradition. Most of the neighborhoods (and I suspect villages) in Jakarta organize their own small celebrations, and have many games for the kids to play (like potato sack races, water bobbing, etc) and have music and parties. You can also hear kids lighting fireworks throughout the night, but I don't think there's a large fireworks display hosted by the city or national government.


For us it's been a quiet and relatively lazy long weekend. Saturday we took C to see the movie Wall E, which he seemed to enjoy quite a bit. He got upset whenever Wall E was in trouble, but for the most part he laughed a lot. Saturday night J and I spent the evening saying goodbye to our very good friends in Jakarta who are moving to Oman. We're extremely sad to see them go as they're amongst a very small handful of friends who we really enjoy and can relate to, and who we really like all members of the family. Sunday we took the kids to Ancol, where Seaworld is, and had fun going through the tunnel (where you're surrounded on 3 sides by water with fish, manta rays, sharks, tortoises, etc - LC especially loved this!) and then taking a gondola ride over the beach and amusement park. And today is a lazy day (both boys are taking a nap, how wonderful!) and later today some friends will come over for a bbq. All in all, a good weekend.

A bit more on LC

LC forgot to show you some more new skills - here he demonstrates riding a bobby car and saying his favorite word, ball. (And by the way, why does a mother's voice get so annoyingly high when she's talking to her child, especially on video?! Actually, I know it has to do with babies being able to hear higher pitched sounds better, which is mother nature's cool way of helping babies to learn sounds, but you'd think by 1 year of age that might stop... sorry about that.)

We also had some studio portraits taken, and while they turned out alright, they would have been better had LC wanted to stay in one spot for more than 2 seconds. However, things went better once we discovered some balls. I'll be shocked if this kid doesn't grow up loving sports...