Indonesia miscellaneous

1. Where I'm used to seeing rebar in second story construction, here they use bamboo, lots of bamboo. Odd to see a brick walls going up atop a forest of bamboo supports.
2. Though one does see women with Islamic headscarves and coverings, the guide at the one multi-faith temple we visited told us things that make Indonesian Islam sound very unlike Saudi Arabian Islam. Only three daily prayers instead of five, for example, and abbreviated Ramadan, with fasting for three days at the start of the month, three more in the middle, and three more at the end. There are lots of mosques, which are noticeable in the chaos of urban Indonesia for their cleanliness -- gleaming tile work within and without, floor to ceiling windows showing bare floors divided by a curtain to separate men and women worshippers -- and beauty.
3. The concept of zoning is not part of Indonesian urban planning. Well, OK, urban planning is not real prominent either. Stores next to houses next to rice fields next to schools next to buildings that could be any of the above, all surrounded by riotously lush vegetation with black and gold and grey chickens running in and out as the motorbikes chug past the horse-drawn taxis, only nominally staying correctly in the left lane. Everything here seems to be under construction or in the process of collapsing, and often both.
4. The Indonesian term for bribery translates as "cigarette money". It has come up in the guide's narratives with regard to getting a driver's license and being exempted from school fees.
5. Swallows swoop and flit and dive in Indonesia exactly the same way they do in Oregon.
6. As our air-conditioned bus drove us to the Mataram airport, we passed several fields where people in coolie hats were harvesting rice in the heat of the day. It's stoop labor to cut the stalks, then someone has to beat the stalks against a slanted board to free the grains, which pile up in the dirt in front of the board. The stalks are gathered and burned to provide fertilizers for the next crop.
7. The Mataram airport has prayer rooms.
8. Indonesian school children wear uniforms, and the combination of their neatness with the brilliance of their youthful energy in the anarchy of Indonesian street life is intoxicating and inspiring.
9. There's competition among the islands of Indonesia. The guide at the multi-faith temple made sure we knew he was from Bali (the next major island west) and was only working in Lombok because there are no jobs in Bali at the moment. Contrary-wise, the guide on our bus told us Lombok was a better island to tour than Bali because Bali is all commercialized and pre-packaged, while Lombok is still fresh and real. There's a tribal aspect to it as well, with Balinese looking down their noses at the Sasak who are the original occupants of Lombok.
10. It is very disorienting to be in a place where I am guaranteed to be unable to understand the street signs. And in Indonesia, at least they use the same alphabet we do. Tomorrow, China!