Finally in Indonesia!

After a few minor incidents getting here I've finally arrived. My flight from DC to LA was delayed by 2 hours so I missed my flight to Hong Kong. This actually turned out to be not so bad because the airline paid for my hotel which meant I was able to sleep in a comfy bed and take a hot bath before my 15 hour plane trip to Hong Kong. The plane ride was fine with only one amusing situation. I was leaving the restroom and a woman pushed her way in so we were both in there together. It took a few seconds to register what was going on because I had just woken up and she had limited English. It turned out that she just needed me to show her how to lock the door. I have to say that has never happened before. So I finally arrived in Jakarta after flying for 24 hours but my bags decided to take a different flight. It really was just a minor setback because they arrived late last night. The director of our program had a welcoming reception for me last night with all of the other fellows in the program. It was great to see everyone again, even though I was exhausted. Some of my first impressions of Jakarta are that it's dirty and smelly. I saw two men pushing a bus full of people across an intersection and trash piles burning here and there. Amongst the traffic are horse carts and men on bike carts selling various kinds of food. Today I really just wanted to relax a little so I decided to get a hot stone massage. For only 180,000 Rupiah ($18) I had a 90 minute massage which was wonderful! It included a few unexpected things like pulling my toes and fingers until they popped and (while I was on my stomach) bending each leg all the way back until my foot touched my bum. I really didn't think I was that flexible.