Summer Slow Down

Woah!  It's been nearly four months since I posted last.  That's a full third of my contract.  But there's a reason for this disparity.  You haven't missed much.  Through all of May and most of June my work had me teaching four hour lesson on Saturday mornings which absolutely took a shit on my weekends. I'd finish work and immediately go home to bed, sleep until about six and then I had only a night and a day to myself.  Usually just exhausted so I typically stayed home and saved my cash.

One of my students from the saturday class invited me out for a BBQ/camping trip which sounded awesome but turned out to be extra lame.  We ended up going back to the same spot I blogged about earlier, called Sukamantri.  Nice place and all but I would've enjoyed a change of scenery.  I thought this trip was gonna a be a small cadre of dudes sitting around the fire, eating seared meat, and loving the woods.  Little did I know it was this guy's Off Road Jeep Club and their families, many of whom had never been camping before.  We didn't get there until late (though we had plenty of time, dude just dragged his feet in getting ready.  Fuckin' amateur.)  We had to set up camp in the dark amidst hulking jeeps.  Meanwhile there was an obnoxious generator chugging away, powering an overbearing florescent light.  Some dude had the nerve to bring his bulky synthesizer along, if only he could play the damn thing maybe it could have been justified but, come on!

I had to slip away into the darkness.  Commune with the stars.  I had intended to be away for only a few minutes but as I got out I just couldn't bear to return.  Luckily I had my jacket as it began to rain slightly.  I hunkered low in the tall grass to wait it out.  Clouds rolled over and stars returned.  Still I didn't want to go back.  Eventually, maybe four hours later, I stumbled back to tent to pass out.  Only a few stragglers still up, drinking the night away.  Still the generator churns, and that abominable light!  Grrrr!  In the morning dudes took forever to leave.  They just had to take a photograph among all forty of their jeeps arrayed in a row.  The process took forever to organize.  I was thoroughly frustrated and I'm sure I freaked out my host with my strange anti-social behavior, but goddam.  Anyhow, check the picks above.

Only other event of any interest is I visited the famous Wayang (puppet) Museum in Jakarta.  Here in Indonesia the people hold fast to their Muslim religion, yet they maintain a far older tradition born from their earlier Hindu roots.  They tell stories taken from ancient Hindu epics such as the Ramayana that involve an incredible cast of characters.  The two main types of Wayang are Kulit (skin/leather) and Golek (wood.)  The Kulit are cut from stretched and cured buffalo hide with these insanely intricate stencils.  Limbs are articulated with joints controlled by slender rods of horn.  Traditionally the Kulit puppet show is performed behind a backlit screen, a sort of shadow puppet show.  The Golek is more commonly performed in direct line of sight.  Check pics above for a clearer idea.

Soon to come: a full description of my recent two week vacation taken with Brother Chuck, written in the style regular readers will surely recognize.  More posts and pics to come.  Patience, dear readers.