Indo, Day 15: Misc

There’s not a whole lot to say about today. I thought about skipping, but that sort of defeats the purpose. In the morning, I said goodbye to the Sigli/BA staff and (once again) headed to the airport. This time I met an enthusiastic local who was learning English and really wanted to practice with me (though he didn’t introduce himself that way) and a weathered British chap who seemed happy to be understood for a change. For someone who has been here a few times, he didn’t quite seem to get how it works. The flight was smooth and uneventful and soon I was back in Medan.

I’ll be here for the next two days before I start the long journey back home. Since I’ll be in one place for more than a day, I took the opportunity to do a little more sink laundry and prep for the layovers. I was also able to charge my camera battery, though I doubt there will be much to take pictures of before I leave. It’s amazing how quickly time has passed. It feels like a year ago I was in Portland, and I’ve almost forgotten about my time in Singapore and Tokyo. I don’t know if it is the constant moving around or the general intensity of my time here, but it feels like I’ve been here much longer than I have. Maybe I’m just adjusting well.

For lunch, most of the office went out to pizza…at a Pizza Hut. I can’t remember the last time I had their pizza, and this restaurant was WAY nicer than any Pizza Hut I’ve seen in the US. I joked around about not seeing a rice pizza anywhere. It was strange eating something without it, let alone semi-American. Of course the toppings were totally unique, but it still tasted a little like good old American pizza. It’s a fun group here…when I understand what they’re saying.

Everywhere I’ve gone, at least one person has asked me about the upcoming presidential election. They want to know who I think will win, Hillary or Obama. I didn’t realize that race had garnered so much international attention yet; it’s only the primaries! Of course it was hopeless to try explaining that we’re not even to the actual race yet, this is just intra-party bickering. (My money was always on Obama, since I can do math and see that Hillary can’t catch him on delegates. Other people finally started to see that and now he’s been declared the presumptive nominee.) No one seemed to have any questions about McCain. Bad sign for him, I guess. Our political system is crazy. Don’t believe me? Try explaining it to a foreigner.

It’s nice to be staying in a room devoid of insects.

Like I said, not a whole lot going on. Pretty much a transit day.