Indonesia

We are now in Pontianak in Indonesia. Pontianak straddles the equator. Our guidebook has actually marked the equator on the city map. The place we are staying at is several hundred meters south of the equator. Some of my first impressions of Indonesia are that it is chaotic, confusing, very poor, and even more friendly than it is poor. We are trying to figure out our travel plans for our stay here. It is definitely a case of too many cool things to see and too little time to do it in.

Mulling over our options

It seems amazing, but we have recently realized that this trip is quickly approaching its end. Two months from tomorrow we fly back to Hong Kong, and after a little more than a week to hang out with Debbi and Dave and meet Jasper we fly back home. I think when the time comes we will feel conflicting emotions; we have really enjoyed traveling and would love to do more, but we also look forward to spending time with family and friends and to finally being settled in one place. I am not looking forward to the Calgary winter.

As we think of our return home we are faced with a daunting number of questions. Where will we live? How do we want to live? What employment should we pursue, and will we be able to find work in the area of our choice? How can we live out our values?

In part, we chose to take this trip because it would give us a chance to step outside of our everyday lives so we could stop and choose how we would move forward rather than allowing our lives to be set without much conscious decision. Nevertheless, now that the time has come for us to make those choices, it feels pretty intimidating.

Oh well, tonight I won't think about these things. I'm going to bed early. Tomorrow we spend the day on the bus and end up in Indonesia. Once we are there, we need to find a travel agent who can help us figure out the schedule of infrequent boats between the many islands. When and where these boats are going will to a large extent determine where we will go while we are in the country.

Yes, No, Maybe

One of the highlights of our stay at Kebun was working with the Indonesian couple Sam and Luthie on the farm. They are responsible for most of the daily farm work at the Kebun. Our first task was to take apart the old goat barn as this is going to be converted into classrooms and sleeping quarters for future wwoofers. This will be a nice addition and make volunteering on the farm more enjoyable. As it was now we felt at times we were in the way and the farm owner, Adrian, and particularly his family, didn't like having us share the same space, but there really was no alternative. The new area for volunteers to stay apart from the family and other guests should solve that problem. Most days we set out to work with Sam. He would get started on current project and work with us until he had to let the goats out to pasture. We helped make a new goat run, plant terrace, and hang a net that will be used to create a canopy of tall growing vine plants. We also planted some fruit trees and some vegetable seeds. Sam and Luthie were very nice to work with and in the evening we could here them singing along to Indonesian music videos on the T.V. or talking to their six year old daughter who they left behind with Luthie's Mom in Indonesia. They didn't speak a lot of English but often understood what we were saying but found it difficult to respond in English. Sam would often respond to us with an emphatic YES when we were talking to him. If we looked confused he would change his answer to NO. If we still looked confused it was probably not a yes or no question and he would say "I don't know". One evening Sam sat with us and showed us how they cook chicken over a wood fire barbecue. We will be trying this at home as it was delicious. There are a lot of interesting projects on the go at the Kebun, and compared to some of the other farms they were very organized. We really enjoyed the work that we participated in here, and once the volunteer quarters are completed I'm sure they will do a great job of hosting future wwoofers.

A new kind of luxury

David and I have finished volunteering at the Kebun and we are back in Kuching. During our stay on the farm we came in contact with something that seemed to us to be a wonderful luxury:

a washing machine.

After some initial bad experiences with the local laundry services, Dave and I decided some months ago that we needed to do our own laundry. In most places this has meant hand washing everything in the bathroom sink and hanging it to dry anywhere that looked promising. It's not so bad, but we don't change our clothes until they are actually dirty. A washing machine really is an amazing thing. You can shove a whole bunch of clothing into it, turn the dial, and go drink tea or shovel soil for 45 minutes and come back to find everything is clean (except you if you were shoveling dirt in the Malaysian sun). I hope that when we return to Canada we can continue to see things like a washing machine, signs written in English, or being able to buy clothes in our size (especially if the shop keeper doesn't say "I have very big size for you") as luxuries. I think it helps me to enjoy life more when I am able to see simple everyday things through appreciative eyes.

On the Farm Again

Earlier this week Dave and I began volunteering on another organic farm. This time we are not far outside of Kuching, a major city on the southern tip of East Malaysia. It is a really beautiful place. The farm has many different kinds of animals including guinea fowl, heritage breeds of turkeys, chickens, goats, puppies, pigeons, and others. There is also a wide variety of plants including some local medicinal herbs. So far we have mostly been working on construction projects. We have been dismantling a goat shed that will eventually be converted into a classroom where people can come to learn about permaculture, and we have helped build a fence to guide the goats to pasture. Our accommodations are spectacular. The farm is a homestay where people pay to stay in one of two bungalows on the farm. One of the bungalows is not occupied, so we are staying there. It is very big and very classy. We will have to try to post some pictures. There are two bedrooms (in case we fight I guess), a kitchen, three eating areas, a living room, and a huge veranda that wraps around two sides of the house. It is really nice. After two and a half days of working on the farm we have gone on a brief holiday to attend the Rainforest World Music Festival. After the festival we plan to return to the farm and continue volunteering there.

Mulu Park and Kuching

After spending five days at Mulu National Park we have flown into Kuching. We really enjoyed our time out at the park. We did a couple of guided tours which were required to see anything. After the tours we took to walking the boardwalk. Our usually pattern was to walk a few steps and see some interesting bug, plant, or reptile and to stop and check it out, often truly amazed at what we were seeing. Dragonflies that looked like ferries because of their wings shining in the sun light. Bugs that looked like sticks. The park was full of interesting nature and critters which increased with every walk we took or maybe we just got better a finding them. We arrived in Kuching on Friday and have spent a couple of days wandering around here. Kuching is full and we have had to make a guesthouse change in order to find room as there is a running group in town and probably people showing up for the music festival next week already. Last night we met for dinner with the owner of the next farm we plan to visit. He seems very nice and has many interesting projects on the go. We plan to head out to the farm on Tuesday for a few days and get setteled in before we come back to town for the Rainforest World Music Festival next weekend.