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CONTENTS

Meet the New Volunteers (Various) 3

Volunteers and Their Pets (Pete Howson) 3

My New House (Eloise Girard) 5

Learn with Danny (Danny Pedragosa) 6

Books and Films and Stuff (Various) 6

Travel (Various) 7

Hello Mrs (Anon) 9

Cooking on a Camp Stove (Sarah Oakes) 10

Thin Clients (Sam Thiens) 11

Pete can Eat! (Pete Howson) 12

Adventures with Rolly (Rolly Enrera) 13

EDITORIAL

By Pete Howson and Sarah Oakes

If you picked this magazine up thinking it was that fine peer reviewed periodical from the old country, then I apologise. Hello Magazine prides itself on getting the celeb’s permission before entering the Malibu mansions, where as Hello Mister Magazine isn’t scared to just kick the door in and hide in the wardrobe.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this, our first attempt. I hope it will be a regular and timely publication in future. We’ve received loads and loads of stuff to go in it this month, which is great. We’ve not left a word behind, which makes the editor role quite easy really. Keep them coming in please to the usual address (hellomister_indo@yahoo.co.uk) or why not join our Facebook group, then we can all have fun!

This issue is partly dedicated to the September influx, with EXCLUSIVE stuff about who some of them are and what they want, as well as pictures taken from inside their wardrobes.

Sarah and I would also personally like to dedicate this edition to Quentin, our recently departed bunny rabbit, who, if you’d care to place a candle, is resting near the Waterfalls of Bantimarung, Maros.

Well I’ll shut up now and let you read the new regular features, including a contribution from our anonymous agony-aunt in Hello Mrs; a lesson from the Learn with Danny school of Bahasa Indonesia; and my favourite, Pete can Eat! Pete can Eat! As well as all the other reviews, gossip, competitions and one-off articles from You!

Ta V Much,

Pete and Sarah

Front Page: (Right to left) Charlie Ventura, Rachel Gates, Lau Gabuya. Photo by Alanna Minogue

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SOME NEW VOLUNTEERS

Petra

Hello Mister asked us to write a piece about ourselves. Not to search for words in Bahasa Indonesia, to have a conversation with our host family or to ride the sepeda motor in Indonesia. So it should be easy - was what I thought. But it wasn't. I'm wondering if I left some brain capacity in Belanda, where I come from. 33 years ago I was born there and raised in the southern 'hilly' part (the only part with a little hill). I have one sister who lives in Germany and has a very cute son and a really nice husband and my parents still live very close to me.

We have one big problem in our family; we all have very kecil heads. As a result of this I'm already recognised in all the helmet shops of Denpasar, without any success so far.

I don't have pets at home, but my host family have enough

dogs, cats, cockroaches and mosquitoes, that they are willing to share. I'm working for Randstad Belgium and I'm here for a business partnership placement of 9 months in South Sulawesi. I've volunteered before for VSO in Uganda, 4 years ago. In 2008 I did a crazy fundraising project to cycle in Jordan to a place called Petra (which is also my name) to raise money for one of the VSO projects in the disability program of Uganda. It was crazy because I forgot about the detail that Jordan does have hills - big ones! But I survived and wanted more.

Toni

I’ve come to CUSO-VSO Indonesia from Canada where I taught college organic agriculture and community garden development courses in Newfoundland and Labrador. My previous careers include being a meteorologist in the Republic of Panama and the

United States (upper atmospheric data collection and severe storm reconnaissance, respectively) and an accomplished landscaper. I have degrees in Geography, Environmental Resource Management and Planning, Environmental Science, and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies of Land and Food Systems (Agroecology).

The last research project in which I worked entailed conducting dietary intervention within an Inuit population in Cambridge Bay and Taloyoak, Nunavut, along the Northwest Passage and well above the Arctic Circle. I will be based in Mbay on Flores Island until November 2010 as an advisor to the regional Bapeda on sustainable land use opportunities in the district. I’m very excited about this opportunity to share and advance my knowledge and experience. Lastly, since I understand I will have plenty of leisure time, I plan to recertify in PADI to experience the great diving opportunities here, as well as obtain my landscape design certification, GIS courses, and a B.Ed. degree though on-line learning opportunities. I look forward to getting to know everyone.

VOLUNTEERS AND THEIR PETS

By Pete Howson

The last time many of us saw a sexy person was probably a number of months ago now. Like me, you’ve probably lost count of the times the 7-fingered bengkel proprietor has turned you down, and the desperate need for some kind of affection has left you spending most of the time dressing as a cat, in the

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hope of some light petting. But it seems many needy volunteers are leaving the teary nights of ice cream and Bridget Jones behind, and opting instead for a furry little friend.

“J’adore les Goats” says Takalar’s Eloise Girard, who adopted ‘Miskin’ after the mother rejected him a few days after the birth. Eloise lost a lot of sleep over Miskin, waking up early and staying up late to hand-feed milk-formula from a bottle. At first, Miskin struggled to adjust to domestic life, often falling down stairs and being shunned by the local goat community for his collaboration with the humans. Miskin is now almost completely weaned onto solid foods and is starting to be accepted back into Putondo’s goat society. He’s also won the hearts of Takalar’s Ministry of Agriculture office, after 10 officers were deployed to fix the goat’s watery stool.

Watery stool is equally serious in little baby bunnies, a fact learned the hard way after Sarah and I lost Baby Bunny Quentin to an aggressive form of Pooey-Bum Disease. “I’ve never known a rabbit to be so affectionate”, says bunny-lover, Sarah Oakes from Makassar. “He loved to sleep in our laps and kiss our noses.” It was only later that Sarah learnt the kissing behaviour usually followed a meal of ‘Cucis’, a nutrient rich mucus produced in the rabbit’s anus.

Indonesian pet shops will often separate mother and baby bunnies long before the recommended 8 week nursing period, while they are still cute and sellable, but making them highly susceptible to disease.

Quentin leaves behind sister, Hugo Chavez, who is healthy in every way except for an obsession with shoes.

Marie-Sofie Villeneuve of Gowa gets her pets more by chance. “People here throw kitties when they find a bunch of them. It's so unpleasant to hear them crying and know that they are just slowly dying in a cardboard box” says Marie-Sofie, who’s saved many kittens by hand feeding them milk and egg yolk.

“I wanted to name one of them ‘Perle’ (Pearl in French), but my friends heard ‘Perlu’ (Need in Bahasa Indonesia)”. So now Perlu is 2 years old, and has 2 newly-born kittens of her own.

“One kitten, Titi loves people. Always running to meet guests, who usually look and think, ‘what the hell is that!?’ Her speciality is to sleep next to colleagues when one of them is taking a rest and adopt the same position as them. I have lots of funny pictures, notably one with my director”.

Marie-Sofie does however worry about who will care for her cats once she’s packed-up back to Canada. “I had one of them less than a month before I had to go back to Canada for a short time and I had to teach the younger brother of my friend how to care for the

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kittens while I was away, which was hard because it's so unusual in Indonesian culture”. Marie-Sofie never saw the kittens again, but was told they had probably “been thrown”.

It seems for some volunteers, what will keep us here for years longer than expected might not be our passion for international development and commitment to the abolition of poverty, but actually just the love of a furry little friend.

Footnote: Miskin the goat sadly died on 15th October.

MY NEW HOUSE

By Eloise Girard

I thought I was the worst, with my bedbug invasion, which will probably leave some scars for life all over my body. And a paper house. Oh I mean a wooden house to share with 7 other people. But after conversations with other volunteers, I am still reflecting on who between all of us has the worst accommodation.

One of PPLH’s tree house bungalows, Puntondo

Pete and Sarah stay in Makassar: big city; air pollution and lots of traffic. But they have a nice house which would be really peaceful if it was not from the neighbour who is very much ‘present’. He has adopted them, which means that he comes in the house anytime, sits on the coach and smokes his kretek. The problem is that there is no way of escaping him because they have to pass in front of ‘Bapak’s house’ to go out. Their house also floods whenever it rains, which is every day usually.

Pete & Sarah’s house, Makassar

Rolando has his little room at the office which is not really practical and there’s not much privacy.

Richard, shares his house with rats, lots of mosquitoes and he can’t have a fridge because the electricity of the house is not strong enough to support it. He did however find a solution to his rat problem, which was to adopt a cat. But the cat’s left and now the rats are back!

Delma, has a nice little house, but it’s next to one of the biggest Mesjids in Takalar, which means 5 prayers a day and during Ramadan - even more. And longer!!! It would not be so bad if it was not for the PA system, which sucks! It’s a horrible sound. Oh, I forgot! Pete and Sarah also live next to a Mesjid. But I figure, in a country with a 95% Muslim population, it must be hard not to live next to a Mesjid. Anyhow, we call Delma’s house the refugee camp because a month ago, without telling each other, there ended-up being 3 of us: Richard, Rolly and I, requesting shelter at Delma’s house to be able to catch up with some sleep. We laugh at this situation now.

I am pretty lucky though. We, myself included, are just starting to build my new house in front of the beach. I don’t know when it will be finished, but it’s awesome to think that I will soon have my own little place. And it has a guest room!

So, on the whole it’s difficult to judge who wins the prize for the worst volunteer’s house. But happily I can now say, after spending a few nights in the homes of others, the winner isn’t me.

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LEARN WITH DANNY

By Danny Pedragosa

In language training, Guru Nyoman told us that in Bahasa Indonesia, new words can be created to mean different things by adding prefixes and suffixes to a root word. Well I hope these new words in Bahasa Indonesia suffice to describe my friend, Alanna Minogue.

Berjalanna: (v) To get lost on the way to the VSO office and get bitten by a dog.

Mengalannakan: (v) To hate your language instructor because you’ve not eaten your breakfast.

Mengalannai: (v) To become addicted to nasih putih with kecup manis.

Pengalannaan: (v) The process of becoming a ‘special’ volunteer having concerns or experiences in ICT training that other volunteers never had.

Pealanna: (n) A woman shouting “landak laut” amidst cheers, clinking bottles and mugs.

Tukang Alanna: (?) Now, if only I could be at liberty to tell you of her wares.

BOOKS AND FILMS AND STUFF

The Jane Austen Book Club - DVD

By Rachel Gates

Well I nicked this off the bookshelf of Mark and Anouk when they went on holiday. I’ve watched it loads since. This is the kind of DVD that when I see it in the DVD store I would stay away. I am not really into chick-flick movies. But I think this movie may have changed me. All I know about Jane Austen is that she is an author who writes the Queen’s English, and uses all those long old fashioned words that I do not understand. However despite this I loved Pride and Prejudice, with Kiera Knightly – the film, obviously not the book. So when it comes to Jane Austen books I am a virgin. If this is the same for you really I recommend this film.

So basically a group of friends start a book club, after one of the spinsters in the group’s dog dies, which causes her devastation, so a book club is started to make up for the loss of the dog. This spinster loves Jane Austen. Helpfully, so do her dear friends. (not really the kind of people I would be hanging out with on a normal day). Two strangers are invited into the group; a lady, because of her knowledge of Jane Austen, and, I am pleased to say, a bloke. I was thrilled when on more than one occasion you get to see him in lycra. You do not see things like that in Ruteng!!

Anyhow the film then becomes clever as each of the characters then ends up having a storyline which mirrors events in the 6 Jane Austen novels: Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Sense and

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Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey. Now I cannot tell you how well the film does this, as I have never read these novels. But the film ties together incredibly well. The end is a bit cheesy. But hey it is a chick flick movie!

Anyhow my best friend who loves her reading is coming to see me in December for a month. She asked me what I would like her to bring. She nearly fainted when I told her I wanted all 6 of the Jane Austen novels, (which she has) as she reads these books all the time. She is pleased to think I may have become a convert during my time in Indonesia. I’ve told her not to get too excited; she could end up on the return flights with the books back if I do not like them. However if I rate them I shall let all readers of Hello Mister know all about them.

TRAVEL

9 Water buffalo, 260 Pigs and a Little Old Lady - Adventures in Tana Toraja

By Pete Howson

As we are a cultured bunch, I’m sure I don’t have to explain that the title of this article is a play on the ‘80s classic, 3 Men and a Little Lady. Good. Then I’ll begin.

When my boss asked us to go to his Nanny's funeral with him last week, I expected a few sandwiches, a sing-song about Jesus and perhaps that Celine Dion song at the end of Titanic. But when we were told to bring Nanny a present, we knew something wasn't quite right.

It turned out that Nanny wasn't dead at all! Just a bit poorly. She'd been very cold, sleepy and quiet for 18 months, but her family continued to call her down for supper and kiss her goodnight each evening. Nanny actually died the day we arrived, but her friends didn't seem to care cos they were off their face on Betel Nut (a strong psychoactive stimulant).

Nanny had requested a low-key affair, not too much fuss. 9+ water buffalo and 260 piggies were thus macheted to death in front of the congregation along with a verse of, what I think was All Creatures Great and Small, lead by our own Sarah and Eloise.

On the 7th day of yet more piggy-sacrificing, Nanny's half rotten corpse was eventually put to rest. When I say put to rest, I mean that she was left hanging from the ceiling of a nearby cave, where well-wishers could carry on offering cigarettes and more psychoactive substances.

In an effort to stop the nightmares, Sarah and I adopted the baby bunnies, described earlier. I'm still quite haunted though. Think I'll stick to Potong Gigi parties in future. You know where you are with those.

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SurabaYA!!!

By Alanna Minogue

I stared into the soul of the volcano, and it burped. Seriously it made some very strange noises and I’ll admit I was a little scared. Mount Bromo is ALIVE volcano after all so who knew when it was going to explode taking me as an unwilling sacrifice to the gods.

Now I’m sure Dani is already bored of reading this article but for those of us who don’t have a volcano in our backyard this is quite a spectacular experience.

From Cemero Lewang you can hike up for a sunrise view (nice pic huh). Stop at the plateau before hitting the road and you will avoid all the madness of jeeps and masses of people at the very top. Also in abundance are coffee, postcards and oleh-oleh.

After eating breakfast you can hike (or ride a pony) through the desert like crater. You want to head straight past the hindu temple and then continue on up the staircase to the rim of Bromo. You can even buy something to sacrifice or just take someone you really dislike. Have a handkerchief handy as whatever Bromo has been eating certainly isn’t agreeing with him.

Getting to Mount Bromo is a piece of cake from Sulawesi. From Makassar head to the port and hop on the big boat with your ticket purchased several days in advance. You will spend the next 24 hours of your life (more if you are lucky) on the boat so pick your metre by half metre space with care. You are travelling economy aren’t you? Don’t forget that there is a time difference so that actual sailing time is 24 hours. I was absolutely gutted upon finding that out. Pack up your stuff and move sardine like to the exit and try not to get trampled in the process. You could always catch a plane but what would be the fun in that?

Take a train sitting in the cargo section to Probolinggo if you dare. Lonely Planet warns that Probolinggo, one of the entry points to Mount Bromo is a place where scammers abound. They are aggressive all right and you are best to book all your onward bus travel directly at the bus station otherwise ending up like our sorry selves with no tickets and 2 hours from the guy we had booked with in Cemero Lewang.

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Travel Competition

Just like the competitions my mother used to set for my brother and I, like where the winner of the tea-making contest would be awarded a big kiss, the winner of this challenge will also get nothing but an empty gesture of love.

The game is 100% stolen from the Guardian’s puzzle of the same name. Guess the City from the photo and if you’re name’s picked at random from the millions of entries - you win! Email your guess to the usual address.

We’ll give you a clue – It’s in Indonesia.

HELLO MRS

By Anon

If, like me you grew up without a real family then you’ll understand how difficult it can be to find support with your problems. Well Mrs is here to help!

Only thing is, she’s as good at keeping a secret as your Indonesian Tetangga. So forward your problems to the usual address and she’ll share them with the world.

Although your identity and Mrs’ is kept completely

confidential, you can be sure that she is very well

qualified in this sort of stuff. She has a certificate. It has a signature on it and everything.

Hello Mrs

I’m a fairly new volunteer and I’m a bit ‘baloom pintar’ at the lingo. I’m keen to network with other volunteers on the island, especially those doing the same environmental stuff that I do. However, when these links between partner organizations are made the chat normally revolves around the topic of language, with my partner usually coming to the conclusion that my bahasa is poo. This decision is normally derived at after about 30 seconds, but I find it disheartening and I often lose motivation, both in the partnership and the role in general. What can I say to my partner to stop him doing it as it’s very annoying?

Dear hopeless,

While we all want to be patted on the head and told that we are pintar, but sometimes we just have to face reality. So what can you do? Introductions are important – tell everyone where you are from, what age you are etc. Use words that you know and concentrate on speaking fluidly – hence why you use words you know so there are no awkward pauses or ums while you search for that new word you’ve just learnt. Lastly, as a fairly new volunteer, you should relax a bit. The language will come as long as you are making an active effort. You can’t change the actions of your partner but you can control how you react. Think Zen.

Love Mrs

Hello Mrs

I was a very regular toilet attendee in the old country, but I now seldom get a regular spell, with conditions changing almost daily from brick like to vomit consistency. I share my bathroom with a number of other employees and I feel my problem may soon start to affect the success of the partnership. Please help, what can I do to fix my guts?

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Dear inconsistency,

Try to slip into the toilet as soon as a fellow employee has come out so you can blame it on him. Alternatively you could invest in some air freshener spray to keep in your manbag/handbag to use after your indiscretions. Bananas are a miracle fruit useful for loose or tight bowels. A banana a day will help keep you pooing at a consistency inversely proportional to your mass multiplied by your age to the power of 3 divided by x where x represents an empirical constant (trust me the consistency is pootastic). Remember to hydrate following a bout. Pocari sweat is always a winner (don’t tell VSO but I get 200,000 rupiah for promoting them). Additionally you can try checking the source of your poo problems. Is it from spices or using tap water to brush your teeth, etc?

Here’s hoping you are heading for more consistent times.

Love Mrs

Hello Mrs

I’ve been with my organization now for a number of months. I’m a bit worried that I still find myself being left alone in the office for quite a lot of the time. I have raised the subject with my employer, but it doesn’t seem to have made any difference. I feel a little like a show pony, brought out for the community’s photo opportunities and nothing more. Although I’m very pretty I don’t think I’m changing any lives. What can I do to get more integrated in the team and how can I convince my boss that it’s worth me tagging along a bit more?

Dear Not-just-a-pretty-face,

It is true that one is the loneliest number but you should remember that two can be as bad as one. Do you have internet at work? – Use the opportunity to surf the internet. If you truly feel the need to ‘change the world’ first check if you need to remedy any malodour situations – does your breath/feet etc smell? Next make friends with those in your team. They are more likely to make sure you are tagging along if they like you. You aren’t wasting time talking

about Indonesia Idol or football since you are building relationships that will last a lifetime… or at least two years. Lastly, complete your SCOT to clearly define the tasks you will be undertaking with your organization. This may take several tries but should bring a greater understanding to you, your boss, and your new friends. Go Team!

Love Mrs

COOKING ON A CAMP STOVE

By Sarah Oakes

This section is to help all volunteers use commonly found budget friendly ingredients and the basic facilities you have at home to create delicious, nutritious yummy things to satisfy tummy and soul.

Posh Pisang Goreng

To serve 4 - 8 mins preparation – 10 mins cooking

Cooking oil 4 or 5 bananas or 14 to 15 plantains Icing sugar to serve Batter: 125g self raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 2 tsp sugar ¼ tsp salt 25g coconut, fresh or dried, but grated 175ml water

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and grated coconut in a bowl. Add water and beat with a fork.

Heat 7cm of oil in a wok, on medium heat. Peel bananas and cut each in half along the length. Then cut each bit into 5cm slices. To test the oil, drop in a little batter, it should sizzle. Dip the banana pieces in the batter and gently place in the oil, 6 or 7 pieces at a time. Fry at medium heat for about 6-7 minutes until golden. Take out and place on kitchen roll to absorb excess oil. Serve on plate immediately, powdered with icing sugar, and watch the impressed faces of your Indonesian neighbours – the buleh can cook!

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THIN CLIENTS: TO GO FORWARD, SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO LOOK BACK

By Sam Theisens

Disclaimer: This article was written to fulfil a contractual obligation. I had about 3 juta left over from a trip to Bali on behalf of the hospital. I requested permission from Anne to use this money to buy 2 Thin Clients to do a pilot test. Anne agreed. The only condition being that I would write a report on the outcome for Hello Mister. So there you go.

Since the pilot project the hospital has bought an additional 4 clients and many more are to be installed next year!

A very big old computer

Back in the old days (50s and 60s) computers were so big they took up entire rooms, or so I am told. They could be operated by 1 person at a time only, by feeding them pieces of paper with holes in them (punch cards). Over time though, computers became increasingly smaller and powerful (although still a mere abacus by today’s standards).

In the 70s, the concept of ‘time sharing’ was introduced. This allowed the machines to be used by multiple users at the same time. Punch cards were replaced by keyboards and each user had an individual screen or terminal as it was called, on their desk. These terminals connected to the big central computer or mainframe through a cable. In the late 70s computers had become so small they could fit on your desktop and were by then called PC’s. They could perform all the tasks a mainframe could, so terminals were no longer needed.

A Terminal

Back to square one

These days it seems the pendulum has started to swing back to the old ‘single server, many terminals’ model again. The PC’s of today are many times more powerful than the super-computers of the past. But in 90% of the cases, only type letters are used (okay, e-mails) or input text and numbers into a database. A lot of potential computing power and energy is wasted.

Single server, many terminals

That’s where Thin Clients come in. In many ways they are the same idea as the good old Terminals. They’re small (10x10x2 cm) boxes to which you can connect a mouse, keyboard and a network cable that leads to the server. The little box can be screwed into the back of the screen so it doesn’t take up any desk space. To start using it, all you need to do is switch it on, log in with username and password and then it will feel just like you’re working on a standard PC.

Thin Client

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Real life example

At the hospital where I am placed, we have around 50 computers connected to our network. I’ve learned the hard way that keeping all these PC’s running takes up a lot of continuous effort. We have done some research and experimentation to see if Thin Clients could perhaps be the medicine to our maintenance headache.

Now I realise that all this sounds too good to be true and it is, unless you take the following caveats into account:

1. Server needs to have enough memory (but that’s cheap)

2. If the server breaks down, nobody can work. So you need at least one backup server.

3. The big one: if the software you use is very heavy, all the other clients will be slowed down. So data entry, web browsing and emailing yes, but microsoft office, photoshop or moviemaker no.

The table (Right) lists the problems we experience with PC and how Thin Clients are a solution to them.

To summarise: Thin Clients have proven to be a very useful alternative to normal PC’s at our hospital. They could also be used in schools, libraries, training facilities or internet cafes. If this has sparked your interest and you need more information on brands, types, prices or whatever, just e-mail me (sam.theisens@gmail.com).

PETE CAN EAT! PETE CAN EAT!

By Pete Howson

This is the first of a regular feature, where I tell you all about my recent eating feats!

If you think you’ve done something worthy of the Hello Mister Rumah Makan of Fame, email us at the usual address. But remember – choking isn’t fun!

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THE MAGICAL ADVENTURES OF ROLLY

By Rolando B Enrera

A Journey to Jeneponto by a VSO Volunteer

The volunteer has been in the placement since April and has begun to learn and discover new ways of doing things and of course got new friends and have seen interesting places. Allow me to say that it is really better and more exciting to learn through actual experience rather than just reading about Indonesia which is surely one of the most interesting countries in this part of Southeast Asia.

Aside from the fact that Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic country, the fourth most populated with more than 240 million population, and the largest Muslim state, it is of course one of the most beautiful and most interesting country in the whole world. And now I don’t regret that I am serving as a volunteer.

I left Manila last February 22 together with another Filipino volunteer. The flight was enjoyable although I felt a little bit physically exhausted. I think it would be shorter if we travel direct from Manila to Bali instead of Manila to Hongkong, then Hongkong to Bali; surely, there must be several good reasons why.

Traveling to Indonesia is an enjoyable experience, traversing at an altitude approximately of more than 18,000 feet inside an Airbus with more than 250 passengers, I still can see by the small window of the airplane the astonishing beauty of the many thousand islands below us as if they are pearls and precious stones that glow welcoming us to discover. The vastness of the lands with different hues and cues and the blue seas that expands to nowhere I was delighted about the beginning of my journey to my placement.

This wonderful experience has been with me maybe for a couple of hours in the skies. Until suddenly I heard the captain saying that the plane is now approaching Bali International Airport and was about to land. I fastened my seatbelt but because I became more curious I still continue looking below outside that small window of the plane as it moved in a calculated slowly landing position as it approach the runway of the airport.

Maybe more or less ten minutes, while the plane was landing, I could see the clearer view of the island province of Bali. The plane was encircling the mountain province and the seas, I have noticed those red coloured bricks which are very prominent but I don’t know what are those until I was told that these are the infamous rooftops of almost all the nice dwellings in Bali and that enticing beauty of the sea is the very famous Kota, one of the best tourist attractions. So I now realized that the airport is just near this Kota.

The engine of the plane has finally stopped and we are now landed in this airport which is like a garden of teeming ornamental plants and trees all over the place, and, if not for the airplanes I can hardly believe that this could be the Bali International Airport. I read the big signs “SELAMAT DATANG DI BALI”. I was amused and became more excited when I was already inside the arrival terminal because almost everything is just different and peculiar to me as if I have just arrived to a different world. Yes what I did, I was just looking around and silently reading and contemplating the meaning of every word that caught my eyes, I was glossed over with this interesting place even more. What are these words mean to me? How will I know? I don’t even have a small dictionary in my backpack. I just followed where my two feet leads me, I was now coming out of the airport at last.

The airport terminal is very beautiful and can be compared with other international airports all over. Interestingly there was not so much noise and less people unlike in other international airports in other parts of the world. And the airport personnel, especially those immigration officers were very accommodating and exuded charms and professionalism.

VSO Bahaginan has already informed us that there are people from the Programme Office who will welcome us at the airport, but we don’t know who they are. It was just a matter of minutes that we were now coming out of the door of the arrival section of the airport and I saw that big signs VSO carried by a man in the crowd. We approached him and then we were lead to the car, they were actually three of them, our hosts. After that brief but very friendly introduction, conversations begin and continued en route to the destination which honestly I don’t know at that time.

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While we are travelling, I saw new and interesting places from the airport. But what got me in interested the most was that about why in this part of the world there are hundreds of motorbikes speeding almost everywhere. This was the first time I saw many motorbikes on the roads. I just keep this to myself and don’t bother to ask anyone.

Just like that and after several turns we finally arrived at a place of such an alluring beauty and cosiness. There is a signboard hang from several twigs of flowering trees and shrubs: JULIA’S PLACE. What an address in Bali.

This is where I am going to stay during my first six weeks in Bali for In-Country training. Surely, I can offer my honest evaluation that this place is interesting and nice. And with almost everything near that place, I enjoyed my short stay in Julia’s. I now miss that place, and the more that I am no longer around Bali.

The first week is equally interesting for me. Why? I said that this is the very first time that I would be meeting interesting people of the local program office and of course the other volunteers. And I was not disappointed. Within the week, I met them all and they are all nice and friendly. This gave me more excited about volunteering in Indonesia, and I could say that because of the diversity of the group, I felt like as if I was attending a global conference sort of a UN, and I was representing my country and those people are representatives of their countries. The initial meeting was very warm and cordial, and I immediately felt at home with each and everyone. VSO Indonesia staff and personnel are especially very hospitable. With these nice people and places around, what else do I need to ask for? But yes, there are still other things that I need to discover and explore while I continued my journey in Indonesia.

My first more than one month of stay in Indonesia was an interesting adventure. Attending the In-Country training, struggling to learn a new language every day, through formal and informal means, plus understanding and living in the new culture and the environments, I felt that there are more than one reason to live and learn, because honestly within that very short period, and there are so much to explore, and yet before I know it, I was about to go to another place, far from this beautiful island province of Bali.

Anyway, I said, there will be quite a number of opportunities to be here, and I guess, cross fingers, it will happen soon.

My stay in Bali was just short-lived. I missed my host family, the friendship that has just started to flourish with the local staff and people, the amazing foods, the traditional offerings which are everywhere, the scents and sounds of the place, the scenes and sceneries, and everything that Bali has for all of us. And exactly after six weeks in Bali, I left to another island province of South Sulawesi.

Together with a fellow volunteer from Kenya and our program officer, we left Bali at early morning of 18 April via domestic plight and arrived to Makassar, the capital of the province, about after one and a half hour. And just as the plane was about to land, I noticed that there was a difference, there was that spectacular rustic and green panoramic view of this new island province. I guessed that South Sulawesi is a bigger compared to Bali, and I was right because the province of Sulawesi is the fourth largest in Indonesia.

Even if I have been in Indonesia for quite some time, I still felt this astonishment and excitement when we arrived at the Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, the capital of the province of South Sulawesi. First, because I was anticipating for the first time that the province with majority of the population are Muslim, this will be the first encounter and I will be socializing with different people and with different faith. And how is living with them I asked to myself?

And within just less than an hour in the airport, we were now travelling towards a hotel in the capital; passing the highway from the airport connecting to good roads in the city, I noticed that this city has almost everything - stores and malls, schools, parks and churches, ports and airport, public transport and stations, and there are opportunities abounds for everyone. But what makes this island province different from Bali is what I was just starting to discover.

We stayed in Makassar for a couple of days, there is not enough to discover with this limited time, just ate at McDonalds and bought some stuff at the nearby supermarket.

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The following day, together with my employer in his car towards the southernmost part of the South Sulawesi – destination: Kabupaten Jeneponto. And along the way, I tried to talk start a conversation with a new found friend, because I think that will be a long journey and we both don’t want to get bored. But because of the difference of the language we are using in spite of trying the English, I sensed that we felt the same that it was not easy to communicate at that time.

The car immediately passed that bridge connecting Makassar and Gowa which caught my attention because it is painted beautifully. Along the roads, there are lot of fruit stands and stores which sells foods and drinks and services such as gas stations, car and motorbike repair shops, mesjids, schools, farms, banks, etc.

After a while, I learned that we have now passed Kabupaten Takalar because I read the sign - Selamat Datang di Kabupaten Takalar. At the centre of the regency, is located the white coloured Kantor Bupati and most of the government offices. And later I learned that behind that Mesjid Agung in Takalar is where another Filipino volunteer resides and another VSO volunteer from Kenya live in another house just in front of another mesjid in another village, just very near their places of work.

Between these two Kabupatens from Makassar I noticed that everywhere there are several farms and there is this only one provincial road connecting them. There is no problem in transportation for there are many public transports plying this road until what time I really don’t know. Safe to say maybe that many pete-pete which are widely commonly used as public transport are available from the morning up to early evening.

It was raining hard at that time from the outskirts of Gowa, another Kabupaten right after Makassar until we reached the Kabupaten Takalar. After seeing these places between Makassar and Takalar, I believed that each is different from one another in several aspects, except that singular similarity maybe, everywhere there are many masjids built.

After another thirty minutes drive after reaching Takalar, we were now passing through greens but

now there was a coastal area we passed. Now the car was manoeuvring a steep towards a mountain overlooking below it is that coastal areas in my right and the rice farms in my left.

This is Jeneponto, a Kabupaten which is different from the others because of its terrain and natural resources. Finally, we have finally reached the subdistrict of Binamu in Jeneponto after more than one hour at a speed of more than 60 kms per hour. That stretched from Makassar to Jeneponto is more or less 100 kms. I saw that big landmark now that reads: Selamat Datang di Bumi.

It was really an exhausting but interesting journey. I wished that everything will be more interesting as I continue to journey here in Jeneponto. And I believe that I am in good hands. See you in the next issue.