A Very Official Meeting

This is another mosque right outside my office window. I can actually see 4 from it.

Well, another mighty institution has proved to be well… just full of people after all.

I went to a UNICEF* meeting today. I didn’t know what to do or say, so I just showed up. My colleague, Wira, asked me to go with him. It was about educational programs, so I suppose it was perfectly legitimate for me to go. Anyways, I was rather intrigued about the possibility, I’d seen the UN trucks driving around, and hey, you’ve got to admit that they’re pretty cool. Well, the meeting was long and drawn out and predominantly in Indonesian, and, as far as I could tell, it was an hour and a half to say that all the NGO’s in the area need to get organized so we don’t all try to do the same thing for the same people. It was very informal, very practical and very long. And during dinner time too. But, hey, I got to go to a UN field office! And, even though the people there are just people, they do have the coolest vehicles, hands down.

My brother had to leave. It’s been so much fun having him around, too bad he’s gotta run so soon. But I do understand that Andrea must really be ready for him to be heading home.

I went shopping for a “Muslim shirt” which, around here, means a tunic style shirt with long sleeves and is long enough to cover your bum too. We went to a lot of shops. They really like their busy patterns around here, so I’m still looking for a shirt. I know there are cute ones out there, because I’ve seen women with them on! I don’t think I’ll need one until I actually go into a school building, so I still have some time to find the perfect one. J I did however, find a nice pair of flip-flops (a non-negotiable need around here), and I saw some GORGEOUS scarves, actually I think they were Pasminas (you know those really pretty scarves you get in Prague?, like that: luxuriously soft). When my friend/colleague, Herly, asked how much they were she guffawed and told me it was an extravagant price. When pressed she said they were equivalent to about 5 US dollars. Then she and Meilen, another friend/colleague, started laughing at how absurdly expensive they were. J



*UNICEF stands for United Nations….something… Children’s (?) … something, maybe fund?