The Red & Whites

   Indonesia, despite being a country with a huge population that is crazy about soccer, has always struggled with mediocrity at the national team level.  They float around the bottom quarter of the global FIFA rankings.
   That's why there current run in the AFF Cup has been so encouraging and exciting for Indo.  They just squeaked out a narrow victory over Vietnam to make it to the finals.  They will face either Myanmar or Thailand in the finals beginning on December 14th.
   In case you were interested, here's the highlights from the first leg of their matches with Vietnam.  Indonesia's president was at the game, and the camera cuts to him often after goals scored.  Enjoy...

Smoke (Part 2)

   In our city, we have noticed over the years different trends of similar type stores opening up all over the city.  For example, a little over a year ago, little coffee shops started popping up.  Before you knew it, there seemed to be a Kedai Kopi on every street corner.  Then that simmered down...

   Then there was that time several years ago when indoor soccer gyms started opening up everywhere.  I used to have to drive 10-15 minutes to get to an indoor soccer gym.  Now there are 2 within 5 minutes of my house.  Then a lot of them closed down.

   Then earlier in 2016, it was trendy looking barbershops for "real gentlemen".  They are everywhere now but already the trend seems to be wearing off.

   In the last few months, the new thing has been vape shops.  Electronic cigarettes are the thing now, and the stores that sell the equipment and liquid also double as places to hang out for vapers.  Remember in Indonesia a vape is pronounced Vah-pay.  They are everywhere, and when you pass them at night, you can't really see in.  All you see is the smoke.

A Surprise

   It was a normal day.  We were pulling out of our driveway at 7:15pm to get the kids to school.  But things were about to change fast...
   One of our neighbors drove up on his motorbike, asking if I was busy.  After a quick apology, he asked if I would be willing to give a lady that was in labor a ride to the hospital.  He had heard from another of our neighbors that the mom was 'almost ready to give birth'.
   We made the short drive down to the little shack the parents were staying in.  The dad was a laborer at one of the houses being built in our area.  He had come from another island in order to get employment, and the mom had come to visit him for a few days.  She was barely 7 months pregnant.  Before the mom could get back to her home village, she went into labor.
   When we arrived at their shack, it became apparent very quickly that the baby had already been born less than 5 minutes before our arrival.  So the ride to the hospital for the mom turned into a ride to the hospital for the whole family.  In the picture, one of our neighbors is carrying the baby as we drive to the local hospital.
   The baby was tiny, just under 2 kilograms (just at 4 pounds).  After some difficult first hours, the baby was taken quickly to a bigger hospital and put in an incubator.

   I wish the story had a good ending.  The mom and dad were scared about being unable to pay the high hospital bills.  They left the island and went back to their home village.  They avoided calls from the hospital and as of writing this, they still have not come to check on their baby.  You might be wondering about adoption?  We were too, but babies born into a situation like this cannot be adopted because there is no agreement from the parents.  We were not even allowed to see the baby because we were not family.  Children that are abandoned are put into government orphanages.  It's a sad story, but we are hoping for a good ending for the little girl who was left before being named.
 

Not Good

ISIS EYES FERTILE RECRUITING GROUND IN INDONESIA

     With all the stuff happening recently, this was not a headline that I really wanted to see.  

   The following quotes are from a recent article in the Washington Times:

   The Islamic State’s terrorist army is broadening its global reach to find recruits willing to come to its Syria-Iraq “caliphate” and wreak havoc.

   An Army think tank report states that Southeast Asia, and especially Indonesia, is a routine stop for hundreds of smuggled terrorists.

   Indonesia, with the world’s largest Muslim population at more than 205 million, is less noticed but fertile territory. One team of researchers in London has called Southeast Asia a “blind spot” for counting Islamic State recruits.

   The Foreign Military Studies Office puts the number (of Indonesians that have gone to Syria to join ISIS) now at about 500. Jakarta faces the same problem as Europe and possibly the U.S.: Fighters honed by the Islamic State in Syria will return to their home country to commit terrorism.

   You can read the whole article by clicking HERE.

Everyone's Mad

   This is a hot topic here in Indo right now...

    Every year, forest fires are started in Indonesian forests to clear way for new palm oil plantations.  Technically, starting the fires is illegal.  But the highly lucrative palm oil trade brings a big dose of greed in to the picture.  So in reality, those laws don't really make much of a difference.

   The bad news is that the smoke from all those fires travels over the ocean to Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. 

   And the good folks in those countries are mad... and rightly so.  Their anger is directed at the Indonesian government, the palm oil companies (who happen to have wealthy Singaporean and Malaysian investors), and anyone else who will listen.

   Just try entering the hashtag #HAZE or #IndonesiaHaze into Twitter, and you'll see lots of unhappy people.

   To see what these countries look like with and without the haze, you can check out these interesting before and after shots from Malaysia and Singapore by clicking HERE.

Serious Business

   Kites are a big deal in Bali.  During the windy season from June-August, kids all over the island are flying kites.  If you're in the right areas, it's not uncommon to look up and see close to a hundred kites up in the sky.  But it's not just for kids...

   Adults also take kite making and kite flying seriously.  There are huge festivals and contests that pit kites against each other from villages all over Bali.

   Some of the kites can be over 45 feet long, with the tails measuring 100s of feet long.  Although it's not fun to be stuck in the many traffic jams caused when they are carrying these big kites to the beach to fly them, it is pretty cool to see lots of the big ones up in the air at the same time. 

   With the proliferation of small GoPro-type cameras, more and more villages are recording the events of the day but also hooking up the cameras directly to their big kites as they fly.  It's interesting to get the vantage point from up top.  You can CLICK HERE for one (really long) video taken from a local village in Bali, it kind of shows the activities of the kite festival day. 

   The video on top is a trailer of a documentary that was done chronicling the history of the kites and the cultural/religious significance of the kite festivals.

Sad News

   Seems like there has been lots of bad news in Indonesia lately: corruption, domestic violence, volcanoes erupting, and now this...

   A huge Indonesian military cargo plane (Hercules C130) with over 100 passengers crashed into a busy area in the city of Medan (which is located in northern Sumatra).

   Because civilians often pay a 'fee' to get on these military flights, they're not actually sure how many people were on the plane when it came down.  But they have recovered over 130 bodies so far.

   Pray for Indonesia.

Links to the other stories:
Mount Sinabung Erupting - many evacuating their villages due to the ash
Angeline Investigation- this one happened just a few miles from our house
Corruption - Indonesian parliament is getting really bold

 

Flooded

Parts of our drive seemed more like white water rafting...

    A couple of weeks ago, there were floods of epic proportions in our city of Denpasar.  Denpasar is an incredibly densely populated city.  There is a complex system of drainage ditches, canals, and pipes to handle the heavy rains during rainy season.  Sometimes trash and debris completely clog up those canals and ditches.  Sometimes the heavy rain lasts for days.  Sometimes those two things happen at the same time... and it gets really bad really quick.

The guys in yellow were champions.

   That was the situation a couple of weeks ago.  We've never seen it that bad in our seven years here in Denpasar.  There were a lot of cars and motorbikes that got stranded with engines flooded or stuck in deep mud or hidden ditches.

   Kristi and I were trying to get through this mess.  We didn't want to, but we had to get to the immigration office before they closed.  It took us about two hours to make what would have normally been a 15 minute drive.   A couple of times I thought we weren't going to make it.
   In the picture on the left, the two guys in yellow rain suits tried to warn many people in cars and on motorbikes not to try passing this flooded area.  While Kristi and I sat there trying to figure out what to do, we watched several cars and motorbikes get stuck.  The guys in yellow were great and waded into the water to help lots of motorbikers.  Shortly after this picture was taken, the guy on the motorbike got stuck in the deepest part when his engine flooded.

Dangerous Fruit

    This is a sad story...
  
   Two newspapers here on the island reported last month that a 49 year old man in East Bali had been killed by a falling durian. 

    The fragrant (smelly) durian fruit can weigh several kilograms and is surrounded by rock-hard sharp spikes that give this fruit its name (duri = thorn).  Falling from a high tree and striking an unsuspecting passerby, a durian can indeed be deadly.

    The man's name was Komang Supandi, and he was discovered in a field by a passing schoolboy at 7:00 am.  Police theorize that Supandi was struck by a falling durian at 7:00 pm the previous evening. A severe head wound and the position of a nearby durian served to strengthen suppositions of accidental death by durian.

   Supandi’s body was taken to the big hospital in Denpasar to confirm that his death was in fact due to the falling durian and not foul play.

Islamic State and Indonesia

   A lot of people have been asking me recently about the influence of IS and the Taliban in Indonesia.  I usually answer that Indonesians are very moderate for the most part, with the large majority of Indonesians being peaceful (not perfect).  The Islam practiced by many Indonesians also mixes a lot of folk tradition and animistic practices into the more 'orthodox' Islamic pillars of faith.
   Here are some excerpts from an article that give an overview of the current issues surrounding Indonesia and Islamic State.  For the whole article, click here.

   Officials from Indonesia and Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s two Muslim-majority states, have expressed concern that the threat from the Islamic State (IS) movement in Syria and Iraq could be growing in their countries in spite of initial measures taken to counter the movement’s appeal. 

   In Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, the nation’s counterterrorism chief Saud Usman Nasution warned last week that recruitment of IS fighters from Indonesia had more than tripled in just a few months. All in all, Saud said around 514 Indonesians have gone to Iraq and Syria to fight with the movement, with about half being students or migrant workers who had already been living in neighboring countries. That makes Indonesia Southeast Asia’s biggest supplier of IS fighters by far, raising questions about what might happen once those militants return home.

   On Sunday, the National Counterterrorism Agency launched Indonesia’s first ever public blueprint for tackling terrorism, with officials stressing counter-radicalization and de-radicalization programs in addition to traditional law enforcement measures. But while the government has banned IS, Indonesian laws currently do not allow authorities to charge or detain IS supporters who leave to fight for the movement. That is a significant limitation for Indonesian authorities relative to their counterparts in Malaysia.

Bali is All Clear

Bali is in the lower left of this map

   There was a big earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 earlier today.  Thankfully, it happened in the open ocean away from any major population centers.  There have been no reports of damage or casualties.

   Indonesians tend to get out of their houses really quickly when ever there is any  seismic activity.  An open street or an empty rice field is a lot safer option than a big, poorly constructed, concrete building.

   Our island is relatively far away from the epicenter.  Tsunami alerts were lifted shortly after they were issued...

  

Indonesia's New President

   I've been a big fan of Joko Widodo (commonly referred to as Jokowi) ever since I first heard about his reforms as mayor of one of the big cities in Java.

   Then he became governor of the huge city of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital.  He did more good stuff there and then was basically forced to run for president by his party's leaders. 

      People all over Indonesia strongly supported him (even Hindus and Christians). 

   Now he's the president, and he has the tough job of changing a government known for its corruption and bureaucratic mess.

   Here's a quote about him from an old article in The Diplomat:
   Jokowi relied primarily on his credentials as a successful city mayor to win the support of the electorate, presenting himself as an ordinary person with the necessary political will to deliver quick results. Jokowi’s victory thus rested on a platform of hope and change that resonated strongly with the electorate and easily propelled him to victory over the unpopular previous administration.
   His decision to partner with Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian and ethnic Chinese, was initially seen as controversial in a country that is predominantly Muslim and Malay. Ultimately his decision proved to be far-sighted, however, as the duo received much of the minority votes.
   During his first week as governor, Jokowi made surprise visits to a number of government offices and quickly reprimanded those that were not providing services to citizens. This act earned Jokowi widespread praise from the public although some derided it as a publicity stunt. Still, Jokowi managed to convey the seriousness of his effort to improve residents’ interactions with their government.

   You can read more about his challenges in this Time article (click here)...

Progress? Maybe not...

   The start of the World Cup is only 10 days away.  Here in Indo, it's a huge deal.  Most TV channels have had a little countdown in the top corner of the screen for the last couple of months.
   In many areas of town, people will put up big flags of the countries which they support.  Nobody really supports Indonesia because Indonesia is not playing in this year's World Cup, and it hasn't played in a World Cup since 1938 where it only played one game in which it lost 6-0 to Hungary.
   I was here for the run-up to the 2010 World Cup too, and I have never, ever seen anyone flying an American flag to show their support for the Yanks.  Usually it's the normal favorites like Germany, Brazil, Italy, England, Netherlands, France, etc.  But this year, just a couple of weeks ago, I saw the Red White and Blue not far from our house.
   It was a big deal.  I got out and started taking pictures.  I think it shows how far the US national team has come...

   Seeing that flag inspired me to believe that we just might even be able to survive our group of death with Portugal and Germany.  But just two days ago, I drove down this street and guess what?  The big American flag got replaced by an even bigger German flag.  Good feelings gone...

What's with the Nails?

Even with a big red nail in his chest, he's smiling!

    If you drive around Bali right now, you would be astonished at the amount of posters, billboards, etc with pictures of guys in ties and/or ceremonial clothes.  Most of these pictures feature a huge nail piercing the heart/chest area of the person in the poster.

   This is not some voodoo weirdness...  It's time for regional and congressional elections throughout Indonesia, and these posters help people to 'visualize' who they are going to choose for the upcoming elections. 

   Most of the posters have somewhere on them some writing like "Coblos Fotonya".  Which basically means, "Just poke a hole on his photo!".  Recognizing a candidates picture is pretty important, because most people will be handed a voter card with potentially hundreds of choices of names and photos.  It's quite complex and they simply have to poke a hole in the person they choose. 

   This Celebration of Democracy happens on April 9th, 2014.  It is actually a national holiday and many people get the day off of work to make sure that they can vote.  After the congressional elections are complete, there will be the election for the office of President in July 2014. 

Beku

  Beku... That's the Indonesian word for frozen.  Yes, frozen... and yes, I'm sorry but this post IS about the movie Frozen.  We don't live in America, so we're really not sure how big of a deal Frozen is over there, but I'm assuming you're probably (like me) a little sick and tired of hearing all the songs.  If so, stop reading this post and go read a book or contemplate how busted your bracket is... However, if you still can't get enough, here's something else to add to your enjoyment.

***Before I go on: this is not an endorsement of Frozen.  Like most movies, it's got some worldview issues that are less than right, and we have enjoyed talking through those things with Jaiden and Kenan.***

   The other night at the dinner table, Jaiden started singing Let It Go.  She was singing it a little differently than the version you might be familiar with.  She was translating it as she was singing, on the fly!  I was impressed at how well she did.  There are a lot of concepts and feelings expressed in the song that are fairly difficult to interpret directly into Indonesian, and Jaiden translated it while keeping pace with the song.  The whole family had some lively debate about how some of the words should be translated.  Out of curiosity, we googled "Frozen Bahasa Indonesia" to see if we could find out which one of us was right about our translation.

   Jaiden won.  Here's Let It Go, in Indonesian, just in case you needed to hear a Frozen song one more time...  There are a lot of covers in Indonesian, but we picked this guy's because we thought he translated it the best.

Ash Days?

That's not snow...

   Last week we were seeing all kinds of pictures from friends in America with scenes of snow, ice, and sleet.  Everything was blanketed with a nice layer of white.  Here in Indonesia there was a different blanket of white that wasn't so nice...

   I was traveling two weeks ago to Java, another island in Indonesia.  About five days after leaving via the Yogyakarta airport, we saw reports on TV and also got news from friends about the situation in Java...

Yogyakarta Airport

   A volcano erupted to the east of where I had been staying in Java.  It shot out dust that affected a large part of the island.  Three major airports were closed, Yogyakarta (the one I flew out of), Semarang, and Solo, and even flights at about 5 other airports were cancelled.

   My friend, Ahmad, from Java sent me a text saying that the ash in the town I had been staying was about 4 inches thick.

   The ash was a minor disruption compared to the thousands of people that had to be evacuated from their homes around the area of Mount Kelud. 
 

Twisters

   The weather in Bali has been pretty wild lately.  We are in the middle of rainy season, but we have had lots of high wind, storms, lightning.  It seems worse than any of our previous years here.  We don't really get the big tornadoes like they do in the Midwest, but we've had some smaller twisters and waterspouts over the last month.  

   Lots of videos were posted on youtube of this big storm in south Denpasar last month.  This happened not far from the house we lived in way back when we were learning language.  

    It is interesting to hear the guy on the video, because they aren't really aware of how dangerous that thing could be.  When the glass starts breaking, I think they start to get the idea.

Tahun Baru

   New Year's Eve can get pretty wild here in Bali.  Even though the police did as much as they possibly could (relatively speaking) to stop the sale of fireworks, it still sounded like a war zone near our house. 

   I was heading home on my motorbike at about 11:15pm, and it was scary.  Bottle rockets, roman candles, and other assorted fire crackers were going off beside, in, and above the road I was on.

   I got home at 11:30 so that I could shoot off some fireworks with our friends and neighbors near our house.  The safety hazards happening all around were just incredible!!  I tried my best to find a balance between cautious and uptight.  One of our friends posted this photo on their facebook page.  This was the biggest one we had that night, and it was a five shot.  Because it was raining, the fuse didn't light right away.  They had to relight it 2 or 3 times, and it was always nerve racking when no one was sure if the fuse really lit or not, and then they went to go 'check' it.

   Happy to say everything went down (or up) without any injuries or burns!

Another One

   Indonesia has so many volcanoes, many of them are still active.  It's easy to forget that there are a couple here on Bali too that have had various levels of activity over the past several years. 

   Mount Sinabung, in northern Sumatra, has been rumbling since September of last year and the eruptions have been intensifying in the last week.  The following summary is from CNN (just in case you were wondering, we are a long, long ways from this volcano).

   A volcanic eruption in Indonesia that has displaced more than 22,000 people is intensifying, local authorities say.  Mount Sinabung, which began spewing gas in September after a three-year slumber, has erupted over 220 times this week.  The hot ashes and smoke have caused pyroclastic flows -- a fast-moving mass of gas and rocks -- to stretch to seven kilometers down the southeast slope of the 2,600 meter (8,530 foot) mountain in North Sumatra. Last week, flows reached three kilometers.

The local government is still able to cope with the disaster, and no casualties have been reported according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia's national agency for disaster management.

   The government has evacuated more than 22,000 people to 34 temporary camps.  However one area, housing at least 1,000 residents, still lacks necessary provisions and shelter.  The displaced say they have urgent need for baby formula, clean water and gas, said local aid coordinator in Jambur Siabang-abang.  A national emergency hasn't been declared, but the government is prepared for the "worst case scenario."

Miss World

Not everyone likes beauty pageants... that's a given.  Lots of people think they are pointless, sexist, or just plain dumb.  However, there are groups in Indonesia that really, really dislike them.

The Miss World 2013 was held last month here on the island of Bali.  It was originally planned to be held in the capital of Jakarta, but it had to be moved to Bali because of lots and lots of threats of protests, disruption, and violence.  The organizers did a lot of things to make it more acceptable for this generally moderate Muslim country.  They even dropped the swimsuit portion in exchange for a 'traditional' dress portion.  

However, those steps were not enough to stop the protests and threats.  We heard rumors that 5,000 people were coming to Bali on ferries ready to 'spill their blood' to stop the pageant from happening.  There was really tight security setup for the event.  We were getting messages like this from the American embassy, "Extremists may be planning attacks targeting the Miss World pageant being held in Bali, including possibly against hotels used by participants.  In addition, local Islamist vigilante groups have threatened to hold large-scale demonstrations to disrupt the event.”

In the end, the event went off without major issues.  There was no huge protest in Bali.  The people of Bali were eager to show their tolerance, and they welcomed the pageant with open arms.  Youth organizations even held big events in support of the pageant.