I need pest control... now...

Good day/morning/evening/night!

Well, it turns out that from no matter which source one chooses to obtain internet in this country, the problems remain the same. Namely, it’s just damn hard to use! At this point in time I, as well as many others, have done virtually everything in our collective power to get me wired (well, “wiredless” as it were). And now that we’re about 3 weeks in, I’ve got a slick new phone from the future, a binding contract, and a new group of jolly friends from the Telkomsel support staff. Seriously, considering the generally hasty Indonesian relationship dynamic, I’m almost certain that I’m dating one of the technicians now.

But, on another note… MOSQUITOES!!! I’m starting to have some serious doubts about the parenting skills of certain insects and the morals being passed along to our newest generation of blood-sucking pests. There’s more careless unprotected sex going on in my kitchen than in… well, you just go ahead and make your own really offensive joke. Seriously though, I swept up over 100 dead mosquito carcasses in my kitchen this morning and over 100 more about ten minutes ago. I’m currently looking into a solution to this problem, which will likely include a spray that turns your lungs inside out. So, I may not be cooking as much over the next few days.

Speaking of food, after about two weeks I’ve managed to regain the 10 pounds I lost during Ramadan. Unfortunately though (in conjunction with the mosquitoes), it has recently become much more of a chore for me to utilize my kitchen. I hope this is a just phase that passes quickly because, quite frankly, I did very little cooking over the last month and a half, and I’ve gotten pretty lazy. I became accustomed to only making breakfast and then simply waiting to feast in the evening with families in the village. To motivate myself, I’ve made plans with Imam to visit a traditional market, where I can get “complete” Indonesian spices. Imam is so funny about cooking. (Andrew, I don’t think you would approve.) There’s really no such thing here as winging it and using whatever you’ve got in the refrigerator – largely because very few people own one. So every day, the average Indonesian villager makes a trip to the market to buy food for the family’s daily intake. Case in point, people commonly get into undeviating routines when they cook, and consequently, they quickly form ideas about the correct way to prepare boiled carrots and an infinite number of wrong ways. Imam and a few other people who’ve had the pleasure of tasting my cooking have made little comments like, “Oh, you forgot the coriander,” or “Yikes, not enough MSG.” To which I replied in my head, “Ya know, in this batch of fried rice, I don’t want any friggin MSG!!” Oh well, haha. I will tell you though; thank god for Imam, Mr. Wiwid, and Kiswanto because really, I’m going to be a pro at preparing Indonesian cuisine by the time I come home. This is of course assuming that I’ll be able to find orange leaves and galanger at Wal-Mart.

And one more thing before I cut this off. Haircuts here are fantastic. Not really because of the haircut though, but because you get a massage afterwards!

And not a creepy massage...

…like in Yogyakarta…

If you haven’t yet heard this story, ask me later.