LifeInContrast.com

(Video: Dance competition we stumbled upon in Bandung on Saturday night. This clip is six or seven guys who have stripped down to more revealing outfits. Silly, but not as silly as the guys before them who strutted around in cheerleader outfits.)

Hello! It’s Monday morning, and I’m sitting here at an outdoor cafe with wi-fi on a busy Bandung street. Since I’ve been here for about six weeks now, it’s high time I revisited the Top Ten Reasons FOR and AGAINST Moving to Indonesia.

In no particular order:

The heat: Yes, it is hot and humid in Bandung, probably in the high-80s on most days, and sticky. But it’s even hotter in Jakarta and Singapore. And our house is at a higher elevation, where it actually gets quite cool at night. The secret to beating the heat is moving slowly and not trying to walk too fast. Cold beer helps too.

Spiders and insects: Haven’t seen many spiders, but the ones we have seen have been BIG. Saw a massive yellow one in a thicket of bamboo the other day. In our house, ants are a bigger problem, and the occasional cockroach.

Internet access: I’m starting to think I can’t get DSL at home, so my only option may be these little USB dongles that work on the cellular networks. Until then, I have to keep using these wi-fi hotspots scattered around the city. There are also some internet cafes that I haven’t tried yet.

Hot showers: Most places don’t have hot showers, but we had a little gas heater installed, so we’re all good there.

Squat toilets: We had a western toilet installed in our house, but the vast majority of toilets in this country are squat toilets. And they usually have a water hose instead of toilet paper.

Standing out: I get “Hello mister!” everywhere I go, but honestly it doesn’t bother me. Sure I am the main attraction when I walk down a street, and everybody has to steal a look. But if I smile or say “Allo”, I always get a smile or a salutation back. Everyone here is extremely nice and friendly.

Malaria: Apparently a non-issue in Bandung.

Natural and man-made disasters: None yet.

4am wake-ups from the mosques (calls-to-prayer): These are really not that big of a deal - I usually sleep through them. However, there are many mosques echoing up our valley, and the calls-to-prayer combine to form an eerie cacophony of overlapping voices and songs.

Rat race: Yes, there is still a rat race here in Bandung, but it’s a little different. Maybe a little less frantic, with more time set aside for social interaction. And the understanding that nothing happens fast here. “You want it when?”

Tea: Visited a tea plantation several weeks ago, and saw tea being processed from beginning to end. Bought a ton of high-end black tea, which seems to be more popular than green tea here.

Spicy food: Holy cow, do they love their chiles here. Everything is spicy, and I mean everything, even breakfast. Pretty much every lunch or dinner dish comes with chiles and spicy sauce on the side. Indonesians dip their french fries into a hot sauce/ketchup mix.

Beaches: Argh - haven’t been! Soon, I hope.

Lower cost of living: I’ve already discussed this a lot, but suffice it to say that everything is much cheaper here. Our rent was $1400 for a whole year.

Natural beauty: I need to get out of the city more often to see this. The city itself is crowded and kinda dirty.

Completely different from everything I’ve ever known: Even after all my research, I was totally blown away and surprised by 90+% of the things I’ve seen, smelled, tasted, and learned about here. It’s hard to describe it all sometimes.

There you have it!