Since we last spoke

Not a lot has happened since the last post. I did get a haircut. In America, at least at the very modest salons I patronized, a man would get a haircut and that would be it. I went to this salon in Medan in the Complex near my home where my roommate had been before me. I was first given a very, uncomfortable scalp massage that lasted much longer than I would have thought possible. I've since been told that I could have said that I didn't want it, but the drag queen who performed the massage spoke not a word of English and I couldn't think of a sentence that would politely express my desire to just get on with the haircut. Then a very openly gay stylest did the cut. There seem to be many openly gay men in Medan, not what I would have expected, but nothing about Medan is as I would have expected. He also spoke only Indonesian and presented me with two catalogues of haircuts for white men. I pointed to one picture and said "ini" (this) and he shook his head and pointed to a different picture. I wound up negotiating and settling on a third picture we could both agree upon. The result was about the exact same haircut I had gotten in the States. Then I got a shave (no straight edge razor, but hot towels were a part of the deal). And then, another scalp massage and shampoo, again of interminable length. Two hours later I had a haircut. It cost about 3 US dollars.

The weekend was uneventful as the interesting persons were all out of town. I spent a lot of time by myself playing guitar and writing and that sort of thing. I am going to visit the Central Mosque this week and the old Palace and I will try to take photos where they are allowed.

My friend J. had been in Jakarta and it sounds like a place to go, but my next trip I think I will go to the once very important port city of Melaka (Muh-la-ka). The straits of Melaka were at one time the key waterway for any trade conducted between India and China and so Melaka was a coveted station. The British, Portuguese, and Dutch all have a history there and it is, I'm told, well preserved. There are museums and old buildings and one can apparently get a real sense of this city's rich history. In contrast nothing in Singapore seems older than 5 years, and Singapore is a much younger city, not even founded until the early to mid 19th c., yet they are constantly rebuilding and now will be bringing in Las Vegas casinos. So, Melaka is calling. Jakarta is, I'm told, a very modern city with night clubs and shops and one can even find books written in English, good books too, classics. At the same time there is a great deal of old culture and history to see. Wayang puppet theater is quite famous and would very much like to see that. Two hours from there is Bandung which offers mountains and so forth. In Bandung (all "u's" have a long sound, all "i's" are "e's") J. bought me some traditional Javanese percussion instruments that are really cool. The gamelan is an instrument most associated with Java and while I did not get one of those (they are quite large), I'm told that the gamelan was played from 8 in the evening until the early hours of the morn.

The French composer Debussey first introduced Europeans to the gamelan at World's fair in Paris at the turn of the 19th century. I know this from a course I took in college. I remember thinking that Debussey's composition was too foreign to me to ever understand, but now I want to go to Jakarta and hear the gamelan. Thursday eve J. called me and said that she was sitting on a balconey listening to this strange instrument that is both percussive and melodic and she held out the handphone so I could hear it.

I won't actually be going to the orphanage until I have received donations and won't be able to seek donations until we are back on a normal school schedule which won't be until next week. As soon as that happens I will find out more about it and let everyone know.

It could be another few days before I post again, but it could be sooner. I made mashed potatoes last night, I am starting to find things that I had thought heretofore unavailable--a masher, for one, basil, for another. Now I need a grill, all things will come in time, Rome wasn't built in a day and Medan, well, they might get around to building it sometime, don't hold your breath.