The photo didn't post; Guest poster was J. obviously

Just a quick note to say the obvious. I will get the pictures from j. later, burn them on a cdr and post them as soon as I can. The identity of the guest poster really needn't be explained now, but I should have noted it earlier, just as a matter of formality.

I can add a little more. Over the past few days at the hospital, I would occasionally, well, frequently, have cause to run to the nearby mall for "stuffs." It being hot in the midday sun, I would often take the becak. As a white man I am expected to be rich and compared to most Indonesians fit that bill. Therefore, where an Indonesian might ride for 4,000 rupiah to a particular location, the drivers are likely to tell me that the cost is 20,000 rupiah. They would nearly always start with that figure. I would counter "Lima ribu" (5,000) and they would either say, "10,000" and refuse to come down or come down to 7,000. When I first arrived I didn't bother to haggle, but things have changed, somehow. I don't mind paying twice the average price, but I don't like the assumption that I'm just off the boat either--although I am pretty much still finding my way around the port. Prices are negotiable on just about everything here