Tepid tales from Jakarta

It's fair to say day one of the Asian Adventure has seen me being a decided tepid rather than intrepid adventuress. My memories of Jakata will revolve around teh aiorport. Primarily the transit hotel lounge overlooking the runway.
The Rough Guide's description of Jakarta as "one few foreigners find as alluring as the locals...the dangers to tourists have been greatly exaggerated" provided too little fuel to tempt me to attemnpt to navigate it. The Balinese Princess's warnings that "it's pretty huge, impossibnle not to get lost in" "you'll stand out like a blonde thumb" and "I try not to go alone" sealed the deal. The airport may be unadventurous but it has the bonus of ensuring I'm here in time to for onward flight and reassuring my folks that I'm taking my persoinal safety very seriously. Not only that but it's awarded ample eagerly snaffled time for writing. Searching for additional silver linings also yielded the opportunity to heed the still small voice within mum's been worried I'm neglecting.

My mind is I have discovered, resoundingly sound and as Amy would say "strong like a tiger, grrr". It wobbled temporarily yesterday when mine and Sam's pre Down Under anthem "come away with me" by the amaretto flavoured voice of Ms Norah Jones wafted through a market. Music's like that I find. Lamps you when you're grieving. The wobble was however fleeting. A bit of mental gymnastics and suddenly I was celebrating the opportunities for growth that the vast and breathtakingly beautiful backdrop of Oz have given me.

I feel like I'm travelling home having graduated from an adult-lescent into a woman I'm finally proud of. Life's lessons for me I have found frequently require re-learning but I feel like I've nailed some personally critical ones down under.

I have been very aware of my race given the current political climate. A brit fresh off the Plane from Oz will I fear hardly prove popular in parts of Indonesia. I intend to try and pass as a peaceful Kiwi. I've been sneaking my copy of The Guardian weekly and my pasport into my purse belt!

The airport despite it's scenic beauty has blessed me with a profoundly beautiful moment. Rows, hundreds of asian women spanning a number of generations, all similatrly attired in long saraongs and white headresses commanded a huge expanse of floor and the occassional tableau or seat within it. They were definately an ensemble although I didn't discover their purpose. Aware that I stood out as the lone blond big breated lass in the airport, I had sharply adjusted to attrracting curiousity on the several occassions I had traversed the corridors seaching for a baggage store. With politics and race at the forefront of my thoughts I was very tentative with my first smile as I passed through the oestrogen sodden melee. I discovered from the first moment of eye contact that I was rewareded with smile that beamed from mouth to cheek each time I produced the same. By my third time of politely pushing my trolley throiugh the throng (still searching for a lugage hold) I felt like a Politician, beaming with indiscriminate abandon. It was such a simple thing but really made my day to see the spirit of sisterhood and cross cultural nurturing of women. Life is really worth loving for such moments.

To redress the gender balance and becuase I've been menaing to say it for ages, Michael Franti's "Everybody Deserves Music" is my musical tip of the year so far. A rythmn bursting haunting album that's better than chocoalte and showcases the so sexy spirit of a beautiful man.

As he acknowledges, peace is not just a word but an mental and actual state worth striving for.

Julie X