friday, feb 1st...jakarta and its been raining for two days
left the flat at 7am en route to a meeting at the port... floods everywhere... traffic jammed
men carrying their wives on their backs, wading through the water
countless people crammed on motorbikes, drenched, determined to arrive at his/her destination
wearing plastic ponchos
water up to their knees
somehow the bikes still glide through the water
for six hours we crept along in the traffic coming back from the 1st meeting
the other two cancelled because of the floods
40% of jakarta below sea level
dilapidated infrastructure
3% of the population of Indonesia has adequate plumbing
"macet sekali" (translation: traffic jamm...literally does not move)
we're lost in the abyss
natural moats developing...surrounding shacks not castles
airport completely shut down
cancelled our plans to leave the country
no choice
no one going out
nor coming in
we are trapped but i dont mind
this is indonesia
tonight, saturday, it thunders, roars....deep from the belly of the charcoal sky
starless
electric apprehension nearly tangible
but not quite
brooding over the week ahead
if the rains persist we'll be housebound until who knows when...
delaying our work further
this is indonesia
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any other day you just look around and all you see is gone
all you see is gone
how can u sit there watching someone else?
(-josh and dave)
