things i did yesterday

1. got up early.
2. made french toast for me and yo.
3. drove to the bus stop.
4. hopped a bus to solo.
5. got another bus in solo to jogja.
6. chose the wrong bus and arrived late for our movie.
7. went to a grocery and bought an apple, cheetos, orange juice, and a bar of lindt chocolate for lunch.
8. went to a restaurant next door to get rice and tempe and eat all my good food.
9. caught a becak (rickshaw) to gramedia (bookstore) to kill more time.
10. found a whole wall of secondhand (rare) half-price (rare) books in english (SO rare).
11. talked to an intriguing papuan guy who was buying a bible in the checkout line.
12. caught a becak back to the movie theater.
13. got stopped in said becak at a stoplight where there were crossdressers dancing in traffic for money. eek. no window between them and me.
14. saw alice in wonderland!
15. wished that the movie didn't depend so heavily on wordplay, because the subtitled indonesian language doesn't hardly suffice and i was often the only one laughing.
16. went to the airport to pick up pita after 2 weeks in batam!
17. went to an indian restaurant for dinner. possibly the only one in central java. and brand new. so good. so exciting!
18. came home.

there were many highlights of this day spent with great friends. but one memory that will stick out to me for quite awhile happened on the second bus. the second bus musician that jumped on finished his song and speech beseeching our kindheartedness and wishing Allah's peace upon us, then he went from person to person holding out his wallet for everyone to deposit money in. as i reached out to place my obligatory coin in the wallet, he grabbed my hand, leaned his head down to mine, and said clear as a bell in english, "do you speak english?" i was so shocked that i just nodded at him.... people are supposed to ask me if i speak indonesian, not if i speak english... i'm WHITE, for heaven's sakes! of COURSE i speak english! (and before you think me presumptuous or ignorant - i KNOW that not all white people speak english. but almost all white people here (and especially in jogja) are tourists. and the universal language of white tourists is english. i've never encountered a single white person in indonesia who didn't speak at least the basics.)

now that i wrote that all out, it doesn't seem so illustrious. but to me it was a landmark experience. an old beggar man on the bus just asked ME if i speak english... hmph.