Not Quite Famous

So remember how I was a model for wedding dresses? And remember how my picture got put in the paper without me knowing about it? Apparently that wasn't the only picture! Several friends have now told me that my picture is also on display in front of the hotel in which the pictures were shot at. They are being used to advertise wedding packages at that hotel.

Yesterday, I was out for a walk with my new neighbor. It is VERY hard to find your way around all the crazy winding streets and alleys of Southeast Asia, and after 2 months of living here, she still can't find her way to or from town. To be fair, it took me about 3 months to be able to confidently do so. So I invited her to walk with me to town. When you walk, you tend to see more landmarks that stick in your memory as opposed to driving, when you kind of fly by everything without actually SEEING it. So we walked. And walked. And walked. I pointed out lots of landmarks. "If you want to get to Pancasila, look for the giant elephant in the road." Things like that. We stopped for some refreshing fruit soup (a bowl of fresh fruit served up with ice and sweetened condensed milk. It's good, I promise). And we poked through lots of little odds and ends shops and even picked up a few things. And we stopped and had conversations with lots of people who just wanted to chat with some whiteys. Walking is fun!

At any rate, we ended up walking right past the hotel where my picture was supposedly on display. I was naturally curious to see what it looked like, but I didn't see it anywhere. I figured they'd taken it down already. We got just past the hotel - right where a bunch of taxis were lined up and drivers were all sitting on the sidewalk, waiting for customers - and I noticed a GIANT billboard overhead. I looked up, and sure enough, there I was, towering over all of downtown. One taxi driver saw me looking and asked, "You want married?" I replied in Indonesian that I wasn't interested in getting married, I just wanted to see my picture.

He stepped out into the street to look up at the picture better. Then he looked at me. Back up at the picture. Back at me. And finally he declared, "You're lying". I insisted. THAT IS ME! He looked back and forth a few more times. Then he said, "You're prettier than the white girl in this picture. This cannot be you." I laughed and said thank you, and went on my way. Because really, what can you say to that?

I was going to take a picture of the sign to show you all. But from where I was standing - immediately BELOW the billboard - I don't think I could have fit the whole thing in one shot. And it seemed a little vain to cross four lanes of traffic to get across the street in order to take a picture of myself... And it was getting dark and we needed to be heading home.

Next time I go to town, I'll try to get a shot. For posterity's sake. And also because the first thing I noticed about myself in the picture is this: I look really muscular.