Wandering Browns

From what I had seen of the harbor in west Cilacap, I knew there had to be a bigger harbor east. I decided to just walk east until I ran into boats and it worked out well for me. We stopped at the first, smaller harbor and Landon played in the cleanish dirt and admired a big excavator parked there. There were search and rescue recruits training down on the tiny piece of sand in the harbor below, so it was entertaining to watch them. They were working on flipping over rubber rafts to clear them of water. There were mostly boys with a few very small girls. I was shocked when they put three of these little girls on the raft and expected them to be able to flip it on their own. I don't speak Indonesian, but I'm sure there were plenty of sexist jokes flying around as the girls struggled a lot to flip the raft over. Poor girls! Also, as in the picture below, there were lots of elementary/junior high age kids biking out onto the jetty. There was a barrier to traverse and I was alo...

Beached boat Landon and I try to keep a semblance of a schedule wherever we go, but it is very loose. Here in Cilacap, there is not much to do, so we walk/run in the morning for exercise. As I go I am scoping out interesting things to see and places for Landon to play trucks in the dirt- but less trashy dirt. Here are some recent gems taken along the way...  Mini bat and tennis ball on the ground= modified golf On my way to the west side of the island I found a soccer field with shady spots! I let Landon out to play, and then noticed that there were school kids doing PE on the other end of the field. Several ran over to our side of the field to play with Landon, and Landon ended up stealing and playing with most of the equipment they had. I always feel bad disrupting school classes, but it seems that these soccer fields are the only open, relatively clean places to play in the whole city, so I think it is only fair that we share them. It isn't my fault that my bab...

I must admit, driving into the city of Cilacap from the airport, I was not very impressed. There were no sidewalks, and little huts along the side of the road. Kids were playing really close to the street and I did not see one grocery store from the airport to the hotel. Fortunately, Cilacap is growing on me as I explore and interact with different people and places. There are in fact sidewalks in the "downtown" area- but they are at least 8 inches off the ground, and the curb cuts are at 45 degree angles so it is difficult to walk- especially with a stroller. I end up on the road most of the time.  Tower of the big mosque in the middle of town First things first. We were essentially left at the airport, so our mood was not the greatest. Then we got to the hotel. Austin had requested an "Executive" level room on the 2nd floor. They put us in a 1st floor tiny room that was not executive. It had an exterior entry and 2 doors to the outside- with 1cm gaps be...

No standing on the toilet! For those used to squat toilets/holes in the ground I'm still formulating my opinion of Cilacap, so I will start with our flight. Our hotel advised us to leave around 7:30 am to get there in time for a 10:00 am flight at the domestic airport because of traffic. Well, we definitely beat traffic and got to the airport in no time. A porter met us at the car drop-off- usually we refuse their services but here in Indonesia, they are fairly pushy about helping and really we have SO much more baggage than most people in the airport that it is nice to have a porter. Anyway, the porter helped us through the first round of security and to the check-in desk- all in the same room. In fact, the luggage conveyor belts at the check-in went directly outside to the tarmac- we could hear the planes through the holes in the walls very clearly! Anyway, no agent is at the Suzi Air desk when we get there about 8:30. Austin checks a flight board and it states that our fl...

Loading up the ship Since flying into Jakarta very late last Thursday night, we have mostly tried to adjust to the time zone and hang out in and around the hotel. Austin had administrative appointments and things to do for his work permit, so Landon and I went swimming every day, hung out in the luxurious hotel, ate good food, took awesome baths in a gigantic bathtub, you know all the normal things you do on vacation. Even a week after landing, we are still about an hour off of normal. I have tried and failed to stay up past 9 pm every night, and I wake up between 4:30 and 5 every morning. That would be perfect if I had many things to do and a place to exercise! When you have barely anything to do and are trying to stay quiet for sleeping husband and toddler, it's a little rough. Landon has been only sleeping 9 hours or so and also gets up incredibly early. So we're all a little tired around here. On our last full day in Jakarta before moving on to Austin's wor...