the salt express: September 2012

I have killed countless mosquitoes and been bit even more. I have taught the present perfect more times than I want to remember. I have spent an accumulated time of what feels like weeks on a toilet sick to my stomach. I have eaten more chicken sate than one should healthily consume in a year and have braved many beautiful downpours amidst lightning, thunder and warm air. I have shared dusty walks along Jalan Cendrawasih with the company of about four hundred tailless stray cats and hungry dogs and have consumed gallons of fresh coconut water (the nutritional benefits are incredible!). I have met the wild orangutans in Bukit Lawang, felt the black sands between my stubby toes on the north coast of Bali and eaten fresh mango on the beaches of Lombok. I have fed lunch to and swam alongside the brightly colored fish off the reefs of the Gili Islands and constructed manors, chateaus, mansions and ships out of sand on our forever private paradise in Bangka Island. I have visited my cousins and aunt and held my nai nai's hand with the perfect Manila sunset turning red outside the window of the hospital room. I have seen the wonderment that is Chinese New Year in Singapore and have dined on the famous butter pork ribs at Two Chefs Eating Place (damn shiok la). I have spent an evening drinking rice wine with my adoptive Vietnamese mother, built a river damn in the valley of Ta Van, and eaten numerous fresh spring rolls in Halong Bay and Hanoi. I have fallen off a motorbike twice. I have watched eighty two movies and taken thousands of photos. I have dined in the culinary mecca of Kuala Lumpur and have, against all odds, survived every Lion Air flight I have been on.

I have rafted down the rapids of Mana River and witnessed the 6-9 year old youth league motor races in Pagar Alam. I have floated down the Musi, watching the villagers laugh, bathe, defecate and brush their teeth in the flowing chocolate colored water. I have eaten boiled peanuts on Kamarro Island and observed paper money and gifts being burned into ashes. I have received well over fifty massages and reflexology treatments and have only been involved in one angkot accident. I have discovered an obsession with gorengan despite its artery clogging consequences. I have seen a goat in a becak and a tribal woman breast feeding her baby next to a motorcycle on the side of the winding Sapa roads. I have finished all the pages in my passport and gotten twenty six new stamps and twenty four added pages. I have eaten too many peanuts this year. I have been in becaks, taxis, trains, busses, boats, ferries, planes, kayaks, ojeks, cars, rafts, bicycles and angkots.

I have felt sane. I have felt like I needed to be admitted into a psych ward in a serious way. I have done a vast multitude of sunrise salutations and eaten way too much cake and ice cream. I have not showered enough. I have saved a lot of water because of this. I have been exposed to 362 consecutive days of air conditioning. I have smelled such smells that I cannot even begin to discuss.

I have been in love with Indonesia. I have been annoyed at Indonesia. I have formed friendships with some of the most generous, beautiful and kind people. I have gotten to know some of the world's brightest, silliest and sweetest students.

I have a horrible memory but I will not forget these things.

Terima kasih Indonesia.