So we finally got to Jakarta and beleive me, it is very different from Singapore and any Norwegian city. I was very lucky to have Nancy and Lucky pick Peter and me up from the Airport. We got one driver and guide each, and we will always be gratefull for the help we got in finding a hotel.
After a few nights and days of getting oriented, I've finally started doing some work. Yesterday I was lucky enough to have Naomy take me shopping with the donated money from Singapore. I felt very humbled by shopping in a market with real Jakartans and I think a lot of western merchants have a lot to learn about genuine hospitality and customer relations. A smile can be faked, but the warmth of a real smile is something that I have learned to appreciate.
We purchased as much as we could possibly carry and ended up with the following from Singapore CS-money:
24 Mens underwear
24 Womens Underwear
24 Baby Tops
24 Baby boottoms
12 Baby Blankets
24 Plastic cups
24 Plastic Dishes
200 Face Masks
1 Ducktape
Total cost was around 1,6 Million IDR, 234 SGD or 1051NOK. Please see the spreadsheet for details on prices and facebook for more pictures. Roughly 1/3 of the money is now spent and this package is ready to be sent soon. Details on shipping and distribution will follow soon. Still need to buy more, today it seems like soap and maybe powder-milk is on the shopping-list. I am still working on details about trip to Yogya, but for now I feel like I am doing as much good from Jakarta as I could in Yogya. I will prioritize updating this blog when I can get online so I'm sorry if you sendt me a message or e-mail and didnt get a reply, getting a connection here is either way expensive, way slow or way inconvenient...:D
More pictures can be found on www.facebook.com/catkain if you are above-average interested in seeing pictures of cute cats, my roomie, womens underwear etc. :D