Other updates

State of Affairs
Well, now that we have the Internet here we need to ensure we don't bruise the eyes and ears.

Censorship when it counts

While 6 o'clock news clearly depicts bodies dragged from the wreckage of a highway accident, here with this jet crash we're not allowed?  Note the "Oops" on what otherwise would have been a video clip.  So, two theories, 1 - important people are involved,  2 - big money is involved.  Will we ever know?

We'll Get to See Bali Yet

Our visa extension was a bit touch-and-go there for a while, but the folks at the very new Madiun Imigrasi office decided we really did not need to return to Jakarta, where our sponsor lives, to process the extension.  We could email back and forth the form he needs to file.  How could you not extend the visas for an old couple finding grandchildren to match the 30 year old photos of their grandparents, where no other photos exist, and photos of adults when they were children and no one could afford a camera?  Back to the office on the 23rd of May and we should be good-to-go.

Food

I have yet to find any sambal olek like they used to have, like what we can get in the US. Now we are finding some stuff from Delmonte more like Ketchup.

Friends Found

We found Mami, the woman that cooked and cleaned for me for about a year.  It was the old guy I met on the street that said he knew her and my driver, Murjono.  Murjono was not the deceased husband of the woman across the street, but that woman took my photo of Mami with her daughters and delivered it.  The next day Mami is escorted to our room by our hotel manager.  Wow!

Her two daughters are now living in Surabaya, and a son is elsewhere, sending mom a few bucks.  Mami is in pretty rough shape, still cooking, apparently selling the stuff she makes, with no pension.  We may learn more later.  She showed her right elbow to me, just the shape of it covered by her sleeve, it seems to have healed wrongly from a break.  Missing quite a few front teeth, probably diabetes, maybe glaucoma or cataracts.  She puts things close to her face to focus.  This'll make anyone cry, even if you didn't know her at 32.  She was a tough one, as strong woman.  She really stormed out of the place when I told her she needed to stay and cook during Ramadan.  What the hell did I know then?  

We've determined that we're about the same age.  Now she, like so many is sporting the Indonesian Jilbab, headscarf.  I really want to know how and when she made this transition.  We're to meet again Saturday at three.  And while assembling this post, I just figured out that when Mami was telling me something that included the word "Titing", which I could not find in the dictionary, she was referring to her daughter; that's her, the taller of the sisters, and her sister Setiowati is the shorter.  You, or at least I do, feel just so guilty, you've got to help somehow.  Why should I be so healthy and she, well, she probably doesn't have as many years left as I do.  We gave her about a month's income, the least I can do.  I'm hesitant to give handouts - I don't want to kill her pride.  I'd bring them all home if I thought they could survive the loneliness.