If I were in Kansas, babies would be strapped into car seats instead of sandwiched between their (helmet-wearing) parents on a motorbike. Yikes. It was, by far, the most shocking thing I've seen. The kid was no more than 10 months old. The fact that he was fast asleep and looked uber-comfortable hasn't done much to alleviate my concern. I guess the good thing is that traffic moves relatively slowly here because there is so much of it.
I'm up to six classes. I almost had seven, but one got cancelled. That means I am teaching 20 hours per week. I have a good mix of ages and levels, so it will keep me on my toes. Today, one class was trying to guess my age. First guess: 23. Obviously, this is my favorite class.
The picture above is Jakarta as seen looking north from the top of Monas. There is pollution here, like in any big city. But so far it doesn't seem too bad. You can't really notice it from the ground unless you happen to step behind an angkot just as it's shooting exhaust out the tailpipe.
This weekend, I might go to a district called Ancol (an-CHOL) which is in the northwest part of the city. It's where I will someday catch a ferry to the Thousand Islands. It's more like 300 islands, actually, but it's supposed to be a relaxing place to spend a weekend. There's also Sea World. While Sea World here is more like a big aquarium and less like Sea World in San Diego, it only costs about 50,000 rupiah to get in. That's $5. Other choices include spending 10,000 rupiah to gain entrance to the sports club where we can lounge by the pool for the morning and afternoon. Apparently, it's empty until about 4 pm because Indonesians don't like to go out in the sun. I might also get a pedicure. And I will probably end up at the mall at some point.
So, while I am indignant about the babies on motorbikes, it's unlikely I'll turn into an activist here. There are just too many other interesting things to do.
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