Since we are still here in Labuanbajo, and don't have anything new and exciting to write about, I'm posting a generic entry.

When we arrived in Indonesia, being the geniuses that we are, we were aware that we knew not one word of Indonesian. For many years, we've had a 'Wordless Picture Book' by Jonathan Meader, but in all of our travels, we've never had to put it to use and still haven't. (Off the beaten track world travelers; this is a must. You can buy it on Amazon.)

For regular interactions, armed with my Indonesian-Inggris (English) dictionary (kamus), my photocopied list of common phrases from the Lonely Planet guidebook, and hand expressions, we have been able to negotiate most situations. In addition to the usual greetings ('siapa nama anda?' (what is your name), 'nama saya ...' (my name is..., ) good morning, afternoon, etc, expressions of politeness: 'terima kasih' (thank you), 'bagus' (good,) 'dada' (sp?) (colloquial for 'see ya') sampa jupa (see ya' later...for when you don't want to buy anything at the market), baik baik (response to 'how are you?') the 5 'W's, and numbers, we have had to learn words necessary for our own situations. For example, we decided we wanted to chain lock our jerry cans to the deck. We never have in the past, but since all of the other boats have done so, we didn't want to be the victim of a 'COO' (crime of opportunity). So... I now know how to buy 4 meters of chain (empat meters rantai) and 2 locks (dua kuncis). When children mob us, we are able to make them smile with 'chantik' (pretty) and tampan (handsome) and 'tos dulu' (slip me five). When the bimo buses want to pick us up, we say 'jalan, jalan' (literally means walking but used as 'no, just hanging out'). And, then of course, we are well versed with 'tong sampa (trash bin), ikan (fish) 'ayam (chicken), 'nasi goreng' (fried rice), 'sampal' (hot sauce), and 'bir' (no translation necessary). Since we prefer cans of beer for the boat, we have to ask for 'keleng' (literally, tin) or else they want to sell us (huge) glass bottles.

I think most of us who have studied a Romance language (French, Spanish or Italian) have been able to, at the very least, read signs in any Romance language speaking country, since the words are so similar. After a few days there, we may even remember how to speak. (Yes, those words are all filed somewhere in the deep recesses of our brains, and it is just a matter of retrieval). NOT HERE. Indonesian has absolutely no relationship to anything stored in this brain. I've been here for two months, studied every sign, and have only been able to intuit 2 words: 'apotek' (apothecary) and 'sekretariat' (library). To further compound the situation, there are 700 dialects. The island of Alor alone has 108, and Bahasa Indonesian, the official language is a second language for 90% of the population. That does explain why so many words are not in my dictionary? Needless to say, we will not leave with any proficiency.

All of that said, English is the second language of the country. I suspect that many people in Bali will speak it, but here in eastern Indonesia, the only people who really speak it are those involved in the tourist industry. The children do need to have some level of proficiency to go on to middle or high school...and certainly university, but it ain't easy. In one village school we visited, the English teacher passed away, and so now they don't have anyone to teach it. (American Peace Corps volunteers: take note.) In the larger towns, all of the children know how to say, "hello" "how are you" " what is your name?" "my name is..." "Where are you from?" and they say it ALL THE TIME. This is after they greet you with 'mistah, mistah'. I did try to teach them that Ken was 'mistah, mistah' and I was 'misses, misses'. I had a few successes. It is also interesting to me that as we walked around, doing our business or just 'jalen jalen' how many English teachers approached us, wanting to practice their skills and help interpret for us. I have noticed that the younger generation is more well-versed in English than the adults, which bodes well for their future.

Interestingly, T-shirts with English words are everywhere...on adults as well as kids. I doubt that most of the wearers know what they say, and I am positive that the shirts were not designed by people for whom English is their first language since the spelling and grammar leave much to be desired, but they are in English and are proudly worn.