Visa's approved, vaccinations done. Less than a week to go before I head to Indonesia: Jakarta (2 days), Salatiga (6 weeks), Solo (4 days), Aceh (a week), and Jakarta (a week). Salatiga is where I'll be working at Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana to complete the final course of my diploma in Asian Studies. After that, a couple of weeks of ANU work - visiting Islamic universities in Solo (also known as Surakarta), Banda Aceh, and Lhokseumawe, and visiting BINUS (Bina Nusantara University) in Jakarta.
Wrestling with what to pack: 23 kilos of luggage, 7 kilos of hand luggage. 4 shirts or 6? T-shirts - just a handful. Can't take five dictionaries - which one(s) to leave behind? 2 suits. A week's worth of socks'n'jocks. Some hankies. Notebooks. Shoes: Docs for work, Chucks for play. Take something to read? Something heavy or light? Something that will last 8 weeks or something I can offload? Leonie'll help with some of the decision-making, get me lightening the load.
Travelling seems to be about getting the technology right. Mobile? Check. iPod? Check. Camera? Get the one from work. Laptop? Don't bother. As a non-mobile user, and proud of it, I've been practising how to use it, how to shape my thinking to its presence.
Loading up the iPod has been fun. Tallulah showed me how to work the system. First playlist cherrypicked from the entire collection. On shuffle, though, it sounded too familiar. Second playlist needed to be able to sustain and surprise me for 8 weeks. Today, for instance, the first 8 songs on shuffle are: Prefab Sprout, Eno & Byrne, Steve Reich, The Magic I.D., White Shoes & The Couples Company, Stereolab, The Reels, and Spunk.
Other acts of pre-departure consumption. Bought a backpack for daily use and, as part of my medical kit, some gastro pills that, hopefully, won't be used.
Not much more to get ready, other than my mind.
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