To Jakarta

The building at left is the Sakura Tower. It stands proud as the tallest building in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.* The building at right is Wisma 46, located in Jakarta, Indonesia. At 48 stories, it is the second tallest building in the southern hemisphere. Timor-Leste has a population of just over one million.** Jakarta's population: 13 million. Yikes.

On Sunday I will be flying to Bali and then on to Jakarta. NDI is pulling me out of Dili and transferring me to the Jakarta office for the next 2-4 weeks. This was a conservative decision and it comes at a time when many of the Australians who were evacuated last week are pushing to come back into the country. The last week (admittedly following a very bad weekend) has been quiet. However many unresolved issues remain, and with the elections on the way, Washington is playing it safe.

My greatest concern is that NDI will be reluctant to send me back to Dili until all the elections are over. The presidential elections are slated for April 9th (with probable run-off election following); the latest scuttlebutt is that parliamentary elections will be held on June 30th. For now, my fingers are crossed that I will be allowed back in before the presidential elections. I had planned to be an observer.

Those worries aside, I am looking forward to a change of pace and coming out from under the thumb of curfews, movement restrictions, and daily worry. I am going to practice my Bahasa, hoard my per diem, buy some new clothes, and hopefully take the train to Yogyakarta to see Borobudur and connect with the Princeton Fellow working there.

It will, undoubtedly, be a real change of pace.


* If any Dili resident has a taller submission (4+ stories), please leave a comment.
** The CIA World Factbook lists the population with convincing precision at 1,062,777 but also notes that a 2006 estimate was as low as 800,000.