Not much happening today. We drove from Anyer to Jakarta, but I slept most of the way. My host wanted to show me the National Monument and maybe visit the National Museum, but downtown was packed with vehicles, trucks, and buses, getting ready to celebrate Independence Day on August 17, so after a quick driveway we headed for the western suburbs. There is quite a festive mood around the whole capital city, with everything draped on the red and white of the national flag.
My host tells me that Indonesia celebrates a double independence, first from the Japanese occupation of World War II, and then from the Dutch who after the war thought they could just saunter back and occupy their old colony. Apparently there were two armed attempts from the Dutch, but the Indonesian Army successfully defended the islands and cemented the country's independence.
Jakarta is a handsome city with lots of modern architecture, but air pollution and traffic take much of the charm away.
We had lunch with the Rector of the STMKG, Dr. Suko, his wife, and 21-year old son, at a typical Sumatran restaurant (a bit ironically, a Padang-style restaurant). STMKG is the State College for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics, which prepares the technical staff of BMKG. They are a fully accredited institute that offers B.Sc. degrees in the three branches, have an ROTC program, and are in other respects a regular modern college with marching band, sports teams, orchestra, and the rest. Tomorrow I will go to STMKG to give a lecture to the Geophysics students about Earthquake Geology, and I am sure there will be some speeches and lots of photo opportunities. Perhaps then I will have a new story to tell.
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