Goodbye...

I'm really going to have to finally stop saying "goodbye." I've been in Indonesia for a month tomorrow, and saying farewell to Tuscaloosa, my home of 25-plus years is actually starting to annoy more than a few people. They want to hear about Indonesia. It's a big dad-gum archipelago with a lot of stories to tell, and I'm not about to become able to tell them all here in ten months. But I promised I'd give it a go. My ten-month fellowship has now been reduced to nine months, since students were gone to their home villages for Lebaran, the Indonesian form of the Muslim holiday Idul Fitri, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. This left me to spend a few days in Bali, and the rest of the month of Ramadan working on my personal adjustment problems. Lesson plans would have been more productive, but I've found it difficult to pin down what's expected, and almost no needs assessments - even informal ones - have been done. Sad times, and tough times ahead. So, who are the people I'm thinking about?

For the most part, it's the people in Tuscaloosa whose presence in my life has been a blessing during the 25-year stretch that I brought to an abrupt end four short weeks ago. The photograph below is my friend of more than 15 years, Richard. As you can see, he doesn't particularly care for having his picture taken. On my last day in Tuscaloosa, Richard was kind enough to take me out on Lake Tuscaloosa in his 2-man kayak. We rowed around the lake as a team - something we've been able to do far too few times this past decade - and talked about my future plans, silently agreeing to let stand my denial about being able to find work in Tuscaloosa in order to return there. It would be wonderful, but it's depressingly unlikely.

Scenes like these are the reason I am able to tell students that I miss my country, though I am truly glad to be in Indonesia!

Now....let's get on with the present, even while missing the past.