Bima, Sumbawa Island
September 11, 2007

(Steph) Bima was our first rally stop since Lembata. We hadn't planned to attend the rally events, but we did want to connect with the rally organizers to hand over our visas to get an extension. Unfortunately, it took three days to process all our paperwork, so we weren't going anywhere. But as usual, we made the best of it, and ended up having a great time.

Our first day we made it into the city with the favored local transportation, a Ben Hur. A Ben Hur is exactly what it sounds like -- a cart that is pulled by a horse. They aren't as magnificent as the chariots in the film they're named for, but they're still a fun way to get around. We were dropped off at the local fruit and vegetable market and plunged right in. Immediately, the town crazy lady attached herself to us. She was yelling and singing loudly, and followed us around. A number of people approached us and tried to communicate to us that she was nutso by drawing their forefinger across their foreheads. I finally turned around to her and said sternly, "Pergi-la!" This means "Go away!" We learned that phrase in case we ever needed to ask anyone to leave the boat, but so far hadn't needed it. She finally left us alone and we quickly finished up the rest of our shopping. The Bima market was one of the more hectic markets we'd been in, and somehow I kept leading us through the fish area, which is never a pleasing olfactory experience.

The next day, Warren and I split up. I went into town with some friends. Warren's birthday was the next day, so I wanted to find him a birthday present. My idea was to buy a new digital camera. I shopped around town and eventually found one store that had a selection of three cameras. I bought the one that had the best description of its features -- actually trying out the camera would have been out of the question. I ended up with an Olympus. While I was shopping, Warren was approached by a man and his son on a motorcycle. The man introduced himself as Iksan. He was an English teacher at the local business school, and asked Warren if he would come talk to his class the next day. He and his son also invited him home with them, so Warren hopped on the back of the motorcyle and zoomed off to his home. His wife runs a little convenience store, and they live in a pretty big apartment over the top of the store. They have a pet monkey that played with Warren for a bit.

Iksan and his family at their shop

The next day, on Warren's birthday, with new camera in hand, we made our way to the school. We were early for our session, so Iksan and a colleague gave Warren and I a ride to his house so I could meet the monkey. We learned quickly that the monkey does not take to females -- she reached out to take my finger and then tried to jam it into her mouth and take a big bite. She also tried to jump at me with a wild scream, but being on a leash, she stopped just short of scratching out my eyes. After that, I was happy to just observe her from afar while she ate a piece of bread. A duck waddled over to her and she fed the duck some of her bread -- Iksan told us that they were friends. We were then taken to the regent's palace, where he keeps deer in a pen. The guards there were happy to show us the deer. It was funny and weird to see these guys with machine guns slung over their shoulders lovingly petting the deer.

Iksan's fearsome little monkey deep in thought  ...

Everyone loves a petting zoo!

We returned to the school for Warren to do his thing. I was under the impression that I would just watch and take pictures of Warren talking to the class, but I was immediately recruited to also talk. In the end, we were each shuttled to about three classes each, to talk and answer questions for about 10 minutes. I talked very high level about our travels on the boat, and about the work I used to do. The questions I was asked were what my hobbies were, my age, what kind of music I liked, and whether I had children (which, when the answer was inevitably no, the person who asked would always apologize -- were they sorry they asked because it was embarrassing or painful for me that I didn't have children? Or were they giving me a sympathy apology, like "I'm sorry you don't have children; what a waste your life must be ..."). Warren got questions like "How can we make Bima an international cultural destination?" Funnily enough, the gender ratio at the school was about four girls to every one boy, yet it didn't occur to any of the students that I might have some ideas about how to boost tourism.

Having fun with the kids at Iksan's Business School in Bima

That night we attended the gala dinner with the rest of the rally. We were transported to the regent's palace via Ben Hurs. Having consumed a few Bintangs (local beer) before dinner, Warren got the idea that because it was his birthday, he should be allowed to "drive" the Ben Hur. He climbed up on the driver's seat where the guy happily handed over the reigns. I'm not sure why, but I wasn't in his Ben Hur, so he took off running with a bunch of other cruisers in the back, screaming all the way. It became a one-man race as he got the horse really galloping through the streets, dodging cars and trucks, and making wrong turns.

The poor horse was frothing at the mouth by the time they all arrived at the palace. The dinner was good, and the entertainment was very professional with some interesting dancing and singing we hadn't seen before. As we filed out of the palace to head back to the harbor, the Ben Hur driver who had let Warren drive before came looking for him. He had enjoyed the experience of the big white guy driving his horse so much that he wanted to do it again! This time I got in the cart (probably because no one else would dare), as did our friends Chris and K.T. Warren insisted Chris try driving, so Chris took us back to the harbor. The poor horse probably died in his stable that night.

(Wojo) A birthday blasting through downtown Bima half in the bag in a chariot with five screaming seniors in the back - priceless.