I will try my best to summarise the past 6 weeks but I am well aware it won't be an easy task. If you are ready, here I go.
On July 8th I left Portugal early in the am. It took me 4 flights and 36 hours total to get to my final destination: Makassar in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. I stopped in Barcelona, Singapore, Jakarta, and when I arrived in Makassar I was 7 hours ahead in time (I am in GMT time zone).
I lost almost every single flight, and the longest flight (from Barcelona to Singapore) was an ordeal, since we had a lot of turbulence and I am very sensitive to motion. By the time I arrived in Singapore I had already threw up 2 times, and I would throw up again when landing in Jakarta.
I remember I had the worst impression of Jakarta's airport, easily labeling it as the worst place I've ever been. It was hot, the smells where rather intense, I was tummy sick and nothing was in my favour.
I landed in Makassar at 10pm (local time) and that was the occasion where I met Amber (my future room mate) for the first time. She came along from China with Juliana, who would eventually spend some time with us too. I cried that first night. By that time I had already called my mom bemoaning and telling her I was not capable of doing what I had set for myself.
I also met Sike that night. I was supposed to stay with her just for that one night. On our first night, I remember putting my feet up on a wall where she had a mundi map, and the three of us spent about an hour together setting expectations, talking about our dreams and getting to know each other.
The next morning I didn't want to leave. It was a whole lot of trouble, but I stayed.
The first meal I had there was some kind of rice, with a stock, and pork (both sweet and savoury). I absolutely hated it - haha.
Of course eventually I found lots of food that I liked, otherwise I wouldn't have come back home with extra 8 kgs... My personal faves are perkedel jagung, perkedel kentang, java noodles, bali chicken and fried rice with pork!!
In the first morning, Sike played Lost Boy by Ruth B. and that song will forever make me think of Indonesia and that morning. I played it often while away from home.
Eventually I realised that Fransiske likes to listen to music in the morning or while in the shower, and by the time I left, Perfect by Ed Sheeran or You and I by Ingrid Michaelson where the elected.
