We went to the book distributor.....needless to say it was different than what we know from home. This distributor focused on Islamic materials but we were told he could also get other books for us. We went through the three different lists we had on hand and narrowed down the choices to fit our budget. It was kind of a self serve place where we had to write up our own agreement letter. Given that that took awhile, Dawna took the opportunity to teach Pak Mukhtar tic tac toe. Before we arrived, we had thought we were going to a show room scenario...but it really was not much like that. The word show room should never have been used to describe what we saw. Hours later, we left empty handed having given them a wad of cash and feeling about 60% OK about the whole thing. We are told it will take a week for the books to get to Banda...we shall wait and see.
The third and final book shopping took place at a very upscale bookstore called Gramedia. It was on par with Indigo for selection, display and range of material. It is surprising to us that there are Muslim based books in every subject, from science to cooking. Who knew? The focus for this spree was children's books. The staff were incredibly helpful and they made this final shopping a treat. The head of the library was delighted to receive a special 'Gramedia' clock which was presented to him upon the completion of the big sale. We even found an Indonesia version of 'Eat, Pray, Love'....Dawna loved this book, Katherine refuses to read it...but Katherine selected it.
The malls in Jakarta are over the top. They are what you would expect in Rodeo Drive. Even have Harvey Nichols of Ab Fab fame. It feels kind of odd to be in these extravagent malls complete with Christmas carols and then go out to the street and see the standard Indo street vendors. Gucci on the main floor and 5th Floor hawkers with Padang food.
We felt great about completing the book buying, down to the last $3. Items were shipped to Banda already and will be ready for the Sigli library on Monday.
Wednesday was travel day, leaving Jakarta for Banda. It was a bit of a long day. We are noticing a different vibe in the air as we progress towards Banda. People don't seem so keen on Westerners. There are not so many NGO's around and we get the sense that people are glad they have left. Maybe this is the ebb and flow of development work when things wind down. Still we keep maintaining a positive attitude and aim to take things in stride.
The hotel that we stay at in Banda is under new management. There are less staff and less of a Western focus in their approach. The internet was down when while we were there.
We headed up to Sigli, first thing Thursday morning. It was good to get to the library and receive a very friendly welcome from the staff. The morning was spent reviewing what has been done (or not done) while we were away. In the afternoon we did some interviews with the staff, to find out their thoughts on the changes at the library. We are gearing up for the main event which will be the evaluation workshops next week.
Over and out.
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