Jakarta

 

We live in the city of Jakarta. I took this picture last night as we walked home from dinner. I am standing on a walkway that goes over Jalan Jendral Sudirman. You can see the stairs that we took on the other side in the foreground of this picture. Jakarta is a vast metropolis of more than 10 million people. It is a city of incredible wealth and poverty. Traffic is totally wild and the traffic laws seem to be mere suggestions. The people who live here are caring and helpful and almost without exception very polite. The weather is hot but not too hot. We are very close to the equator so days are always 12 hours long and the sun sets just before 6 pm every day. The average high temperature is 86 degrees and it seldom gets over 90 degrees. It also seldom gets below 80% humidity. Average rainfall is 72 inches per year which means it rains a lot and hard. Right now is the "dry" season so it doesn't rain every day but when the monsoon season picks up, starting in December or so, it will come down in buckets. Jakarta is prone to flooding pretty much every year. The President has formally announced that the Capital will be moved out of Jakarta to a new city called Nusantara that is planned to be constructed on the Island of Borneo.
Indonesia is the 4th most populous nation in the world and comes right after US with over 275 million people. It is comprised of more than 1700 islands whose inhabitants speak more than 700 languages. Most people speak their local language as well as the national language of Indonesian. It is home to many exotic plant and animal species including Orangutan, Komodo Dragon, Bird of Paradise, Cockatoo, Sumatran Tiger, Asian Elephant, Rhinoceros, Saltwater Crocodile, and many species of monkeys. 

Comments

  1. Russ and Robin MissionAugust 28, 2022 at 11:12 AM

    Elder and Sister Lambson,
    I just now read your previous week post. We were at BYU Education Week last week and came home tired every night. I'm amazed at how busy you seem to be. It's great! Here are a few questions of curiosity:
    Are you island hopping much or are you mostly in Jakarta?
    Do the temperatures remain pretty much the same all year round or are there cooler and hotter seasons?
    Do you have A/C in your apartment? How about in the churches and restaurants?
    Do you have your own vehicle that you use for transportation or do you mostly use public transportation?

    It sounds like Lima, Peru (where we are scheduled to go once our visas arrive) has some similarities with Jakarta. It is near the equator and is at sea level. It is a city of 14 million. Driving is supposedly crazy there. Most places do not have A/C. Summer (Jan-Mar) is hot and humid, but winters (Jul-Sep) can be on the cold side. As far as I know, we will use public transportation. Our mission boundaries are pretty small. I believe there are 2-3 other missions in Lima itself.
    We had a nice Empty Nester dinner at the Spencer's house last week. They live next to Norm and Judy Peel. They have a double lot. He purchased the vacant lot behind his house a few years after they bought the house. He landscaped most of it himself. It is beautiful, with sweeping views of the mountains, and to the south, Utah Valley. We ate outside, but we had to leave early because it was our night for Spanish tutoring with a MTC Instructor.

    All for now,

    Russell Jacobsen

    ReplyDelete

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