Unprepared. (part 4)

The five days spent in Jakarta were four more than I had initially “planned”.  Aside from the occasional bombing, it seemingly isn’t the most lively of places to begin with, but spending my vacation working on an assignment sucked the remaining life out of the place.  I woke up each morning, dumped a bucket of cold, dingy water over my head and walked down the street to McDonalds where I would slave away all day chipping away at my keyboard.  As the assignment progressed throughout the week, so did my taste…  Day 2 was spent at Pizza Hut; day 3 at Starbucks.  The fourth day was spent thinking about Chile’s from McDonald’s outdoor balcony.   The familiar neon sign teased me with an expensive taste of Americana just yards away.  Every red flicker set off a mental image of their delectable food.   Skillet queso . . . .blink . . . spinach and cheese dip . . . blink . . . honey BBQ wings . . . blink.  It was mental food porn in its most tempting form, and I was suddenly Pavlov’s dog, salivating as if I hadn’t just finished off a double Big Mac with cheese and two orders of fries.

Each afternoon I was joined by my new friends who, almost always, introduced me to one or two of their old ones.  They distracted my efforts to write by staging photo shoots  (complete with several rounds of wardrobe changes) and attempting in vain to have me participate. I must admit, however, that after hours of writing drivel for school, the scene they created was a much welcome diversion.  They became great friends and offered priceless insight on the best way to continue/begin my adventure in Indonesia.