Walking the streets of South Jakarta!

One of my favorite pastimes is to walk fast in beautiful settings. That was easy to do in Henniker, NH on a daily basis. On the second day here a bunch of us from the apartments decided to try walking to the center of town. We were told by experienced expats that no one does that. You call a taxi even to just go down the street. Well, we decided to try it anyway. Off we went. We were greeted by open air Indonesian vendors with big smiles and waves. They were delighted to see us. Why? Maybe it was very unusual to have foreigners or maybe anyone who could afford a car of motor scooter walking along. Or maybe it was the blond haired, big chested women in my party or the tight fitting athletic clothes some wore or the 6 foot tall guy who was with us. It is true that the man were more enthusiastic than the women. The women mostly appraised us with very serious faces, for the most part. Anyway, after carefully making our way along sidewalks that had large gaps in them that would cause you to fall 4 feet into a narrow drainage canal if you didn't jump across them, and avoid the 4 lanes of vehicles crowded into two lanes with no shoulders as you attempted to cross the street (rarely was there a stop light) and all this in very humid and hot weather, with the deafening roar of small motor scooters, you understood why people who can afford a scooter of car of taxi do not walk in Indonesia except in the center of city in a posh shopping area near the embassies. (It is safe however, to do it, just as long as you watch your bag very carefully, like in any big city.) At least I can walk to school ever day, through about five security gates and beautiful covered walkways surrounded by lush tropical gardens. I am so fortunate to live right next to campus!