Indonesia

After moving to MHK for a couple of weeks, I was getting ready to travel to Bogor, Indonesia for a NSF workshop to enhance collaboration between US and Indonesia collaboration. It was a week-long workshop consisted of presentations and a lot of small group discussions among researchers from both countries. 

The last time I was in Indonesia was before I started undergraduate school in Florida, so I was really looking forward to the trip. Unfortunately, I was not able to stay any longer, and had to be back in US immediately after the workshop, to attend Citizen Science faculty training at Bard College.

There wasn't really a lot of free time, and we were in classrooms and lecture halls from 8 am - 9 pm daily! There was an evening off, and most of the faculty members took the opportunity to visit the local market. Of course, I took as much opportunity to savor the local delicacies. One of the things I missed most in SE Asia is the availability of chili packs (not just limited to ketchup packs as in US) 😋.

Although I enjoyed the trip, I did not take delight in the amount of time spending on the plane! My flight (return trip) was from Manhattan (KS) - Chicago - Tokyo - Indonesia, and I was really relieved when I sighted to the sight of Chicago. There was a very short transfer time, and I was home in Manhattan, just in time for a beautiful sunset.