Mar 2

Today was the first opportunity I've had for down time since arriving in Indonesia and I took full advantage of it leaving my room only twice - for a morning workout and for dinner. The rest of the day I spent in my room reading my back issues of Computerworld and trying to finish my book - The Watership Down.

On my walk back from the workout, I did a quick tour of the grounds around the hotel. It is actually quite nice and, if you don't consider "shopping" a vacation necessity (which I never have), it's actually a great place to visit as a vacation getaway. As you would expect, the hotel is lush with tropical foliage and has the feel of a south Florida vacation resort. The one caveat to that is the 8 foot high, barb wired security fence that surrounds the facility. I haven't decided if it is to keep out jungle animals - or jungle people. In either event, it does have a Jurassic Park feel to it, and it made me think of a prison story where the prisoner had every amenity available - but was never allowed to leave his room.

My room has a balcony contained by mosquito screens and I spent most of the day on it reading. The day started sunny, but by afternoon clouds drifted in and we had a nice downpour. The rain arrives in much the same way as applause in an auditorium. Because of the jungle, you hear it moving towards you in an ever increasing crescendo of sound until if finally reaches where you are. Preceding the storm, the jungle was alive with life as birds flew from tree to tree announcing the coming rains.

Tomorrow we will travel to the corporate offices. No word on when, or if, we will actually have a tour of the mine - which is a 2 hour drive from the offices. It would be a shame to travel all this way and not visit the mine. I would compare it to driving to Disney Land and never leaving the parking lot. I think the original plan was for us to have a tour on Saturday, but that was when we were arriving on Friday, so I don't know what the plan is now. With our original sponsor choosing to leave the company, our trip out has been somewhat haphazard with no clear contact at each location and no clear agenda. I've done my best to create an agenda so I can accomplish what needs to be done, but the whole trip was planned based on the plans of our original host, so there have been some gaps.

All in all, I'm excited to be part of this project and thrilled to be working with our Indonesian team again. They are truly remarkable people. I also can't wait to return home.