Air Supply and Palembang

So Cora and I are lucky because we get to go to another island in Indonesia. Cora is my buddy for the next week while we are in Sekayu, which is about a three hour drive from Palembang, which is the capital of South Sumatra. The drive to the airport was great. Apparently, there is no traffic in Jakarta on Sunday mornings....AND there was a retro Air Supply music video playing, which was so awesome! Oh...Cora is a science teacher from Oklahoma. She is married with two kids and raises fainting goats!!

The airport was kinda crazy. We couldn't speak the language And they have different procedures than we do in the US. For example, you put your luggage through a screening process before checking in. You have to get your luggage wrapped with a plastic band before checking it. You also have to pay an airport tax at the check in counter. But, we made it through successfully and reached our gate after going through another security screening.

Ramadan started yesterday so it has been interesting to observe some cultural and religious observations. For example, they put curtains up around some restaurants to hide the people eating in them from those that are fasting. Also, people traveling don't need to fast so there was a special Ramadan snack box on the plane for us to eat.

I was a little worried that we would not know Sri (our host teacher in Sekayu) at the airport, but she saw me right away! I kinda stand out here. She has two little girls and they are adorable! They instantly wanted to be friends and hold hands and play with my hair. Sri's husband was also there and became our taxi driver for the afternoon. We checked into our hotel and then drove around Palembang.

Sri and her husband were very concerned about making sure that we had food even though they were fasting. We assured them that we were fine. Cora was not feeling well at all and I was fine to eat one of my cliff bars.

One of the places they took us was to a place where they make Sonket. According to Wikipedia Songket is a fabric that belongs to the brocade family of textiles of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. It is hand-woven in silk or cotton, and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads. The metallic threads stand out against the background cloth to create a shimmering effect. In the weaving process the metallic threads are inserted in between the silk or cotton weft (latitudinal) threads

The place we went was very famous! Laura Bush bought Songket there...and guess who,else did? I did! I thought they were so beautiful so I bought the wrap. I could have gotten the wrap and skirt, but I knew I would wear the wrap more often. It is kind of formal and not something that is worn in the US often, but loved it and know I will wear it.

After our afternoon sightseeing we went back to the hotel and took a nap before dinner. I am tired today....all of my adventure are catching up to me.

Until tomorrow!

xxooxo