Portmanteau

My new favourite word is portmanteau. I think the word itself is pretty great but the meaning/s are also great.

A portmanteau is a suitcase with two compartments, and a portmanteau word is something like a contraction when two words are blended. The word was first used in this way by Lewis Carrol in Through the Looking Glass. I will let Wikipedia explain:

The usage of the word 'portmanteau' in this sense first appeared in Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass (1871),^[1] in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky:^[9]

• "‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’... You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word"
• "‘Mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and miserable’ (there's another portmanteau ... for you)".

Indonesians love portmanteau words. They make there way into formal language all the time. I think these examples might be contractions rather than portmanteau words, but I'd rather not be a stickler if being a stickler means excluding myself from using my new favourite word.

For example: partai politik (political party) becomes Parpol. And that's just the beginning. If a phrase cannot be made into an acronym (also a favourite in Indonesia) it will become a portmaneau word.

An example of something that is half way between an acronym and a portmanteau (can a linguist help me out here?):

Badan Perencanaan dan Pembangunan Nasional becomes Bappenas. Efficient isn't it!

I think I will create a list of Indonesian portmanteau words. But first I will do some work...

chocolate and dengue

I don't mean to turn this into a chocolate blog (there are enough in the world already), but I, a gal who is neither here nor there about most chocolate, could not go another day without drawing the attention of my fellow Australians to the little gift from god called:
















Club Classic Mixed Berry.

I brought some chocolate back to Indonesia from Australia last month and gave most of it away as presents. I kept this block because I knew a day would come when chocolate would be needed. It was Friday last week when it happened. We were flat, bored and in need of a little adventure, so I gave the block to my colleagues Ani and Inda to try. It had been melted a billion times so it was a little bit weird, but it truly made my colleagues jealous that I could just waltz on into a regular supermarket and buy something this delicious!

When I went looking for a photo for this post I found a blog reviewing Club Classic Mixed Berry which said all kinds of delicious-sounding things about it. But I have nooooo desire at all to describe the texture of the chocolate and the chewy consistency of the berries. Just eat it and have your socks knocked off.

***
On a less tasty note, I've mentioned my house helper Kak Ani on this blog quite a few times because she is basically my Aceh mum (but this one doesn't get angry when I leave my clothes on the floor, she just picks them up for me and washes them...and irons them and puts them back in my cupboard). This morning she wasn't feeling well so we went to the doctor and found out she has dengue fever. Hopefully it won't get too serious (so far it's not that bad), in which case it's not a big deal, but she is really scared and sad because as she put it "I'm never sick!" (wow, she does sound like my mum)

The doctor's orders for dengue fever:

1. bed rest
2. drink lots of water
3. take panadol for fever

Everyone else's orders:

1. drink lots of guava juice
2. don't believe the blood tests because they always tell you that you've got something you don't
3. take panadol for fever
   

Fortunately none of these conflict so we can adhere to both Western medicine and village medicine without a problem. Phew.

Photography and Documentation Workshop

About two weeks ago we held training on photography and documentation for a group of women involved in one of our projects. The project has gone well so we're keen to document it as much as possible in the hope that other oganisations will replicate it. I'll be writing a paper on the whole process but we thought it would be far more fun to give the women involved cameras so they can take photos to reflect on their experiences with the project. We also asked them to write a few pages each on their experiences.

To support the women to do this we decided to have a one-day workshop. We brought in Dea, a wonderful and talented girl from Yogya to teach them the basics of photography and how to use their cameras (cheap film cameras, no bells and whistles). I gave them some ideas for writing about their experiences.

Here I am doing my presentation. My Bahasa Indonesia isn't good enough to be able to ad lib on the points I was making, so it was a pretty dull presentation. But I think my cute bubbles in a funnel helped matters.


















I also spent part of the day drawing the inner-exhibitionist out of this little girl. She started off rather shy...


















We're picking up the developed photos today. We will choose about 25 photos to display at the opening ceremony of the Balai Inong in two weeks time. I'm excited and nervous to see what the results are. Dea, who I mentioned earlier, did a similar project with kids from Yogya after the earthquake in 2006 and made a great book using the kids' photos. I hope we can do something similar here.

Because I always feel like I need to continue the discussion

A few points relating to things mentioned on this blog in recent days:

1. Benjamin, did you think I was joking about eating and looking at bookstores...? Seems like Batu Caves are a cool place to go if my schedule wasn't already packed. I've said that about Batu Caves the last 5 times I've been to KL.
   
2. Speaking of book shops in KL, Kinokuniya runs rings around Borders and Times. That place is amazing:
   
• Great selection of books (I've never seen a bookstore as well stocked with as much variety),
• A section for everything including, philosophy (a whole wall devoted to it), sociology and a dedicated gender section. Greg reported that the history section was pleasingly ordered by subject rather than author,
  
• "Bestsellers" walls that were actually just books they wanted to sell, but the selected books were great. Perfect if you're looking for something new to read without a specific author in mind,
  
• Great music playing over the loudspeaker (not too loud, not too soft, not too hideous...this is a warning to Borders that was playing covers of bad 80s songs by bad late-90s bands),
• Books were where they were supposed to be,
  
• Plenty of people to serve, but no one creepily following you around asking if you need help,
• "self-help kiosks", a name that received Greg's scorn, but a good concept none the less. Can search for something on the computer yourself, no need to ask the sales staff.
  
3. Cherry Ripe anyone? I ate the one Elisa sent me. OH MY GOD, have they always been this delicious?
   

Unrelated note

I am looking to buy a new carry-on suitcase but was uninspired by the selection I saw in KL. I did find one I loved but it was so expensive. Fortunately as I negotiated on price Greg thought we were talking 500 ringgit ($165). If he'd known we were talking about USD500 (after 50% discount) he might have dragged me out of the shop. For the record, I can't afford a USD500 suitcase...but it was sooooo cute...and pink! Can anyone recommend a brand they like? I want it to last until I'm 80 so I'm willing to spend a bit of money (maybe not USD500 though).

Favourite thing on the web this week

Power returns

The power is back on! It came on last night just as I was about to venture out to find a friend with a generator so I could have a shower.

My bak mandi (the tiled bath/trough that holds water) was mysteriously empty when I got home from work so I had no water at all. I started concocting conspiracy theories (e.g. the cleaner used my water to wash the floors...) and realised first hand the tension and complexity of water politics.

I expected the power to go off again but it seems to be here for keeps this time. And that's not the only good news.

Yesterday I received two pieces of mail. TWO! One piece of mail was a very cute photo of the twins (who have changed enough that I can't tell which is which) and the other was this:

A package from the delightful Elisa!













Look at all those lollies and chocolate (the snakes were already half consumed when I took this photo...about 2 minutes after I opened the package).

The blue thing in the corner turns into this!:


















The photo isn't great but I was too excited to worry about photo quality. What a great bag! It's from Douglas & Hope, one of my favourite shops in Melbourne. I'm so pleased to have something so nice here. I will take it to the shops tonight and dazzle all.

Thanks Jess and Elisa for the great deliveries.

Blackout

I got back from KL yesterday around lunchtime (48 hour round trip. I love it!) and walked into a monster blackout. Yesterday was day two of a blackout that is predicted to last three or four days. The electricity was out since morning and came on for an hour around midnight and is back off again, presumably for the whole day.

Blackouts have their good points but they also have their bad points.

Good

• No lights and no TV means a quiet house and relaxed occupants. Last night I had wound down so much that I was asleep by 10.30pm.
• You have no choice but to go out and find food at one of the restaurants with a generator.
  
• Your laptop will run out of battery power so you're forced not to do work (one organisation sent everyone home at 5.30pm last night so they could turn off the generator and our generator is going off at 6pm tonight).
  

Bad

• Without electricity the pump doesn't work so we have no water. That means no showers and after a while the bak mandi empties too, which means no washing at all and no flushing the toilet. Fortunately an hour of electricity at night allowed me to run around the house turning on all the taps (but not all at once, it seems that two taps at the same time is the pump's limit).
  
• No AC or fans. Usually the discomfort of sleeping in the heat can be overcome by taking a cold shower. Please see the first point. (My friend Jess told me last night that she took water from the drinking water dispenser to wash! This is true ingenuity.)

I'm not bothered yet because I arrived freshly washed from KL yesterday, but I'm guessing the novelty will wear off soon. I'll keep you posted.

My KL agenda

I'm in KL on yet another Visa Run, but this one is different because this time I have a GREG to keep me company. We're pretty determined to cross everything off our 'to do' list. Fortunately the list looks like this:

1. Eat tasty food
2. Look at bookshops

Done and done. and we've only been here 18 hours. So for the rest of the stay (I leave tomorrow and Greg a couple of days later), we will re-do the list. Eat more good food and look at different bookshops.

I went to the embassy this morning and had a remarkably efficient time there. The system they have coordinates a series of counters and number taking and it means that 50+ people submitting visa applications can move smoothly in a very small space and any minor obstacles (e.g. forgotten photocopies, incorrect forms filled out) can be dealt with easily. All this and you get your visa later the same day. Quite a different experience to my visit to the Consulate in Melbourne last month. In a room with a three other people waiting quietly I went to the desk with all my forms in order and was told my visa would be ready seven days later. Grrr.

I'm writing this in a creepy, dark and smelly gaming internet cafe that makes you think it's the middle of the night even though it's 12pm and sunny outside. So I shall leave now and go outside, but only for as long as it takes to walk to the next mega-super-giant bookstore inside a mega-super-giant shopping mall. I love KL.

Dropped the ball

I've haven't updated for a week even though there has been plenty of adventure. I'll give a quick round-up and catch up on details over the next few days.

1. Greg is visiting this week. We met in Medan, stayed in the fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in (for around $60 per room per night), and eventually made it to Bukit Lawang to see orang utans. It was hard to drag ourselves away from the fancy hotel breakfast and the fancy chairs in the lobby and the fancy blankets they had (in the deluxe suite we were upgraded to because we wanted twin beds)....
2. but the orang utans made it worth the effort. We only stayed one night and set out early in the morning of our second day for a 4-5 hour hike. We saw a peacock that defied gravity and lots of orang utans...then bolted back to Medan to catch a plane to Banda Aceh...
   
3. ...That was booked for the wrong night. When we checked in for flight they kindly let us know that our tickets were for the previous night and that there were no more seats on the last flight for the evening. So we went back to the fancy hotel who booked the tickets for us and let them know of our dilemma. After a bit of fussing about we had seats on a flight the following day and a free room for the night.
   
4. My wisdom tooth is infected! I have taken a steady stream of panadol for about a week. Is that dangerous?
   
5. Standing in the rain waiting for a taxi in Medan, I was helping a nice man move a hardwood bench that had tipped over but he dropped it on my finger and my fingernail is now gross. But it seems like it won't fall off, so worst nightmare no.1 averted.
6. Going to KL again this weekend, for yet another visa run...
   

MJ's Right of Reply

Hahaha, MJ just responded with this...

Wow, I’m famous! But what about the seriousness of that mosquito situation – I get the feeling that no one is taking me seriously!

Postcards from my momma getting published

Do you remember that I posted a funny email from MJ on a website called Postcards From Yo Momma a while back?

Here's the original blog post about it: Things That Make Me Laugh

Well, turns out they liked MJ's email a lot and plan to include it in a book they are publishing called...

"Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Maternal Messages from the Digital World" (due for release in April 2009).

Funny, huh?

I just sent an email to my brothers and sisters about it so went to the website to find the original post to show them. MJ's email got one comment, and it was a cracker.

overreacting much? lol
sounds JUST like my mother.
all mosquitoes carry debilitating diseases in her eyes.
this is my fav email yet. lol

The funniest part about this, I think, is that when I saw that website for the first time I thought "I bet I could find a funny email from MJ for this" so I opened the most recent email from her, surely enough it was funny, and I sent it in. Apparently MJ, your everyday material can make Americans laugh. Imagine if I offered them your A-game?!

I also think it's funny that this person with an overreacting mother thinks that MJ is like that too (for the record, MJ just keeps up the appearance of being paranoid to make me feel loved).

P.S. Here is the email they liked so much:

itches

What are you doing getting bitten by mosquitoes?!! You will get MALARIA - and i will have to start worrying about that instead of typhoid. Maybe you have got dengue fever even! Are the drugs working? Are you still alive?

Aceh conflict is old news

I just stumbled across an old article from The Age a year and a half before the tsunami at a time of renewed fighting between the Indonesian military and GAM (June 2003). Check out the great picture.

It's always interesting to try to imagine this now mostly peaceful place just five years ago. All the evidence and the stories should make it easy, but it's not. Reading a newspaper story is a bit different. I can't really articulate why though. I guess that's the beauty of a newspaper.

Can I remember reading articles like this in 2003? I have a vague recollection but not really. Perhaps if I'd known what my future held I would have paid a little more attention.

Read the article here: Aceh Media Plan in Chaos

Weddings and other nice things

I spent way too much time alone in my house on Sunday. Today I am jumping around the place at the sight of real live people.

Saturday, however, was packed full of people including these very cute girls at my becak driver's brother's wedding. You may recall my becak driver Rijal from my last post. He is the one with the pineapple shrub.
















I also went to lunch at my friend's house. He lives at the beach so a heap of us went for the afternoon to eat his mum's cooking and enjoy the sea breeze. It was just my kind of party.

Friend Jess just sent me a bunch of photos from K-Rudd day and I found this one that I think is very amusing.














Someone looking like this and standing so close to the PM for no reason is probably the kind of thing his security are looking out for. What a weirdo.

Friday night's the night not to party

It's Friday night and I should be out of the office but I haven't posted much this week and I am barely keeping up my posting targets, so I shall post and run.

Many people like going out on Friday after work and letting off steam, but I want nothing more than to go home. I have a feeling that a lot of people feel this way but go out because of pressure from their colleagues/friends. Who else agrees with me?

So, as of today I have 11 weeks until the end of my contract. 11 weeks doesn't sound like much time, especially considering how fast a single week goes by. Sometimes I think a week is an odd period for us to plan our lives by. I'm all for the two days off in the middle, but you often set aside a week to do something, or expect to have achieved a significant amount between Monday and Friday, but Monday arrives and before you know it, it's Friday already. Not enough time to have really crossed many tasks off your to do list. I know this seems like an odd statement, and a bit like an old person/unoriginal person thing to say ("oh how time flies"), but if some people can argue that we shouldn't count by tens* I think we can reconsider the week as well.

Right in the middle of that 11 weeks we have more events planned than for the rest of the year, and they are the kind of events that require more planning than usual. It's going to be a pretty crazy few weeks.

I haven't posted a photo in a while, so here are two:

This is a photo taken from my desk. I have a nice view, and it's especially great at the time of day that this photo was taken. As the goes down there is the call to prayer and everything turns a bit magical. I have gone on about Aceh doing the 6-7pm slot better than anywhere I've ever lived, but no research has gone into that claim. In fact, I think the whole world looks pretty good as the sun goes down.














This is a photo of my regular becak driver Rijal and a pineapple tree that made me laugh. It's tiny and the pineapple is huge. Hilarious no?



















*The link I should have given about the Duodecimal system is here. Please follow the other link, it's the best thing you will ever read on the internet...ever. If you don't read it you are a heathen

Waiting for workshop

I'm just waiting in the driveway of my office to go to another day of a workshop we're running, and have nothing specific to post, but I need to post to keep up progress towards my posting goal for 2008.

There is a cat sitting next to me. Its name is Pusspah. It walked into the office this morning so my colleague who lives here at the office decided to name it. He is now considered the cat's papa. There are a million stray cats everywhere, and they often enough wander into a house with an open door. I don't know what sets this cat apart from those to be given a name. This cat is particularly ugly too, and not even a little kitten. I suspect Pusspah won't still be part of the family by this afternoon.

The mornings are very fresh and cool at the moment, but unfortunately all I want to do is sleep through them. My friend Jess and I planned an early morning beach trip for last Sunday but I was feeling sick on Saturday night so didn't set the alarm and woke up at 9am. I then made the epic journey from my bed to the couch and stayed there, dozing until about 1pm. So Jess and I went into town and ate burgers for lunch instead.

Other news, the tap/shower broke off the wall in my bathroom the other day and water and dirt gushed out. It was magically repaired when I got home, and even better, I had a whole new tap/shower that is AMAZING.

OK time to go...