First to Indonesia, a country, while dear to my heart and home to some of my best friends, continues to see its share of traumas and challenges. While the country has done a lot of things right, such as the popular movement that led to the overthrow of Suharto’s democracy-unfriendly regime that continues to inspireContinue reading “Of Knives and Ekonomi Indonesia”
Monthly Archives: October 2007
Being Hip in Minnesota: Location, Location… Location?
After having been “out of town” for the past year and a half or so – ok, on the other side of the world – I honestly couldn’t be happier coming back to the Twin Cities. Our shining beacon of culture and commerce, striding the great Mississippi river and rising up against the monotony ofContinue reading “Being Hip in Minnesota: Location, Location… Location?”
Same Party, Different Days
This is a phenomenon that has confused me ever since I first encountered it in Indonesia. Visiting the family of my friend for Idul Fitri last year in Purwokerto, which happens to be a Muhammadiyah stronghold in Central Java, I followed him to the solat Idul Fitri, the early morning prayers at the end ofContinue reading “Same Party, Different Days”
Kecintaan Kopi Aku
Amid all this seriousness, it is undeniably necessary to remember those things that truly bring us pleasure, be it intellectual, physical, or even of the kind that cannot be easily explained, that is felt at some deep, soul-intoxicating level. Did I ever mention that I love coffee? Yes, many times. Perhaps reduntantly. This I know,Continue reading “Kecintaan Kopi Aku”
Reinventing Church in Ottertail, the teaser
Driving East through the swamps and past the cornfields that line Minnesota Highway 52, the few signs of modern humanity, a farmhouse or set of train tracks, hardly makes a dent on your concioussness. Entering Ottertail City, population a few hundred, you anticipate nothing more than a half mile of reduced speeds. Suddenly, inconcruent andContinue reading “Reinventing Church in Ottertail, the teaser”
Burmese Diaspora
Especially here in Minneapolis, where large communities of refugees from Asia and Africa have built new lives, it is obvious how a crisis in one part of the world contributes to the globalization of humanity, movements of families and culture and language and cuisine from one place to another. Certainly not novel in human history,Continue reading “Burmese Diaspora”