Woooooooo!!! Last week was long and busy. Two weeks ago, I explained I was purchasing binoculars and iPads for a teacher workshop. I finally got them! I received a U.S. Embassy/Jakarta grant to support a workshop for 42 science teachers on Bangka Island, Indonesia. The workshop seemed to be a success! Below is an outline of the experiences.

The first hotel was gross. Abdul, my Indonesian colleague, had ants in his bed. I always pull back the covers to make sure there is nothing in my bed–there was!!! Blood!! Thank goodness I always carry a sheet with me. Abdul said–“This place is not clean. I am worried about parasites. We need a new hotel.” When an Indonesian says it’s gross and we need to move–it’s time to move. This is a picture of the pillow from the second hotel where we stayed all week. No pics from the first location–wish I did.

Before and after the workshop was beach time. The beaches are famous for their large rocks. I was super excited to see them. They look fake.

Day 1. Huge celebration for the beginning of the workshop. When we arrived, they adorned us with beautiful scarves (you can see in the picture). The Minister of Education spoke. I gave a speech to introduce the team. I used six degrees of separation to introduce the team members–explaining how I know them. Dancers performed–there is a video for my neighbor Elisabeth (she is from Indonesia and danced). As part of the celebration, the team members planted a tree behind the school (the principal used this as a photo op).

First day attendees. See if you can find Waldo–ME. I am exactly where you would expect me to be!

Days 2-3. Teachers learned to use pH meters and binoculars. They seemed very excited. Below the slide show is a video of them learning to use their binoculars.

Days 3-4. We went to Upang River Conservation Center. The coolest Rasta guy (looked like he belonged in Jamaica) was working there. He did everything–scooped water out of the boats and placed leaf packs in the bottom of the river (With a cigarette in his mouth. He would keep just enough of his head above water to keep the cigarette lit).

The teachers learned to bird, collect and identify aquatic macroinvertebrates and vertebrates from the river, and herp (look for frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, etc.) They found a lot of really cool organisms!!

A really big snake made it even cooler! Someone caught it near the conservation center bathroom and brought it for us to see. This is a reticulated python in its real habitat. They put it back. Tony McKenzie you would love it.

Would not be a great river experience without a boat trip. Learned a lot about the area. There was a big fire a few years ago that wiped out the small monkeys that live in the area. They also had dugong (like a manatee), but they have not seen them since 2019. Most of the issues on Bangka are due to illegal tin mining.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. I had nasi goreng. Cannot wait to get home and try making it! I went nearly every night to the same woman to get her nasi goreng–it was awesome. While I waited, I ate some amazing sesame seed balls with mung bean inside (no idea what they are called–Elisabeth maybe you know).

Day 5. Finishing up and saying goodbye. The teachers loaded down their scooters with all the free stuff they got from the workshop.