Meetings, Metal Dectectors, Martinis

I feel like I'm being bitten all over and not in a good way. In the coffee shop once more and there are mosquitoes in my hair, on my arms, down my pants, nibbling my eyes. Disease-spreading motherfuckers.

I'm calling this Jakarta Day Two as though I've been here since... Thursday? I'd not really done anything much till yesterday. The evil pooing and all. Today's pooing has been less traumatic and I have been able to face the future with something resembling hope. Hope that the world won't fall out my arse.

We had a 'meeting' today with some of the team we will be working with/who will be helping us. As always, the term 'meeting' turns my blood to ice. I don't know why. I suppose it's the assumption that I'll have to talk seriously about serious things and use terms like 'fiscal' and 'blue-sky' and nod wisely and not crack knob jokes. Dani asked what I plan on doing when, one day I have a serious job. I'm don't exactly know. I'm pretty sure I'll have to run into the Ladies and scream 'BUM!' at random intervals just to get through the day.

As it turns out, everyone at this 'meeting' was pretty cool. They're all about our age, and you could go for a bevvie with any one of them. It's certainly calmed me down about what tomorrow brings. I have no specific role in this project, I'm just along for the ride and hopefully to be useful at some point. One of the guys, Micheal, offered his assistance as a tea-maker or general gopher. I smiled politely but my brain screamed 'Back off dude, that's my gig!'

We were going to head home after the meeting but saw the lights of the Marriot hotel ahead and asked the taxi to make a quick detour. Dani was gagging for a pint after two weeks in Pakistan and I wasn't about to say no to a fortifying cocktail. You take your joy where you can when staying in a Sharia hotel with no bar. As our taxi pulled up, a team of Marriot staff opened the doors. Not to help us out, to check for bombs. They're pretty thorough too. Then, on the way in, we had to put our things through an X-ray scanner and walk through a metal detector. Bombs again. The Marriot was one of the hotels that was bombed here back in 2009 and I guess they've not let their security up since then. Slightly scary, though I guess now it's one of the safer places to be. The Martinis and Carlsberg were well worth the security measures though.

And so to bed. In the morning, an early start and the first of or 10 or so days with the women. Please pray to your respective deities that I don't do/say anything inappropriate and that I manage to be, in some small way, vaguely useful.

Today I like; Cocktails, non-scary meetings, the fact my stomach appears to be returning to normal.

Jakarta... piss and blood!

Ok, so I know I haven't blogged in a while and have completely broken my blog-a-day rule. In my defence, I've been packing up my flat and then travelling to Jakarta (complete with 6 hour stop off in Singapore). All the while dealing with the virus from, if not hell, then at least the lower reaches of limbo. Put it this way- nothing solid has gone through my system in a week. I've definately lost weight, I just wish I had enough energy to remember where I was...

Oh yeah, Jakarta. That's where I am. Dani arrived this afternoon and we are now in the coffee shop of the hotel doing our respective internetting. The promised internet within the rooms turned out to be a myth but at least we can get wifi here. So far I like Jakarta, I feel like it's got the potential to be a kick-ass city. I just need to get a grip on what I'm doing here. That begins with a meeting with all the people involved in the project tomorrow and then the project itself on Monday. We are working with women with HIV- ex drug-users, sex-workers and transgendered sex workers and will be helping them make a film about issues that affect them. My role in all this is basically Dani's gimp (we've joked before that I'll be holding the boom), I'll be aiding and supporting in anyway possible. Then, the final 3 weeks we are here we're attempting to make a film though the people who are supposed to be helping with this leg of the project haven't been so helpful. We'll just have to see what happens.

If I'm honest, I'm not really feeling up to all the challenges the next few weeks will throw at me. I'm sure it's just because I'm ill and miserable- you know how bowel interferance depresses me. I just need to get this bug out the way and I'll be ass-kicking and supersexy fabulous again. Such will be the relief to be back to normal I know I'll feel like I can take on the world. I'm just having trouble getting my excitement levels up right now.

Anyway, to bed soon. It's only 8pm but I feel knackered! Tomorrow we have the meeting and I've got to go over what I'm doing with Dani in the morning. Need to have my serious, professional head on. No time to think about poo.

Today I have: Been very glad to see Dani, enjoyed pasta, watched far too much Discovery channel.