Jakarta: Reptiles and Religion

Our second full day in Jakarta started out with a visit to the Indonesian Miniature Park, affectionately dubbed "Indo-Disney" by the TGC fellows.  Built in the 1970s, the park is designed to highlight the 27 different provinces of Indonesia. Taking a sky-tram, we could see the lake designed with representations of the over 6,000 inhabited islands - the five main islands being Sumatra, Java (where I am), Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and West Papua.

As we walked the 250 acre park, we visited the pavilions designed with authentic materials and in the traditional style of each province.

Our guide, Lilia, and her 6 year old daughter joined us, despite it being the first day of Ramadan.  The park was eerily empty, so we had some fun!

Our most memorable stops were the reptile zoo and the mosque.  This guy was behind glass, and followed me carefully as I tried to capture his beauty.

Annie, the Komodo dragon, and I became very close friends.  She was NOT behind glass, but had very nice manners and we got along splendidly.  I was pleased she kept her venomous tongue to herself!

Our final stop was at the mosque.  We felt honored to be allowed inside during their special prayer time.

Today I learned that living in a religious country is enormously different than the life we live in the US.  In Indonesia, religion is foremost in the citizen's lives.  Meetings and classes have all began and ended with prayer, traffic patterns change, and people's daily routines are altered due to practicing their faith.  Children are required to take religion classes, and are assessed on their ability to learn and practice their chosen religion.  There is a mystical beauty in hearing the call to prayer over loudspeakers in the city, a humbleness in removing my shoes upon entering a mosque, and a feeling of graciousness when a stranger clasps my hands, kisses them, and blesses me.  Even though we don't share the same religion, the message of love for humankind is strongly felt.