"The official monument marking the equator was originally erected in 1928 as a simple obelisk mounted with a metallic arrow. In 1930 a circle was welded to the arrow, in 1938 another cirlcle was added in the other direction and its subsequent incarnation is unintentionally funny, looking like a giant gyroscope on a pillar."
Sorry to say, I never made it to the monument.
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One unremarkably hot afternoon I found myself squatting on the sidewalk in Yogya, while the motor of the Vespa sat in pieces, splitting time between a cardboard box and a particularly radiant patch pavement. Across the street there was a bus depot where one side of the gate had fallen over. Bus depots are a really hive of activity, in spite of the fact that they are often just dusty lots ringed by corrugated tin roofed stalls.
Anyhow, when the time came to close up the gate, only one side could swing in to close. Undoubtedly this presents a problem in that anyone (without even dismounting from their Shogun motor bike) could gain access to the one of our most precious resources: the vacant lot. Thankfully Indonesia is in possesion of yet another precious resource, a ready supply of completely unengaged men on every street.
In this case about eight men picked up the gate and angled it against the other. String was procured and used to lash them together with what appeared to be the Chateau D'If of knots. 10 minutes later they returned from around the block, rolling a semi-conical piece of the road that had been torn up along a crooked path. Positioning it under the highest point of the A-frame; you could tell these guys were security experts. Shorly thereafter someone showed up with a metal pipe, which was wedged, through some team effort, into this piece of concrete. A few minutes more yielded a piece of bamboo that, after a few trial runs, was revealed to fit inside the pipe. More string was brought (a different color, undoubtedly someone had sprung for the variety pack) and tied to the top of the bamboo. Apparently it must have looked a little bit lonely because the redoubtable group returned in another 10 minutes with the garnish: a plastic shopping bag tied to the string. Eveyone looked around contentedly and then returned to their spots in the shade for a well deserved cigarette.
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One unremarkably hot afternoon I found myself squatting on the sidewalk in Yogya, while the motor of the Vespa sat in pieces, splitting time between a cardboard box and a particularly radiant patch pavement. Across the street there was a bus depot where one side of the gate had fallen over. Bus depots are a really hive of activity, in spite of the fact that they are often just dusty lots ringed by corrugated tin roofed stalls.
Anyhow, when the time came to close up the gate, only one side could swing in to close. Undoubtedly this presents a problem in that anyone (without even dismounting from their Shogun motor bike) could gain access to the one of our most precious resources: the vacant lot. Thankfully Indonesia is in possesion of yet another precious resource, a ready supply of completely unengaged men on every street.
In this case about eight men picked up the gate and angled it against the other. String was procured and used to lash them together with what appeared to be the Chateau D'If of knots. 10 minutes later they returned from around the block, rolling a semi-conical piece of the road that had been torn up along a crooked path. Positioning it under the highest point of the A-frame; you could tell these guys were security experts. Shorly thereafter someone showed up with a metal pipe, which was wedged, through some team effort, into this piece of concrete. A few minutes more yielded a piece of bamboo that, after a few trial runs, was revealed to fit inside the pipe. More string was brought (a different color, undoubtedly someone had sprung for the variety pack) and tied to the top of the bamboo. Apparently it must have looked a little bit lonely because the redoubtable group returned in another 10 minutes with the garnish: a plastic shopping bag tied to the string. Eveyone looked around contentedly and then returned to their spots in the shade for a well deserved cigarette.
1 comment:
Hey Buddy,
It was great to speak with you...perused a ton of your postings and am duly impressed...you're good...write some fiction!
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