20 hours later

Background: I am a class of 2020 midshipman at the United States Naval Academy

(Written with the sounds of Journey's, "Seperate Ways (Worlds Apart)," playing.)

After what seemed like an eternity without leg room, 20 hours of flight time, we arrived in Jakarta all the way from Baltimore. Thankfully, a 3 hour pit stop along with a bowl of ramen at Japan's Narita airport (surrounding city pictured right) allowed me to recuperate from a soul-crushing 11 hour flight. Darkness covered the city of Jakarta upon our late arrival. My jet-lagged self was wide awake at 0730, when I peered through the hotel room's curtains I could already see the equatorial humidity engulfing the surrounding area. The plan for our first day was to see some sights, taste some local cuisine, and provide some time to allow our bodies to adjust to the 11 hours of time difference. It was a slow morning, but, with much needed coffee in the bloodstream we hit the road around 1000. The first thing I noticed in our Grab car (the Uber of Indonesia) was the seemingly lawless streets of Jakarta, organized madness rules the roads. Mopeds are a constant, rapidly shifting around and fitting through every nook and cranny between cars.

Armed with my stereotypical American tourist look, camera in hand, we hit the sights first. Located in close proximity are the National Mosque (largest in SE Asia, opened in 1978) and the Jakarta Cathedral (dating back to 19th century Dutch colonial times). Our tourist guide at the mosque, Yusuf, pointed out the closely located places of worship are symbolic for the harmonious relationship between the two religions in Indonesia. Personally, I couldn't help but notice the striking difference of interior design. The ornate cathedral is embellished with detailed images of Jesus and St. Mary.

One of my favorite photos of the day in the Jakarta Cathedral

On the other hand only the words of Islam or Geometric shapes adorned the facade and interior of the Mosque. This philosophical difference is interesting to me. Where Islam believes images of prophets detract from the Qur'an, Catholicism has no issues depicting and praising the images of it's prophets.

The four of us Midshipman in front of the West Irian liberation monument. "Break those chains that bind you" -Journey

A hop, skip, and a jump later we found ourselves at the National Monument, where we foreigners were living and breathing tourist attractions (see left for a family posing with Charles). Being a blonde white guy over six feet tall, I figure I'm a bit of an anomaly around these parts. It was all fun though as I am your stereotypical, "bule," the Indonesian term used for white foreigner. I stuck out like a sore thumb which some local boys capitalized on, "Mistah, Mistah! Can we take pictcha with you?"

Naturally I obliged, though it was only fair of me to ask the same favor of them (see right, in front of the National Monument). Later on the USNA group enjoyed our inaugural Southeast Asian dining experience at an Indonesian joint known as Dapur Babah Elite. I enjoyed the meal, however, I do regret not noticing the one tiny pepper of pure spiciness which was in my soup. Thus far the locals have been incredibly kind and seem to have no problem with we few outsiders. All in all it has been a glorious start to the trip, I couldn't be more grateful to the USNA donors and the International Programs office which both made the this adventure of a lifetime possible.

Here's the entire group of five in the national mosque, most of us wearing a supplied piece of clothing due to a lack of pants.