8 am Sunday Sept. 5 - slept 10-6 no problem; as before, AC on all night and still sleeping with no shirt on

Well, I was not asked to speak after all at last night's dinner - kind of a letdown since I was ready to start in Arabic briefly, continue in Indonesian briefly, and then talk a bit in English.The first speaker pointed me out when I walked into the auditorium and was asked to sit up front, and the 'official' photographer took way too many shots of me from various angles and distances.By the time I arrived with Pak Herizal, the language center director, the event was well underway; a hundred or so folks were there including some children, the men and the women sitting in separated groupings ( front/back ) on carpets on the floor.Two of the administrators I'd met on Fri. spoke at length - the first very seriously ( to which all were quite attentive ) and the second all smiles and jokes, which people either laughed at appreciatively or ignored to have side conversations.The rain - already heavy when I arrived - got SO intense ( plus frequent thunder )that even with mike volume on loud the speakers were being drowned out, almost.At the nominal sunset water, dates, and some little custardy snacks were served before everyone prayed ( I moved off to the side ).Just as the prayer ended and people were standing to go eat, the auditorium abruptly went totally black - 'mati lampu'!People used cell phones as flashlights and someone turned on the emergency diesel generator in a back corner - very loud, very stinky.I was asked to go through the buffet line first - again it was quite basic ( I finally 'got it' that when invited to attend such official buka puasa gatherings,people wait till they get home to do their serious eating for the night! ) But there was fish with a thick orange durian sauce, the infamous 'stinky' durian being a staple of Palembang cooking.After hearing about it for 25 years but never trying it, it was an anticlimax - I'd never have guessed it was durian if no one had told me.It was clearly 'fruity' but not in any distinctive way.Many men and a couple women teachers introduced themselves at least to the extent of shaking hands, and a few men ( Islamic scholars ) had a number of substantial questions for me.I had my picture taken with kids and families.But people seemed eager to leave.I met Herizal's teenage daughter Hikmah, who is a prizewinning storyteller ( and story writer ) in English at her school.Her initial hesitance disappeared in a hurry when she saw that she could understand me and that I was really interested in talking with her about her stories about her life so far.She wants to write a novel, she says.She asked to read the stories about my own childhood that I told her I typed out/saved on computer for the 'girls' at Sharjah Women's College.Herizal told me that there is a house available near his home, so who knows?I may up spending time regularly with his family and getting to know them all.I hope so.

One change he mentioned in my schedule, too: I will teach Writing 3, not Speaking 3.It doesn't matter to me, though you'd think they would want to take advantage of having a native speaker to help with pronunciation, etc.

I was back at the hotel by 7:30 pm and found I could get wifi in my room with a 'fair' signal ( it was 'poor' again this morning so I couldn't connect this morning until just now. I can always go to the lobby and use it there, as I did yesterday afternoon - and they said I can move to a room with a stronger signal later today ).I spent ages on the internet and then was ready to sleep.

No Zack or Widi - or other diners - in the café today at 7 am.Virtually the same ( free ) breakfast buffet as before, in steam trays but still lukewarm at best and with not much in the way of vegetables, meat, or flavor to spice up the fried rice or noodles.It could get old quickly. But I faced the same situation ( minus the lukewarm aspect ) all through my long SE Asia trip last year, so it's nothing new.

In the afetrnoon another intense downpour started and continued for 4 hours, turning what had been a steamy day into a very comfortable one. I sat on my balcony and enjoyed it for quite a while. And this is still supposed to be the 'dry season'.