Skaters of Samarinda Can All Heave A Giant Sigh Of Relief

Let’s talk about the things that Samarinda, my current hood, does not have. The city has no sidewalks. Instead, walking even a short distance requires trying to avoid on coming traffic to the best of your abilities. There are no helmets for babies. Apparently, it’s totally safe for babies to ride on motorbikes without them as long as they hold on really tightly. There are no mailboxes. It took me 2 weeks of cajoling to get my driver to take me to the one and only post office in the city. There is no drainage system. The streets flood every time it rains and become a swimming pool for little kids. There is no clear waste management plan. It seems that Indonesians favor a willy-nilly approach that includes placing trash randomly in piles. Sometimes, these piles are also lit on fire. And there are certainly no traffic laws. The streets are a sea of motorbikes, vans, and trucks that never seem to stop for any lights or use any signals. They do, however, do a great deal of beeping. There also is a lack of running water. This is why I usually see families soaping up in the very brown river on my way to work and I am currently unable to flush my toilet.

I have begun to get used to the fact that all of these things I never imagined a city not having, just don’t exist here. The citizens of Samarinda, which for the time being includes me, just have to find a way to get along without sidewalks, baby helmets, garbage men, mailboxes, road safety, and dependable running water. But you know what the people of Samarinda don’t have to go without? They don’t have to go without a place to shred [that's what they call it, right?]. Here is a picture of the skate park on the campus of my university. So maybe some people have to take baths in the really brown river and cram a family of four onto a single motorbike, but at least the kids have a place to do their kick flips.