In Lampung: Mar 10, 2008 (immigration woes)

I had a jolly good time at immigration today. I had to fill out all of these forms (which of course I had to buy...and the spiffy folder they came in), but then they turned out to be 6 different versions of the same thing, some in Indonesian and some in English. I decided to fill them all out. It really made no sense to write my name, passport info, visa info, birth date and place, nationality over and over again, but of course I did it anyway. Then the immigration officer, who had no idea that there was a huge national park in his province or that orangutans had not lived there for more than 10,000 years, insisted that my sponsor (the head of the research office in Jakarta) had to be there with me to sign this official letter. (It is official only when it has the special government stamp that of course I get to provide.) I explained that I had a letter in lieu of this other one from my sponsor’s office and that obviously he cannot come to the local immigration in Lampung office since he works in Jakarta. This partially worked and he agreed to call for confirmation and then, maybe, fax the letter to my sponsor to sign. They also went ahead and photographed me (on a velvety red background) and fingerprinted me. The fingerprinting was ridiculously thorough. I have never been arrested, but I did not know it would be quite so strange to have someone grasp your hand and firmly roll each inky digit across the paper and then redip your whole hand and slap that down on the paper as well. They then repeated with my left hand. It was like being born all over again, but in Indonesia. Actually, I think it is to have a record of me in case I become a criminal or die or something. The officer also mentioned something about the embassy, so maybe (in theory) they send them a copy. (They made two.) I also had to fill out my personal information on the other side of each fingerprinting card. I thought it was interesting that they asked for each of my parent's name, address, and date of birth, but then only asked for my wife's information, as though a female could not possibly be applying to live here alone. Well, at the end of all that I still have the pleasure of returning tomorrow in hopes of getting to pay around $70 and getting my KITAS (stay permit) for this year. Then, I just have to go to the governor's office and maybe the local police as well for more fun. Then there is the head of the parks office just outside the forest before I can finally escape.