Obama and Indonesia

My current bedside companion is President Obama's The Audacity of Hope (I know, I am a little late) and I have finally gotten to the section describing his time spent in Indonesia.  For one thing it is helping me get my facts straight after having had Indonesians spout all sorts of outlandish and entertaining claims about Obama's Indonesian father, the many places he lived, and how they are his cousin/friend/neighbor.  Obama’s description of Indonesia starts with the basic facts and statistics and then points out the ugly truth: “Most Americans can’t locate Indonesia on a map.”  I am all too well aware of this but there was another quote that I can even more relate to, “Our family was not well off in those early years… We lived in a modest house on the outskirts of town, without air-conditioning, refrigeration, or flush toilets.”  That is exactly how I and most other Indonesians still live! and what makes it more outstanding is that this is 40 years later from the time he lived in Jakarta.  With President Obama scheduled to come to Indonesia March 20-22 it will be interesting to see how the Indonesian public feels about his visit and how he reconnects to the city he spent part of his childhood.  I am hopeful that the new Comprehensive Partnership will help elevate Indonesia on the world stage to position its oft-touted population statistics could give it.