Disgusting things...

There isn't much about Indonesia that disgusts me-at least, not yet. I have yet to get used to Indonesian snacks. I was given one a few days ago before our staff chapel. It was a hunk of sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf. I took a small bite, thinking there might be a jelly blob or something sweet in the middle. I tried hard not to make a face when I found out it was chicken, even though it didn't taste like chicken to me. (I discreetly threw it away.)

There's an animal here in Indonesia called the kopi luwak. ("Kopi" means "coffee" in Bahasa.) I got the following information from http://www.thebeanshop.com/shop/detail.asp?prodid=100027 (Click on it for images of this thing, because I couldn't copy and paste an image of it into my blog.)
"The ripest and best coffee beans are collected by the Indonesian civet cat, the Luwak, (kopi meaning coffee) which eats the coffee cherry and then passes the beans out. The Indonesians then collect the droppings and retrieve the coffee beans. They are washed and then roasted by the bean shop to order. The digestive process is said to break down enzymes in the coffee beans resulting in a low acid, smooth coffee. See if you agree, certainly a conversation piece for after dinner coffees!"

YUCK!!!
This article does a great job of sugar coating the actual process of the coffee beans from the luwak. I'm positive this isn't healthy in any way, even though the article claims it is. Plus, a cup of this coffee can range anywhere from $30 US--$75! (I really, truly saw a sign in Jakarta at a coffee shop that advertised a cup for $75. I am sooo not kidding...)
Someone very, very bored and desperate must have discovered this process. Don't worry-I refuse to try the coffee. My system's already in enough shock as it is.

Here's something else disgusting: mystery footprints! They were on the wall when I first moved in, and they're directly below the window in my upstairs bathroom. (The window can open, but I mostly leave it locked shut.) They're way too big to be a gecko's, and Christine says they're too small to be a rat's footprints. I don't know how I feel about that statement; that means rats are super-huge here. I haven't seen any yet, which is more than fine with me!

I hope these aren't from a kopi luwak!

One word: GROSS.