Actually, the title of this blog, Life in the Tropics, is probably a bit too broad for what I am actually writing about – well, planning on writing about since I really haven’t done much writing since I started this as an experiment last month. The topic is analogous to saying that I’m writing about Life in America. America is a large country with a diverse population and diverse climates and environments. If, for instance, I lived in Chicago, I would write something quite different than if I lived in Florida. Similarly, if I lived in a ritzy suburb of New York, I would write something significantly different than if I lived in a trailer park in Rohnert Park outside of San Francisco.
Ok. Now back to the tropics. If I lived in Jakarta with a population of over 10 million, that’s in the tropical zone, but it’s significantly different than living on a remote (which is how Sumbawa and the neighboring islands are sometimes referred to) island with a total population of 800,000. Then, too, there are the other countries in this part of the world like Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore (which I have an intense desire to visit right now for some reason). And, there are tropical areas in other parts of the world than Southeast Asia – the Caribbean for instance.
So to get this more precise. This blog is mainly about Life on a Tropical Island. The connotations that go with that phrase mirror what I am trying to write about: living on a tropical island, rural life, the life of a bule (white person) in Indonesia. Just what are the associations that stick to the phrase “life on a tropical island?” Sunshine, blue water, rolling white waves crashing on a white sand beach, wispy clouds painted on a pale blue sky, heat, brown-skinned natives, coconut trees swaying in a gentle breeze, tropical sex.
Now that the boundaries are somewhat set, let’s see what comes next.
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