I learnt an interesting expression last week:

Orang Jawa pandai bersyukur. Javanese people are good at being thankful.

It's true. This is a remarkably unmoany group of people.

Partly, this attitude is fed by religious faith. Partly, it stems from a willingness to engage in self-help and schemes for mutual help. But an awareness of "little things", I'm sure, also makes a contribution. So here, in the interests of also learning to pandai bersyukur, are some more of mine:

-- Eating the ayam goreng kindly provided by the university just before Ramadan (actually I think it was ayam penyet, as it had that squashed look, and came covered with the crispy bits that are called kremes)

-- Eating the classic fast-breaking fried banana and cassava kindly provided by a neighbour, along with a bowl of kolak (a slightly sweet and delicately flavoured soup, which also harbours pieces of banana and cassava)

-- Having our anniversary lunch at d'Omah -- tamarind juice, and crispy duck, with mountains more kremes, sambal, rice, and a nice Javanese salad

-- Watching more Indonesian movies (more on this later)

-- Finishing -- slowly but surely -- another novel in Indonesian

Of course, there are also lots of big things that I'm hugely thankful for at the moment: that I'm here; that I'm here with Nigel; that we have the chance to see more of Indonesia during the long vacation; and that my body heals...

Bersyukur, bersyukur...