Rank Country Area (square kilometers)

1. Russia (17,075,400)
2. Canada (9,976,140)
3. United States (9,629,091)
4. China (9,596,960)
5. Brazil (8,511,965)
6. Australia (7,686,850)
7. India (3,287,590)
8. Argentina (2,776,890)
9. Kazakhstan (2,717,306)
10. Sudan (2,505,810)

Dear Reader

Please let me introduce my country, Indonesia to you. I am a native born Indonesian and have lived here all my life. My life is very simple: I live in the suburbs, in a small village, Makassar, in South Sulawesi. I am working in tourism. My parents work as subsistence farmers. I would like to relate a little information about the area in which I live. This gives me the opportunity not only to practice my English, but also to become more self reliant and learn from others.

First, I would like to change the views of anyone who thinks that Indonesia is dangerous to visit. Be assured that the real problems that exist here are internal and are related to the way our government works. The people of Indonesia are peaceful and are as shocked by the recent Bali bombing as the rest of the world, and want no part of this global terrorism.

Secondly, I want to make one thing very clear, that Indonesia is a very beautiful country and is an interesting place to visit and far different to the media’s view of terrorism and danger. On behalf of all of my people, I would like to stress: INDONESIA IS PEACE LOVING AND FROWNS ON ALL VIOLENCE.

Most people coming to Indonesia know only Bali, which is a great shame as Indonesia is an archipelago consisting of 17,000 islands in 27 Provinces, and one of them is SULAWESI. Sulawesi, formerly known as CELEBES has a total land area of about 227,000 square Kilometers and is divided in to four areas or provinces : south, central, northeast and the north, with a total population of over 10 million people.

Sulawesi is home to an amazing variety of people. The majority are fisherman, catching flying fish, shark, tuna, mackerel, squid, as well as other fish. We have farmers who grow wet and dry rice, maize, tapioca, sago, vegetable, coffee, cacoa and cloves. There are numerous small groups of upland people who practice slash and burn agriculture in the interior of Sulawesi. Unemployment is a big problem in my country.

Sulawesi is full of rich and varied cultures and traditions, languages and religious beliefs practiced by several ethnic groups such as: Makassar, Bugis, Mandar, Pamona, Tolaki, Manadoi and the Hulontalo. There are many religions, including Islam, Christianity, Budhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and Animism. The Animism beliefs until now can mainly be found in Torajaland or Tana toraja, an upland area of southern Sulawesi. Here the religion’s belief has a special name in the local language called “Aluk Todolo.” Aluk mean :rules or belief and Todolo means: Ancestor. According to this teaching, human beings in the world have only two problems that are opposites, for example: ” lose or benefit”, and “happiness or sadness”. This philosophy has been manifested into their ceremonies and they have two kinds of ceremony: Thanks Giving Ceremony and Funeral ceremony. The Funeral Ceremony is very sacred because according to the Animists, Death is the end of life.

If you come and visit tana toraja in Sulawesi, you can see many houses in the village, and the owners put the body of their loved ones in a coffin in a room and consider them as sick person before they died, until a funeral is held although this maybe as many as 10 or 20 years have passed from the date of actual death.

After the funeral is held, the family take the coffin to a cave in a mountain for burial. The cave can also function as a house. Their philosophy is that ” Death is an event that changes from the real world to the unreal world”.

I hope from this small article you can get a feel for how remarkable Sulawesi is. Although it is my home, I believe it is quite special. If you are planning a trip to Indonesia, do please come and visit Sulawesi, and do not hesitate to contact me for information about tours and personal itineraries. I would be very happy to share my knowledge with you and help to show you around.

For more information, please visit my simple website: http//www.alamnusantaratour.ch

Please be assured that our traditions of warmth, trustworthiness and memorable hospitality make an enduring memory for our guests.

Syamsu Alam (Alam)

Tel/Fax. (062)411-553927

E-mail alamnusantara@hotmail.com

Website: www.alamnusantaratour.ch

Puerto Maldonado, Peru: The Piedras Biodiversity Center (affiliated with Tambopata Expeditions) is looking for for 2 volunteers to help out with an amphibian survey scheduled for November/December of this year. The project will last about 6 weeks, and the work will be “quite adventurous,” involving the night-time collection of various frogs and toads in swamps and streams. Previous experience is helpful but not necessary, and all volunteers will be trained. This is a great way to get into the jungle while helping a worthwhile project. It is also easy on the pocketbook! If this sounds like the project for you, please email Tambopata Expeditions at info@tambopataexpeditions.com and visit their website at www.tambopataexpeditions.com

Did you miss out on a Gap Year when you were 18 and are considering making up for it now? Have you always wanted to be a TV star ? The BBC have asked us to help find a number of mature (30 +) people who are wanting to volunteer abroad and star in a documentary. The programme will show how the various volunteers cope with the planning and the assignment itself. It will focus on how they are affected by the experience.

So if you have always wanted to volunteer abroad and be a TV star, get in touch with us, Muir’s Tours now. We provide a wide range of support to various communities in Asia, Africa and the Americas. If you want to be one of the 8 BBC stars you need to be free to travel abroad during the period December to March. The ideal candidates will be:

• over 30
• self-financing, or at least have a healthy budget
• planning to travel alone
• planning to leave in late 2003 / early 2004.

Get some ideas from our list of placements and then we put you in touch with the Beeb. See http://www.nkf-mt.org.uk/volunteer.html

A recent UK scientific study on the efficacy of sun creams says that although they help prevent sunburn, lotions fail to block out the harmful ultraviolet rays which can cause the skin cancer. Sun block could give sun worshippers a false sense of security.

Burns specialist Professor Roy Sanders said that the only way to really protect the skin is to stay in the shade at the hottest times of the day or cover up with hats and T-shirts.

According to Professor Sanders, one in 68 of the present UK adult population will be diagnosed with malignant melanoma – the most dangerous form of skin cancer – at some point in their life. By 2010, however, that figure will have risen to one in 50.

Skin cancer can be caused by two types of ultraviolet light, the short, energetic wavelengths of light in the sun’s rays. UVA penetrates the skin most deeply and can suppress the immune system and damage cells. UVB also damages skin cells. The ‘factor’ rating on a bottle of sun block refers to the level of protection against UVB, historically considered the greater danger. A little-known one to four star system – normally printed on the back of bottles – indicates the level of protection against UVA.

Why is that the low cost airlines don’t offer frequent flier awards? It seems that unlike the US, none of the European low cost carriers have frequent-flier programs. Southwest Airlines, the model for low-cost carriers, including our friends Ryanair, gave away 2.3 million free tickets last year – more than United Airlines – with its online “double bonus” promotion, which means that with four trips you get one free when you reserve on the Web. Is this something we should be demanding?

~~~~~~~~~~

Our webmaster noticed that Ryanair offer a telephone service called Ryanair telecom. As we are usually unkind about Ryanair, we thought this month we’d try and find something kind to say about them, so here are the details on their latest special offer. We have not used it and can’t say if it is any good, but were bemused that this was another one of their activities. This is what they say:

We have an offer on at the moment giving away 1,000,000 FREE calls in the form of 50,000 x 20 minute calls. To get your free calls, call+353 1 246 23 33and we will call you back within 15 seconds! You must call from your fixed line phone and register with a Visa or MasterCard credit card. Once you register, you will then receive a free call from your mobile or fixed line phone. You will get a 20 minutes FREE talk time if you call from your fixed line phone to any fixed line phone (premium rate calls excluded) in Europe, Australia, China, North America, South Africa or Russia when you successfully register. This offer applies to touch tone phones and excludes calls made from payphones, switchboard phones or Internet phones. If the call exceeds 20 minutes, you will be charged at prevailing rates. Ryanair Telecom reserves the right to refuse to supply this service and may discontinue this offer or service at anytime. This offer is also subject to our normal terms and conditions .