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Day 22: REDD+, Final Dinner

Our day began at 12pm when we drove to the School of Business and Management. We met with Heru Prasetyo who used to work for REDD+. He made a presentation about his work at REDD+. He seemed very knowledgeable about the topic of managing forestry, but he was cynical about the politics of land and forestry management.
  • The bickering between the merged Ministries of Forestry and Environment
  • Missed opportunities by the government when REDD+ was disbanded
    • Funding tied to REDD+ deliverables from the Norwegian government lost due to lack of structure in how the money would be channeled in the government of Indonesia

We left at 3pm for Artotel. When we got to the hotel, I napped for an hour. We left for Tugu Restaurant at 5.50pm. A Bali restaurant, it had all the features of Bali: huge carved figures, gamelan music, offerings in front of entrances etc. The dinner was awesome. The most remarkable parts of it included a Balinese dance. It brought back all the memories of Bali and the cha-cha dance. Second, Zack, Russell and Florencia all made us paper plates awards in recognition of our best traits. I was given the award for "Best/Worst Bus DJ". It was very sweet of them. Afterwards, Zack read a rap describing us, and the experiences we had.

Zack left midway in the dinner to catch his flight home (he had been smart enough to leave on the 20th, as opposed to the rest of us who were all leaving on the 21st). The rest of the dinner proceeded well, with a bunch of toasts, photos and selfies. I made sure to take selfies with everyone that I hadn't done before (for my blog, and for the memories).

When dinner was over, about a third of us went to the bar to drink some more and keep the party going, while the rest headed home, and to more partying on the rooftop bar of the Artotel. Later, we all headed home, and joined the rooftop party. We kept partying, as we kept Andrea company until Don arrived, after which the party ended. It was a lovely evening!

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Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

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