The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

Please submit your favorite, recent photograph to be consid- ered for Local Lens. Images must be high resolution (at least 300 dpi at 8” x 10”, or 1 MB or larger) and must not be in print else- where. Include a short descrip- tion of the scene/event, as well as your name, brief biodata and the type of camera used. Send to locallens@afsa.org . 94 SEPTEMBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LOCAL LENS BY PAUL TAYLOR n NORTH SULAWESI, INDONESIA E very year at the start of the Islamic festival of Hari Raya (Idul Fitri), tens of millions of Indonesians return to their home villages in a migration known in the Javanese lan- guage as mudik . This involves an unbelievably huge mass movement of people, similar to China’s Spring Festival (or Lunar New Year) celebrations. Even in predominantly Christian parts of the religiously diverse Indonesian archipelago, it is easy to feel the buzz of mudik . The buses, trains and planes used by migrants on the more populous island of Java are replaced by hundreds of water taxis serving the island communities of North Sulawesi, like those shown here. n Paul Taylor is the senior commercial officer at U.S. Embassy Jakarta. He has previously served in West Africa and China and spent many years designing market entry strategies for U.S. companies seeking opportunities in the PRC marketplace. He took this photo with his OnePlus 7 Pro.