Bendungan Hilir
Jakarta, Indonesia

If you've seen James Nachtwey's documentary "War Photographer", this place looks vaguely familiar. The main character of the documentary's setting in Indonesia was a one-armed one-legged man, who was hit by a train. (We'd had the chance to see him). There are more people. Able-bodied people. And they all live there, between and around the train tracks. Possessions nothing more than other people's trash.

What was most fascinating to me was these people's appreciation of what they have.

That's our problem these days. We take everything for granted. Cellphones, cars, tv, iPods, toilets, showers, parents.

These people didn't own much. They did, however, own the most important thing of all, family.

Although you could see that these people here could be much better off, they still put on a smile for us.

I definitely respect people like this a lot more than others.

I'll be honest, I take things for granted all the time. Walking around through this part of town made me realize that I need to enjoy and appreciate what I have even more.

You should too.