Indonesian is the national language, which comes from Malaysian and is used across the country including in Jambi, my host city. Here, like in most places in Indonesia, people speak a local variety of Indonesian. The way people talk in Jambi is very similar to standard Indonesian, but with some slight changes in how things are spelled and pronounced, as well as some different vocabulary for everyday things. (In Indonesia, people use titles similar to “Mr.” and “Mrs.” to address people who are older and younger than them. In Jambi, the names used for younger people are different than elsewhere.)
The Indonesian rupiah (IDR, Rp, or rupiah for short). I have attached a picture of the cash that is used. $1 USD (U.S. dollar) is worth around Rp 16,000.
A bottle of water costs around Rp 3,000, or $0.30 USD. For comparison, meals generally cost somewhere between Rp 20-45,000, and a short taxi ride is usually around Rp 10,000.
