So, you know how Neal "organized" a big birthday retreat to Bogor inclusive of all my colleagues from the middle school? Well, I believe I topped that for HIS lovely birthday!
If it wasn't enough to whisk Neal away to the Sultan Hotel for a "red carpet" stay-cation, I set it up for him to meet the entire Indonesian soccer team and get a personal encounter with the coach. And if that weren't enough, I also set up a special breakfast with guest, Macy Gray. Later that evening, I got her to put on a special concert all in Neal's honor. Because the weekend was all about him and celebrating his birthday, I, of course, made sure to procure special backstage passes where we finished out the show. And if THAT wasn't enough, you better believe the night rolled on into morning, sipping beers and enjoying conversations with Macy and 'Chef's Special' band members (one's to watch btw). Needless to say, Neal and I had to push each other out of bed Monday morning after a mere 2 hours of sleep! As my sister, Emily, mentioned...how the heck am I ever gonna top this birthday? I think we've summited.
We've had a month of regular weekend getaways commenced with a trip to our school's cabin in Puncak, along with loads of other weekenders escaping the grit and busyness of the workweek in Jakarta for fresh mountain air. Another newbie, Julia (recently in Panama!), with whom we have a budding relationship, actually won the lottery to get the JIS cabin for that weekend. The cabin sign up is done by lottery bc only 52 weekends in a year (and much less than that in a school year) is shared by all 100+ JIS teachers so it's common to invite lots of others up on your weekend. Plus, it makes the 2+ hour slow-paced travel hardly noticeable, and the nothingness of activity in the wilderness of Puncak pass with great conversation and entertainment. Everyone said it's cooler there, but I was in disbelief of needing sweatpants and longsleeves in Indonesia and didn't heed their advice. Hence, I was cold the morning and evening hours.
What does one do there with nothing around? Go for walks checking out flora and fauna, cook (cabin does not come equipped with the usual "help"), play games and RELAX! I was getting a bit stir crazy there, but Neal embraced the time to get up early checking out the birds! Best part for me: catching a troop of monkeys jumping over a treelined street right above us, and mama and baby stopping for a snack! Though Neal and I weren't lucky in the lottery this year, we do have another chance to head to the cabin next month with more of our newbie crew, Andy and Gretchen coming in from Gwangzhou, China.
A week's worth of work, and we were en route again, this time to the mystical Bali with 3 other couples! Coming from northern Asia, Bali seemed an exotic destination almost as much as it would be viewed from the states. I mistakenly believed that the closer in proximity to Bali, the less exotic it would appear, expecting to find a new adventure seeking out "exotic" to Jakarta expats! Come to find out, Bali still carries this mystical appeal for expats and even Jakarta locals who are a close 2-hour flight away. The short flight means we can put in a full day of work and be eating dinner (albeit a late one) in our Eco beach villa...AND stay through Sunday afternoon getting just enough of the scrumptious local fare and beautiful sunshiny days...and maybe too much of the local pasttime, chicken fighting. Looking forward to our next Bali escape, or it's upcoming younger island brother, Lombok.
Great escapes are to be had from this archipelago, however, we are often brought back to reality of living in a third world nation by our daily living. (Tho"Developing Nation" I think is the PC term these days, I don't see how Jakarta and Seoul fit into the same category.) After all, our main purpose for living here is to work, right!?! One easily identifiable characteristic of all "developing nations" is lack of cleanliness. We must be careful what we touch (tetanus shots are up to date!) where we step (wouldn't want to step off the side of the road into the sewage tracks!) and the hardest...what we ingest. Just as you're not supposed to drink the water in Mexico, one would never do it here. It's okay to brush your teeth, but I would never swash around a mouthful of water to rid the toothpaste residue. They say "don't eat uncooked vegetables!" especially salad! Lettuce is the worst culprit because it traps the most water. They call it "dirty water" and the worst of the dirties would be fecal matter. You're reading from a recent host of an amoeba certainly from that dirty water! Not fully sure where I picked him up, and for three weeks didn't know I had one. My symptoms were chronic nausea, and i couldn't keep anything down. I was, instead, expecting the typical response to food poisoning instead of the inconsistent and amoeba-induced bulimia. Within a day of proper meds, I realized how great I hadn't felt in three weeks! It's amazing how if little-by-little you lose sight of your norm. Hope my body has built up some immunities because I cannot go on forever without salads and fresh veggies!
No veteran status yet in our mere two and a half-months as a Jakarta expat, but already we feel pretty comfortable, knowing a few routes to get here and there, specific places to pick up our favorite breads or buy garden tools, and the drive times to certain areas depending on time of day. As one naturally gravitates toward feeling fully "adjusted" (as they call it), we are finding conversation topics 'adjust' accordingly to our environment; there are these complaints we often think or even say out loud, and as soon as they enter our minds or hear ourselves speak, we feel sheepish about having such silly worries, but these are our issues, indeed, so hear us out. Right now, we are now a week and a half without our pool operational. (I'm sure you're feeling so sorry for us!!) A dilemma we are still facing is whether to buy a car or not. At the moment we are leaning to doing so, but then we have to interview for drivers, and have yet another person on staff - ugh! (Now feels a bit of a drag to us!)
We do joke often about our "first world problems" just to keep perspective on our trajectory of learning what life is about here as a Jakarta expat. There's a response to this in Korean: tadpole (obviously translated) which basically means: don't forget where you came from. We still fully remember what it's like to drive ourselves around, do laundry, cook. Tips from veterans here included making an effort to do much for yourself in spite of the ease to pay someone to do it. A few regular things for now...We have opted to do our own grocery shopping, and Neal is eager to cook on weekends! By that time, I'm ready for some of our old favorites, and a break from the load of oil used in cooking Indonesian food. (I know, I know...hardly a complaint really.)
We hope to post again soon; next time we'll share our tales about our first trip in Java and learning bahasa indonesia (local language).
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