Student reading a book: Miss, what is necrophilia?
Korean student: Miss, is Serena a black name?
26 March 2013
21 March 2013
Lightning Strikes and Car Crashes
Lightning struck my house this week. The worst ever. Like it blew stuff off the wall. Parts of my modem ended up in charred bits on the floor. Sparks came out of the light sockets and wall outlets. I wasn't home when it happened, but poor Ibu Sri was. She told me all about it. We had no electricity for several hours, because the breaker box got blown out as well. Someone came and replaced it though. Now that we have electricity, we're finding all kinds of things that got broken. Like my surge protector, my house phone, my internet, my stove, my washing machine, all the exterior lights.
Things that were plugged in that still work:
Water pump
Refrigerator
Desk lamp
Phone charger
That is all. So basically, the necessities.
I was grumbling the other day about how much it's gonna cost to fix all that stuff. I mean, the internet alone will cost $50 to fix. Then I did an inventory in my head of everything broken. And I had to stop and remind myself what a privilege it is to even have those things in the first place. I can live without them for awhile if I need to.
The same day the lightning struck, Ibu Sri and I were chatting about many things, as we often do. I only see her every few weeks, so we always have a lot of catching up to do. She asked if I heard what happened on Jalan Baru (the new road that circumvents town). I said no, but that the other day I was driving home on that road, and I had to turn around and go back because up ahead, I could see SO many people and motorbikes and cars stopped and standing in the street.
She said there was a bad accident and it was a good thing I turned around and went back. Because a motorbike fell, and the driver got run over by a semi. Ibu Sri said, "tubuhnya digini-giniin" while she made a spreading motion with her hand. She said his bones were scattered down the road.
My heart starts racing and I get a little weak in the knees when I hear stories like that. It's not because I'm scared of that happening to me. I mean, it could. And if it happens, then it's my time. Obviously, that would be tragic for my family and my many adoring fans. But if I get hit by a semi, then I get hit by a semi. I'm dead, and there's nothing I can do about it.
One of my biggest fears living in this country is SEEING a wreck like that. I mean, I ALMOST saw it last Friday. If I had kept driving to see what was going on, I could have seen a man's body smeared across the highway. I'm so thankful I turned around.
I'm not afraid of blood. Gore doesn't make me nauseous. I can butcher any animal with the best of them. But if I had to see a human being.... like that.... I am 90% sure I would either pass out or throw up. Even hearing STORIES of wrecks like that make me nauseous and sometimes I cry.
I pray a lot that I will never have to see anyone die. So far in my life, I never have. And based on where I live and how many accidents I have witnessed, I think that's downright miraculous.
Things that were plugged in that still work:
Water pump
Refrigerator
Desk lamp
Phone charger
That is all. So basically, the necessities.
I was grumbling the other day about how much it's gonna cost to fix all that stuff. I mean, the internet alone will cost $50 to fix. Then I did an inventory in my head of everything broken. And I had to stop and remind myself what a privilege it is to even have those things in the first place. I can live without them for awhile if I need to.
The same day the lightning struck, Ibu Sri and I were chatting about many things, as we often do. I only see her every few weeks, so we always have a lot of catching up to do. She asked if I heard what happened on Jalan Baru (the new road that circumvents town). I said no, but that the other day I was driving home on that road, and I had to turn around and go back because up ahead, I could see SO many people and motorbikes and cars stopped and standing in the street.
She said there was a bad accident and it was a good thing I turned around and went back. Because a motorbike fell, and the driver got run over by a semi. Ibu Sri said, "tubuhnya digini-giniin" while she made a spreading motion with her hand. She said his bones were scattered down the road.
My heart starts racing and I get a little weak in the knees when I hear stories like that. It's not because I'm scared of that happening to me. I mean, it could. And if it happens, then it's my time. Obviously, that would be tragic for my family and my many adoring fans. But if I get hit by a semi, then I get hit by a semi. I'm dead, and there's nothing I can do about it.
One of my biggest fears living in this country is SEEING a wreck like that. I mean, I ALMOST saw it last Friday. If I had kept driving to see what was going on, I could have seen a man's body smeared across the highway. I'm so thankful I turned around.
I'm not afraid of blood. Gore doesn't make me nauseous. I can butcher any animal with the best of them. But if I had to see a human being.... like that.... I am 90% sure I would either pass out or throw up. Even hearing STORIES of wrecks like that make me nauseous and sometimes I cry.
I pray a lot that I will never have to see anyone die. So far in my life, I never have. And based on where I live and how many accidents I have witnessed, I think that's downright miraculous.
19 March 2013
Picture Dump
Here are all the interesting pictures I have taken so far this year. I have divided them up into categories. Let’s start with…
HOME
It’s been raining REALLY hard the past couple of months. Good, get it out of your system, nature, then bring on the DRY WEATHER! I am ready for some sunshine and some dry clothes.
In other home news, my cats sometimes do really cute things. Like sleep in my neighbor’s planter, then ignore me when I take pictures of them. Because they are used to it.
That’s all for home. Anticlimactic, I know. Now, let’s move on to the other place I spend most of my time…
SCHOOL
Two of last year’s seniors came back to visit earlier this year! I got to see and visit with Vartika and JiHyun, two of my precious babies!! Haha…
I got to school one day and found this guy crawling around on my backpack. SCARY! Most of the caterpillars here have poisonous hair. If you touch it, you will get a skin infection or rash or boils. I’ve heard that some will never heal completely. Ew.
It’s getting to be the time of year where seniors start looking like this:
I believe the medical professionals refer to this ailment as senioritis. It is running rampant these days, even among the juniors!
Our beloved courtyard tree got a large chunk of its branches blown off in a storm one weekend. When we all came to school that Monday morning, roughly 1/3 of it was laying on the ground. In order to even it out and balance the weight of the remaining branches, several other branches had to be subsequently sawed off. Our tree with its nearly spherical foliage looks naked and sad now. But it had to be done to save its life.
Apparently, whiteboard erasers can mold. So that’s lovely.
And to close this section, here are two of my 10th grade students. I noticed them sitting and talking like this, so I pulled out my camera to take a picture, thinking this would embarrass them. It didn’t. They posed and demanded a re-do. I will never understand Asian boys…
I’ve taken a few trips so far this year. The first was in January to…
Jakarta
Melanie and I went to spend a girls weekend together before she moved to another island. We got discount plane tickets, and it was really interesting to fly in to the city over the north coast during flood season. What is normally a checkerboard of green rice paddies is now covered by a blanket of muddy water. Also, I love aerial photography, even if it’s just from the window of an airplane…
The ocean usually looks very blue from the sky, but it was completely brown every time a river flowed into it.
I didn’t take many pictures IN Jakarta because we were too busy shopping and hanging out! I did take this one though of a Chinese temple we saw from the highway at sunset.
And to prove that we were, in fact, busy shopping, here is the loot I came home with. I also brought home two cheeses that were already in the fridge when I thought to take a picture.
Look at all those delicious foods that I NEVER imagined I’d see in Indonesia!!! When I travel, food is really what I spend most of my money on. I mean, you really can’t pass up an opportunity to buy REAL molasses or Ghirardelli hot chocolate mix when you find it. Also not shown in the picture were the four bags of Doritos that I bought for $6 each…
One of the things I was MOST excited about was the fruit! Cherries, nectarines, and peaches were all available for sale in the supermarkets in Jakarta. They are imported, so not as delicious as they are in America, but still pretty amazing after years of not having them.
Now, keeping it a little closer to home, a bunch of friends took a day trip to…
SOLO
We went to spend time with Melanie the weekend before she moved. First, we hit up Starbucks, of course.
^^ Me, Melanie, and Navita. We took about 100 pictures, and I was a little cranky about it. This is one of the only ones where I’m actually smiling. Haha…
Next we went to one of my favorite bookstores. I was in a really random picture taking mood this day, so the only photo I took there was of the rack of dolls that freak me out EVERY TIME.
The mall… They built this mall last year, and it is quite fancy for Central Java! We went the weekend before Chinese New Year. It is now the year of the snake (in case you didn’t know), so they had a GIANT snake made of plastic cups stuffed in netting strung all the way around the interior of the mall. See it?
Out the window of the mall’s parking garage. It was rainy and gross and the streets were actually flooded.
Here we are after our dinner at the Malaysian restaurant. We call ourselves Tim AA (Team AA). I love this group of people so so so much!
So now back up to one of the oddest parts of the day. Before we began our drive to Solo, we swung by Dewi’s house (Dewi is second from the left in the front row of the picture above) to pick her up. And her husband was standing in the front yard with some friends… Giving their fighting cocks some practice! The things people do…
And another day trip to…
SEMARANG
We went to visit our friend Yohanes after he had surgery on his foot. I took some really weird pictures of nothing in particular. Here they are.
1. A random village.
2. New toll road in the works.
3. Reog street performers. I hate masks and large amounts of makeup and they always freak me out.
4. Some REALLY awesome guys that gave us directions. I love Indonesian old men. They are so cute.
Even more local…
SENIOR PICTURES
For the first time ever, I got to take senior pictures for some Indonesian students from the local Christian high school! One of them is my good friend, Cinta, and the other four are her classmates. They needed group and individual shots for their yearbook. We did an outdoor shoot at a nearby retreat center, and it rained the ENTIRE time we were shooting, but they were such great sports about it! The theme was vintage gothic, so I left all the pictures unedited so that they could edit them themselves to fit that style.
This is the only photo that I did edit a little bit. It is TOUGH to take pictures of brown skinned people wearing white clothes and hats in a forest on an overcast day!
And one last picture to leave you with. I found this photographer’s ad stuck to the inside of a door at a little hole in the wall restaurant. Anybody want a chicken in their wedding photos? Anyone?
17 March 2013
Back to Work
Sitting in my classroom on the first day of school after Spring Break.
Waiting for the first bell.
Students are already in the room hanging out.
I didn't fall asleep until after 2 last night/this morning.
I am so not ready for school to start again.
I am so not ready for teenagers.
Waiting for the first bell.
Students are already in the room hanging out.
I didn't fall asleep until after 2 last night/this morning.
I am so not ready for school to start again.
I am so not ready for teenagers.
A Rock and A Hard Place
I posted about the spirit world a couple of weeks ago, and one of the things I mentioned was about a friend whose car was stolen. I finally got the FULL story yesterday, and it is not at all like the story I originally heard. Here is how it went down.
My friend, H has a husband named N. They run a car rental company. What this means is basically that they own 2 cars and they also have connections to other people who own cars (not so many people own cars in Central Java) who are willing to allow their cars to be rented out. They also have friends who have drivers licenses who can serve as drivers. So you can talk to H or N if you need to go somewhere - let them know a few days ahead of time, and they'll arrange a car and driver, if needed. If you prefer to drive yourself, they'll arrange a time and place to drop the car off for you.
N knows someone who works at a local hotel. THAT guy "met" someone through his Blackberry phone who was coming in from Jakarta for a meeting and said he needed someone to pick him up at the airport in Semarang and drive him around for two days. Hotel guy let N know about the need. H and N had just bought a new car 2 days prior, so they sent a driver friend of theirs with the new car to help out the Jakarta guy.
Jakarta guy had ordered a room with 2 beds at a hotel in Semarang, and on the second day of meetings, Jakarta guy said he was tired and wanted to go back to the hotel. Driver went up with him, and Jakarta man made him some coffee. Some DRUGGED coffee. Jakarta guy waited for the driver to pass out, and he stole the keys and the car's registration, and took off. Without even paying for the hotel.
That is not even where it begins to get messy...
Once the driver came to and realized what happened, he was in a pretty bad situation. He didn't have enough money to pay for the hotel. But if the police got involved and found out the car was a rental, insurance wouldn't cover it (apparently renting cars is "at your own risk" in this country). He ended up calling the police. I guess if you get drugged and tricked, you get a free stay in a 4 star hotel - the police and hotel staff didn't hold him financially responsible for the room.
But now H and N are in a tough situation. The car cost 150 juta ($15,000). They made a down payment of 50 juta ($5000), but they still owe another $10,000 in monthly payments. If insurance covers it, they won't have to make any of those payments, and they'll just be out the $5000 down payment. If insurance doesn't cover it, they have to continue paying off the remaining balance. If the police accurately report what happened, insurance won't cover it. But we live in a country where police can be bought. If they pay the police $1000 - 1500, they will falsify the report, and insurance will cover the theft.
What would you do?? They have 60 days to decide.
Oh, and they're not gonna see that car again. The GPS was disabled on the road three-fourths of the way to one of the biggest shipping ports on the north coast of Java. The police are saying it's a mafia job. Happens all the time.
My friend, H has a husband named N. They run a car rental company. What this means is basically that they own 2 cars and they also have connections to other people who own cars (not so many people own cars in Central Java) who are willing to allow their cars to be rented out. They also have friends who have drivers licenses who can serve as drivers. So you can talk to H or N if you need to go somewhere - let them know a few days ahead of time, and they'll arrange a car and driver, if needed. If you prefer to drive yourself, they'll arrange a time and place to drop the car off for you.
N knows someone who works at a local hotel. THAT guy "met" someone through his Blackberry phone who was coming in from Jakarta for a meeting and said he needed someone to pick him up at the airport in Semarang and drive him around for two days. Hotel guy let N know about the need. H and N had just bought a new car 2 days prior, so they sent a driver friend of theirs with the new car to help out the Jakarta guy.
Jakarta guy had ordered a room with 2 beds at a hotel in Semarang, and on the second day of meetings, Jakarta guy said he was tired and wanted to go back to the hotel. Driver went up with him, and Jakarta man made him some coffee. Some DRUGGED coffee. Jakarta guy waited for the driver to pass out, and he stole the keys and the car's registration, and took off. Without even paying for the hotel.
That is not even where it begins to get messy...
Once the driver came to and realized what happened, he was in a pretty bad situation. He didn't have enough money to pay for the hotel. But if the police got involved and found out the car was a rental, insurance wouldn't cover it (apparently renting cars is "at your own risk" in this country). He ended up calling the police. I guess if you get drugged and tricked, you get a free stay in a 4 star hotel - the police and hotel staff didn't hold him financially responsible for the room.
But now H and N are in a tough situation. The car cost 150 juta ($15,000). They made a down payment of 50 juta ($5000), but they still owe another $10,000 in monthly payments. If insurance covers it, they won't have to make any of those payments, and they'll just be out the $5000 down payment. If insurance doesn't cover it, they have to continue paying off the remaining balance. If the police accurately report what happened, insurance won't cover it. But we live in a country where police can be bought. If they pay the police $1000 - 1500, they will falsify the report, and insurance will cover the theft.
What would you do?? They have 60 days to decide.
Oh, and they're not gonna see that car again. The GPS was disabled on the road three-fourths of the way to one of the biggest shipping ports on the north coast of Java. The police are saying it's a mafia job. Happens all the time.
Persecution
The island of Java is inhabited primarily by two different tribes - the Javanese and the Sundanese. I live in Java-land, which is most of Central and Eastern Java. The Sunda live on Western Java. Both tribes are predominantly Muslim, but the Sunda in general are more strongly so. In fact, the Sundanese are one of the least reached people groups in the world, with only about 0.1% claiming Christianity.
But God is moving in West Java. For the safety of those I know who are working there, I can't share much publicly. But many Javanese Christians have felt called to enter Sunda territory to live and work and carry out the Great Commission.
I heard a story today of a Sundanese Christian man who has been telling his neighbors about Jesus. He has even been bold enough to go into the Islamic schools there and teach about salvation. People have been coming to him with questions. Some, not brave enough to talk to him face to face, have communicated with him via SMS. Unfortunately, someone chose to use those SMSes against him. They were taken and shown to one of the heads of religion on the area. Local leaders convened and discussed what to do. Yesterday, the man was called to the home of his RW (neighborhood leader) and was given a choice.
He and his family could pack up and leave within the following three days. Or they could stay and their home and everything in it would be burned.
They made a very bold decision. He is sending his wife and kids to live with people from my church here. But he is staying. I don't know what his plan is. He may go underground. He certainly can't stay in his house or his neighborhood. If the religious leaders find out he is still there and still teaching, he could very possibly be killed.
Please pray. Pray for his safety. Pray that his decision wouldn't be in vain. Pray for his wife and kids as they face so much uncertainty. The rug is being pulled out from under them. They have three days to pack everything and say goodbye to everyone they've even known. And then they're going to move to live with people they've never met from a tribe that is not their own.
Pray for the Sundanese people. Pray for Indonesia.
But God is moving in West Java. For the safety of those I know who are working there, I can't share much publicly. But many Javanese Christians have felt called to enter Sunda territory to live and work and carry out the Great Commission.
I heard a story today of a Sundanese Christian man who has been telling his neighbors about Jesus. He has even been bold enough to go into the Islamic schools there and teach about salvation. People have been coming to him with questions. Some, not brave enough to talk to him face to face, have communicated with him via SMS. Unfortunately, someone chose to use those SMSes against him. They were taken and shown to one of the heads of religion on the area. Local leaders convened and discussed what to do. Yesterday, the man was called to the home of his RW (neighborhood leader) and was given a choice.
He and his family could pack up and leave within the following three days. Or they could stay and their home and everything in it would be burned.
They made a very bold decision. He is sending his wife and kids to live with people from my church here. But he is staying. I don't know what his plan is. He may go underground. He certainly can't stay in his house or his neighborhood. If the religious leaders find out he is still there and still teaching, he could very possibly be killed.
Please pray. Pray for his safety. Pray that his decision wouldn't be in vain. Pray for his wife and kids as they face so much uncertainty. The rug is being pulled out from under them. They have three days to pack everything and say goodbye to everyone they've even known. And then they're going to move to live with people they've never met from a tribe that is not their own.
Pray for the Sundanese people. Pray for Indonesia.
14 March 2013
The Heaviness of Goodness
I just had a deep thought.
It's really easy to focus on and hold on to the negative things that happen to us or the bad things that people do to us. Those things often feel like a burden or a weight that we carry. But what about the good things? Why are they so easy to overlook? Maybe because they're not heavy. We don't have to carry them. We're not reminded of them. And so we quickly forget about them.
I've had the same motorbike helmet for the past four years. It's in pretty rough shape. Thankfully, it's never had to keep me safe in an accident, but it's been beat up pretty good anyways. When my friend, Melanie, moved to Kalimantan last month, she bequeathed me her much nicer and newer helmet. I forgot about it until her former roommate brought it over to me earlier this week. Today was the first time I wore it anywhere. It's heavier than my old helmet, and when I drive, I feel that weight. The weight of her goodness.
I wore that helmet today to drive out to Pak Kur's village. I spent the day with him and his family. While I was there, a neighbor lady that I've never even met went out to the tree in her front yard and picked a whole bag full of rambutan fruit for me to take home. Then, as I was getting ready to leave, Pak Kur's wife gave me roughly 15 pounds of rice. I had plans to meet up with some girls from church for karaoke, and by the time I left the village and drove back in to town, there was no time to go home. So I went straight to karaoke. And from there, we walked down the street for dinner. And the whole way, I felt ridiculous carrying about 20 pounds of rice and rambutan in plastic bags with me. It was so heavy! It was the weight of their goodness.
I don't think anyone in the world understands me the way Melanie does. God brought her into my life at just the right time, and I'm so thankful for her friendship. And nobody has adopted me into their family the way Pak Kur has. I'm thankful for my Indonesian family that takes care of me, almost overzealously at times.
I don't want to be the kind of person who doesn't see the good in life. And I'm thankful that I got to carry those heavy things today to remind me that even when I don't feel it, I am blessed in a million and one ways.
It's really easy to focus on and hold on to the negative things that happen to us or the bad things that people do to us. Those things often feel like a burden or a weight that we carry. But what about the good things? Why are they so easy to overlook? Maybe because they're not heavy. We don't have to carry them. We're not reminded of them. And so we quickly forget about them.
I've had the same motorbike helmet for the past four years. It's in pretty rough shape. Thankfully, it's never had to keep me safe in an accident, but it's been beat up pretty good anyways. When my friend, Melanie, moved to Kalimantan last month, she bequeathed me her much nicer and newer helmet. I forgot about it until her former roommate brought it over to me earlier this week. Today was the first time I wore it anywhere. It's heavier than my old helmet, and when I drive, I feel that weight. The weight of her goodness.
I wore that helmet today to drive out to Pak Kur's village. I spent the day with him and his family. While I was there, a neighbor lady that I've never even met went out to the tree in her front yard and picked a whole bag full of rambutan fruit for me to take home. Then, as I was getting ready to leave, Pak Kur's wife gave me roughly 15 pounds of rice. I had plans to meet up with some girls from church for karaoke, and by the time I left the village and drove back in to town, there was no time to go home. So I went straight to karaoke. And from there, we walked down the street for dinner. And the whole way, I felt ridiculous carrying about 20 pounds of rice and rambutan in plastic bags with me. It was so heavy! It was the weight of their goodness.
I don't think anyone in the world understands me the way Melanie does. God brought her into my life at just the right time, and I'm so thankful for her friendship. And nobody has adopted me into their family the way Pak Kur has. I'm thankful for my Indonesian family that takes care of me, almost overzealously at times.
I don't want to be the kind of person who doesn't see the good in life. And I'm thankful that I got to carry those heavy things today to remind me that even when I don't feel it, I am blessed in a million and one ways.
12 March 2013
Not A Picture Book
Awhile ago, I was trying to think of ways to improve my Indonesian vocabulary. I earned a relatively high score on the verbal portion of the SAT my senior year in high school, so I started thinking about how I achieved that and if the same methods could help me with my Indonesian skills. One thing I came up with is that for most of my childhood, I was a voracious reader, so I was constantly being exposed to new words.
I got the great idea to start reading in Indonesian. I started with the Bible. Whatever I was reading on any given day, I would read first in English, and then in Indonesian. Eventually, I stopped reading the Bible in English altogether, and these days, I mostly read it in Indonesian.
Then I realized how cheap Indonesian books are! I mean, I was used to paying $10-15 for imported books in English when I could find them. But Indonesian books are like $3 or less!
I started out by buying some upper elementary books in Indonesian. Short chapter books with a picture every few pages. Then I bought a couple of books translated from English - Mandie, which I read in middle school, and Hunger Games - because knowing the context of the story before you dive into it really helps you understand a lot more than you would otherwise.
I eventually started perusing the best sellers racks at Indonesian bookstores. I bought and read a couple with interesting looking covers. Because I ALWAYS judge a book by its cover. But the problem with Indonesian books is that they are all love stories. Really cheesy love stories that are pretty hard for me to get into. Indonesians are obsessed with love.
So I asked a few friends if they knew of any Indonesian books that were NOT love stories. Nobody did. Until I went to Jakarta in January. I asked my friend Pierre, and he recommended an Indonesian author, S Mara Gd. Weird name, but he said she's the Indonesian Agatha Christie. Being someone who likes a good mystery, I decided to check her out, and after a couple months of searching, I found 4 of her novels in a bookstore in Solo. I picked the one with the most normal looking cover.
I just finished the first page, and I understood all of it! Feeling pretty happy about that. So I decided to blog about it.
Because it's spring break and I do what I want.
PS - I took the picture and wrote this post on my tablet. And now that I look at it on my computer, I see that the picture is sideways, but I can't figure out how to rotate it, and I don't feel like re-doing the whole post, so I'm leaving it. You're welcome.
I got the great idea to start reading in Indonesian. I started with the Bible. Whatever I was reading on any given day, I would read first in English, and then in Indonesian. Eventually, I stopped reading the Bible in English altogether, and these days, I mostly read it in Indonesian.
Then I realized how cheap Indonesian books are! I mean, I was used to paying $10-15 for imported books in English when I could find them. But Indonesian books are like $3 or less!
I started out by buying some upper elementary books in Indonesian. Short chapter books with a picture every few pages. Then I bought a couple of books translated from English - Mandie, which I read in middle school, and Hunger Games - because knowing the context of the story before you dive into it really helps you understand a lot more than you would otherwise.
I eventually started perusing the best sellers racks at Indonesian bookstores. I bought and read a couple with interesting looking covers. Because I ALWAYS judge a book by its cover. But the problem with Indonesian books is that they are all love stories. Really cheesy love stories that are pretty hard for me to get into. Indonesians are obsessed with love.
So I asked a few friends if they knew of any Indonesian books that were NOT love stories. Nobody did. Until I went to Jakarta in January. I asked my friend Pierre, and he recommended an Indonesian author, S Mara Gd. Weird name, but he said she's the Indonesian Agatha Christie. Being someone who likes a good mystery, I decided to check her out, and after a couple months of searching, I found 4 of her novels in a bookstore in Solo. I picked the one with the most normal looking cover.
I just finished the first page, and I understood all of it! Feeling pretty happy about that. So I decided to blog about it.
Because it's spring break and I do what I want.
PS - I took the picture and wrote this post on my tablet. And now that I look at it on my computer, I see that the picture is sideways, but I can't figure out how to rotate it, and I don't feel like re-doing the whole post, so I'm leaving it. You're welcome.
Who Needs the Beach?
I was just about to leave a friend’s house earlier when it started to POUR down rain. Like rain so hard you could barely see 5 feet our their front window. So I stayed and waited and played with their adorable 2 year old, Dea. And I waited some more. And waited some more. And after half an hour, when it hadn’t let up at all, I finally just decided to brave it and drive home.
That was an interesting choice. I’ve never driven in rain SO hard before – and that’s saying a lot. It took twice as long as normal to get home because every road – even the main bus/truck route through town – had turned into a raging river. LITERALLY, a river. And when I say “literally”, you can trust that I mean it, because one of my current pet peeves is when people misuse the word “literally”. At one intersection, I had to put my feet down and wait for some traffic to go by before I could pull out.
THE WATER WAS 3/4 OF THE WAY TO MY KNEES. It was running OVER the floorboard of my motorbike. As I left the main road and got back into my neighborhood, every street was like a tributary of water flowing into the next street. At every side street, I had to swerve to the middle of the road to avoid the white-capped rush of water flowing out. At no point during my drive home could I even see the asphalt. And I was thankful that I was driving on familiar roads, roads where the location of every speed bump and every pothole and every drainage grate was already etched into my memory.
I actually considered pulling over to take a picture, but it probably would have ruined my camera. And I really just wanted to get home and jump in a hot shower.
I did take these pictures though…
My front yard. It was almost knee deep in spots as well. I couldn’t even drive my bike through it to get to my normal parking spot. This is after only about 30 minutes of rain!
This is what I get for buying the most expensive rain jacket at Niki Baru, thinking it would be the best quality. Not so much… Too bad my last rain jacket got stolen. Or lost. Or something. It was a good one, and it only cost $3!
The floor inside the front door looked like this… But not anymore, because I already mopped it.
One of the culprits hiding from the thunder under the kitchen table. She looks funny in this picture without her ears.
So it’s Spring Break this week, and this is how I’m spending it. Driving in muddy monsoons and cleaning paw prints off the kitchen floor. Meanwhile, all my co-workers and friends are at the beach and are kind enough to regularly post pictures of their amazing vacations on a multitude of different social networking sites so that I will be sure to see them ALL.
Also, my one neighbor who lives in the thin-walled apartment adjacent to mine has a miniature poodle. I really hate poodles. But this one is OK most of the time. I’m used to it. Its one major fault is that if its owner leaves, it barks and whines until she returns home. This generally is not a problem as we are both at school at the same time, so I’m not home to hear the dog, and she rarely goes out in the evenings. But this week, she went to Lombok for Spring Break… Yeah… This dog has not stopped barking its high pitched little poodle bark since Saturday – except for when it is asleep. But it wakes up at 4 AM. And coincidentally, so do I now.
Spring Break hasn’t been all bad so far though. I went swimming with some friends this morning at a really beautiful infinity pool up the mountain. We swam from 9 – 10 in the morning, and it was cloudy. I still managed to get a pretty nice burn. Who even needs the beach?
09 March 2013
Adikku
One of my good friends here just made me the topic of her blog today!! She wrote a really long and SUPER sweet post about our friendship. So if you want to read about how amazing I am, you can click HERE. Just kidding! - it also mentions several of my faults, so I can't get too big of a head.
But seriously, it's nice to have a reminder from time to time that even in the midst of what sometimes seems like a confusing whirlwind that I like to call "Living in Southeast Asia", I've managed to make a positive impact on someone and I must be doing SOMETHING right. : )
Makasih banyak, Cin. I'm always here for you! <3 p="">
But seriously, it's nice to have a reminder from time to time that even in the midst of what sometimes seems like a confusing whirlwind that I like to call "Living in Southeast Asia", I've managed to make a positive impact on someone and I must be doing SOMETHING right. : )
Makasih banyak, Cin. I'm always here for you! <3 p="">
05 March 2013
Children
Student: ARG! Why can't I get this problem!? I thought I was good at this stuff! You know how I feel right now?
Me: No, how?
Student: It's like when you think you're so good at guitar, then someone tells you that you stink and you go lock yourself in your cold, dark bedroom and you close the door of your heart and cry.
Male student: Is it weird to wear a skirt?
Me: No, why?
Student: Doesn't it kind of feel like you're not wearing anything at all? That would feel awkward.
Me: No. The material still touches your legs. You can tell you're wearing something. It's like wearing shorts, just without the middle part.
Student: Yeah, see, when I wear shorts, I usually feel kind of naked.
Me: Really??
Student: Yeah, I had the same issue when I made the change from tighty whities to... oh... you're a teacher... um. Never mind.
Student: I had a dream about you last night!
Me: Oh?
Student: It was a little scary.
Me: Oh, my... What was it about?
Student: I was lost in a dark forest. And you were one of the trees. Your body was the trunk of the tree and your hair was like an afro, but it was REALLY long, and that was all the branches and leaves of the tree.
Me: I can actually see that...
Student: So I was lost and I was scared in this forest and I saw you. And then you detached from the ground and started chasing me. But when you chased me, your head got pointier and pointier like a pencil. It was really scary. And then I woke up.
Me: No, how?
Student: It's like when you think you're so good at guitar, then someone tells you that you stink and you go lock yourself in your cold, dark bedroom and you close the door of your heart and cry.
Male student: Is it weird to wear a skirt?
Me: No, why?
Student: Doesn't it kind of feel like you're not wearing anything at all? That would feel awkward.
Me: No. The material still touches your legs. You can tell you're wearing something. It's like wearing shorts, just without the middle part.
Student: Yeah, see, when I wear shorts, I usually feel kind of naked.
Me: Really??
Student: Yeah, I had the same issue when I made the change from tighty whities to... oh... you're a teacher... um. Never mind.
Student: I had a dream about you last night!
Me: Oh?
Student: It was a little scary.
Me: Oh, my... What was it about?
Student: I was lost in a dark forest. And you were one of the trees. Your body was the trunk of the tree and your hair was like an afro, but it was REALLY long, and that was all the branches and leaves of the tree.
Me: I can actually see that...
Student: So I was lost and I was scared in this forest and I saw you. And then you detached from the ground and started chasing me. But when you chased me, your head got pointier and pointier like a pencil. It was really scary. And then I woke up.
03 March 2013
I Am an Adult
There is no such thing as a phone plan in Indonesia. Instead, you buy a cell phone at a cell phone store. Then you go to a pulsa store to buy a SIM card. You can pick what carrier you want and then choose a number from a list of available numbers. "Beautiful" numbers cost more. Those are numbers that have a lot of repeat digits in them, thus making them easier to memorize - Indonesian cell phone numbers are 12 digits long!
Then you pay to have pulsa (essentially phone minutes) put on your SIM card. Each phone company has different costs for different things, and they change all the time. I have never, ever seen a published list of costs for any Indonesian cell phone company. With my phone company, Mentari, I can SMS the States for about 5 cents. But if I want to call the States, the cost varies depending on the day of the week and the time of day. So far, late night is the cheapest time I've found. I can talk for about $2/hour, but I have no idea what the per minute rate is. And to get it that cheap, I have to remember to dial a special 5 digit code first, otherwise it's SUPER expensive. .
If you have a data plan, you order it from a menu on your phone, and the cost just gets cut from your pulsa. Each phone company has a three digit number you can dial to check how much pulsa you have left. If it's getting low, you just swing by the pulsa store and buy more. You can buy it in different increments - 50 cents, $1, $2.50, $5, or $10. Ten dollars gets me through the month usually. Whatever amount you buy, you add ten cents to, and that is the purchase cost, so the person selling the pulsa makes 10 cents on each transaction. I'm not sure how the whole system works, but it must be super easy to start a pulsa selling business, because there is one about every 50 feet.
When you buy pulsa, you write your number down on a piece of paper, and the pulsa seller uses their phone to transfer the pulsa to yours. Sometimes, after buying pulsa, I have gotten really weird/inappropriate SMSes and phone calls. So I'm wary of where I buy from.
I have pretty much always gone to the same guy to buy my pulsa. His name is Pak Tri, and he lives just around the corner from me with his wife and kids and he sells pulsa out of the front room of his house. We've chatted a couple of times. I talk to his wife sometimes too when I have to sit and wait for him to come back from prayers at the mosque next door. They are both really sweet. And they never send me weird texts inviting me to go for a walk at 2 in the morning.
So last week, I went over to buy some pulsa and there was another customer sitting on a stool there. So I sat down next to him, wrote my number on the paper, and passed it over to Pak Tri. I could see the other guy checking me out from the corner of my eye (and when I say "checking me out" I don't mean like CHECKING me out. I mean like he seemed really confused about why a white person was there, and he was staring a little bit). He started asking Pak Tri questions about me in Javanese, thinking I wouldn't understand. I did. So Pak Tri replied, "Just ask her. She speaks Indonesian." The conversation went a little like this.
Other Customer: Are American schools like Indonesian schools?
Me: Oh... Um... No, they're pretty different.
OC: Like how?
Me: Well, we use different curriculum, and it doesn't necessarily depend on grade. There's not usually specific 10th grade curriculum, but students can choose their classes based on subject. And we have four years of high school, not three. And we don't have school all year round. We have a long holiday in the summer.
OC: Interesting. Where are you from?
Me: America.
OC: How long have you lived here?
Me: Five years.
Pak Tri: You're fluent, huh?
Me: Noooo... Not yet.
OC: Do you speak Javanese?
Me: *in Javanese* No, but I understand a little.
Pak Tri: I didn't know you could speak Javanese!! Learn more!
Me: Indonesian first.
OC: So who do you live with?
Me: I live by myself.
Pak Tri: Where are your parents??
Me: In America.
OC: What grade are you in??
Me: Oh, I'm a teacher.
Pak Tri: Wait. WHAT? All this time, I thought you were in high school!!!
Me: Haha... A lot of people think that! I'm actually a high school math teacher!
OC: So wait. You've been here five years.. How old ARE you?
Me: Twenty-six.
OC and Pak Tri: *stare at me and try to do the math in their heads*
So basically, my pulsa guy has thought I'm a high schooler for the past FIVE YEARS. Which doesn't even make sense, because Indonesian high school is only THREE YEARS. So basically, my biggest accomplishment of the month was letting my pulsa man know that I AM A GROWN UP.
I went again this week, and he was way friendlier than he's ever been. Like, he was telling me stories from his childhood. Apparently knowing that I'm not a high-schooler was all it took to break the ice.
Then you pay to have pulsa (essentially phone minutes) put on your SIM card. Each phone company has different costs for different things, and they change all the time. I have never, ever seen a published list of costs for any Indonesian cell phone company. With my phone company, Mentari, I can SMS the States for about 5 cents. But if I want to call the States, the cost varies depending on the day of the week and the time of day. So far, late night is the cheapest time I've found. I can talk for about $2/hour, but I have no idea what the per minute rate is. And to get it that cheap, I have to remember to dial a special 5 digit code first, otherwise it's SUPER expensive. .
If you have a data plan, you order it from a menu on your phone, and the cost just gets cut from your pulsa. Each phone company has a three digit number you can dial to check how much pulsa you have left. If it's getting low, you just swing by the pulsa store and buy more. You can buy it in different increments - 50 cents, $1, $2.50, $5, or $10. Ten dollars gets me through the month usually. Whatever amount you buy, you add ten cents to, and that is the purchase cost, so the person selling the pulsa makes 10 cents on each transaction. I'm not sure how the whole system works, but it must be super easy to start a pulsa selling business, because there is one about every 50 feet.
When you buy pulsa, you write your number down on a piece of paper, and the pulsa seller uses their phone to transfer the pulsa to yours. Sometimes, after buying pulsa, I have gotten really weird/inappropriate SMSes and phone calls. So I'm wary of where I buy from.
I have pretty much always gone to the same guy to buy my pulsa. His name is Pak Tri, and he lives just around the corner from me with his wife and kids and he sells pulsa out of the front room of his house. We've chatted a couple of times. I talk to his wife sometimes too when I have to sit and wait for him to come back from prayers at the mosque next door. They are both really sweet. And they never send me weird texts inviting me to go for a walk at 2 in the morning.
So last week, I went over to buy some pulsa and there was another customer sitting on a stool there. So I sat down next to him, wrote my number on the paper, and passed it over to Pak Tri. I could see the other guy checking me out from the corner of my eye (and when I say "checking me out" I don't mean like CHECKING me out. I mean like he seemed really confused about why a white person was there, and he was staring a little bit). He started asking Pak Tri questions about me in Javanese, thinking I wouldn't understand. I did. So Pak Tri replied, "Just ask her. She speaks Indonesian." The conversation went a little like this.
Other Customer: Are American schools like Indonesian schools?
Me: Oh... Um... No, they're pretty different.
OC: Like how?
Me: Well, we use different curriculum, and it doesn't necessarily depend on grade. There's not usually specific 10th grade curriculum, but students can choose their classes based on subject. And we have four years of high school, not three. And we don't have school all year round. We have a long holiday in the summer.
OC: Interesting. Where are you from?
Me: America.
OC: How long have you lived here?
Me: Five years.
Pak Tri: You're fluent, huh?
Me: Noooo... Not yet.
OC: Do you speak Javanese?
Me: *in Javanese* No, but I understand a little.
Pak Tri: I didn't know you could speak Javanese!! Learn more!
Me: Indonesian first.
OC: So who do you live with?
Me: I live by myself.
Pak Tri: Where are your parents??
Me: In America.
OC: What grade are you in??
Me: Oh, I'm a teacher.
Pak Tri: Wait. WHAT? All this time, I thought you were in high school!!!
Me: Haha... A lot of people think that! I'm actually a high school math teacher!
OC: So wait. You've been here five years.. How old ARE you?
Me: Twenty-six.
OC and Pak Tri: *stare at me and try to do the math in their heads*
So basically, my pulsa guy has thought I'm a high schooler for the past FIVE YEARS. Which doesn't even make sense, because Indonesian high school is only THREE YEARS. So basically, my biggest accomplishment of the month was letting my pulsa man know that I AM A GROWN UP.
I went again this week, and he was way friendlier than he's ever been. Like, he was telling me stories from his childhood. Apparently knowing that I'm not a high-schooler was all it took to break the ice.
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