Water vs. Air

I just took an online quiz in an attempt to win a $100 Amazon gift card. Because how nice would that be? Anyways, the quiz was about pumpkins. One question really stumped me.

It didn't stump me because I didn't know the answer. I did know the answer. I just couldn't figure out why it was on there twice. I read the question THREE times, and I just could NOT figure out why one answer was double. I didn't know which one to click on. Which one of the two would they consider acceptable? Was one MORE right than the other? Who even WROTE such a stupid question with two of the same answer on there?!

Because obviously, the answer is water.

But air is the Indonesian word for water.

My brain didn't even distinguish between the two different languages. I seriously thought water was on there twice.

And this is why I should not do intellectual things in the morning.

Snippets

One of the guards told Ibu Sri, my helper, that he wants to marry me. My helper said to him, "And how exactly do you think you will pay for all the toilet paper she uses?!" I love that that was the first thing she thought of... (I really don't use that much. One roll lasts me 2-3 weeks.)

Some friends and I took a bus to Solo over the weekend. At one stop, some guys on the ground shouted through an open window to our driver, "Hey! You've got white people on that bus!" The driver shouted right back, "They're not white! They speak Javanese! They're Javanese!"

I have watched so much Duck Dynasty recently that I have started speaking with terrible grammar and a Southern accent.

I have an empty e-mail inbox for the first time in over a year. I feel so accomplished.

We got a new art teacher today. This is exciting for 2 reasons. The first is that we haven't had an art program for two years now, and that is really sad because we have so many students who are extremely gifted at art. I am so excited for them to finally have an instructor/mentor to help them practice their talent! The second is that this is the first single male staff member we have had in four years. This has created QUITE a buzz around here. I always feel bad for the single guy teachers because they must be so lonely without any other single guys around. And it must be awkward, you know, to think that 90% of the single girls around you are stalking you like a hungry lion.

OCD is sweeping the nation. But it's not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. OCD in Indonesia apparently stands for Obsessive Corbuzier's Diet. That's right, it's a diet plan. A diet plan where you give yourself a window of time in which you can eat. You can only eat during those hours, and you consume lots of water (and nothing else) outside of those hours. One girl I know can only eat from 1-6 PM. I know another guy who only eats from 2-5. SEVERAL of my friends are on this diet. I'm pretty sure it's not the healthiest way to lose weight. But I do kind of love it when one person asks another if they are OCD and the person answers "Yes".

I was late to church yesterday because of a defiant toad sitting INSIDE my front door (how did he get in?!) and an equally defiant poisonous frog claiming my rain poncho. He would NOT give it back, and when I tried to make him, he jumped onto my stomach, which made me scream and freeze. Thankfully, he did not pee on me or my rain poncho, because that is the part that is poisonous. And he eventually left. And I eventually made it to church.

Rainy season started. Bleh.

My neighbor is working on learning Indonesian. She asked me recently what the difference between hal and perkara is. I couldn't really give her a concrete example, because I'm not super sure myself. They are both used to talk about abstract things... So I asked an Indonesian friend. He said that perkara refers to negative things, bad things, or evil things. I countered him with a Bible verse. In Colossians 3, Paul says to think of things above, not the things of this earth. The Indonesian translation uses the word perkara. So I pointed out to  him that the "things above" are Heavenly things, and those wouldn't be negative or evil. He came back with, "Right, perkara means bad or evil things EXCEPT for when it means good things". Haha... Him not being able to give me a good answer made me feel better about not being able to give one either.

I will be home NEXT SUMMER. I keep having dreams about it. When I'm not busy having dreams about getting lice that are actually cockroaches crawling my hair.

On our bus trip to Solo, we decided to visit the sultan's palace there. I was the only one in the group who had been there before. But last time I went, we didn't have a tour guide; this time we did. Can I just say that I love Indonesians and I LOVE learning about Indonesian history. I think I could take tours all day long. Also, all of the sultans are named Pakubuwono, so try saying that five times fast.

I FOUND DOVE CHOCOLATE IN SOLO. I bought kind of a lot. Because you never know when you'll find it again.

Today at lunch, a student told me I remind him of his grandmother. He really has a way with the ladies.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Tonight I saw something unusual while driving. A man was jogging down the street carrying a yoke over just one shoulder. And dangling from each end of it was approximately 20 live chickens.

Today was "Fake an Injury" day at school. One student faked a larynx injury and spent the entire class talking to me by typing into his computer. I imagined I was teaching Stephen Hawking. Until he used his computer to say to me, "Good job, bro-ski".

Most people's fake injuries reminded me somehow of my brother. One kid showed up with his old cast glued onto his arm. Lots showed up with pretend stitches. Some had bandaged fingers. All injuries my brother has experienced.

One student told me she has a photo collage of me in her phone. I don't know if I should be honored or creeped out, really.

My 11th graders keep asking me personal questions in class. Partly because they are probably trying to get out of doing math. But also partly because I think they really desire relationship. They remember almost everything I tell them, though not always in the right order/context. Today, after one such question, I told them, "You know, I kind of like how into my life you are. I feel cared about." To which one boy replied, "I really like how into your life I am too!" Once again, not sure how to feel about that...

I made Jell-O for Bible study tonight. They couldn't figure out how to eat it. It was pretty funny. Then one guy's old middle school friend randomly Facebooked him and asked him where he works now. He replied, "I sell ice cubes. Online." And his friend believed him. We got the whole play by play every time a message was sent or received. It was hard to focus on the Bible.

But that's OK, because we spent a large portion of the time discussing eschatology and whether or not animals have souls (which are different from spirits).

Sunday, a Muslim friend texted me to ask what I was doing. I said I was at church. He asked what I was learning. I said I'd explain later. I saw him yesterday, and he asked again. "What did you learn at church on Sunday?" I asked if he wanted me to explain the sermon to him, and he said yes. So I told him the parable of the seeds and how some fall on rocky ground and some fall on thorny ground and some fall beside the road and some fall on good ground and take root and grow and produce good fruit. Then he asked why Jesus told that story to His disciples. And I explained that too. He thought about it for awhile, then he smiled a great smile and said, "I understand!"

I almost drove into a giant sinkhole in the middle of the main road through town tonight. I hate it when that happens.

I found a large cockroach climbing up a chair in my house earlier this week. Every time I kill a cockroach, I get like 3 or 4 tissues and wad them up so I don't feel the crunch. Then I flush the whole thing down the toilet. Just in case.

Pak Kur's father-in-law died the day that I got back from Jakarta. That made for a hectic homecoming. I now have no more Indonesian grandparents. And I feel this loss more acutely than when Pak Kur's mom died. Because his father-in-law was much younger and healthier and spoke Indonesian. I had a lot of good talks with that guy. And he was never less than kind to me. Also, I got hit on at the funeral.

It started raining this week. I hate it already.

This weekend is the big international school soccer tournament. It's being hosted this year by a school 8 hours away. So we all get a 4 day weekend! Like we didn't just have an entire week off... But hey, I'm not complaining!

I think I am obsessed with making and eating refried beans. I'm so glad I learned how to do that.

One of my good friends is moving to Australia to get his masters. He'll be gone for 3 years, and his wife and daughter will stay here. I am sad that he is leaving, because things just won't be the same. But his wife and I are already talking about taking a vacation to visit him. And I'm always up for an excuse to visit a place I've never been to before!

Those are all the short stories I can come up with for now. I really only meant to tell the first one, but then it looked lonely, and then I got carried away.

Goodnight!

Home Again

I probably should have written this post approximately a week ago, but I'm home safely from Jakarta! Pretty much all my friends wanted to do there was hang out at malls. And that was fine with me. I had Starbucks every single day (um... I am crazy about salted caramel), and we beat the heat by staying in AC! I had a free place to stay, and transportation is ridiculously cheap when you know how to work the system!

I got some treasures - like green jeans and a red cardigan and a turquoise ring and some beef jerky. TWO H&M stores opened in Jakarta a week before I went, and I was super excited about that. The prices were the same as in America, which was also extra special.

My flights were especially adventurous. The flight there got delayed several times. I didn't understand why until someone turned on the TV at our gate to watch the Indonesia-Korea soccer game hosted in Jakarta. It was monsooning there, basically. It was raining so hard that the field started to flood and the game eventually got called, much to the disappointment of the now-standing-room-only crowd that had gathered there to SCREAM at the TV. Haha... I was the only foreigner at my gate, and people kept looking at me to check my reaction, I think. Eventually the rain in Jakarta stopped, the soccer field dried, and they continued the game. Our plane took off before we were able to see the finish. But our taxi driver in Jakarta told us that Indonesian won 3-2. In case you cared to know...

My flight back was also interesting. I forgot to ask for a window seat when I checked in and ended up sitting in between two other ladies. One was a kindly grandmother traveling to see her youngest daughter's graduation and one was a college student. They both talked to me pretty much the whole way home. The grandmother turned out to be Dutch (I actually thought she was Chinese...), but she spoke to me in Indonesian, because she knew it better than English. Her husband was Indonesian, but he died 20 years ago. They had 4 children, and since they were born and raised in Indonesia, she chose to stay here with them rather than move back to Holland. She invited me to come to stay at her house (in one of the ritzier parts of Jakarta) next time I'm in town.

The college student at first just wanted to practice her English. She was originally from Jakarta but was studying at a university in Semarang. She had gone home for the long weekend (Tuesday was a holiday, so almost everyone had Monday off as well) and was returning to school. Shortly before we landed, she turned to me and said, "You have such a nice personality. I feel comfortable to talk to you." That made me happy. We exchanged Facebook names, and we've chatted a couple of times since being back.

At any rate, it was a pretty uneventful trip in the best way possible! Gosh, I love vacations...

Success

I DID IT! Fall Break has officially started, which means that Quarter 1 of this school year is officially finished, and I AM STILL HEALTHY! Man, it feels GOOD.

Quarter grades are already submitted, and I'm headed to Jakarta with some friends tomorrow to spend some time in the big city. They opened an H&M there LAST WEEK, and besides seeing good friends and having amazing food, that is probably what I am most excited about. I am also excited to be able to buy things like walnuts and pecans and Doritos and Easy Mac and American candies and American sized clothing and so much other good stuff that I can't get here. I haven't bought my return ticket yet, so I don't know when I'll be back - probably Wednesday or Thursday. So... Have a nice week!!

Unjinxing My Jinxes

I realized something over the weekend. And I almost wrote about it. But then I thought if I wrote it, I would jinx it. So I didn't write it. But then I thought that maybe if, in my writing, I acknowledged that I might be jinxing it, it would counteract the jinx. Unjinx the jinx. Right?*

So here it is: If I can manage to stay healthy for just THREE more days, I will have gone an entire QUARTER without being sick a single time!!!

A few things.

1. Teachers are sick all the time because they are exposed to sooooo many germs. Let's face it - kids aren't really known for washing their hands regularly. Teachers overseas are even more susceptible because of all the foreign bacteria and germs our immune systems have never encountered before. Sometimes I feel like my body encounters these new germs and mistakes them for friends and invites them in for tea.

2. I was beginning to think my body had just rejected Indonesia altogether. I have had SO many different illnesses and ailments since moving here - allergies, kidney infections, weeks of diarrhea, burns, severe food poisoning, parasites, the flu, insomnia, terrifying nightmares, migraines, dehydration, gum infections, random fevers, and bedbugs, just to name a few. ALL things I never had in America (with the exception of the flu, which I contracted roughly once every 5 years in America, compared to the four times I got it in one quarter here a few years back).

3. The most noteworthy part - this is the longest I have gone in FOUR YEARS without being sick! I have been sick at least once a month - sometimes two or three times, or sometimes with multiple ailments at the same time - for the past four years. This being healthy thing is really amazing, and I'm kind of loving it! Can I get an alhamdulillah?




*I'm not superstitious. But I am a little stitious.

Oh, Melanie

Melanie just left. I am sad. But remembering the following conversation that we had late last night while watching "The Fox" on Youtube is making me smile.

Melanie: This video has almost one million views!
Me: Wow...
Melanie. Ninety-one thousand.
Me: Mel.
Melanie: What?
Me: Ninety-one thousand isn't really close to a million.
Melanie: What? Isn't a hundred thousand a million?
Me: No. A hundred thousand is a hundred thousand. A thousand thousand is a million.
Melanie: No... Wait. What?
Me: THEY LET YOU DO THE ACCOUNTING?!
Melanie: YES! But the commas! Wait. Here. It says nine one comma eight eight one comma seven oh four.
Me: MELANIE!
Melanie: WHATTTTT?
Me: *staring at her*
Melanie: Oh wait. This says ninety-one million, doesn't it?

It's Friday, Friday

Every week without fail, Friday rolls around. And every week, I think to myself, "How did another week slip by so quickly?!" Time flies when you're having fun. And also when you stay busy, I guess. Dad would also say that time's fun when you're having flies. But I'm not having any, don't worry.

Punkins

Now that I've decided that fall is my most missed season, I'm obsessed with pumpkin. But you can't buy it in a can here. So I drove up the mountain until I found a lady selling pumpkins by the road. I bought just one. It was green. It looked funny. But all the orange ones were teeny tiny. So I put a giant pumpkin on my motorbike and drove it back down the mountain.

And I took my green leprous pumpkin and I made it into pumpkin puree. Two quarts and seven pints of pumpkin puree. It was a little more than I was bargaining for, and I'm getting annoyed with how all these jars of pumpkin are hogging the space in my fridge AND freezer.

Since they are taking up lots of valuable space, I've been trying to use them up fast. So far I've made pumpkin vanilla muffins, pumpkin bread, olive oil and sea salt roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin snicker doodles, and several pumpkin spice lattes for various people.

I've only used two and a half pints. 

Maybe I will start feeding it to my cats. Do cats like pumpkin?

In other culinary news, I have also taught myself how to make refried beans from SCRATCH. And tortilla chips. But then I ran out of tortilla chips and I was too lazy to make any more. So I finished off my bowl of refried beans with a spoon. Then I ate a papaya. Because fun fact - papaya counters the gaseous effect of other foods.

AND I made two jars of maple syrup. But not REAL maple syrup. Obviously. Sadly. But it's pretty good anyways.

If the cats don't like the pumpkin, maybe I'll put some maple syrup on it. Because who wouldn’t like that?

Cray Pays (Or: How You Know Someone Reads A Lot but Maybe Doesn't Get Out Much)

Me: What are you eating? Looks good.
Student: Oh, I'm just having some cray pays.
Me: Some WHAT now?
Student: Cray pays.
Me: *looking dubiously at his plate* Do you mean crepes?
Student: I suppose so, but for some reason, I've always been more of a fan of the original French pronunciation. Cray-pays.
Me: I'm pretty sure the French also say crepe.
Student: I don't think so.

Kenya

Those of you who know me well know that I lived briefly in Kenya before moving to Indonesia. And even more than that, you know how much of my heart I left there. When something happens that hurts Kenya, it hurts me.

Saturday, al-Shabaab militants - the same Somalian Muslim extremist group that kidnapped my former co-worker, Jess, and held her hostage in the desert for 3 months - stormed a mall in Nairobi and basically barricaded themselves in Nakumatt, a supermarket that  I frequently shopped at while living there. So far, 68 civilians are dead - many of them children since the mall had been hosting a children's day - and nobody knows how many people they are still holding in the mall. We're in day 3 of the siege now.

I got news yesterday that 2 families from the school I worked at in Kenya were trapped inside the mall. I got news today that they are all out. Two students were wounded and one parent was killed.

I don't personally know those families, but I think how profoundly a death in our community would affect us here, and my heart breaks for my old school. When you live overseas in a small international community, you become a support network for one another - a lot like extended family.

I have friends, Kenyan and American both, who are teaching at two different schools there, and members of both schools have been affected directly by this situation. When kids ask questions in hard times like these, I know that I don't have the answers. So my heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones, to the families still waiting to hear, bracing themselves for the worst, and also to those who now have the arduous task of helping hundreds of young ones process all of the whys that go along with any tragedy.

Please pray with me for Kenya.

Home

I may not have painted a single wall in my tiny apartment, but I have hung a few decorations, and every time I put up a picture or re-arrange the furniture, or buy a new dish for my kitchen, I start to feel like my house is becoming more like a home. It only took me 5 years…

I haven’t posted pictures of my place for so long, so I decided to do that today! I tried to take wide enough pictures that you can kind of stay oriented in each one as I move through the place and get a feel for what is where in relation to what. Hopefully it’s not that hard. My entire place consists of around 400 square feet (the exact same size as my classroom!) divided into three rooms – a bedroom, a bathroom, and one long room that serves as a kitchen/dining area and a living room. Here is the general layout.

I drew it perfectly to scale! 1 cm = 30 cm. I only know that because each of my floor tiles is 30 cm x 30 cm. Handy, no?

Soooo… Tour time! When you come in the front door, this is what you see.

I used to live almost entirely in my bedroom, but lately, I’ve made this little corner into my living area.

I put on a show or a movie and I sit on the couch and work on schooooooool. That is what has consumed many of my at-home hours the past several weeks.

Behind the front door is where I hide my jackets and cardigans and shoes and helmets and umbrellas and rain boots! It is dark behind the door and geckos like to crawl around in there. Sometimes I put a jacket on and a gecko falls out the sleeve. Not my favorite thing, but at least they keep the cockroaches from getting in there!

The couch used to be up against the wall in the corner, but I pulled it out a few weeks ago and decided I liked it like that. It kind of divides the room up into 2 more distinct spaces. I have cooking/eating space, and I have couch/TV space.

Looking the other way, you have the kitchen!

  

I still don’t know who put all those baskets on top of my cupboards. But I’ve never moved them. I really probably should someday. Because I’ve also never cleaned them. I’m sure they’ve got a nice layer of grime by now.

My stove and water dispenser are to the right of the sink.

And then my table is to the right of THAT, kind of in the middle of the room. The front door is just barely out of the picture on the right hand side.

Opposite the table is the doorway into the rest of the apartment.

To the left leads into my bedroom. Take the right, and you’ll end up in the bathroom.

Immediately to your left when you enter my bedroom is this wall.

The wall my massive desk occupies is straight ahead when you enter my room, so a 90 degree clockwise turn from the picture above. It was hard to take overlapping pictures in my bedroom because it is awkwardly shaped and very full!

 

My craft shelf (to the left of my desk) could use some organization…

Opposite the desk is the rest of my room. The door into my room is to the right of my lemari (wardrobe).

 

Oh, hai, cat.

A parting view.

Down the hall.

Opposite ends of the bathroom. Not a whole lot to see here.

 

Everyone should make good use of their time by keeping a book by the toilet, I say!

So that was the entire tour! Not a whole lot to see, I know… So here are a bunch more shots I took today of random stuff in my apartment.

   

The end.

PS – If you ever want a REAL tour of my house, I’d be more than thrilled to show you around! ; )