Orientation begins

Well, we have successfully completed the first two full days of orientation and are now about to begin the third. Things have been going well, and we are all slowly easing into the adjustment of life here. For instance, I still have to actively remember not to rinse my toothbrush in the faucet and instead use bottled water. Even the Indonesians aren't able to drink the water. But this enables us to find bottled water nearly everywhere for pretty cheap. I must look pretty ridiculous in the shower with my mouth closed so purposefully! There is also the fact of the calls to prayer which, depending on your perception, interrupt daily life. For instance, I have no need to set an alarm because the mosque next door calls out promptly at 4:45 am every morning. The call is actually quite beautiful and soothing. But the biggest adjustment so far has been what Indonesians call rubber time. There is not set schedule per se, and everything seems to take longer and goes at a more leisurely, individual pace. For instance, we were supposed to have a presentation from a local education organization yesterday, and they just never showed up! Patience is a virtue for sure.

Orientation itself has been very helpful. The first day we were briefed by the Regional Security Officer for the Embassy on safety issues. Next, we were given a run-down on the history and structure of FB in Indonesia. Did you know that Indo has the second largest ETA program in the world right after Korea? We were also given information on various other FB grantees working in the country, so that was nice to have some more contacts. Yesterday we spent half the day discussing connections with the "outside" world and the other half on the travel policy. As far as connecting goes, we were advised on what is and is not appropriate to post on our blogs and were given cell phones. The embassy actually has a really cool program where, if there is some kind of warning such as an earthquake or even demonstration, they will SMS the information out. Pretty cool and reassuring. The travel policy is actually quite liberal which is exciting. Essentially, as long as there isn't a prior engagement at my school, I am free to travel whenever I like, including taking off normal days of class (with permission of the headmaster, of course).

On that note, I really haven't received any more information about my site. I am increasingly intimidated by the size of my city (the second largest) - the population, the traffic, the increased effort necessary to integrate into the community - but then I am reminded of the luxuries - accessibility to amenities including foodstuffs, electronics and books, prevalence of English speakers and the ease of travel from a hub. But everyone is in questioning anticipation of their sites, regardless of size. It's also interesting to realize that the world perceives Americans as white, blond, and blue-eyed (among other things such as wealthy drug users who give out "free sex"), and if you don't exactly fit that stereotype, it may be hard in the classroom at first. But this is the mission of FB - to break down those stereotypes and introduce people to the real America, ripe with diversity and incongruency.

Everyone in the program is highly motivated and, I must admit I am surprised to find out, down to earth (I had a suspicion of dorkiness across the board, which isn't necessarily completely unfounded, but we are all socially functioning people as well, haha).

Today's schedule calls for the start of language lessons (finally!), a school visit, a medical briefing, and a cross-cultural presentation. It remains to be seen if that good old rubber time will bend far enough to allow all of it though...