Weekend Update

It’s has been a few days…quite a few things have happened in this time. As always, I’ll work chronologically.

Classes last week were pretty standard – language lessons and teaching lessons, with a few panel discussions thrown in there for questions we come up with as the days go by (we have so many!). We visited an outdoor restaurant one night for dinner which was pretty cool. It was kind of like what I’d picture a Tahitian building to look like complete with plumeria flowers blooming around us (picture below NOT taken by me – it’s from the internet), thatch hut-type structures, and lanterns lighting the way.

Friday was my “day of frustration.” Mind you, I let myself get frustrated, so that was half the problem. My classes were a little confusing and, I felt, more repetitive than I’d like. I have a new-found appreciation for people who study education in college. Our classes have been very theoretical (with practical lessons as well), but I think the only way you can learn about teaching is by doing it. Additionally, I believe a large part of the profession has to do with attitude, natural ability, and common sense/intuition. So talking so much about teaching is an interesting experience. But what do I know? And it is an important parallel to draw that we are learning a new language while learning how to teach a foreign language. I can appreciate the frustration my students may have in the future a lot better.

Anyway, the frustration continued, but was really quite silly because I was taking cultural and linguistic miscommunications too personally. It boils down to the fact that I was thirsty all night – no drink throughout most of dinner (at a wonderfully loud Japanese place called Spicy Extra Hot Ramen) and extreme and ridiculous overcharging at the club later on resulting with the emptying of my wallet on one drink…boooo (keep in mind I’m only using cash – no plastic money). For some reason, this pushed me over the edge enough to suddenly become a bit homesick. But it was another ETAs birthday, so I did my best to just shake it off and move on (or should I say dance it off, haha). The club was called Score! And has a tag line – a fun, casual hangout. Most clubs here seem to have these call signs. Kinda funny. It was a nice place with live music and lounge seating. Most of the people were men. Hardly any ladies to be seen besides in our group. The second band to go on was a Rolling Stones cover band – the perfect thing to get me out of a funk. It’s actually really interesting how powerful familiar music can be – even if it is sung by a small Indonesian man with an accent and a 1960’s Beatles-style haircut. Listening to my iPod later that night in bed was exactly what I needed to remind me of what I’m doing here.

The next day we went shopping again. A note about shopping in Southeast Asia: It. Is. Amazing. Every single brand you can think of is here – from Target to American Apparel to Hilfiger to Polo to Prada, Channel and Burberry. And it is all around or under 20 dollars! Seriously. I saw a legit LV bag for $120. Oh how I love outsourcing, consumerism, and mark-ups (along with an amazing conversion rate). But I am not really here to shop (plus, I have no where to put bought items), so I have successfully restrained myself (Dad, aren’t you proud??? Don’t worry, before I come home I may treat myself). Another thing – we visited an ex-pat grocery store today (I can get more here at an ex-pat store than I ever could in Switzerland, haha) that was next to a boutique. To give you an idea of the crazy cost of shipping products overseas, etc, you could buy a Gucci bag for $60 (the factories are close to here), but cheese is $9. Incredible. It almost makes me think buying expensive things in the States is so, so, so silly. Alternative? Come visit me in SE Asia and buy it here!

That evening (Saturday) was a continuation of the birthday celebrations. Dinner was had at the Dago Tea House where I had gado-gado (vegetarian salad-type meal with rice and peanut sauce). We spent the rest of the night at a club called Cloud 9 – quite possibly one of the coolest bars I have ever been to. Situated literally on the side of the road on the edge of a mountain overlooking the city, you first see only a small, silent building. I was completely bewildered to find that the building itself only really had a staircase going down. With each step you took, you got closer and closer to the pesta (party). Slowly you started to hear the muffled music, then the voices until you reached the outdoor bar lit with lanterns and full of fun. When I say it was an outdoor bar I mean this: there were three walls, with the fourth open to the side of the mountain. We hung out here, watching the bright lights of the city from afar ‘til around 3:30 am (well, only a few of us made it that far, but I certainly did not poop out until the very end!). To get back to our hotel we took ojaks – motorbike taxis. It was so fun to ride on one down the hills on the empty streets in the middle of the night. I had never been on the back of someone’s bike that wasn’t my dad, but I felt safe nonetheless. Once at the hotel, a few of us hopped into the pool for a bit. The morning call to prayer starts at 4 am and lasts until 5. Let’s just say I didn’t go to bed until after the call was over (which does usually wake me up in the mornings…). It was a good night.

The next day I peeled myself out of bed to go hike an active volcano. 13 girls piled into a van (a FB sorority event, if you will, since we have 10 guys and 26 ladies. We like to reference a wonderful Beach Boys song every few days). It was our first experience where people just come right up to us and ask to take a picture with the “bules,” the foreigners (boo-lay). But once we got out of the highly touristy areas, the view was great (and stinky from the sulfur!). A picture of the view of the other mountains is below.

Afterwards we visited a nearby 90ft waterfall in a park-ish place. I am really not surprised by the number of women in the program. And I should add, interesting and smart women. I find that ladies of such caliber are no stranger to risk – you almost kind of have to go out on a limb sometimes to be such a lady (openly, honestly and generously intelligent while simultaneously down to earth and classically funny) – and living and working here is certainly a risk worth taking. Not to toot my own horn, of course. I often have nothing of real worth to add to our conversations – a dud, if you will. J When we finally returned home we gathered together to chat and eat delivery pizza (New York Style. Good bye developing country diet).

And today was a return to the grind of classes, which is actually a nice way of not reminding me that I graduated and won’t be returning to Wake this fall…sad. I did cry because I was laughing so hard for the first, though. I was in a giddy mood and something very situationally funny happened and I just lost it.

I want to end by talking about a few remarkable things about Indonesia again– some observations of note. First, Jakarta, the capital is huge. I mean huge. One of the top ten cities in the world. The implications are mind blowing. Second, the people here are tiny. I mean, at 5’6” I am tall. And the “fat” people are in no way comparable to fat Americans. One of the ETAs is 6’8”. He definitely gets stared at, pointed at and approached a lot. On that note, people like to take pictures of us while we walk around and simply and casually say “bule.” It’s kind funny. Imagine seeing someone who doesn’t look like you on the street and just saying to them “foreigner.” I am tempted to say to them back “orang Indonesia” (Indonesian). Third, I had read that Indonesia was the only country in the world to not broadcast the Olympics in the past, and yes, it is true, I have sadly seen very little of the Games here. And this is strange only because of the amount of cable programming I am receiving. C’est la vie. I do, however, get to compare CNN, BBC and al-Jazeera English – very exciting for a Poli Sci major! Fourth, I had also read that Indonesians do not use utensils to eat, but instead use their right hands (left is for personal hygiene). But it has thus far been my experience that this is only true in warangs (restaurant-esque places run out of peoples homes or shacks where only a few things are prepared each day sans menu) and street vendors. And as I have not yet garnered enough cajones to visit one of these places (our doctor told us this food only tastes good because it is “mixed with sweat.” Yum. And en ETA got food poisoning already), I have yet to experience this – of course it is likely to be true in smaller areas. It is the spoon which is most often used. This is important stuff, people. Fifth, hello squat toilets, goodbye toilet paper and traditional flushing. Enough said. Sixth, I have never seen so many cell phones in my life. But they are more often used for SMSing (texting) than anything else. And people are so addicted to their phones that they text from atop their motorbikes. Crazies – and part of the reason why I won’t get on a bike during the busy day-time. Seventh, I find it ironic how much people love both to smoke and sing. Karaoke is a national past-time. Students learn best by learning English songs. But if you are a man and don’t smoke, something is wrong with you. No worries, I plan to go strong with my lack of puffing. I may, however, have no way to avoid second hand smoke. Eighth, while it is nice not to have to worry about DDs at night, it is my experience that you need a Designated Walker. The sidewalks can be quite precarious. The combination of the natural break-down of the materials plus people burning trash (including batteries – gross), ripping up the walk and leaving a small mountain in the path, the random street vendor camped out on the nice parts, the lack of street lights and the ever-present “river” running next to the walk (in place of a purely underground sewage system – yup, don’t want to fall into that!) can make walking home an event deeply rooted in focus and concentration. And finally, I heart the conversion rate. Dinner usually costs me $3 (9,000 rupiah for every $1). I’ve gotten really good at really simple multiplication and division. I may be posted to an “extreme hardship” area, as the State Department calls it in my contract, but I am mostly living like a king.

Anyway, if you have any questions for me, please send me an email (and keep me updated with yourselves), and I will try to blog the answers.

Have a good day!