This Last Month...

Wow, I knew it had been a long time since I posted, but I didn't realize that it's almost been a month! Crazy how fast time flies. This month was pretty busy with out of the routine things. The first 2 weeks, I had language lessons and taught as usual. I'm learning more and more about the language and the culture every day!

The middle of December, I went to Singapore to renew my visa and then on to Thailand to visit one of my best friends. She's definitely more like a sister to me, and I can't imagine how I would've made it through the last several months without her! Here is a picture of us together in Thailand :)

We explored the city she lives in together and had a ton of fun just catching up and pouring into each other. When I got home, I had a few days of holiday from language and teaching, so I caught up on sleep (much needed after hardly sleeping at all in Thailand!) and little errands, including Christmas shopping.

Christmas was relaxed and fun. I talked with my family and then just hung out with my "family" here, playing games, eating dinner, and exchanging gifts. A few days after Christmas, we went swimming for the first time since I've been here. Although it made me miss the Fuentes family and Sarah Beth, it felt amazing!

Yesterday I went back to language lessons after almost 2 weeks off! I was a little scared because I knew I had forgotten quite a bit just by being away from the language for the few days in Singapore and Thailand. But, my teacher said I spoke well, so that's good :) Hopefully I'll continue gaining back the words I lost!

This week I've had fun with one of my friends here, walking all over the city, trying new foods, practicing the language, etc. I keep learning how roads here connect to each other and where each road goes, which if you know me, makes my heart very happy! She teaches me the daily slang of the language in order to balance out the formal language I learn in school. It's like 2 completely different languages! She and I ran together tonight for an hour, which was amazing! Lots of hills. Great workout--by far the best I've had since being here :) Grateful for her adventurous spirit and willingness to hang out with me.

Monkeys :)

There is a little area of undamaged rain forest trees and plants near my language teacher's house, and monkeys often play there. I've been going there on Thursdays after language to see green and enjoy some quiet, but have yet to see one monkey. Today, however, I saw a lot! So many, in fact, that I had no place to sit in the shade without bothering them or making some mama mad. I took pictures, talked to the sweetest elderly man for about 15 minutes, and then walked home. What a great reminder of the beauty he's created all around us, even in a busy, dirty city.

View out to Indian Ocean. Look at the clouds!

Jumping from one tree to another

Curious?

He could care less how close I was to him. Eating was much more important, apparently!

This baby came to pose for me. He saw the camera and scrambled up this pillar closer to me! Hilarious!!

Wedding #2

I don't have good pictures from wedding #1, but here's wedding #2. Apparently, since I've managed 2 weddings in 6 weeks, these are going to be a common Sunday activity!

Stage that the bride, groom, and their parents sit and shake hands of all the guests

Groom and bride

Ali, Me, Valerie, Becca in wedding outfits

A Mismatched Blog

These pictures depict only some of the fun that has ensued in the last few days. Thanksgiving pictures are not included because I forgot my camera, but we had a great time, really yummy food, and even a turkey!

I cooked with a mortar and pestel for the first time!

Som Tam- so yummy!

Tom Yam- it was thai night at our house :)

And finally, last but NOT least, our kitchen faucet is finally fixed!! Yay!!

Market Day

I LOVE going to the pasar (market)!!! It's so fun seeing the hussle and bussle of people going about their daily lives. Taking in all the beautiful colors of fruits and vegetables. Listening to friends and neighbors visiting. Hearing sellers and buyers bargaining...enambelas, tidak empatbelas, tidak limabelas (sixteen, no fourteen, no fifteen). Pushing your way through to get to the fruits and vegetables of choice. Enjoying the early morning (aka 6:30am!!) when it's still cool outside and when everyone is out. I sneaked some pictures today, so you could enjoy a little taste of market day too :)

3 different kinds of sweet potatoes!

Zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, and chayote (that's Spanish, I don't know what it's called here!)

Happiness :)

Most of my purchases after I washed them...mangoes, limes, chiles, lemongrass, laos (kind of like ginger), lime leaves, young papaya, spinach, green beans, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and fish sauce. Can you tell I'm craving Thai food...for those of you who know about tom yum and som tam?!

What to Do When It's Really Hot...

...fly to the North Pole, of course!

...or when that fails, just pretend you are entering the North Pole when you enter an "air conditioned" room. Until it becomes too hot outside for the AC to work. Then kick your imagination into high gear. You're gonna need it!

Hijau, Gunung, dan Sakit Tapala

Green. A mountain. And a headache.

After the sacrifices, we went hiking!!! To a mountain!! Where it is green!! And the air is fresh!! It was beautiful. The only bad part was getting a migraine...I think because of a combination of animal sacrifices, fish soup for breakfast, extreme heat, etc. Oh well. It was still fun and pretty. Here are some pictures :)

 Friends :)

 A look out to the Indian Ocean

 Thunder, lightning, clouds...but no rain :(

Although it was hot and two of us were sick, it was beautiful to be in some green with scenes like this :)

Idul Adha

Idul Adha is a Muslim holiday celebrated to remember Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Ishmael. On this day, Muslims pray, sacrifice animals, and spend time with family. I got to witness some of this holiday at the mosque behind my house. Some of these pictures are kind of graphic, just warning you...

 One of the cows and some goats before the sacrifice.

 My buleh friends as well as my closest neighbor friend who helps me with language :)

 The mosque behind my house...and a fragment of balloons being sold by one of the neighborhood men.

 Goat sacrifice. That's all I'll say about that.

Dead animals being hung up to be cut and handed out as meat. Some is given to the person who bought the animal and some to the poor.

This was definitely a cultural experience for me. Can't say that I'm looking forward to repeating it next year, but it was a great opportunity to see all of our neighbors. We even got to go to the neighborhood leader's house for breakfast (like I could stomach breakfast after watching this), but I managed a couple bites in order to not be rude. The rest of the day will come in the next blog post...

The Art of Driving

http://noolmusic.com/z_pics/driving_in_jakarta_indonesia.jpg

 

 

Don't worry, I haven't driven yet. But here are some things I've learned by observing so far...

• When approaching an intersection, just honk your horn to let the traffic know you're coming; that way, you don't have to stop or even slow down!
• You can fit through just about any space between vehicles; all you gotta do is honk and try.
• Stopping before turning onto another street is really more of a LIGHT yield
• Helmets on motorcycles are optional, especially for children
• Motorcycles can carry 4-5 people, whether grown men or a mixture of adults and children.
• There are no lanes of traffic. Go wherever you fit to get there the fastest (so you can hurry up and wait)
• The speed bumps in the roads are called "polisi tidur" (police sleeping)! Awesome, right?! Then they can eat all the donuts (which just came here a few months ago) and drink all the coffee they want without an ounce of guilt! Police in America really should take notes!
• Although you're supposed to drive on the left side of the road, feel free to use the right side of the road to pass a vehicle at any time, no matter the oncoming traffic.
• Honk at pedestrians, bicyclists, men pushing food carts, etc. because YOU always have the right of way. Oh, and don't slow down or make a wide turn to avoid them crossing a street. It's their fault if they didn't move enough out of your way.
• And last but not least, do whatever is best for YOU.

These are some of the "rules" I've observed in the last month and can remember right now as I sit down to write. I'm sure there are more to come, especially as I start driving :)

Typical Sunday Activities in SE Asia

 A quiet Sunday afternoon of baking (me), scrapbooking (Valerie), and napping (Becca) suddenly got interrupted when I decided to be kind to our house helper and do some of the mound of dishes that had accumulated in the sink. With the rinse water already in the tea kettle on the stove, I turned on the faucet to begin soaping up the dishes.

  The knob turned, and then, the faucet came completely off of the pipe, gushing, and I mean, gushing water into the kitchen!!

 As I was trying to see what the problem was so I could stop the water, I essentially was standing in front of a fire hydrant, luckily blocking most of the water from directly hitting my computer which sat behind me. I screamed, and Valerie came to my rescue, shutting off the water supply through that pipe.

 After mopping up the flooded kitchen, wiping down the wet cabinets and counters, and bringing the fan into the kitchen to prevent mold, we set to work on fixing the problem because, as perfect timing would have it, all of the men on our team left today for a week long conference. We have to place some kind of plug where the kitchen faucet used to be because if we shut off the water to the kitchen, we shut off the water to the bathroom too, which means no showers or flushing the toilet. Problematic, to say the least. But, necessity is the mother of invention...and we have a scientist living among us!

 Yes, this is a bunched up sponge tied around with rubber bands. We didn't really use the wrench, it just added special effect for the picture.

 In order to limit the use of water going through that pipe, we used the pipe in the garage to fill up buckets of water which we then dumped in our "tub" in the bathroom. Now we can flush the toilet SE Asian style with cups of water from here. And, if the sponge/rubber band concoction doesn't solve the shower issue, we can use this water to shower SE Asian style as well.

We were dying laughing through this whole thing. We kept saying, "Just think! There's no way we would have experienced a Sunday afternoon like this in the states!" Oftentimes, it's comical living in another country! But, hey, now I know what to do when the kitchen faucet comes off the pipe and the water is turned on! Those are valuable things to know, you know!

Birthdays in SE Asia

Friends. Loud. Crazy. Food. Fun. Pranks. Gifts.

This is tumpeng, or as us bulehs call it, volcano rice. It is a cone of yellow (saffron) rice with a chile at the top. Around it is a variety of foods: cucumbers, tomatoes, strips of egg, chicken wings, tempe with a spicy peanut sauce (amazing to my tongue but NOT to my stomach!), and fried potato cake things (can you tell I didn't try those?!).

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The tradition is that the birthday person cuts the top of the volcano, so Becca got the honor :) We had lots of fun eating a traditional birthday food and then enjoying an American birthday cake afterwards :)

It's Not Every Day...

you get chased by one of these while you run.

http://www.carlysutherland.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/goosesized.jpg

Language Mishaps

In the last couple days, I've realized that a few common words I have been using very frequently in the last week have been wrong. I now think that my neighborhood is convinced that there is no hope for this poor buleh's language to get any better.

For example, the word "pulang" means to go home. When you pass by people on the streets here, they ask "Ke mana?" which literally means, "Where are you going?" They're not really trying to be nosy; that's just the phrase they use like we use, "How are you?" So, naturally, I have replied in several variations to who knows how many people, "Saya palang", which I thought meant, "I'm going home." Turns out, "palang" means bulletin board! But all my neighbors have been so gracious to me. None of them have laughed at me...or tried to correct me, which is both a nice thing and a bad thing. Oh well. Now I know. It's scary to think about how many other words I've misspoken to my neighbors! Hopefully nothing bad!!

On a positive note, I have been able to speak with many many of the people who live in our neighborhood this week!!! And more than 10 second awkward conversations too! I was invited into a handful of homes for conversation, which was such a fun treat! The people here are so generous and hospitable. Another positive thing--I counted my words (not one by one, just a rough estimate), and I've been taught almost 700 words!! I think I know maybe 500 :) Doesn't mean they all come to my brain in a conversation, but if they're printed out on a page, I can tell you what they mean. So exciting!!

My New Friend :)

This baby cicak came into my room the other morning. I let him stay because he eats bugs :) He's only about 1in and a half long!

Cartilage...It's What's For Dinner Tonight!

So tonight, my roommates and I were too tired to cook, so we walked to a warung (food stall) for dinner. I ordered gado-gado, which is a vegetable dish with peanut sauce. Rebecca got soto sapi (beef soup), and Valerie ordered ayam bakar dan nasi (baked chicken and rice). Valerie also ordered rujak (see my first post), so I was really excited to share that with her! However, when the rujak came, it was not the fruit dish with peanut sauce that I had before. Not knowing what it was, I braved the first bite. Now, being trained for semester after semester about living overseas, I knew to never spit out food. But I HAD to spit this out! It was not an Everest I could climb (that's for you, Jennifer :). We reviewed the menu to see exactly what we had ordered and after putting the word into a handheld dictionary, we discovered that what I had just put in my mouth and quickly spit out was none other than cow cartilage. Here is some more information and pictures if anyone is interested...

http://discoverindonesia.net/2010/02/rujak-cingur-a-challenging-taste/

Pisang

Please do not read this word with English pronunciation! It is pronounced pee-song, and it means banana. Yesterday, was a pisang day. While singing "I Have Confidence" by Julie Andrews in my head, I walked confidently home from my language tutor's house for the first time by myself. I was told to walk confidently and less people will make comments about me being buleh. It worked! On the way home, I stopped on what we fondly refer to as Banana Street at the large banana stand. By myself, I told the man, "Saya mau pisang hijau dan kecil" (I would like small, green bananas.) However small this victory seems on paper, it was an awesome victory for me! I did something all on my own for the first time in almost 2 weeks! Definitely something to be celebrated for this independent spirit learning to be dependent :)

Then, yesterday afternoon, I attempted baking for the first time. I decided on my banana bread, because as most of you know, I'm VERY comfortable with that recipe :) What I didn't think about was the fact that I didn't know how to turn the oven on or what temperature to put it at (our dial has the numbers 1-6, not 200, 250, 300, and so on.) So, I called my roommate at work and while on the phone with her, I turned the gas on for the second time (mistake #1 was turning it on the first time without knowing what I was doing), sticking a blue lighter/springy thing down a hole in the oven and clicking it repeatedly until BAM! I almost caught myself on fire!! Now, I've lit a barbecue before after putting way too much lighter fluid on it and had a rather large fire poof out, but that was nothing compared to the fire exploding from our oven! Mind you, I'm still on the phone with my roommate at this point, and I definitely screamed into her ear. Don't worry, I apologized as she was laughing at me. Anyway, the rest of the banana bread making went fairly smoothly, with little breaks to keep killing tiny ants that threatened to go swimming in the batter. After learning that 3 or 4 on the oven is about 350, I set the temperature there and kept checking the bread. Here is the yummy result:

Experiences of the Day

• Hour ride on the motorcycle (half of it in the rain = so fun!!!)
• Neon green 4 inch long grasshopper
• 6 in long centipede, about as big around as my finger
• Beautiful walk around the university campus
• Lunch with a new student (we ate gado-gado but with rice--don't remember what it was called)
• Enjoyed a conversation at English corner about arranged marriage
• Just now, the power went out :) Love it!! Oh, except that our dinner is cooking in the rice cooker. Oh well!
• Just came back on, so now I'm going to make mangoes and sticky rice :)

War

Here in SE Asia, we are at war. Not the kind of war you typically think of. No, this is war between woman and pest. And by pest, I mean pest! Here is my battle plan. So far, it has proven very successful.


Step 1: Spray legs and feet with deet when you're in for the night.

Step 2: Two hours before bedtime, fumigate bedroom with Force Magic and close bedroom door  to ensure the most enemies killed by the deadly poison.

Step 3: Right before going to bed, swing the electrocution racket through the air, in the bed, and under the bed to zap the remaining alive enemies.

Step 4: Plug in the electric repellent, fighting off all potential back up forces through the rest of the night.

Step 5: Enjoy a peaceful, mosquito free night's sleep with no pesky bites in the morning!

Step 6: Repeat every night for the rest of wet season.

Here are my trusty weapons:

Initial Reaction

Rujak

I'm finally here (and starting a blog about it 5 days later--sorry!)!! Here are some initial sights, sounds, smells, and tastes I've experienced:

Sights

• Green trees & plants
• Indian Ocean
• Smiling faces underneath head coverings
• Begging children
• Lots of motorcycles in lots of "lanes" of traffic
• Cats with no tails (they kinda look like half rabbits, half cats)
• School children walking on the side of the road
• Men bicycling mobile warungs (food stalls)

Sounds

• Cats meowing
• Motorcycles buzzing
• Calls to prayer from the mosque behind our house
• Man on a mega phone with blaring ice cream truck-type music selling bread in the early morning
• Kids yelling "buleh" (white person) when we walk by
• Lots of Bahasa Indonesia
• Laughter

Smells

• Burning trash
• Car/motorcycle exhaust
• Meat cooking
• Steaming corn
• Waste in the market
• Durian and other tropical fruits (some are called perfume fruits--not durian though!)

Tastes

• Fresh squeezed juice--mango, strawberry (they even have avocado with chocolate syrup squirted on the sides of the glass like they do at Starbucks for an iced caramel drink!)
• Rujek--fruit salad with spicy peanut dressing (soooo yummy!)
• Duku- a not so yummy fruit that looks like a nut, very bitter
• Jambu- a red, strawberry-shaped, apple-textured fruit that is tart like a granny smith apple
• Nasi goreng-- fried rice that is so much better than Chinese fried rice
• Pantsit- fried noodle dipped in onion broth and eaten as a wonton
• Padang food- this needs a blog post all to itself :)

As you can see, lots to experience, lots of adventure to be had, lots of learning to do!