Well, as some of you may or may not know, I have been working out again. Yup, me and Billy Blanks rekindled are hot and steamy romance and things are going well. I really enjoy it and I feel alot better. I was turning into quite the fatty while in school. In addition to being good for my body, I find it is a great outlet for stress. Really great for my mental health, if ya know what I mean. So I have shed a few pounds. It feels nice, I look better, etc. So naturally, my pants have gotten bigger, therefore I need some new digs. Today, Pita and I went to Mitra, a department store in Jambi City. I think there were about 8 pairs of pants, total, in the store that even looked like they MIGHT fit. And then there were the 2 pairs that actually did fit. And then there were 2 that were too big. Now, lets not be ridiculous. I am not counting the Plus size (which are abt the equivalent to a US size 12) polyester. 70′s style pants that come up to right under your boobs that come in every color of the rainbow, most with some amount of elastic in the waist. I am not that desperate. I even perused the men’s section. Just as depressing. I really felt like shit after that. Here I am thinking…wow…this working out stuff is great! And now all I want to do is drink a milkshake!! haha! However, I know that this is not indicative of anything substantial. Had I been born in Indonesia I would welcome the polyester!! So just a head up, if you are thinking about coming here for a while, and your waist is larger than about a 24, I would consider another country, or coming well stocked. So April…you are all set.
In case you are overweight (meaning over 90 pounds) and want to either visit Indonesia for an extended period of time/live here. October 18, 2008
Durian party (Uncle Tom you are going to love this) October 18, 2008
So after the event, we went back to Bung Didi’s family’s house, which was walking distance from the event. This was his family’s village. Apparently, every Friday night, durian is free. I don’t know much about this tradition, other than that. So we had been at this event ALL DAY. I was covered in layers of sweat and the heat makes me SOOOO tired. We were all about to leave, when Mas hambali noticed a couple people were missing from our group. He called them and found out they went to get some durian. The whole group, as exhausted as everyone was, seemed to get excited about this news. They all proceeded to ask me if I like durian, which at this point, I did not. If you don’t know what durian is, it is a big fruit, with prickly looking things on it. And it smells. I have been in places that actually have signs saying it is not permitted. Thats how bad it smells. I mean, it REALLY smells.
Soon they arrived with the durian. I was not able to try any at first because I was involved in a hardcore photo shoot with the local kids. I guess they heard that there was a bule on the premises, so I spent about 30-45mins posing for them. All with their camera phones. Kids as young as probably 3 taking pictures. Sometimes they would pose with me. It got kind of annoying after a while but I figured that it will probably be a while before they see one again, so I just went with the flow, laughing and posing and speaking my broken Indonesian, which kind of freaked them out. I have included a picture of the kids below. And yes, they were all taking pictures. Even the tiny ones.
After my photo shoot, it was durian time. It smelled so terrible, but I knew that refusing it would be a mortal sin. And not only that, I wanted to participate in this ritual. I mean, thats why I am here right. So I tried it. The first piece wasn’t so good. It smelled and tasted as bad as it smelled. I was honest about this, and Mas Hambali found one he was sure I would enjoy, that was a better quality durian. He was right. It was sweet and mushy, and had a really weird aftertaste. But I jsut went with this flow too, and had a great time. Below are some pics for your viewing pleasure.
Next time you see durian…just do it. Take a deep breath and (insert British accent) GET IN!!
Bule Masuk Kamping (foreigner in the village!!) October 18, 2008
It has been a long time since my last post. Well, lets see, I took a holiday for about 9 days in that time, and have since been back to work for about a week.
I have had some revelations over the past 3 weeks since I have last written.
The first is that I am NEVER going to knowingly ingest artificial sweetner for as long as I live. I have been Splenda-free since leaving the states, and after using it again I could feel all the ‘side effects’ they warn you about. Strange muscle pains, diarrhea, the feeling like growling rodents are running around inside my stomach. I am happy to make the move back to sugar.
The second is that I ABSOLUTELY love Philadelphia. Yes, I am in the midst of the most extreme homesickness one could ever imagine. The upside is that I actually have a home, a place, family and friends that I miss dearly and am excited to go back to. Although it sucks to feel homesick, it has made me appreciate all that is Philadelphia and has given me a break from my usual plotting around how to change my environment.
The third is that a year is a LONG ASS TIME! Before I left, I think somehow I managed to tell myself that a year isn’t that long. Yeah, when you compare one single year to the 28 other years (yup, I will 29 when this is all over) it is not that long. But while you are in it, well thats an entirely different story. I don’t want to sound like I am complaining or whining. All of the things I am feeling and thinking are incredible learning opportunities for myself. I am fairly confident that this is part of the journey.
So lets see, what’s new?? Well, as I mentioned I have been homesick. This week I was for real sick, completely due to the fact that I used Splenda, I mean the sweet chlorine substance they market as Splenda. I missed a day of work and I think it was exactly what I needed to get through the really low part of my sadness. I stayed in bed all day and started watching the show Weeds (I think it is from Showtime??). Very funny, highly recommend it (unless you are prone to drug dealing-this show makes it look really easy). Ibu was really sweet and took care of me, giving me specific instructions about what to eat and drink, even made her son go to the pharmacy and buy me medicine. This made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, which I think I needed.
The work aspect of my week was interesting. I have been repeatedly told that after Ramadam I will be given work and my schedule, etc. This was not the case, so I had to initiate the talk. All that really got figured out was that I will be in one place M and T, and another W,Th, and F, and will be teaching six times per week. Not the news I was looking for, but I will make it work. I have a feeling alot of my duties with involve sitting at a desk, writing and whatnot, so I think the teaching will break things up a bit-add a lil spice to my wee
Here are some pictures from an event I attended yesterday. It was a MDG event, with 20 doctors available to treat the poor community members for free, provide them with free meds, etc. It was great. There was a live band, playing Islamic music (i forget what its called… i should have written it down). the one woman kept trying to get me to dance in a sexy way, it was really weird. She was sort of shaking her boobs around at me, trying to motion to me that I should dance like that. It was really freaking me out, so I just sort of acted like I didn’t understand what she wanted from me. But the event overall was a huge success. I met many people, including the doctors. It was really funny, these people had really NEVER seen a foreigner. I mean, when I say I was being stared at, I mean blatant, full on staring.
There was a point when the Vice-Mayor of the village was giving a little speech. He was thanking people and acknowledging different contributors to the event. Well, I guess he announced me, because all of my friends were telling me to stand. So, I stand. I didn’t think I was standing that long, but I guess I was because he (in English!!) said, Please sit down. It was so embarrassing and fun at the same time. This also attracted even more attention to me, for anyone who had not yet seen the bule (literally means albino…from colonial days. now it means foreigner, a white foreigner).
the first picture is me with my friends/co-workers in the car on our way to the event. I had no cllue it was a 2 hour ride, I thought it was 15 minutes away. So of course I drank tons of water before and some sweet tea on the way. (Yes, sweet tea. Its my new fave.) We are showing off our new bracelets…in honor of ridding the world of poverty. The rest are just random shots from where I was sitting. You will notice one picture where the sky is evenly divided, dark clouds and regular sky. Yes, it is rainy season, and yes, I was wearing cashmere. Every day at abt 3 it rains, usually pretty heavily. So I could add to my ‘learning’ in the past week that both my cashmere sweater and my leather moccasins are inappropriate for this season. As I mentioned, I was like a superstar at this event. You will notice there is a picture with me and a bunch of men. This is quite common for people to want either their picture with me or just of me. I like to get some shots of these as well, when they happen. Its funny, too, that I was being photgraphed so much and had so much attention on me. It was sooo hot, I was wearing cashmere and I was covered in sweat. Hardly looking like a superstar. Fun times, nonethless.
