Well, well. I have arrived in Jambi. This is where the action is going to happen people. This is what I have been waiting for. This, my friends, is what I have been planning the entire next year of my life around.
I left Jakarta early yesterday morning for my 10:15 flight. Dave (posted in Medan) and Sugi (our field coordinator) got off before me (from the taxi), thus beginning ‘Life in Indonesia without people making sure i am ok’. I was a little nervous, ok-super f***ing nervous. I didn’t know where to go. Its not like the signs were in English for me. Well, baby j sent a messenger from Oregon to me to make sure I was in the right line. He is always lookin’ out for me I tell ya.
So anywho, once I get inside the airport, a nice Indonesian guy working there asks me if I am headed to Denpasar (where you fly to get to Bali). I thought this was funny, as I suppose not too many whitees are headed to Jambi. This was the first of many questions from locals making sure I knew I was headed to Jambi. The people here are really nice and genuine, which is refreshing and humbling. Even though I have been studying the language for about 3 weeks, I haven’t really HAD to use it. And what I mean is, if I don’t speak Indonesian, I won’t know what is going on and WILL miss my flight. It was fun to use my Indo skillz and actually understand the response, and get up off my as and board the plane I almost missed (because I didn’t realize Jambi was boarding).
On the plane, I lucked out with a Row 2 window seat. I sat, patiently, reading my book (reading Disgrace) and intermittently freaking out. I have found that in moments of stress, I enjoy listening to Buddy and Mary’s CD because it reminds me of home and I am pretty sure that I can hear Buddy laughing in the beginning of one song. The flight was very short, about an hour and fifteen. As we are beginning to land, my eyes start to tear up. I am so overwhelmed that this is my new town, my new city, my new everything and am so excited and emotional. I have music blasting in my ears and I think at this point I am smiling and feeling like I am in a movie (maybe Garden State or one of those movies about changing your life) and then the man on my left taps me on the shoulder. He points to the left for me to look out the window. There is a plane in a field. Like, a plane that crashed in a field. Yup. This is home. All that emotional stuff going on inside of me comes to a halt and the movie in my head ends. I am in Indonesia. (**I am not writing this to freak anyone out. Planes crash and that is life…they crash in America, South America, Central America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, and Australia. And I think this was the first time in Jambi so they should be safe for few years, right??)
Once off the plane, I must again use my kiss-ass language skillz to figure out the baggage claim situation. This airport is smaller than the Greyhound Station in Philly, which also eases my nerves. Basically, the people make it across the tarmac before the bags so I had to wait a bit for my bags. The electricity at the airport was a bit unstable, so once the bags arrived, it was funny to watch the conveyor belt go on and off. Before getting my bags I walk outside to find my peeps. They are holding a sign that says Gillian on it. The woman, Nila, and her son Zacky. Also, the driver whose name is escaping me. I leave my carry ons with them and go to fetch my bags. One interesting thing about Domestic flights here is the weight limit. You are allowed 20 kilos of checked bags. Do have any idea how hard that is? So what you do is pack your carry ons with all your heavies…books, toiletries etc, because they do not get weighed. I, somehow, did not get charged even though my bags totaled 50 kilos.
I don’t know what I was expecting. I have been unable to picture Jambi in my mind. They picked me up in a nice new SUV. Maybe not new, but newer than any car I have had. And what is on the radio? Oh yes, a classic. “Love Hurts”. AWESOME! I wanted to break out into song but I decided I will wait before unleashing my incredible vocal talent. Nila speaks very good English so I am able to converse with her. She is adorable. We pick up some others, Ibu Hambali (the mother in the family I am staying with, her sister, the neighbor and the neighbor’s daughter). They want to see the plane crash so we drive back to the airport to show them. We then stop at a roadside stand and buy fruit, stop at the eyeglass store for Ibu to pick up sunglasses and then finally arrive home!! My house is soooo cute! So my living situation: I live in a little house across the street from the Hambali family. (It is their house.) I have a bedroom with a bathroom in it, and then there is a common area and one other bedroom. There is high speed DSL, and when I say high speed, I mean faster than what I had at home in the States. Their house is cute too. This is where I eat and can watch TV. Last night, we went out and got sate from a street vendor for everyone’ dinner. Delicious pieces of beef, chicken or goat, marinated like crazy then grilled on hot coals, then smothered in peanut sauce and served with these little rice patties. Mmmm.
I must run. Later gators.
