i don’t want to wake before the dream is over (2 posts in one! yipee!) September 12, 2008

(this was from yesterday)

9.11 Kamis
I can’t decide if today started out on the wrong foot or not. I was told last night that were leaving at 7am to head to the office. The training (that I mentioned in my prior post) participants meet early so we have to be there early. Of course, I stayed up late watching movies, it seems when I need to go to bed early I always feel most alive the later it gets. I am engrossed in Bourne trilogy. I need the last one…if anyone has it and would like to somehow get it to me…
Anyway, back to it being early. So I went to bed super late and am borderline not functioning. I woke up at 5am, thought I hit snooze, and went back to sleep. My internal clock woke me up with just enough time to eat some bread with jam, dab on some eye cream and run across the street. Of course, it wasn’t until about 7:30 that we actually left. Which is fine, of course. I met a lovely woman two days ago (Poppy I think I told you this story already). She is a participant of the training, I believe her name is Lula? She is a teacher of English in a village about an hour from Jambi city. I do not think she has ever met a native speaker. She appeared very nervous as she approached me to ask if I would visit her school. She said the students would be thrilled to have me, especially because they have never seen a Western person. I would love to, I tell her. She really wants me to come this weekend, but it is simply too soon. I think it would be better if I had more language under my belt, and knew how to navigate the bus (well…Angkot AKA mini-bus) system to get there. So as we are discussing this, I ask her for her email so we can keep in touch. She looks at me like I have three heads and says, oh no, gillian, we don’t even have electrcity. Way to sound like a complete idiot gillian.
I am planning a trip to West Java starting the 27th of September. I am in dire need of a break. A break from what you may ask…Well, lets see…I think that living in a country where you don’t really speak the language wears on you more than you think. Additionally, and I don’t consider myself a savage maniac, but keeping up with my newfound conservative image is a daunting task, it requires a lot of energy. I will fly to Jakarta…then head to Carita and possibly Pulau Umang or Peucang. I need some beach time…isn’t that why baby j gave us islands? To embrace the coast.
Today is a very slow paced day. my friends here at Mitra Aksi (I have been spelling it wrong all along) are busy with their training group today. I am busy doing more research, I have 6 assignments for school so I figure this is a good time to dig in and learn more about Indonesia and its policies on sexual and reproductive health. So how is America?? I would love to hear all about it…I am so boring right now.

9.12 Jumat

Hello there. What a week, huh. Filled with lots of waiting, wondering, hoping, daydreaming…

I got locked in my house today. As I have mentioned before, my house is across the street from my host family. We both have keys to my place, as the laundry room and garage are connected to my house, in addition to the tv with the playstation or xbox or whatever it is the kids are into these days. So they come and go freely, never going into my personal space. It is a nice arrangement, actually. Anyhow, to lock the door, you need to use the key. Well, today was another day of miscommunication about my transportation, which was never resolved, so I ended up having the day off. Its a cost of doing business out here, so anyway, once I realized the day was gone, I decided to take a little nap. During this time, I guess the mom thought I was gone and locked me in.

Above is my green little house! I love green!

Here are some more pics: (including my street, some children playing in the street, the hair salon across from my house).

Learning to drive a stick shift with my left hand, on the left side of the road from someone who speaks no English September 9, 2008

9.9 Selasa
Today has been great so far. I think that this country is going to do wonders for many of my personality defects. I always think I have this great ability to laugh at myself, but in actuality, I am a serious tight ass sometimes. However, the fine folks of Indonesia love laughing at each other, including me. It is great for the soul, and i am embracing every second of it. I have to bore you all with how my has gone so far. I love it. I am quite sure that after a month or so of this speed, I will probably start to lose it a little and I am prepared for that. So anyway, the past few days the driver has been picking us at different times, usually much earlier that normal. Yesterday was the earliest.

So today my plans for the day were going to be different. I was planning on heading to PKBI to meet with Sumi, who was going to again accompany me to the police station. I don’t know why but I have to go back. I was told that Bang Didi was going to pick me up at 9. I was ready at ten of, just in case. So 9 came and went. Thats fine, Indonesians aren’t known for their puncuality. So I play around on the internet…do some light language study, have a piece of my bread with jam. At about 9:30 I decide to inquire about what is going on. Apparently, the SMS that was sent to Bang Didi was not received until aout 9:15 that morning…”can you take an Angkot?” they asked. Well, i have only been to this place 2 times. I really, genuinely did not feel comfortable taking public transportation, at least not just yet. i feel like I need maybe one or 2 more times to secure some landmarks in my head. My sense of direction is a scary sense to rely on, especially in foreign countries. I can’t make it from the Blue Fountain Diner to the Oxford Valley Mall without calling someone for help. So anyhow, all is well, they are very understanding, in fact I think they felt worse than necessary about the whole thing. I was told that I would receive a call when alternative arrangements had been made. So I continued to sit on the internet…read…study…it is now 10:40. Finally the phone rings…”your ride will be there in 30 minutes”. Nice. I finish up what I am doing and apply some shimmer brick, to freshen up my face. I shut down my computer…break out my Ipod and my little language phrasebook and I wait. 11am…11:15…20..25…30..Finally at noon my ride arrives. We make a quick 20 minute stop at the store and by 1 I am in the office.

Today there is a training being held at the office. It is for teachers and headmasters to discuss a potential addition to the current curriculum, which is to promote awareness of environmental issues in the area. I mind my own business, make some small talk and start getting down to my business, which today consisted of some Beethoven and a report for the Ford Foundation entitled “Globalization, Health Sector Reform, Gender and Reproductive Health”. Anywho, I am doing this when Mas Hambali tells me that he would like me to do the ‘icebreaker’ for the training. And he wants me to do it in about 4 minutes. He keeps telling me that I was a teacher and this should be easy and I keep trying to explain to him that I will, of course, do it but that I was not a teacher, therefore I do not have icebreakers up my sleeve at a moments notice. He seemed confused but excited that I would do it. He tells me Nila will help me with ideas and leaves the room. Ok. Cool, I am excited about this. So about a minute later, Nila grabs my arm and brings me into the training room with all the teachers. Now I start feeling a little nervous. Nila tells me not to worry about the icebreaker…and then the icebreaker starts. Two minutes in I realize that I am the icebreaker. I proceed to introduce myself, the usual things Indonesians want to know…where are you from, how old are you, are you married, how many brothers and sisters do you have, do you like to swim?? That was a weird one but ok, I LOVE TO SWIM!!! Indonesians are so fun. What a fun day. And I was practicing my conversation skills quite a bit today, which are terrible, but thats ok. Thats why baby j provided me with a dictionary that fits into my bag.

Ooh. The best part of the day was securing plans to learn to drive a stick shift with my left hand on the left side of the road from someone who speaks no English! I wasn’t sure but Auntie convinced me! Thanks Auntie!

A little piece of heaven August 31, 2008

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.