Insight into a typical Indonesian situation. October 19, 2008

Today we have another event.  As is typical with these sorts of things, I am expected to participate (I think?) but have no clue as to who/what/when/where of it all.  Over breakfast, I ask Pita what is going on, what is the plan, etc. She tells me we leave at noon or eleven. I confirm that I should be ready to leave at eleven and she says yes. At five to eleven, I reconfirm that we are still in fact leaving at eleven. She says maybe.

:::::::I didn’t even make it to yesterday’s event for similar reasons:::::::::::::

Just how they roll in Indo…

Rubber time and chocolate wafers September 19, 2008

Well, hello there.  Its been a while, huh?  Today was quite a day.  I went to a meeting “pertemuan” about the Millennium Development Goals.  It was a fairly big deal.  I met the UNDP Project Coordinator for Jambi Province, in addition to other people on her team. Of course, I was unable to fully participate because I did not understand all that was going on (language barrier..haha!).  But, nonetheless (is that one word?) it was a great experience. People from South Sumatra, West Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan attended, in addition to many local NGO representatives from Jambi.  Although I could not understand many of their words, I could understand their passion.  When the participants spoke, although I could not understand most of their words, I could understand their tone and body language. There was a sense of urgency about the issues facing their communities.

We left the house about 7:30 am. Wait, no, it was 7:27 am, I know this because this is why I was unable to eat my breakfast. So you can imagine how thrilled I was about this, because I know that I will not be seeing the light of food until 6:05pm.  We pile into the SUV and head to the hotel to pick up some folks, the UNDP woman, Karlina, and some others whose names escape me.  We all start chatting as we head to the airport, to pick up another person, because why not pile 10 people into a vehicle that only fits about 8? Why, you ask…that’s just how they roll in Asia.  And of course the person we are picking up at the airport is a fairly large man, not a tiny Indonesian woman. The best part about Indonesians is that they are laughing about this to his face..haha!! I love it!

Off we go, embarking on our hour plus ride to Mauro Jambi…whatever that is I am thinking.  I am starving and thirsty, and I am not going to be rude by whipping out my bottle of water, especially in these tight quarters. And then, once again, baby j has my back, and Karlina whips out her bottled water…and her box of chocolate wafers. She tells me she is not fasting, I say neither am I!! And we share a laugh. And then we share some wafers!! Oh man, this is my lucky day.

We arrive at the meeting place at about 9 am, I think. We head inside, set up computers, LCDs, mics, and whatnot.  It is now close to 10, hmmm…what is going on? The meeting, which includes the “wakil bupati” (2nd after the governor…well the ‘vice’ 2nd to the gov), seems to be a pretty big deal. I am shocked that is has not started. The invitation is for 9am.  Then the woman who works at the clinic (whose name also escapes me…), seated in front of me, leans back to talk to me about the start time. She explains that this is an example of Indonesian “rubber time”. This is when the invitation says a certaing time (for example, 9am), but the event doesn’t start for an hour, maybe two, maybe 3.  She explains that we are waiting for the “wakil bupati”. The meeting can not begin until we know if he is coming. I am thinking to myself…’we don’t even know if he is coming?’.  She then proceeds to explain that it is possible that when he recieved the invitation, yesterday, he may have had other appointments and/or engagements.  This is an interesting concept to me, we invite the important government head the day before the meeting. Ok. I guess.  Of course, about 30 mins later, he arrives so all is well. But back to rubber time, she explains that this is a part of Indonesian culture, and while she is not a fan, it is a way of life.  Also to be noted is that because it is Ramadan, there are no refreshments to keep people occupied.   So rubber time, you say. I have heard about it, even experienced it in less formal settings. I think I felt it more strongly this time because I perceived this meeting to be so important.

They must be talking about some interesting stuff here, I am thinking. I had my dictionary, so I was able to get the gist of the powerpoint slides…well, some of them. It was funny, though. You know how when you are in an important meeting, one where you are not presenting, your mind wanders. You realize this, and then quickly get your head back in the game. Well this would happen to me, often in fact, and i would regroup and get really confused, not realizing right away they are speaking another language. I am probably making myself sound like a complete idiot, but it happened.

******About halfway through, Karlina handed me the wafers….perfect timing!************

I had the opportunity to observe some Indonesian behavior while in this meeting.  It is hard to adjust to some of them…see for yourself:

-don’t feel like you have to silence your cell phone. In fact, please don’t bother. And make sure your ring tone is a pop song, and is as loud as possible

-And then…when you answer it, don’t bother leaving the room. Just answer in the middle of the meeting, its no problem

-While people are presenting, even if you are on the stage, a part of the current panel, do not feel like you need to stop talking. In fact, talk amongst  yourselves. Visibly. Don’t be discreet about it.

-If you are curious about the current headlines in the newspaper, don’t be shy. Read the paper. The whole thing. And again, don’t be discreet about it, just read the thing openly while people are presenting.

The most interesting thing that happened, well not interesting, just shockingly unbelievable was that the laptop used to present the presentation was not plugged in. Which meant, halfway through the computer lost power.

I hope this doesn’t sound awful of me, I love all these people. It is interesting to observe the cultural differences. Clearly, they were not being rude because no one was offended. Below are some pics from the event.

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!

disclaimer: I complain alot September 8, 2008

This is collection of two days worth of complaints. I wrote them while at the office. I think i need to start smoking again. haha. like they would let me smoke here in Jambi! I will warn you, I hate myself when I read this.

9.5 Jumat

I don’t really know what it is they do here. I mean, what am I doing here? i guess i should have utilized the teaching resources available to me, huh? you know at pkbi, unmarried women can not get pap smears. the reason, because it is dangerous. what?! where the f*** did they get that information? so basically, i am not eligible to have an exam (I’m guessing divorcees are allowed?) I am sitting here, reading and researching how the hell to teach and plan a curriculum from scratch and i am not sure what it is they are doing. i think she is on her cell phone sending text messages and he is doodling with his head halfway resting on her desk.i don’t care, of course, it is their prerogative. its just an interesting observation. i am pretty sure that ramadan definitely changes their workload. other interesting judgmental comments include woman whipping out their breasts in public, anywhere, while covered in a jilbab.
so here it is 2:24 and i think people are still working. incredible. after work i am going to buy my ticket to jakarta and a new pair of pants. i am so excited for this trip. it is going to be really relaxing, i can feel it in my bones.
9.8 Senin
So it is Monday. back to the old grind right? haha. i am really getting tired of the cell phone situation in indonesia. i mean every single person has a ring tone that is actually a song, and not only do they ring/play at the highest possible volume setting, often times they let it play through because they like the song.
another tidbit: well, as i may have explained, i am living in a semi-homestay. i eat meals with the family everyday which is really nice. i am not a huge fan of the food though. i feel bad about it, ibu is great but i am just not that into food here in jambi-i guess i need time for it grow on me. also, they don’t keep a large selection of fruit on hand, which i would like. anyway so yesterday i went to the market. i bought 6 little yogurts, a pear, 2 mangoes, 2 apples, a small loaf of bread and some strawberry jam. that was yesterday at apprx. 1 o’clock. This morning this is what I had left: 3/4 of a loaf of bread, half an apple, 1 yogurt and my jam. now keep in mind that i had eaten 1 apple and 1 yogurt. thats it. so is the sharing both ways? i can’t keep the food in my house because i am not interested in an ant infestation, which will happen. so my choices are to either talk to them about eating my food, or just buy ALOT of what i want in the hopes that some will be left. whatever. i guess i just need to eat faster. duh.
reproductive health. its where my brain is at right now folks. just at the research stage right now, but still, its all i think about. well, that and how i perpetually find ways to make myself uncomfortable but thats another story.

ok-enough complaining already. i really enjoyed my day today. I went to the police station to register myself as a foreigner working in Jambi. It is still amazing to me what a novelty I am. Blatant laughter in my face. Its cute I guess. As we walked out of the police station, the woman Sumi who was helping me pointed out all of the trucks in the parking lot. All the confiscated trucks filled to the brim with illegal logging. wow.

I spent the rest of my day reading about adolescent sexual and reproductive health. it is incredible. 85% of “adolescent” age people claim they have NEVER been talked to about sexual and reproductive health. Some common beliefs include: you can’t get pregnant if you only have sex once or that you can only get HIV/AIDS (because they don’t even know the difference) from sleeping with a prostitute. If only these were true!!! ahhh. I have so much to say about this but it would probably bore the hell out of you so I will stop.

*****ATTENTION ENTOURAGE FANS**************

I am obsessed. Now, I have HBO here, but I am almost 100% sure that Entourage does not air on HBO Asia. I just finished watching the first episode from season 5 on youtube, and while the quality was awful, it was still Entourage.

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.