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.

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!