Two Week Anniversary

Another week has gone by! Today is my two week anniversary of being here. I'm celebrating by thanking God for helping me make more adjustments and getting more and more used to life here. This week I successfully directed a taxi driver to my apartment, got mosquito nets, spent an afternoon in my apartment without the AC, almost ate ants with my cereal, made peace with geckos, got a stomach bug, eliminated the stomach bug, discovered the badminton court at the gym, discovered the roller coaster in the mall close by, finally bought a new kitchen knife after resorting to use my scissors to cut vegetables, and taught my first three days at school, among a few other things.

My first few days at school went well. I love the energy that there is on a first day of school, so many people to see again, or meet in my case. I’m still not used to being a traveling teacher and am figuring out the schedule and missing having a classroom to call my own, but I’m understanding the system a little more each day. I’m helping teach year 11 English and year 11 Fundamentals (which is like ESL). I’m excited to teach the Fundamentals, because I love language acquisition and I have more resources for that sort of thing from teaching Spanish this last year. I’m praying that I can love my students, be invested in building relationships with them, be firm from the beginning and set up a good classroom environment, be dedicated, consistent and innovative.

Here are a few cultural moments / observations:

- - Riding on the oncot: I got to experience a good cultural moment one of my first days here. There are little mini buses that hold comfortably 8 people in the back on a little bench. I rode it with 15 people on someone’s lap. I tried counting the people, but I simply couldn’t see all of them. Plus, I was practically hanging out of the non-existent door so I was holding on tight. :)
I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but traffic is horrendous here. The rule is not to follow the rules and fight for your chance to get through the busy streets. Cars drive so close to each other and create lanes that were not intended to be there. I was also surprised when I first came that they drive on the wrong side of the road, which still catches me off guard when I see a child in what I think is the driver’s seat. And I still grimace when we turn left into what I think is oncoming traffic.
- - One of my students asked me if I had gone through skin whitening treatment to get my face such beautiful white skin. I just laughed. This pale skin was God-given. No treatment necessary. The people here want to have paler skin and instead of hitting the tanning beds and using bronzer they use skin whitening products. I’m guessing it comes from the workers outside getting tanned from the sun, and the higher class stays white from staying inside.
- - Indonesians care very much about cleanliness. Someone is always cleaning, at school or at the apartments. They bathe twice a day. I was very embarrassed when asked if I had showered at night, when in fact I had only showered in the morning!
- - It’s hard not to compare Jakarta to Central America. I don’t feel at home here the way I do in Central America, but strangely I do in the grocery store. It just has that developing country feel. The grocery store I’ve been to a few times here reminds me of a mini-version of HyperMas, the store my family often frequents in Costa Rica. It sells everything from cell phones, to clothes, to yogurt, like a Target. But unlike a Target, in the aisles there are people in the middle of the store with mics playing music, sometimes Barnie. There seem to be many more workers in the aisles. There are imported items, but I don’t think there are any guaranties on what you can find. Some things unique to an Indonesian grocery store: there is an entire isle dedicated to Ramen. Pasta is in a different aisle, of course. The cereal aisle has very limited options, eggs come in tens, not dozens, and rice only seems to be sold in very large quantities.

Thank you all for your e-mails and facebook messages. I have been so encouraged by my friends and family far away these past few weeks! I’m still adjusting to so many things, especially living by myself, but I know that God is able to allow my challenges shape me into who he wants me to be. And I know he’ll provide a community and friendships and lots of joy!

Getting ready to go on the flying fox. And yes, I did put on a harness and go down a zipline in a skirt. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. :)

The view from our hotel in Puncak. Outside of Jakarta, Indonesia is green and beautiful!

First Impressions.

I've been in a Jakarta for a week. It’s hot and muggy but I hardly notice as I go from air-conditioned apartment to air-conditioned bus to air-conditioned school to air-conditioned mall to air-conditioned taxi. It smells of smog, smoke and other smells, there is trash in the streets and in the small water canals that run through the city, pollution hovers over the city clouding view of nearby skyscrapers. But underneath the grime, colorful bougainvillea flowers and palm trees decorate the streets. The people of Jakarta are never without their beautiful smiles. My first meal out on the town was at a nice Italian restaurant near the apartments. My apartment is a nice little, but open studio with a balcony. The only downside to my studio apt is my kitchen: I have a tiny fridge, two burners, and a sink and enough counter space to chop maybe one carrot. I do have plenty of storage space: way more than enough. Everyone at IPEKA has been extremely welcoming and friendly. My team teacher, who is another single American has graciously helped me get around to the mall and back, helped me get a cell phone and introduced me to colorful, but not so flavorful jelly pastries and helped me with much more. I’m so grateful to have another young single American here. There are a few other single teachers, I’m excited to build community with people here.
I would be lying if I said that this has been an easy last few days. My second morning here I woke up absolutely covered in bug bites. I’m working on that one – getting some new screens and learning to kill mosquitoes in my sleep. (True Story). I also had a lovely trip to the hospital to get something for an unpleasant infection. Thankfully as soon as I said I needed to see a doctor someone from the school took me immediately. I’m still working on getting rid of my jet lag daze and getting a full night’s sleep. My first two days at school were a little overwhelming, as helpful as everyone is, I still feel unsure exactly what I will be teaching. The way the schedules are worked out at IPEKA is very different from what it would be like in an American school. And teachers, or at least from what I can tell, don’t really have their own classrooms. Teachers and students move around to different classrooms. The schedule, curriculum and nature of things are still very new to me.
What has been hardest in this transition time has been a feeling of loneliness. Living by myself and not really knowing anyone in this big city contributes. Everyone has been so friendly, but I don’t know yet what my community here will look like.
I was not expecting it to be so, but this retreat has I got a chance to room and bond with my team teacher Laura and get to know some other teachers at IPEKA. We found a fun ropes course and went on a “flying fox”. The teachers I was with were so cute and funny and made me take lots of pictures. I actually had lots of pictures taken of me at the retreat, my blonde hair made me feel like a celebrity a few times. I was able to reflect a lot at the retreat about God’s grace and the fact that he has been gracious to provide for me up to this point and to bring me here and I know he will help me make the most of my experience here.
Please pray that I would continue to adjust to everything here, the climate, the curriculum and schedule at school, and that I would be able to get into a routine and figure out how to live well and in God’s grace in Jakarta!
There so much more to tell, so I will blog again soon!