Yes, I know, it's been a month...

Contrary to popular belief, I do realize that I haven't updated in a month. I'll skip the apologies, because I'm in Indonesia and Indonesians just don't apologize for anything...When in Rome...

So I'm going to change a few things on the blog. Because I tend to get carried away with recounting every step of my life, I've decided not to tell you every detail or give you a laundry list of my activities.

Much like my friend and former roomie/partner-in-crime Amy (who is currently interning in China, for those of you who don't know) , I have decided to dedicate the rest of this blog to my thoughts on and observations of life in Indonesia. Don't worry, I will throw in lots of amusing anecdotes and plan on including many interesting stories.

For now, I will content myself with the following observations:

1. This country is the EPITOME of disorganization
- I come to teach at SMA5 each morning/afternoon not knowing if that day we actually have class or not. And what's worse is that the other teachers simply accept this, as this is the way it has been done for years and years. A familiar morning greeting among teachers is not "Good morning, how are you?" But "Ada kelas hari ini apa nggak?" (Is there class this morning or not?) And the most common response? "Gak tahu aku. Ayo tanya!" (How am I supposed to know? Let's go ask.) And the students are just as confused. No wonder Indonesian students are not very advanced...

2. Just because you're an English teacher in Indonesia, doesn't mean you can actually speak English.
- I once met a H.S. English teacher who got confused when I asked him "Where do you teach?" His response? "Yes, I am love teach Engrris language." (Inggris = English in Indonesian). Oy!
- There's a 12-grade English teacher here at my school who asks her students what words are in English. Not because she's testing them, but because she truly doesn't know the English translation. She has this ridiculously thick Javanese accent, and her students imitate this because they think it's correct. Oh my goodness...you can't make this stuff up...

3. This country might be obsessed with bathing, but somehow they all still smell!!
- Probably the second most common question in this country (right behind "Sudah makan?" - Have you already eaten?) is "Sudah mandi?" (Have you already taken a shower?). Indos bathe at least twice if not three times a day and yet everywhere you go, it smells like BO! Maybe it has something to do with the lack of deodorant. Or perhaps because by "shower" they mean pouring freezing cold water over your head with a bucket. Or maybe it's because it's freaking HOT in this country...

4. And I do mean HOT!
- In Indo, they have 2 seasons: dry and rainy. The rainy season just started, and it's about 95 degrees on average. By noon it's pushing 100. And let's keep in mind Air Conditioning is practically nonexistent in this (slowly) developing country. So although I might get to go home in the afternoon, it's too hot to actually relax or do anything but sit there, fanning yourself.


For those of you who don't know yet, I have moved houses. I'm living with 6 other students now, in a rented house. There are 3 Polish ppl (2 guys and a girl), 2 Chinese girls, a Javanese boy, and me. It's so crazy, but we love it. I much prefer this setup to my old host family's house - I can come and go as I please, no one is keeping tabs on me, and I feel more like a student now (which means I actually do more studying!). There are always people coming and going, and it reminds me of dorm life, but in a good way! We're all really good friends and we are constantly gabbing about something, watching movies together (on laptops, because it's too expensive to get a TV) and generally just enjoying each other's company. I'm learning a lot about Polish, Chinese and Javanese culture thanks to this experience. All in all, I'm really happy with the move. The only thing that sucks now is that I have to do A LOT of housework. We just recently bought a washing machine, so up until then we were doing our wash by hand. Let me tell you how much that sucks. I never thought it was so difficult to get soap out of clothes! I would wash 4 or 5 garments and it would take me 2 hours...blah! But it's okay because now we have our (semi) automatic washing machine. I'm not sure if we ever had machines like this in the US, but it's got two compartments - one for washing and rinsing, and one for the spin cycle. You have to put the water in yourself (we use a bucket and carry it from the tap), then add the soap. Wait 15 minutes. Then pull the drain out and let the water drain. Then make sure you put the drain pipe back in! Then add more water. Then wait another 15 minutes. Then drain again. Then put the drain back. Then add more water. Then wait another 15 minutes. Then drain again. Then put the drain back. Then remove the clothes and put them into the tiny spinner. Then wait a few seconds. Pull the clothes out. Put them on the clothesline and wait a bit for them to dry. If you're unlucky enough to put the clothes on the line and then have it rain on your almost-dry clothes, you should probably wash them again because the rain here is not clean. It's weird...

Okay. That's all for now. I hope you all forgive me for being such a bad blog updater :) I miss you all and love you!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! (I won't be celebrating this year, because this holiday doesn't exist here...)