Do you surf?

Last weekend Fanny and 7 other friends all went together to Pelabuan Ratu and rented a beautiful house right on the beach. It is a nice small town located 4hours away from Jakarta, on the western coast of Java. The main activity in Pelabuan Ratu is surfing. I tried surfing 5 years ago with my friend Brian in California.   Aside from the Indonesian warm water, the outcome of my second surfing experience was the same: unsuccessful multiple trials and an enormous bruise on my oh so white leg. I had fun anyways and really enjoyed my time away from the city.

During our weekend I met an American person, the second one only since I got here. I chatted a bit with him and told him how surprised I was not to see more Americans around Jakarta. He then told me that the American government highly discourages its citizen to travel to Indonesia for security reasons. So I went on the the U.S department of state website and found the evidence: "Crime can be a problem in some major metropolitan areas in Indonesia.  ", "U.S. citizens should be aware that a real or even perceived offense may generate a violent response from local people.", "Extremists may target both official and private interests, including hotels, clubs, and shopping areas. ", "November 2009, unknown assailants shot at foreigners in Banda Aceh".... and BLA BLA BLA.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_2052.html#safety

So far what I've seen of this country is the EXTREME OPPOSITE of how this website portraits Indonesia and its population. I've never met such loyal, straight, honest and generous people in my whole life... can't always judge a book by its cover... especially when the cover is made my the U.S government, can you?

Ojek please!

Eric, a colleague of mine and I were happy to catch a Bajai in front of the school to drive us to the gym in Kemang. It was 5.20, my class started at 6.00, it's ony 2.3 km away; we'll be there in no time... NOT. Although walking in Jakarta is rarely an option (even google maps.com doesn't give you the option to walk in Jakarta), after 40 minutes of sitting, sweating and pollution inhaling, Eric and I finally jumped off the Bajai  and walked our way to the gym.

Once at the gym I talked to the customer service department about my options as far as transport. Here is what it comes down to:

• Taxi with high risk of being stuck in traffic
• Bajai with high risk of being stuck in traffic + being exposed to pollution and heat
• Walking with no sidewalks and with a high chance of getting hit by a car
• Going by bike with a high chance of getting hit by a car
• Ojek (also known as hopping on the back of a motorcycle) with NO risk to be stuck in traffic, known to be good drivers, but having to wear stinky, gross helmets.

Ojek it is. I'll borrow a helmet from Fanny.

Depending on the frequency and area of usage, there are different ways to pay an Ojek. For me the most interesting deal would be to hire a personal 44/7 Ojek. In other words I need to find an Ojek, negotiate a fix monthly salary ( max 400 000 Rupiah = 38 Euros), exchange numbers so I can text him when and where he needs to pick me up, close the deal. Yeah... easier said than done.

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Afternoon rain in Jakarta ain't for pussies.

This afternoon I was sitting in a classroom with two other teachers, preparing for a parent-teacher conference. As usual it starts raining at about 3 p.m ("As usual" isn't quiet the right expression since July, August and September are supposed to be all part of the so-called dry season). So far nothing special. 4 p.m still raining and now the thunder is right above our heads. All good. 30 minutes most of the classroom was flooded. Typical.

Not only did I discovered that flooded classroom and flooded streets were normal life to any Indonesian, I also learn that tiles breaking and exploding in classroom,houses and restaurants are common practice too. In deed because the tiles are not set properly, as soon as the humidity index increases, the tiles elevate and eventually explode and break. You know... nothing crazy:  "ONLY 3 or 4 times a year" in each class.

flooded streets

flooded streets

A dog bakery? not in Jakarta.

This week I was taking to a colleague of mine, Laurence who moved from Switzerland to Indonesia a couple years ago with her two kids, her husband, her cat and her dog. She was telling me how hard it was for her to find a maid when she arrived. Interestingly enough the problem wasn't money or time constraints, the problem resided in what we also know as the man's best friend: her 3 year old cocker.

Though she found a person that was comfortable enough to feed her dog, she often still needs to walk the dog around the neighborhood. Every walk is subject to screams, name calling and finger pointing. Not only do Indonesian not like dogs, they fear them too: guards, policemen, you name it...
In comparison, tt's hard to believe that a couple of month ago I was living in, Portland Oregon, the number one dog friendly city in the United States that offers gluten free pastries in speciality bakeries for dogs only.

So I went to look for more info on the subject and found the following: "Muslims generally cast dogs in a negative light because of their ritual impurity...", "It is said that angels do not enter a house which contains a dog.", "...black dogs are evil, or even devils, in animal form...". 

Selamat IDUL FITRI to you all.

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Sunday has become my favourite day of the week.

Jakarta street on Sunday

My rommate on our favourite vehicule!

Sunday brunch with the girls

Pool time at J.P's house

Bright orange and noisy ... easily describes a bajaj.

My first week-end in Jakarta went very well. While Saturday turned out to be a busy day; in deed buying food and drinks, exchanging money and cooking takes a entire day in Jakarta... especially on a Saturday. Fanny organized a house warming for me and we invited friends over. Fun fact number one: parties don't  ever get out of control in Jakarta; the price of the cheapest bottle of wine is 15 USD!

And then Sunday came... Indonesians stay at home on Sunday which means you can actually circulate around your neighborhood and beyond by car, scooter or bicyle without any big chances of getting hit by a car or stuck in traffic for hours. What a relief. Fanny and I took the opportunity to drive to brunch on her scooter. We met up with friends and had japenese food in a "very expatriate-like" restaurant in Kemang, with  a "very expatriate-like" menu and a "very expatriate-like" bill as well! We spent the rest of the day at the Spa... I had a pedicure, manicure, massage, and hair brushing done for a total of .... 16 USD. Is that what heaven looks like?

Next week Indonesia is celebrating the end of Ramadan also known as IDUL FITRI, 90 percent of the population goes on vacation, back to their village or stay at home...For the expatriates it is the perfect occasion to visit a bit more of the city and ride around on a scooter just for the sake of no traffic. :)

The Ant episode

The street my house in on. The blue gate in the background is ours.

Today I came back from work exhausted... I went to the kitchen to get myself a fruit and discovered 2 delicious looking dinner plates that Purwanti had prepared for us for dinner. As I look closer to see what the ingredients are, I see ants (aka semut) crowling everywhere in one of the plates. I called Purwanti to let her know and insisted on this being TIDAK GAWAT (it doesn't matter, nothing to worry about). While a lot of Americans and French would have thrown the dish away, Purwanti on the other hand open the gaz stove and gently hovered the plate above the fire in order to get the ants out of there. She stood there for 15 minutes and eventually got rid of every single ant and put the plate this time back in the fridge. :)

New words I learnt today:

Saya Capek : I am tired
It's raining/rain : Hujan
Wait! : Tunggu
Sleep: Tidur
Yesterday: Kemarin
Difficult: susah
Ant: semut
No worries : tidak gawat

I have two rooms to myself and a maid. Life is good.

Entrance

Selamat Sore (good evening :))

My roomate, Fanny came back from France yesterday which allowed me to move in earlier than I thought. The house is beautiful, it is in a gated expat neighborhood called Cipete... literally 5 min away from the school. The house has 4 big rooms, 4 toilets, a beautifully decorated entrance (Fanny's been living here for 5 years, she's travelled EVERYWHERE in South East Asia and brought back many decorative furniture), a nice living/dining room area, an outdoor patio and a cute kitchen. The house also has an ensuite where the maid (her name is Pawaranti) washes and irons the clothes. It is more than anything I could have wished for. I took pictures today and hope to put them up as soon as possible...Life is good.

Today was my first day at the LIF too. The doors of the school were open to staff only. Aside from me there are 5 other new teachers... Everybody is really nice and welcoming. The school looks brand new and the atmosphere among the staff is very friendly and inviting. I am sure the next month will be pretty busy and I'm looking forward to concentrating on work and knowing my colleagues.

The weather hasn't been bad at all... it is hot and humid but very comfortable at the same time. For some reasons it still is a little rainy and overcast ( which is not normal at all apparently since we are in the middle of the dry season) which unfortunately attracts.... MOSQUITOES! 100 of them are eating my feet as I am writing...

And yes I have yet to discover more of the city of Jakarta and its people ( I have started to learn a bit of Bahasia Indonesia on the internet and am founding very useful to get around!). I have only been here for 3 days but I do feel a little trapped in my neighborhood/street. The traffic is very bad and right now I don't really have the time to sit an hour and and a half to travel 10km to the nearest supermarket. Next week is the end of Ramadan also called IDUL FITRI. We have Thursday and Friday off and hope to take advantage of my extended weekend.

Selamat Jalan,



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Street in the evening

Living Room