Time to go

Hi All,

After a week that has felt very busy, I have just come back from a nice meal out with the people I have been staying with. We went to a roadside place near Sarinah (Jakarta's first department store and a noted place to shop) in a vibrant area called Tharmin. I can't remember the name of the place but they are well known for their satay ayam (satay chicken). Ummm "enak". I really want to continue to have a restful time by reading on the balcony tomorrow. I found some Enid Blyton books in one of the bookcases and I used to really like reading her books when I was younger, so I feel a moment of indulgence coming on :-)

My luggage weighs...... 22.4kg, they allow 23, so I shouldn't need to become Mrs Michelin again! LOL

The sharing and children's session went really well yesterday (Thurs), so BIG thanks for that. We didn't get home till 8.40pm. Having been up early, out since 12.30pm, and basically doing stuff back-to-back, we were knackered by the time we got in, but it was worth it. -I was told that my sharing di dalam Bahasa Indonesia was very well done. I was proper sweating buckets by the time I finished! LOL

Anyways, I don't intend to stay up too much later (21.50 here), so I bid you adieu and say once again thank you for all your support. Today, when asked where I had got my support and encouragement from, I said you guys and that is totally true.

All being well, Sunday lunchtime I should have arrived at Gatwick.

5 days away

Malam! (Night).

It’s 2.30am out here and instead of sleeping I'm emailing! Have been trying to upload some pictures and not sure what else :-)

Well I came back from Yogya yesterday after spending 5 jam packed days with some university students. My solo 9-hour train journey across the island was a good journey and a blessed one. My vision of being squashed like sardines on a basic train, with people hanging out the sides, was far from accurate, though the conveniences were rather ripe! Oh, and I tried Cup Corn, some of the students bought it for me at the station, as a special treat.

I'm glad I took the plunge and took that route on my own, but if I ever come back, I think I'd def be going by plane every time. Having the train delayed by an hour, then stop at some random point for them to pick some herbs or something by the track, made for a looong trip, that though scenic, had me going stir crazy by the end. Add to that trying to get onto the busway with a small case, and I was feeling pretty spent, but proud of meself by the time I arrived back at 8.30pm.

Being in Yogya was a real experience. The students I met were full of life. I was greatly impressed by their passion, creativity and focus. I had SOOOOOOOOO many conversations with SO many students. These convos had me using my limited Indonesian and those who had it, their English, so, you can imagine the brain power used up!

News about me spread through the grapevine. Some assumed I was from Africa, others America, no-one assumed I was from England, unless they were one of those who knew I was coming. Hearing that I have Jamaican parents was a big thing for them, especially those from Papua. I was told how much they love Jamaica, reggae, and you know Bob Marley's name came up right :-)

Meeting people from Papua made me understand why I was told people out here could assume I was from there. - In fact, some of the students greeted me in the traditional way at first as they assumed I was from there. This of course changed when I opened my mouth! - I SO wanna do some research into Papua.
*"Who are the Papuans? One of the oldest human races and cultures... Papuans belong to one of the first human groups to have moved out of Africa perhaps 60,000 years ago." Taken from softpedia.com

I was up early everyday and went to bed late most of the nights, so came back pretty whacked, however it was worth it, and I have some good memories to look back on. I sat in on a cell group, had lunch with some senior Korean gentleman, went to an 8am service, was woken up by loud singing at 4am, had a number of motorbike rides - have basically become like "whatever" when it comes to these, though the speed at which one young person went, did have me internally calling out "slow down!". Went around a little bit of Yogya on Sunday, which included shopping for batik - traditional dress of Indonesians, particularly Javanese.

Oh yeah, and sang O Happpy Day at a big youth event.

Everything is on shut down now for the next 2 days as it is Idul Fitr - public holiday to celebrate the end of the fast, so if I actually go to bed at a decent time :-) I should catch up on some rest.

End of the first week

Hello! or should I say "Selamat Malam" (Good evening)

For those who are interested:

Selamat Pagi (Goodmorning - use till 11am) Selamat Siang (Good day - use 11am-3pm) Selamat Sore (Good afternoon - use till nightfall) Selamat Malam (Good evening)

Well, it's the end of my first week and it feels pretty surreal still...

Highlights
Getting here safely :-)

Getting straight into stuff - teaching the hokey pokey :-) visiting a kindergarten, riding on the back of a motorcycle, visiting a slum area where I felt humbled by what I saw, riding by myself on the 'proper buses (more the size of small coach) and also the little buses, that along with hundreds (I am not exaggerating) of motorcycles rule the road. These buses are like little mini-vans, you jump on and off - sometimes while it is still moving - at whichever point suits you. Saying "kiri kiri" will get them to stop, or at least it's supposed to...

...I was rather desperately saying "kiri KIRI!" on Tues (my first time on them) when it was left up to me to decide where we were getting off and I saw we had passed our place! Now you're not supposed to display emotional outbursts, or raised voices, but I had been saying it calmly at least 2-3 times before my last insistent "kiri KIRI", at which point the drive said: "Ok!" LOL!

I have been to the outskirts of the area and seen some interesting community work, have eaten a rather interesting pizza hut pizza called shrimp kress, which had a fried shrimp (like you get at a Chinese) on top of each slice along with some other bits (I have a picture). As a side note, it still astonishes me that certain big chain food/drink companies get to turn up in places so far afield.

I've had some interesting conversations about working in a different country, cross-cultural work and how you adapt yourself and your work to different contexts and have wondered about if I could ever/would want to work out here.

Had a very touristy day yesterday (Sat). It was very hot - so I got to work on my tan :-)

I went to Taman Mini (Mini Indonesia) = 'whole country in one park'. You'll find: Museums of different types i.e. Indonesia's technology, history etc; Full scale traditional houses from the 27 provinces, bird park, theatre, restaurants etc

They have free shuttle buses to take you from point to point and a hotel/hostel on site as if you wanted to do the whole thing you would need at least two full days. - We only managed to get round to about 4 things and it took us at least an hour to do one museum. There is much to see and do, so if you're into culture, history etc, this is definitely a place to go.

I also enjoyed seeing some of the Sunday life out here. Some people start at 6.30am!

Funny Story (only cos I got on the bus!):
On our way back from our touristy day, I saw their answer to rush hour queuing. Just imagine the tubes (or subway/metro depending where you are from) when everyone is trying to get to work, when remaining polite and "after you" goes out the window.

Well along comes our bus, I'm trying to be polite and not push on, my friend manages to get on and the security type man - imagine what it must be like if they have security people at the bus stops! - says no more, sticks his hand out, bars the way with his foot and won't let me on. I, surprisingly calm but insistent, say in English "My friend's on there!" "My friend's on there!" "My friend's on there!!” He's having none of it and I'm trying to still stick out my foot to get on. You have to understand that the entrance to the buses is at least desk height off the ground, with a gap. He finally let me on, not sure why, but I was saying thanks, as the only reason I can laugh at what I must have looked and sounded like is that I didn't get stranded in a completely new part of the city! And what is most bizarre is that the bus was half empty!

Things I'm particularly thankful for
* I've had some good opportunities to get confident about going around my immediate area by myself. Feel this has been, and is really important for me and also gives me some independence.
* The people I'm staying with and really treated me well. I have been met with such warmth, I couldn't ask for better.

Time for a bite
After being bite free for most of the week, I've been bitten by some evil insect - think it was an unguarded moment while enjoying a tropical (cold) shower. Mosquitoes I can handle, but this whatever it was, I really don't want that to happen again as it blistered up etc etc

Lastly, a look ahead...
I'll be flying to a central part of the island to attend a student event with one of the people who works out here. We'll be there together for a few days, and then I'm staying with a friend of hers and coming back on my own by train! The journey is 11 hours, but apparently very scenic. When I had to make the decision back home whether to fly back with her or take the train, I was on a "feel the fear and do it any way" tip. What was I thinking?!

Days 1-3 in a nutshell

Hello or I should say "Selamat Siang" (Good afternoon)

I've had two busy days...

Day 1 arrival - got in earlier than expected, taxi driver got a touch lost

Day 2 - Early start -had breakfast at 7am! Met a number of different people, had a language lesson, and went to the local supermarket (Carrefour) which involved using public transport - definitely not like our buses! Also had to be mindful of who to look at and who not to, and not be overwhelmed by just how crazy the roads were - busy, and quite hectic. The massive supermarket was also all those things. Felt out of my depth and as they say "a fish out of water"

I then came back and had another language lesson. I was learning the national language of Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia). Indonesian is probably one of the easier languages to learn as it is a phonetic language, but don't expect me to come back fluent!. It uses the same lettering as English, and for the most part the pronunciation is the same or close to. Notable exceptions: 'r' = rolled, 'c' = ch as in chair,

After that, it was out again to see some children's work. I met some kindergarten teachers who are learning new methods of teaching children as well as how to teach English. They are being supported by an English Teacher, who is also developing teaching materials that they can use. I was asked to teach the Hokey Pokey. I had fun and the teachers looked like they enjoyed it too. They will hopefully use it with the children as it has English words in it that they have been teaching them.

Came home to dinner and was pretty whacked by then, so was grateful for a couple hours sleep. When I woke up, I worked out what the problem was with my phone and called home. - I hadn't been able to make any calls and was pretty frustrated about it on the night I arrived.

Day 3 - another early start that had us setting off at 7.20 to visit a kindergarten in a needy area. The children were all a bit astonished at our appearance, and a couple of them burst into tears and had to be taken outside (It may have been the first time they had seen a White or a Black woman).

This visit involved another stint on the buses and crossing the road for the first time, which may seem like nothing, but out here is something. - Closest thing I can say is, think of spaghetti junction with loads of fast moving traffic, including motorbikes that will just weave in and out around you. I then had a semi answer to a desire of mine, which was riding a motorbike! It was a form of taxi, and they will sometimes have up to 4 people on a bike.

So there I was on the back and actually 'bricking it'. I had no helmet, had two hefty bags to hold onto, and when I began to hold onto the driver, I suddenly thought, I'm probably not allowed to do that! So swiftly withdrew my hands - LOL. For the entire journey I was just repeating "perfect love drives out fear, perfect love drives out fear" :-)

Well I could go on, but I'm supposed to be learning some vocab and have some colouring in to do. I also need to try to get an early night tonight - not sure if it is jet lag or just needing to go to bed, but have been up till 2am both nights. Can't keep that up as the heat of the day is very draining and tiring, so need the rest.

(day 5..ok so I dropped of for a few days, but my consistency stretch should get back on track now!)

Arrival

We landed almost an hour earlier than expected, which was great, as I hadn't been thrilled at the idea of arriving after 9pm.

I felt well rested and stress free, and walked comfortably to immigration to buy my tourist visa. - This can only be bought when you get to Indonesia, costs $25 US, and is valid for 30 days. If you wish to stay longer than this, you need to apply for a fuller visa in your home country.

I had wondered if there would be long queues? Would they give change in US? Would where I need to go be clearly marked? etc. It was in fact really easy and straight forward, just as the lady I had 'happened' to meet up with the Thursday before I left said it would be. She had gone through the process in the summer and helped made sense of the email instructions I had received from the people I would be staying with.

On coming out into the arrivals area, I looked for the sign with my name on it. A taxi had been booked for me, and someone should have be holding up my name. I was gutted as I didn't see any sign! I confess my disappointment was more about not having that TV type experience (I KNOW, Sad!), than worrying about where my taxi was.

Trying to ignore all the people vying for my attention, I headed off to the right, looking for this taxi company, who I had been told were either Goldenbird, Silverbird or Bluebird! - As a side note, if you are in Indonesia and need to hail a taxi, it is recommended that you go for either Silverbird or Bluebird. They are seen as more trustworthy, and will also usually have operators back at the base who will have enough English to help if you are having trouble explaining to the driver where you need to be.

I was just being led off by some man who had said he would help, when I heard someone call out my name! That was kinda cool, and was also a phew moment when I realised I had been heading out of the airport into the taxi free-for-all!

I sat back and just 'exhaled' when I got into the taxi, watching the night lights, and trying to comprehend that I was actually here, in Indonesia. Wow.

When we were almost at the address where I would be staying, the taxi driver did get a little confused. We couldn't find the right number, and my email instructions didn't seem to help. - It should be said, that it was not surprising, as it was a very long road, and for some unknown reason you can choose what number you want your house/building address to be, so the numbers aren't necessarily chronological! I tried to call my hosts for help and couldn't, as despite setting up my roaming, my mobile wasn't working as it should, but we got there in the end.

I got a warm, brief welcome from my host and stood in my lovely spacious room, tired, hot, not quite sure what time zone my body was on (= 3rd change) and feeling bad as I hadn't had small enough rupiah to give the expected and understood amount to the taxi driver as a tip. You see I paid for the journey at the airport kiosk and didn't think about getting smaller change. I really, really felt bad about this. Wages in Indonesia are really low and their economy is not in a great state, so the expected 3,000 rupiah would be nothing to me, but something to him.

As a side note, in terms of getting rupiah, it is wisest to get some before you go as there is no guarantee you will be able to get currency changed in the airport, particularly if you arrive late evening like myself. And though there are ATM machines, I was told there is no guarantee they will have money in them. Most places who sell currency will not have rupiah in stock, and so you will probably have to put in an order. I did so through the post office, putting in an order before 3pm one day, and able to pick it up after 2pm the next. You are unlikely to get anything smaller than a 10,000 note note, so once you arrive in Indonesia, it may be worth remembering to get some smaller notes as soon as you can.

Despite technically having lost a nights sleep, I was up till 2amish. I had decided I had to unpack there and then, and then repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to call home, as my phone was still playing up. I finally settled for sending a text and battling my frustration with thoughts of how amazing it was that I was really there, I went to bed thankful for my unexpected door to Asia.
(4 days consistency!)

Departure

Booking my flights
I booked my flights with Emirates, just booking the tickets was a journey in itself. Here's a bit from my journal:

"1.9.08 - Booked my flights, slightly freaked out, pretty OMG, what am I doing, bordering on stressed. Just the maze of finding flights, checking times, checking dates, changing times, changing dates. It's all a bit on top, but now it's done and I can't turn back! 2.9.08 - Worrying about the rest of the money, bordering on freaking out this morning about whether I've got airport right (saw email that said going to Java!). Phew, held breath as I checked travelling to Java on net! MALARIA HOT SPOTS! They say no, E says yes, HELLO, what am I supposed to do?"

All ready to go?
So I'd checked, re-checked and checked and re-checked again my flight details. I had also phoned ebooker, only to realise that it wasn't a typo, and I would be leaving Jakarta a day earlier than I thought I had booked for! I'd got some new travel insurance, had my immunisations and was basically ready to go. I then looked at the baggage allowance and thought: 'they can not be serious!' .

20kgs
My allowance was 20kgs, which is 44lbs. Even with my light-weight cases and a determined plan to pack light, I managed to leave for the airport with my cases weighing a total of 26kgs. My sister-in-law reckoned it would be fine. I was not convinced, but had to decide whether to keep stressing myself into a melt down or pray and hope it all worked out. - I opted for the latter, but still felt slightly apprehensive during the car journey to the Gatwick.

Check-in/departure lounge
As I stood in the check-in queue my slight apprehension began to grow into a foregone conclusion. I watched as even the nice, friendly looking attendant, had people opening up luggage, putting lap-tops into hand luggage, and sent off to re-pack. I knew this was going to happen to me.

When my turn came, I approached with my brightest smile and my brother and Father both stepped forward with me. The thought did cross my mind, that despite the smiles we could look quite intimidating. Anyway, I was right, the nice, friendly looking attendant did say I had to get the weight down, it wasn't all bad though, as she said she could accept 23kgs.

So off we went to re-pack, I was glad I had family to take some of my stuff back and laughingly calm as I opened up my cases. It was also comical to see that my cousin's tip for putting airport staff off unnecessarily searching your case, was now on show for anyone close by.

If anyone was looking, I'm sure they thought the sight of us was funny, and when we began weighing the padlocks, I thought it couldn't get any funnier. I mean we had pared down my contents to almost a ridiculous amount in one of the cases, and as I said were weighing padlocks! Word of advice, if you are borrowing cases from others, make sure they are actually light-weight.

By the way, it did get funnier...

Michelin Woman
When I exclaimed that there was practically nothing left, my sis-in-law said: "put some clothes on!" It was another 'you can't be serious!' moment, but in chipped the others in wholehearted agreement, so after I got through check-in, I nipped into the ladies and came out bigger than I went in. My brother lovingly said: "it's the Michelin woman!" and by the time I got to the departure lounge, I was sweating buckets from my 3 tops and 2 trousers combination!

After taking a few minutes to cool down, and eating a sandwich I hadn't had a chance to eat, I decided that T-mobile wouldn't get all my free text allowance. So I sent texts to practically everyone in my phone and told them the about my check-in experience. From the responses I got, I had visions of my friends and in some cases their families enjoying a good laughing.

The Emirates Experience
It was my first time flying with Emirates and I would definitely do it again. One of the things I had heard about them was that they were the best economy class, and I understood why once I stepped on the plane. The space, food, service and in-flight entertainment were great. I took a number of pictures of the food I ate, and I think Emirates rocks!

(3 days consistency!)

The Journey Begins

Before I begin
Firstly, after my first post yesterday, I did go and find my journal, and read emails I sent and received while I was away. I almost wanted to just type it all up there and then! If I had done, you would probably experience information overload, so I sated my desire to type by starting a new blog, 'The Last Pages'. - Check it out and let me know what you think. The Last Pages

So, the journey begins
It all started with an email asking me if I was still interested in opportunities overseas. It was really interesting timing, as I was making decisions about work and new directions. So I replied with more than a little interest, and also no little intrigue, which continued as I saw things work out in an amazing way.

I ended up booking my flight less than two weeks before I was due to arrive and had a month away that provided laughs, learning, new friendships, new challenges, and the potential for more.

Hopefully I will be able to share some of this journey with you in a way that makes sense, resonates, makes you laugh, and maybe even inspires.

Enjoy!
(ps - 2 days consistency)