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?!
No comments:
Post a Comment