Tidbits About Indonesia

Email #3
Well guys, I think the excitement of being here is wearing off already. The realization that I'm in a 3rd world country is approaching. Honestly I thought it would last quite a bit longer. I wanted to give you some insights into Jakarta.

First of all everything here takes ten times as long: airports, traffic, grocery store lines, internet, the days! It took us nearly two hours to get to church on Monday night, when on Sunday it only took 45 minutes. I rode with five other ladies in a tiny car all the way there. I was crammed in the back seat with three other Indonesian women. None of them spoke any English, so I sat there listening to them all talk in Bahasa the entire way. It was interesting to try to communicate for the first hour, but then it got old and tiresome. I'm already sick of people having to translate for me everywhere I go. It is beginning to get frustrating not speaking the language. It's hard to get things you want if you can't describe it! But the good thing about this is it is motivating to learn the language.

They have four different ways of saying hello:
Selemat Pagi = Goodmorning (they use this from 1am - 11 am)
Selemat Soray = Goodday (they use this from 11am-3pm)
Selemat = Goodeveing (they use this from 3pm-sundown)
Selemat Malam = Goodnight (it is still a greeting they use it after dark)
I always have to look at my clock before I say these! :)

Traffic is TERRIBLE! I've never seen anything like it. If there was no traffic it would take maybe 45 minutes to go from one side of the city to the other, but it usually takes 4 hours to go from one side to the other because of traffic. Everyone honks all the time its means "watch out, here I come." The cars here are so funny looking. They all have very short fronts. I think its so they can get as close to the car in front of them as possible.

It seems very dangersous to ride motorcycles here. They weave in and out of cars/vans. They ride between the lanes. Actually there are not a lot of lines to separate the lanes. Sometimes there could be room for two lanes and other times people squeeze in three lanes. I can't imagine what their traffic helicoptors can see.

You can pay the government and police to do anything. In ways this country is very currupt. If you get pulled over by a policeman you can just slip him a 200,000 Rupiah (which is 20 American dollars) and he lets you go for free. Its normal to do that here. If your visa runs out and you haven't gotten a knew one yet, you just pay the government more money and you get to stay. YOu can get out of murders, rape, anything you can think of just by paying money.

The people here are very friendly and helpful for the most part. People stare at me everywhere I go. They call us "Boulie." Which means "Whitey." Its not meant to be derogatory. They stare at me everywhere I go. Did I say that already? I mean everywhere (even church). They aren't used to seeing white people. Everyone calls me "Barbie" because I have blonde hair and light eyes. I was offended at first, but now I'm used to it. :)

YOu definitly get treated differently once they see what color you are. I can not shop anywhere that bargins, because they automatically raise the price and they do not like to go down because I'm white. I've been taking friends with me to shop if I want to bargain.

The smog in the city is starting to give me a head ache. It is filled with pollution here. Most days I can't even see the beautiful view from my apartment because of the smog.

I've only been here a little over a week and I think I've got 100 mosquito bites. School is the worst. I have too look out for the big ones in the day time because those are the ones that can give you Dangay Fever. (don't worry no malaria in the city). The good thing about being on the 18th floor of my apartment is that usually mosquitos don't fly that high.

The heat has not been too bad. It's the Australian winter, so we get nice breezes coming from them. And its been overcast a lot. But don't get me wrong its still been extremely humid, I haven't been brave enough to wear pant just yet, I stick with capris. Almost everywhere is airconditioned, my apartment, school, classroom, malls, theatres... I actually have to bring a sweater everywhere I go because it gets so cold inside.

Well there is so much more to write about but I'm sure this is getting quite long. Friday is the Indonesian Independence day so no school. But that means I have to be ready for the kids to comein on Monday! Yikes, I better get to work!

Ok Love you all!
Becky