I'm here!

Wow! I finally figured out how to change the website from Bahasa to English! I can finally update the blog! I"m sorry it has taken so long. One thing I'm learning about 3rd World Countries (which apparently I'm told that we no longer use 3rd or 2nd anymore, its now developed or not developed, I think that is worse) is that everything takes ten times as long as I'm used too!

So to catch you up to date:

This is the first email I sent out:

I certainly understand now that I am in a 3rd world country! The internet here is extremely slow and I'm having a hard time figuring out my blog because I can't read anything because it is all in Indonesian! Ha! Why didn't I think of that?! So it looks like email will be the way for me to communicate for a while until I figure things out. And mass-emails to everyone will probably be the easiest, at least until I get email at my apartment. I can not email during school hours so any emails written have to be after school hours between 3 and 6pm. So it limits my free time on the computer. I have been going going going since I've been here. Sunday when I got in I waited 3 hours at the airport to get through customs, get my baggage and apply for my visa! The lines were terrrible. The airport is gigantic! The principal (headmaster) of my school was picking me up and had to wait outside of customs for me. I was so worried he was going to give up waiting for me and leave me at the airport. But he was there waiting for three hours for me. He took me and the other new teachers out to dinner at a fabulous chinese food restaurant right from the airport. I got home and tried to settle in to my apartment as best as possible. My apartment is so much more then what I expected! I am in a 24 story building, on the 18th floor. I have a beautiful view from my two balconies of downtown Jakarta! It is gorgeous at night, in the day its very grey. My apartment is very modern, fully furnished and even has a washing machine! The school has hooked me up with a maid that comes to do my cleaning and laundry twice a week! They fix everything that needs to be fixed and build anything else I want for my place.There are some negatives about it, though. My co-worker, who lives below me, found big cockroaches, and the biggest rat I've ever seen ran through my kitchen and living room! It was quite entertaining watching two grown men run around chasing this rat with a broom! I was grateful they were there when it decided to pop out! Also my co-worker below me experienced a flood with her washing machine already, so it shows you how reliable these Indonesian appliances are. If you haven't heard, Jakarta had a huge earthquake (7.5) hit this last week. I woke up at midnight to my building swaying back and forth. I jumped under my vanity in my room (a lot of good that is going to do me on the 18th floor) and watched out my window as my building rocked back and forth for over a minute! I was fine, my building was fine. Everyone in Jakarta was fine. OH I have so much more to write about, but my ride it here to pick me up,so I'll have to write more later. Love you all miss you all. Ihave much to write about the church.

Love you all,
Becky