Becky - Jakarta, Indonesia

My Birthday!

2008-04-28T11:46:00.011+07:00

WOW! What a fabulous birthday I had! I can sure say I was spoiled silly! My friends really love me here! My birthday celebration really lasted for the full 24 hours! 12:06am on April 25th, I began to received text messages on my phone. The night before my birthday, Mantju insisted on spending the night and waking up early to pray with me. So 5:15 in the morning she's knocking on my bedroom door..."Wake Up Birthday Gril!" She forces me out of bed and we take a walk around my apartment complex. Then at 6:30am we walk back to my apartment and I open my door to find my two friends, Angel and Sisil, standing there yelling "Surprise! Happy Birthday!" They had decorated my apartment and made me a fabulous breakfast with rice, eggs, vegetables, fruit and meat! It was delicious! Mantju, Angel, and Sisil, had the whole thing planned so well, I never suspected a thing! I was so shocked and encouraged the rest of the day... I couldn't stop smiling! They played a cd of birthday songs and got me a "Hello Kitty" cake. And so began the best birthday in Indonesia!

Then, when I got to school, all of my students had brought me a present. Allegra had also brought me a cake, an oreo-cookie cake! We played a guessing game about "Ms. Vail" - which they loved! And we had donuts and cake and opened presents! We even got some fun glasses, you'll see in the pictures! What a day at school! I don't think we did any "work" at all!

For dinner I planned to take all of my friends in North Jakarta to Pizza Hut. Tradition in Indonesia is that the birthday girl treats everyone to dinner. So I chose Pizza Hut because it was easy and its a nice restaurant. You might be laughing... but really, look at the pictures. Pizza Hut is gorgeous! So it ended up being about 20 of my friends who met at Pizza Hut. And for 20 people we ate pizza, salad, and chicken wings for 40 dollars! How great is that!

After dinner we had to go to Kareoki! I love kareoki! And to top off my birthday celebration all my friends from Central Jakarta showed up for Kareoki with me! The girls surprised me! So that was lots of fun! I have many pictures and video clips of kareoki!

Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me at the kareoki place!

Two of my friends from Central Jakarta stayed the night at my house on Friday night after kareoki. And then Saturday another friend took me to dinner and a massage. And two friends stayed the night with me on Saturday. Then Sunday, my co-worker had me over for dinner (Indian Food - delicious!) It was a celebration weekend! I feel so loved and taken care of here!

Indonesian Week

2008-04-25T14:13:00.002+07:00

Every year International Schools celebrate the country that they reside in. Obviously we reside in Indonesia. So we had Indonesian week. This week we celebrated the culture of Indonesia and dressed up in Indonesian traditional dress. It was so fun!

My Space and You-Tube Banned in Indonesia

2008-04-10T11:28:00.005+07:00

Just a few days ago the governement of Indonesia banned the use of sites such as "My Space" and "You-Tube" due to an anti-Islamic video. The article is quite interesting. I will let you decided on your political opinions. So here is the article if you are interested.

Article from newspaper:
JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia has blocked access to YouTube, MySpace and
other websites showing an anti-Islamic film that has sparked
widespread protests, Internet providers said Tuesday.

Indonesia's main Internet providers said they had acted on a
government request to block websites showing the film.

The move came after the communications minister last week wrote to the
file-sharing site, YouTube, asking it to remove the 17-minute film,
"Fitnah," made by far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders.

"We apologise, we have for the time being blocked sites and blogs
which carry 'Fitna,' at the request of the minister for communication
and IT," Internet provider Speedy said on its website.

Speedy said it had stopped users accessing eight different sites,
including blogs that carried the film.

Another provider, Radnet, told users it was "temporarily closing
access" to YouTube and MySpace, a popular social networking site, at
the minister's request.

The film features imagery of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New
York and the 2004 Madrid bombings combined with quotes from the Koran,
Islam's holy book.

The minister wrote to Internet providers last week asking them to
block access to sites that carried the film on the grounds that it
could "disturb religious and civil harmony at a global level."

Muslim groups here have held several protests outside the Dutch
embassy in the capital Jakarta.

Most have passed off peacefully, but last Wednesday dozens of members
of a Muslim student group attacked a Dutch consulate building on
Sumatra island, burning a flag and breaking down the gates.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has banned screenings of the film
and barred Wilders from entering Indonesia, the world's most populous
Muslim nation with some 90 percent of its 230 million people following
Islam.

Water Dancing!

2008-04-09T09:35:00.007+07:00

Mimi, Asien and I went to Grand Indonesia (another mall in Central Jakarta) to watch a movie and then we walked around the gigantic mall. Every hour on Saturday they have the "Water Dancing." The fountain shoots off water to the music! It's really fun to watch!

Philippine Email

2008-04-08T12:28:00.000+07:00

Hello Everyone!

So much has been going on in my life. Last month my sister took a 2 and 1/2 month trip around Asia. She went to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, then met up with me in Indonesia and we both went to the Philippines. She went to Bali on her own with a friend, and then I took her around Jakarta! Well, I have to say, my friends took her around Jakarta! They planned a whole itinerary for her! They picked her up at the airport, they spent time with her and took her places while I was at work, they even brought her medicine when she was sick. How do I always find the best friends, everywhere I go!

My friends took us to Taman Mini... which, if you read my blog, is a theme park that represents every island in Indonesia. There are about 3000 islands in Indonesia, and I will never have time to see them all, so going to Taman Mini is a 'mini' version of what you'd see at each island. Every island is very different because they all have different cultures and traditions. They even have different languages. It was so interesting to see. Since going there I've decided on a few of the different islands I'd like to visit before I leave Indonesia.

Of course since my sister was in town I got to be a tourist with her! We went to Bogor, a city right outside of Jakarta, for dinner. It was a beautiful restaurant that had a great view of the city. And next we went to the Monas, the national monument.

My sister and I then traveled to the Philippines for my spring break holiday. We were there for ten days. We spent most of our time on an island called Puerta Galera. My sister was not too impressed with the Philippines. We flew in and out of Manila, which is not touristy at all. Its just a big city like Jakarta, that isn't necessarily the safest place for tourists. But we did get to connect with some of the people from my church in the Philippines. That was pretty exciting getting to meet them and share stories. Also I met up with Matt (friend in my church in Tacoma). It was so crazy to see a friend from Tacoma half-way around the world and super encouraging!

Puerta Galera is a diving island. I got my scuba cert there and did many dives. It was absolutely amazing to see the world under the sea! I love it! Its definitely my calling! I got to see Nemo, Dori, sea cupcumbers, colorful shrimp, eels, and a gigantic sea turtle! No sharks, sorry. (Everyone always asks). I have an underwater video of the dive. So some of you may be lucky to view it when I get home!

The diving is great in Puerta Galera, however there really isn't much else to do there. Yet, we did find one tour that we signed up for. It was very neat. It took us to some beautiful waterfalls to view. And then to a place called Paradise, where they made a Philipino barbeque and we met and hung out with the locals. We swam at paradise with the locals, which was lots of fun. And then we went to a village. It was extremely humbling to see the way the village people live. However it was very similar to Indonesian kampuns (villages).

Anyhow, we mangaged to have a splendid time in the Philippines. It was so great to be with my sister. I'm so glad that she took this trip. She will be someone that can relate to some of my experiences here in Jakarta.

Achol at Sunset

2008-04-03T14:55:00.009+07:00

Sometimes you have to look hard to find the beauty in this gigantically polluted, over-populated city of Jakarta... But you can find it if you look hard enough in the right places...

Yenny and I.

Mimi and I.

Jeki, Mimi, Asien, Angel.

Maria and Mimi.

Angel on the stern of the boat.

The girls on the boat.

Philippines With My Sister

2008-04-03T13:59:00.027+07:00

My sister and I took a trip to the Philippines. We flew into Manila and then took a boat to an island called, "Puerta Galera." The island was beautiful. Its a diving island, and I got my scuba diving certification. It was a very relaxing trip. We spent 7 days on the island then went back to Manila for one night. I met up with some people in Manila and then flew back to Jakarta the very next day.

The boat we took from Manila to Puerta Galera.

The view from our dive resort (El Galleon) in Puerta Galera. I got my diving certification here! I love diving! Its a whole new world under the sea!

The beautiful night in Puerta Galera!

Jen and I celebrated Easter Sunday with an "Easter Dinner" at one of the resorts... it was expensive... but worth it.

This is a "tricycle"... Its a motor bike with a side car... my sister and I rode everywhere in these.

Island of Puerta Galera.

Waterfalls

Hiking up to "Paradise."

This is a our Philipino barbeque! Mmmm Delicious... Chicken, Pork, Fish!

This is Pradise... That was literally the name of it!

Jen, with some of the kids selling things along our hike. They acted as guides and salesmen... They were very sweet and were so curious about us, just like we were curious about them.

Crossing the crazy bridge to the Philipino Village.

This little girl really caugh my attention in the Village.

This is a Philipino Village.

This is a secondary school in one of the Villages in Puerta Galera. Can you imagine your kids going to school here? I can't imagine teaching here. Wow, was I humbled.

We jumped at an opportunity to have Mexican Food in Asia! It wasn't what we'd hoped for... but it did the trick for a little while.

Did you know that they really built Noah's Arc on the beach in Puerta Galera, Philippines?

I make friends everywhere I go...

Who said they give small portions in Asia?
There's actually a funny story behind this pictures.

Guess what I found in Manila, Philippines! Wow!

I hooked up with a few of the people from my church in Manila. This is my new friend, Leah. She took Matt and my sister and I around on Friday, March 28th.

And to end my trip...
Who would have thought I'd meet up with a friend (Matt) from Tacoma half way around the world in Manila, Philippines! CRAZY!

Monas

2008-04-03T13:13:00.001+07:00

Sunday we went to my church and then since we were already in Central Jakarta we took my sister to Monas. Monas, is the Indonesian National Monument. Its really not all that impressive. But its in the tourists books, so we thought, we should take my her there. We ended Sunday with a "bang" at the Premiere Theater. My sister loved being able to order anything you'd like in the theater and laying down in the big-comfortable arm chairs, just like I did.

Bogor

2008-04-03T13:04:00.006+07:00

After Taman Mini we stopped at Bogor (a city just outside of Jakarta) for an Indonesian Meal. The reastaurant had beautifful scenery of the city... too bad it started raining. It was still so fun!

Mantju, Angel, and I.

Jen (sister) and I.

Taman Mini

2008-04-03T12:15:00.014+07:00

And then my sister came to Jakarta...

We had so much fun! My friends were so great! They had a whole itinerary for us while she was here. I had to work some of the time, and my friends even took care of my sister during my work time! They are fabulous!

The big event we took Jen (my sister) to was Taman Mini and Bogor...

Taman Mini is sort of like a huge fair. Its a place that represents every island of the country. There are almost 3,000 islands in Indonesia and every one has its own culture and often times its own language. We walked around and visited so many different islands and cultures... if you don't have time to visit every place in Indonesia, Taman Mini gives you a good idea of the different cultures and things on the islands. It was great!

This is a mini-model in a pond at Taman Mini of the Indonesian Islands.

Jen and I on the Komodo Dragon.

Eating lunch at Taman Mini.

Mantju with the people of her Island (Batam).

My sister and I had a great time learning about Indonesia!

Singing

2008-04-01T07:28:00.003+07:00

Not only do the people of Indonesia love to karaoke, but they are talented musicians. Almost everyone I meet sings, plays the guitar, dances, is musical in some way. Its absolutely amazing! However... it makes me feel even more musically-challenged! HA!

This is my friend Angel. She has her own band and writes her own music. She's written many songs, in Bahasa and in English. And she even wrote me a song! This is her playing/singing it to me.

The People of the City

2008-03-31T15:12:00.007+07:00

I love people-watching. It is fasinating to watch the lives of the locals. Here are some pictures I have to give you just a tad-bit of what I witness every day.

Making a type of iced-fruit drink.

A little girl waiting for her drink.

Selling packets of cigars and cigarettes.

People still manage to find love in this crazy city!

Sometimes I feel like this little kitty must feel in this gigantic city!

Kota

2008-03-31T14:48:00.021+07:00

These carts are on the side of the road everywhere! They sell all sorts of food from the carts. This one is selling Bakso... a type of meatball soup.

Mantju and I in Kota.

Sisil and I in Kota.

Old Town Kota.

Me standing between two old bars.

An old castle-building.

An old castle-building.

Wedding photos... people come take engagement and wedding photos in Old-Town Kota all the time.

Crossing over the canal.

Streets of Jakarta

A famous old hotel.

Hotel

Hotel

Hotel

Hotel.

The Streets of Jakarta.

Some guys playing soccer in the streets of Jakarta.

A famous restaurant in the Old Town of Jakarta.

A wishing well in the restaurant. Don't ask me why it is in the restaurant.

Look At That Fish!

2008-03-31T14:41:00.006+07:00

So these are the kinds of things you see as you drive down the streets of Jakarta! People carrying gigantic "shark fish" on the back of their motor bikes! This guy had caught multiple ones and was selling them near my school! Crazy, huh! And to think he was carrying more then one of these on his motor bike! I had to laugh!

More Karaoke Celebrations!

2008-03-31T13:40:00.010+07:00

We go Karaoke for every birthday and every celebration we can think of! Its so great! I love it! We have the most fun!

Maya's Birthday!

At birthday parties the typical routie is: birthday girl or boy buys everyone dinner, then we buy her a cake and she makes three wishes, only she announces her three wishes to everyone, then blows out the candels, and after that of course, karaoke!

Singing all together!

Angel, Mantju, and me.

Ria and Maya posing for the camera.

Ria and Angel singing their hearts out!

Central Jakarta, Plaza Indonesia

2008-03-31T13:17:00.004+07:00

Having Fun Down Town!

Being a tourist at the Plaza Indonesia Mall in Central Jakarta!

Angel and I conversing as we wait for a taxi in Central Jakarta.

Mantju and I next to the water fountain at Plaza Indonesia!

The Premiere Theater

2008-03-31T12:38:00.005+07:00

Wow! So relaxing! I'm surprsied I didn't fall asleep during the movie!

Mantju and I enjoying the movie!

Angel and I at the movies!

WOW! This place is awesome! In the center of Jakarta at a gigantic fancy mall called, "Plaza Indonesia" is the best movie theater I've ever been to. This theater is expensive compared to the other theaters in Jakarta. However it costs the same amount as a theater in the states. It costs 100,000Rp = 10 US dollars. I'm sure you are wondering what is so cool about this theater? Well, first of all every seat in the theater is a lazy-boy arm chair. The seat reclines with a foot rest. You are given a blanket to use if you'd like... which is the smartest idea they ever thought of because I'm always cold in theaters. And... the best part is, they wait on you. They will take orders for food and drinks and then serve it to you as you are watching the movie! I felt so rich in this place!

The Metro Mini

2008-03-31T12:14:00.009+07:00

The Metro Mini is one of the public transportations in Jakarta. There's many different kinds of transportation:
1. Mikrolet / Ankot
2. Metro Mini
3. Bajaj
4. Taxi
5. Busway
The Metro Mini is a bus that is bigger then the mikrolet but smaller then the busway. Its an interesting experience going on the Metro Mini. People jump on while it is still moving, and people jump off while it is still moving. However it does also make official stops. Some locals hop on the bus and play music for those who are riding the bus, of course this is to make some money. But it is quite entertaining. This is the closest that public transportaion has ever gotten to a rollar coaster ride. It is so bumpy and rough! Its not a pleasant ride, but its cheap and gets you where you need to go. My local friend won't let me take this by myself, because its sort of dangerous, many people get robbed and harassed on this bus. So I stay away from it, because I'm an easy target since I'm a bule.

Cilin Cing Beach

2008-03-31T11:21:00.009+07:00

Walking on the becah of Cilin Cing.

This is what parts of the water look like at the beach.

This is what the young kids do if they are too young to help with the family business.

This is what the people do... look for any sort of sea-food animal they can sell at the market.

Part of the boating village.

The horribly disgusting dirty beach in Cilin Cing.

Cilin Cing is the area that I teach English in. This is a very very poor part of the city. It is a fisherman town, and so it is near the water. I haven't been brave enough to take pictures of the villagers just yet. Next time I go, I think I'll ask them if I can take pictures of their village and the people. But so far all I have to show you is the beach. However, I think the beach will shock most of you.

Valentines Day!

2008-03-31T09:43:00.007+07:00

All of us girls!

Jeki and Maria (We all got flowers also)

Asien, Mantju, Sisil, and Maya

The church building where the party was held.

Us, girls again.

Yes we celebrated Valentines Day in Jakarta. Actually, I think the church was about the only people in Indonesia. I thought I'd get away with skipping Valentines Day this year, yet, we had a big party/dance. It was great to get together and have fun.

An Average Sunday After Church

2008-03-31T09:14:00.008+07:00

Jeki and I

Angel and Yuni

Asien, Hapi, and Jeki

Maria, Wahu, and Renti

Every Sunday after church I eat lunch with my friends in the basement of the church building. There's a food court there, with lots of choices of Indonesian or Chinese Food. The food is quite good and extremely cheap. Here you can get a good meal for 1500 Rp = $1.50 This is what I call "GREAT EATING." We have so much fun! Most of the girls I eat with do not speak English, so its a good time for me to practice my Bahasa. I'm so surprised at how far I've come and how much I can communicate now. This is one of my favorite times of the week!

Visiting Cilincing

2008-02-25T14:09:00.002+07:00

Cilincing is an area in the very south of Jakarta. It is a fishermen area, a swamp area, a very very poor area. HOPE organization just started a "Saturday Academy" there. Saturday academies are schools put together for children whose families can not afford to send them to school. There is no public school here in Jakarta. Every school, you have to pay to send your child. The more expensive the school the better education you get. Some people can not afford any school for their children. And some families need their children to work in the day with them. So HOPE began a Saturday Academy for these children in the poorest of areas. I am teaching English to these kids once a month. Now this sounds extremely simple, but you haven't hear the rest of it all.

It took two hours to get to Cilincing by bus. It didn't seem that bad. We took the "Mikrolets," these are the little blue buses, I'm used to taking. But of course mostly only locals take it. So I'm always the entertainment on the bus. It was raining, so we got pretty wet. One of the people I went with has been going to Cilincing for a while. He says it is hard for them to get volunteers there. He said, its a true testement when a volunteer comes back for the 2nd or 3rd time. He said they are usually scared away by the drive to cilincing. I guess typically it is hot and sweaty and such a long uncomfortable ride. He says he usually takes another shirt with him, because by the time he gets there he is drenched in sweat and has to change clothes. I'm not looking forward to that after rainy season. Also there is so much traffic! But when you get to the school and see the kids, your heart totally melts.

When I say, "school" I don't mean they actually have a facility. People in the village volunteer to give a room or a porch of their house for a class of kids to meet in. Now when I say room or porch, the space is about 6 feet by 12 feet and they crame 25 kids into this room. I will take pictures next time I'm there. Cilingcing is a little village with mostly fishermen. The village is many feet below sea level, so any time it rains, this village gets flooded. It's quite sad. The Satuday Academy does not have enough supplies for all the needs, and the volunteers do not get any training in how to teach. The good thing is, the kids are broken up into grade levels, yet the teachers just follow a workbook, and do the best they can. Coming from a teachers perspective, I can't imagine how much these kids are really learning. But they enjoy school so much. I've never met so many kids happier to be at school and learn! It is incredible to see their little faces light up.

They have no sort of English program set up at all. So I'm trying to put together something for them. I'm going to research books and activities and set up a little program. So far, I'm the only one willing to teach the English course. The thing is there is not enough general teachers for all the kids, that its better to get the general classes filled first. However, I can not teach that, since I don't speak fluent Bahasa. So they are just happy that I come! I'm setting up the program for grades 3-4 and then for grades 5-6. I teach 3rd-4th grade for one hour and then 5th-6th for another hour. Its only once a month. But its better then nothing. If they can get the foundation of some English words, then they can move up in the world. I'll only be here for a few more months, so I'm trying to prepare the rest of the teachers for this. Its so exciting to be a part of this project!

The next thing is... setting up some training sessions for the volunteers. Before I leave (probably sometime in June) I'm going to set up a few training sessions for the volunteers, and help them get a better idea on things to do with the kids. I'm not an expert, but at least I went to college for this kind of thing. Maybe I can do a little bit of good here. Please keep this in your thoughts and prayers.

Chinese New Year!

2008-02-25T14:07:00.001+07:00

February 7th was the first day of Chinese New Year. Some of you might be familiar with this holiday. Well, I, love this holiday! It is awesome for kids and for single people! I really think this should be a national holiday in the States!

Keep in mind, I will be telling you about the Chinese-Indonesian way of celebrating Chinese New Year. This holiday is not celebrated the same in every country.

Chinese New Year is a National Holiday here in Indonesia. So technically every person is supposed to have this day off. However, because my staff is all foreigners they voted to work this day and have Friday off instead, for a three-day weekend. Everyone was happy with this idea except my co-worker Kelly (her husband is Chinese) and I. Because most of my friends are Chinese-Indonesians, so they were having a big party! Most Chinese go back to their families houses. It is a family holiday, similar to Christmas.

Anyhow, I worked in the morning/afternoon and then my friend, Angel, came and picked me up on her motorbike. I transformed from my typical American Teacher-Self, to a Bule Gila (Crazy white girl). I hopped on the bike and went over to my friend Mantju's house. Mantju is Chinese-Indonesian. She had all of us over for food and kareoki! I told you they love to sing here! After hours of fun eating and kareoki we walked to a married couple house (also friends of ours, actually the church interns). They had prepared more food, and angpow! "Angpow" is a little red envelope filled with money. Now you must give an even number of money in the envelope (you can't give three dollars, it has to be two or four). It is given to children and any single person, by married couples. It is considered good luck for the married couple or family to give angpow on Chinese New Year. So our married friends prepared angpow for all of us! Hence the reason I think this holiday should be celebrated in the States! With all my married friends, I could make bank! HA!

Chinese New Year starts with the new moon on the first day of the New YEar and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The last day of the New Year is called the lantern festival. This is celebrated at night with lantern displays. (In Indonesia this is not hugely popular, but still happens). Fire works on the New Year Eve are shot off to celebrate out with the old year and in with the new. Typically during these 15 days schools will celebrate with Lion or Dragon Dances in assemblies. I experienced both at NJIS. During the lion dance you are supposed to feed the lions "angpow" for good luck.

The last day of Chinese New Year I went to Mantju's Chinese Restaurant and ate steam boat. If you don't know what steam boat is: basically you pick your meats and vegetables and put it in a pot of boiling water. Everyone cooks it together in front of you at the table. Then when its cooked you take it out and eat it with your choice of sauces. It was quite delicious!

I was told that you can give angpow through the entire 15 days of the New Year. So I prepared envelopes with angpow and gave it to all my single friends on Sunday. Well, I was the laughing stock at church, because only married couples give angpow. I knew this, but I wanted to participate in this holiday, so I just told everyone I was married to Jesus. Then my minister preached about this "bule gila" in the Sunday lesson! So after church everyone came up to me for angpow! What did I get myself into!

I had a blast the entire holiday!

Floods in Jakarta!

2008-02-06T15:04:00.000+07:00

Hello Everyone!

Some of you might have heard about the flood here in Jakarta. Well, I know I told you not to listen to everything you hear on the news about Indonesia, but this flood did actually affect me. It was such an excitement! Only a "bule gila" (crazy white person) would say that! HA!

Friday morning it down poured. Around 10:00am I received an email from my Principal saying that if this continues until 12noon, then we will dismiss kids early. At 11:10am parents were called and we began dismissing kids and started our "Emergency Flood Evacuation Plan." Only in Indonesia do you have plans like that! It was extremely disorganized and hectic. The teachers were not staying calm for the kids sake. (At least most of them were not). I, of course, had no idea what was going on. I continued on with my day as normal until parents came to pick up their kids. By 1:00pm I still had two kids left. The floods were getting extremely high and it was very challenging to get anywhere in Kalapa Gading (my area). So parents were having a hard time getting to their kids at school. All the teachers were supposed to stay at school until all their students were gone from their class. However, at 1:00pm, my "Lower School Liason" (she is like my supervisor) came to me and said, "You have to go home now. We are sending all the people who live in Paladian (my apartments) home now, because your area is worse!"

So I hopped into the school bus with my other co-workers who live in my apartments. The water on the street in front of the school was about knee deep, and the second we turned onto my street the water was up to my hip. Water started seeping in through the doors and the vents of the bus. Because cars were trying to get through on both sides of the street it created waves in the water on the road and the waves went up over the windowshield and over the entire bus! It was such an experience to remember. It was like driving through a river. At one point the bus almost stallled, and we all gasped, because we knew we'd have to get out and swim from their if that happened. But luckily it kept chugging along! We made it safe and sound to our apartments. There was a foot of water inside the bus, so we didn't quite make it dry! But we didn't have to swim!

If you remember I'm on the 18th floor, so I didn't have to worry about my apartment getting flooded. And if the electricity was turned off due to the hight of the water, then we would just use the generator. So as long as I stalked up on food and water, I was good for a few days. The only think I was worried about was rats and cockroaches. Because as the water comes onto land, the only place the rats and cockroaches have to go is up! So I taped up my drains and doors with ducktape, to make sure they didn't come to my apartment! My friends laughed at how paranoid I was about this!

Being the "bule gila" (crazy white person) I am, I went down to the road and took lots of pictures of the flood. I just stood in the rain watching the cars and vans get stuck trying to drive through. I walked through the flood just a little to get the the other side of the street to take more pictures. People were floating on different things in the water, trying to salvage their buisinesses, and bring food with them. It was sad to watch, but I was happy I could give them some entertainment! They loved to laugh at me, as I walked through the flood taking pictures! And now they have a story to tell their friends and family, about the crazy bule who walked through the flood taking pictures.

I was concerned for a while about some of my friends. Some of their houses got flooded and some were stuck in different places. One of my friends (Angel) got stuck at her work. But luckily her work is very near to my apartment so she walked through the floods to my apartment and stayed with me for the weekend. It was so nice to have a buddy! I was stuck in my apartment, but at least I wasn't stuck alone! It was actually quite relaxing. We just watched T.V., talked, slept, and ate all day Friday and Saturday!

Sunday the water went down quite a bit. Sunday morning the water on the road in front of my apartments was only at knee level. Therefore I braved the floods, and took a taxi to church! Of, course my friends warned me that if I leave my apartment I must bring extra clothes and shoes with me, just in case I get stuck somewhere. As we drove to church we kept running into road that were blocked off due to the flood. At one point we had to turn around on a one way road and go back against on coming traffic! Like I said, driving here is ridiculous! Can you imagine us driving the opposite direction of all the other cars, and they are just honking their horns and, not even slowing down for us!

Finally we found a route we could take to church. We drove by one of the poorer areas and saw all the houses flooded. Then shortly after passing the houses, I looked out my window and saw crowds of people gathered together underneath the toll road laying on blankets with baskets of food around them. There were babies, and young children screaming and crying and all the adult faces staring at the cars go by with the most devestated faces! I knew that these people were the ones who had lived in the area that I'd just seen, flooded out of their houses. They had brought the things they could save with them to this little area under the toll road. Oh, my gosh, I can't describe the devestation in the air. It was absolutely humbling. And then to imagine that this wasn't even the worst of it all. This was just the beginning! There are supposed to be more floods coming. Some of my friends could have been these people. Luckily the church I go to takes care of everyone and will put those in need at someone elses house. Please keep these people in your thoughts and prayers.

As I got to church, I found out that my area was one of the worst areas for the flood! I came to church with flipflops on and my pants rolled up high. Everyone else was dressed normal and didn't even look like they'd come from a flood. Of course of that is because they are used to this craziness. They went on with the day like normal. Some of these people at my church had come from their houses with inches of water in them and changed clothes when they got to church and then went right into singing and praising. I was shocked at how encouraging they all were after what they had been through! It was extremely convicting to see. Back home I hear complaints about getting our hair wet as we walk through the drizzling rain of Tacoma!

When I got back to my apartment after church all the water in front of my building was gone!

Let me tell you that this was quite the experience! I left Tacoma wanting to experience the culture here, and wanting to learn more then what I could just by visiting, and you know, I definitely feel like I have! These are the types of things you only learn and experience if you live in a different country, not just by visiting. I feel so grateful for my opportunity here in Jakarta! You may think I'm crazy for feeling this way directly after a flood, however, I have never felt more grateful.

I hope this doesnt give you a bad impression of Indonesia. Because I am the one who has lived through this whole thing, and it has only greatened my perspective of Indonesia now. Please keep in mind that this is not an everyday occurance and that there are devestating things that happen in America and lots of things that we disagree with in our Country. Its really no different. Natural disasters are a way of life, that is why they are called "Natural" disasters.

Flood!

2008-02-06T13:19:00.000+07:00

This motor bike is braving the waters. However he is on the shallow side of the street. He wouldn't have made it through if he was closer to the trees.

This is taken from my apartment looking down. The Canal overflowed into the street. You'd think the whole thing was the canal, but the part where the cars are stuck is actually the road in front of my apartment.

Taman Safari

2008-01-29T14:50:00.001+07:00

Taman Safari is in a village called Bogor. It is about an hour outside of Jakarta. Some of my friends arranged a trip for me to go to the Safari with them. It was such an amazing experience. We drove through the safari and the animals came right up to the car. We fed them carrots and bananas right from the car! Then after the driving part, we walked through the baby zoo. They had some baby animals that we could take pictures with. I took pictures with the baby tiger, lion, and orangatan. Most of you might be thinking about all kinds of germs I could get from the animals. But when you are around experiences like this, you just gotta jump at them. When on earth would I ever be able to do these things again. We need a little risk in our lives. Don't worry, I washed my hand before and after every animal I touched. Then we walked through the bird exhibit. The birds were everywhere! And such exotic birds too! These birds were not scared of people at all. In fact I was the one scared of them. I basically hid behind my friends during this part of the trip. The birds just hop right on to your arm or shoulder. Some of them sit on the railing and squawk at you and won't let you pass. After the bird exhibit, we watched some animal shows. We saw the sea-lions perform and after that a bird show. Then we walked through the rest of the zoo and stopped to feed the elephants and camels on our way. My friend Angel and I even got to ride the camel. I felt like I was riding through the desert in the olden days by camel. How cool! To end the trip we walked up to the waterfall and took some scenic pictures. What a long but amazingly wonderful day!

The zebras were amazingly beautiful. They came right up to the car and took the carrots right from your hands.

Feeding the deer from the car. They were so greedy.

This is me feeding a lama outside my window of the car.

This is me and my daughter... don't we look alike? She sure had fun playing with my hair.

Me and a baby white tiger... he doesn't really look like a baby does he? But he was so soft and quite content, if you can't tell from the picture.

Me holding Baby Simba! He just fell asleep in my arms. How would you like to have this kitten at home with you?

I think this hippo is hungry! He held his mouth open for a long time, waiting for us to throw food into his mouth... Have you ever heard of the game "Hungry Hippos?" Well, I witnessed it, its true!

This is Angel and I riding a Camel. How many people can honestly say they've ridden a camel before? Guess how much it cost.... 1 American dollar!

These are the girls that came on the trip with me. The waterfall was the last stop we took in Taman Safari. Angel, Me, Sisil, Mantju (from left to right)

Swiftfoot Concert

2008-01-29T14:46:00.001+07:00

The American Christian Rock band "Switchfoot" was in Jakarta. I don't typcially listen to Religious music, however I was invited to go to the concert with some of my co-workers. It was an awesome concert! They were extremely entertaining to watch. We had a good time.

Parents in Jakarta!

2008-01-24T09:29:00.000+07:00

Wow! We've sure got some protective parents here in Jakarta, at my school! I thought this would make a good story for my blog:

Yesterday one of my Kindergartners (Kalista) fell down at recess and got a tiny little scratch on her knee (it wasn't even bleeding). She screamed and cried and insisted on a band-aid. So the Recess Duty person got her a bandaid and sent her on her way. Then I heard all about it from my students after recess, but Kalista was just fine. The next day I get a note from her mother written to the P.E. teacher. It said:

Dear Mr. Talijaard,
Kalista can not join P.E. class today, because she hurt her knee yesterday at recess. Thank you for understanding.
Sincerly,
Kalista's Mom

When I read the note, I was shocked and amazed that her mother would be so dramatic. I looked at Kalista and she said, "I can not go to P.E. today." I said, "Ah, yes you can, and yes you will." Then I told all of my kindergartners that today is the one time I'm allowing them to run in my classroom. Kalista joined in the fun of all the kids running around the room. Then I said to her, "If you can run in my room, and at recess, then you can go to P.E. Your leg is fine, and you will not be babied here at school." I couldn't believe it! Ha! Parents these days, what do we do with them!

For all of you who are reading this, don't worry, I did give the note to Mr. Talijaard to decide what to do with it. However, the good thing about working here is that you won't get in trouble for ignoring a note like that from a parent. (Of corse in the states I would have to allow her to miss P.E. no matter how stupid it was!)

I still think that schools need to hire other employees to handle all the parents! That is the worst part of my job! I decided to be a teacher because kids are so much easier to deal with then adults. I end up working and training adults (the parents) more then the kids!

Crazy Men In Jakarta!

2008-01-23T09:20:00.000+07:00

I had to write about this in my Blog. No man is the same, and I know that, but I have to tell you a stroy about one crazy man I found here in Jakarta...

I went to the mall with my co-worker the other day. She needed to stop at the restroom. So I sat outside of the restroom on a bench. People were going in and out of the mens and womens restroom. While I was sitting and waiting an Indonesian man pushing a stroller with a baby (maybe 6 months old) came by. The man looked at me, smiled, didn't say a word to me in English or Bahasa and then parked the stroller right next to me and went into the men's restroom. As I was stunned that he left his baby with a complete stranger (me) the baby started to cry. I tried to calm the baby down, and then the man came back out, smiled at me then pushed the stroller away.

Now, I know that Indonesia is a different country and has a different culture, but I also know that no matter what country you are in you should never leave your baby with a complete stranger! YIKES!

Don't worry, I asked my friends if that was normal, and they said, absolutely not! So, I think I just happen to attract the cazies in whatever country I'm in! HA!

Jogja Pictures

2008-01-22T12:37:00.000+07:00

I learned so much about the culture here from this trip to Jogja. I learned a lot about Hindu people and Buddhists. There are two major temples here in Jogja, one Hindu and one Buddhist. The ironic thing is the city is mostly made up of Muslim people, not Hindu or Buddhists. After the natural disasters in 1996 most Hindu and Buddhists moved out of the city and spread out. You can read more about my adventures here in Jogja below.

I rode around in a "baci." This is a three wheel bicycle. With someone peddling the bike.

This is the Ramayana Ballet that I went to see. I had a traditional Javanese dinner and watched the traditional ballet.

This is the grounds of the area where the dinner and ballet took place.

This is the Prambanan Temple. The Prambanan Temple is a Hindu temple. Hindu and Buddhists have different looking Buddhas. The earthquake in 2006 made this temple unsafe to walk inside it. So I just got to see the outside. But it was still phenomenal.

Prambanan Temple.

Prambanan Temple.

I was able to watch how silver what made. This man is polishing the piece of silver, with the brown little ball and the toothbrush. The brown ball is some kind og fruit that makes the silver extremely shiny.

This woman is doing some fine finigrie work with silver. She is adding all the little details to ever piece of silver made. I have a new found appreciation for this type of work. It is extremely time-consuming to make.

This is the Mendut Temple. An idol of Budbha is kept here.

This is a picture of a carving on the Mendute Temple. It is of a woman who used to eat children. But then Buddha did something to her and now she is the mother gaurdian of all children.

This is me and the idol of Buddha.

This is the Borobudur Temple. The Borodudur temple was one of the "Seven Wonders" of the world in 2006. It is the Buddhist Temple.

You may wonder what I am doing. Well, I am reaching into a tower in the Borodudur Temple to touch Buddha's foot.

You may be wondering why I would want to touch his foot. If anyone can touch the sole of his foot then they will have many riches in life. So of corse I had to try! Ha!

This is me with some local Indonesians. I was bombarded by locals thinking I was a movie star and wanting pictures with me. After this I never would want to live the life of a movie star. They can never get away from the crowds!

Part of the Borobudur Temple.

Part of the Borobudur Temple.

This is Mya. She is Buddha's wife.

This is a carving in the temple of the elephant that impregnated Buddha's wife.

These are many carvings of Buddah. The carving of him with his hands in his lap means that he is a giving god. The carving of him with his hand up means he is afraid of nothing. Buddha has many different positions that mean different things.

There are good and bad phases of life. These carvings are of the bad phases of life. And these people are doing bad things, like gossiping to one another. I got pulled into the sin, if you can not tell from the picture. :)

Karaoki Fun!

2008-01-22T12:28:00.001+07:00

I love to Karaoki in Jakarta! The girls and I have so much fun. We sing English songs and Bahasa songs. It helps me to learn more Bahasa. This time when we went to Karaoki Angel and Mantju sang a song to me! It was all about how much they will miss me when I am gone. It was so sweet. And then it turned into another after another song about staying here. It was so funny! We had a blast!

Mantju seranading me.

Angel serenading me.

Singing, singing and more singing!

Even the boys get into it!

Everyone likes to sing!

Dancing in the karaoke room!

Trip to Jogja

2008-01-22T11:45:00.000+07:00

Jogja (Yogyakarta) is second to Bali, for cities to visit in Indonesia. It is on the Island of Java (the island I'm on), however it takes 11 hours to drive there and 1 to fly (of corse I flew). I went with my co-worker, Carol. She's the one that lives below me. We are pretty good friends, considering she's the only other single woman on my staff. She always jokes about being my mother figure, since she is old enough to be. Anyways, we decided to take this weekend to fly to Jogja and be tourists.

We saw everything we could in two days and I'm exhausted now! We went on a guided tour for 9 hours on Saturday. Leaving at 7:45am, we headed up to Borobudur. This is one of the most famous Budhists temples. Just two years ago it had been on the list of the seven wonders of the world! At least that's what the tour guide said. The temple was beautiful, and had lots of interesting stories about it. I'll include some pictures and stories about it on my blog.

Then we went to a much smaller budhists temple called Mendut Temple. This temple wasn't half as impressive, but it had a huge shrine of Buddah in it, which I got some good pictures of.

After that we stopped at a silver company, where we got so see how silver is made and shaped into jewlery. This is a very lengthy and delicat process.

We made a detour to the lookout tower to see the view of the Volcano. It is still active today, so we didn't get too close. I didn't get to see much, since it was very foggy that day. But that's ok, I think I have a pretty good idea what volcanos look like.

After stopping for lunch we went to our last stop on the tour, which was Prambanan. Prambanan is the Hindu temple. Part of this temple was destroyed in the 2006 earthquake and was deamed unsafe to be within a certain distance of it. So we couldn't walk through the entire temple. But it was incredibly interesting.

A highlight from the tour was being interviewed by a local news station about our thoughts on Prambanan Temple. And of corse feeling like a movie star when all the kids there came up to us and wanted to take pictures with us. We must have taken 30 pictures at least with different kids (mostly teenagers) wanting to stand next to the "bule" (white people). It's extremely rare to see "bule" around, and teenagers are fasinated and astonished.

That evening after washing up at the hotel we went to dinner and a ballet. The dinner was traditional javanese food... one of the most famous dishes is jackfruit. The ballet was a javanese ballet with such elaborate custumes. The story was a little hard to follow, but entertaining, to say the least. Its the most famous ballet to see on the island of Java.

Sunday we were exhausted from our big day on Saturday so we slept in a little. And around 8:30 we rode the bacet around town. This is a three wheeled bike with a little carriage attached to it that the riders ride in. I have a picture of it on my blog. The driver took us to all kinds of neat silver shops and batik shops and even a puppet shop.

After checking out of our hotel and taking a quick nap we went back out to face the heat of shopping in the local market, exploring the bird market (a local market only selling birds) and admiring the view of city from the top of the Water Castle ruins.

I almost forgot to tell you about the javanese coffee. I'm sure you all have heard of the term "java" being used around coffee. Well its because Java is famous for its coffee. Some of you might know about this famous "cevic coffee." Don't be shocked. Java is supposed to have the best tasting coffee because of its "cevic coffee". You might not be familiar with "Cevic Coffee." Well let me tell you how it is made. Coffee beans actually come from a fruit. Monkeys eat the fruit and pass the pit (coffee bean) right through their bodies. The famous javanese coffee is made from these pits that are in the monkey's poo. Supposedly it adds a delicious flavor. Sorry to change anyones opinion or tastes about coffee now.

The last stop was by far the most beautiful. We stopped at another temple that was on one of the highest cliffs in Jogja. It over looked the entire town. And there were caves and pools of water surrounding the temple. The grounds were "inda" ("Inda" in Bahasa is beautiful).

And that is the end of my trip to Jogja. You would think, with all the things we did, that we were there for a week, not two days. Now this week, I'm exhausted for parent conferences. But it was all worth it.

Pics of My American Holiday

2008-01-21T20:08:00.000+07:00

Home sweet home!

Christmas Eve with Santa.

Mom with her Indonesian presents.

Dad with his Indonesian gifts.

Downtown Seattle outing.

New Year's Eve Mascarade Ball.

Me and Sarah at the Wedding.

Mountains in Montana.

Saying goodbye to the kids is always the hardest.

Vacation in the States!

2008-01-21T12:42:00.000+07:00

Back home I went for Christmas and New Years! I'm so glad that Sarah Brockob's wedding was during this time, because it pushed me to go back home for the holidays... a well needed time of refreshment. I was able to connect with Evergreen Primanry and my old co-workers whom I miss dearly! I even ran into a few of my old students and got to see how they are doing in first grade!

I got to spend Christmas with my family and practice our traditions... going to family friends houses for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas day dinner. And had a bountiful Christmas morning full of Christmas songs and wraping paper on the floor. And I even got to enjoy a tiny bit of Christmas snow falling from the sky!

I went on a weekend get-away with some of my closest girls friends. We spent the night in a hotel in downtown Seattle and went shopping and to a movie, and I can't forget the Cheesecake factory!

New Years was a ball! No, literally a "Ball," a Macarade Ball. I spent the Eve with my friends back at home and we partied it down until late! Our masks were a big hit!

I was able to spend some good quality time with my family at a theatrical play and shopping downtown at Pike's Place! I had to do the "Seattle Thing!"

Then of course to put the cherry on top of the icing was Sarah's Wedding! Wow! How beautiful she looked, and Double Wow! Wow! for how cold it was in Montana! It was a memorable roadtrip, that went right along with a memorable day of celebration. It was so good to reconnect with some of the "Old T-Town Group."

ALl in all my vacation was so refreshing, and I enjoyed myself quite a bit. I was ready to come back to the warm weather in Indonesia, however. It's back to sunscreen and mosquito spray every morning!

The Baji

2008-01-21T12:27:00.000+07:00

Ok... So this is my first trip in a baji! A baji is a three wheeled little car. In Kelapa Gading they are always orange. It's quite a bumpy ride and you have to bargin with the driver for a good deal, but it is definetly worth the experience at least once! You don't see many "bule" (white people) making this their regular transport!

Christmas in Jakarta

2007-12-11T06:56:00.001+07:00

Christmas in Jakarta is quite a different feel then in the States. I asked my friends (Indonesians at my church) what they usually do for Christmas. And to them its not a huge deal. Sure, they celebrate it (since they are Christian) but it isn't the biggest holiday. Most of them answered me and said that on a typical Christmas they will go to church and maybe out to lunch afterwards with their friends. They don't do a lot of gift exchanging with everyone they know, and for some people its not a family holiday. They don't have big Christmas dinners like we do, or go Christmas caroling... But they do have parties. They find any excuse to have a party here. But it certainly is not the same feeling as in the States. So this year, I helped plan three Christmas parties. They were so excited to have fresh new ideas (even if they were old ones to me).

One thing I noticed is... you know how around Christmas time in the States everyone becomes a little more friendly, a little more joyful, a little more giving... Well here nothing changes. The Indonesian people are like that all the time here! For example, some of my friends took me shopping at the local markets (Mangga Dua and ITC). They took me on Saturday for four hours and Sunday for five hours. They didn't do any shopping all they did was take me around, bargain for me, find the deals all for me! They gave up their weekend to help me find gifts! I was so excouraged at their efforts and love! Indonesians always have the "Christmas Spirit!"

My countdown for when I come home! I put it on my fridge, and every morning I wake up and cross out one more day!

If you can't read the sign it says "X'MAST and Happy New Year." I got a kick out of this! They are up all over my apartment building. Looks like somebody forgot to use "Sspell Check." You find English spelling mistakes everywhere in foreign countries.

My little Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. I decorated by myself while listening to Christmas music!

My staff Christmas Party was a hit! I was a little nervous for how it would turn out... due to the lack of unity among the staff. But it turned out to be a lot of fun. We went to a fancy hotel buffet. The was so much food! There was a seafood section filled with any sea-food you can imagine, a chinese food section, a meat-carving section, a pasta section (they make it in front of you), a mongolian grill section (also made in front of you), a "Western good" section, a bread section, ect... Must I go on? The desser was by far the best! There was cheese cake, brownies, cookies, cakes, pies, a chocolate fountain, and an ice-cream bar (just like cold-stones). We all left quite swollen at the end of the night. We also had a white elephant gift. This was halarious! One person got an underwear hat! Here are some fun pictures below of my memorable night!

I of corse had to be the photograher!

We honored a first grade teacher who is leaving us this December.

Dessert! As I came back from the chocolate fountain, Lisa (my co-worker) pointed at my chocolate stain on my clothes and said, "Becky you aren't supposed to stick your tongue in it!"

This is me and some co-workers with a seal and a mouse! (I have no idea why they were there). The mouse pinched my co-workers butt! What a perv!

Mr. and Mrs. Clause winners! (most festive dressed)

Gift exchange fun! My co-worker, Grant, is wearing an "underwear" hat!

The party planners!

Jak Jazz Festival

2007-12-10T15:39:00.000+07:00

In Jakarta Jak Jazz is a huge jazz festival. Jazz groups from all over the world fly in to perform at this festival. It is also quite pricey. My friend Ria Warna (From my church), has a group called "Warna" and they were performing at this festival. They are quite famous here in Indonesia. She invited me to go with her to the festival. So I had a day with a celebrity! I went with her to the salon before the performance, I got to go back stage with her and her group, and had special seating arranged for me. It was quite the experience. After she performed many cameras and reporters stopped her to interview and take pictures of her. I had such a blast just being able to see the life of a celebrity through the eyes of a celebrity! Here are some pictures...

The group "Warna."

This is the group "Warna" performing at Jak Jazz.

This is my view of what it was like to hang out with a celebrety! Ha! We got stopped everywhere at Jak Jazz by camera's and interviewers. It was quite entertaining from my position.

This is to prove I was actually with the famous group: "Warna"

Thanksgiving in Jakarta

2007-12-02T18:20:00.000+07:00

I spent Thanksgiving Dinner with Sam my principal, his wife Teresa (4th Grade Teacher), Derek (3rd Grade Teacher) and his wife. We had a good time, but I wouldn't say it felt like Thanksgiving. The food wasn't what we thought and it was supposed to be a whole staff party, but we were the only ones who showed up. It was quite different then what I expected.

This is my Thanksgiving dinner at the Le Miridian Hotel. It looks very delicious, but it certainly was no Thanksgiving meal I am used too. I had turkey, cranberries, fried potatoes, green beans, watermelon, oranges, papia, and some sort of chicken. The gravy for the turkey certainly was not turkey gravy from the states! I was sad that there was no mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. The food was good. It didn't really seem like Thanksgiving, though.

Luckily my friend Teresa felt sorry enough for me that she invited me over to their house on Sunday for a real Thanksgiving meal that they ordered from the only American caterer in town!

2007-11-13T15:55:00.000+07:00

This is the Batak wedding that I was a bridesmaid in. If you read further down, theres a better description of the wedding and the traditions. It was an amazing experience.

This is me in my traditional wedding clothes. Don't laugh at my hair!

This is the bride, Ana. She is wearing the traditional wedding clothes, a kebeya and sonket.

This is the bride, groom, groomsman and me. We are welcoming all the guests.

These are the Batak dancers at the wedding.

This is me and the ushers of the wedding. They are wearing kebeyas also.

My friend Maria and I.

This is Ana singing Kareoki at her wedding. She is singing "The Greatest Love of All."

This is Ana and Albert at the hotel after the reception. They are so silly! I thought this picture described a little bit of their personalities.

Traditional Batak Weddings

2007-11-13T15:50:00.000+07:00

These past few weeks I've been preparing for my friend, Ana's, wedding last weekend. She asked me to be her bridesmaid! So it was so great being able to experience what an Indonesian wedding is like. Last week I put together a bridal shower for her and all her friends. She wanted to have it at my apartment. But when she gave me the list of people to invite there was no way 30 people were going to fit in my apartment. Anyways, I did all the traditional American wedding shower games. Everyone loved it, because it was all so different for them. It was great to see them have so much fun at American games.

The wedding was last Saturday. The festives started early! Ana left for the Salon at 3:00 in the morning. I went with her aunt for my makeup at 4:30 in the morning. It only took a totaly of 30 minuts for my hair and makeup to be completed! After I was already changed and ready to go, I helped the family prepare for the "pre-ceremony" party.

Ana and the groom, Albert, are Batak. Batak is a type of Indonesian race. Batak's tend to be darker skin, loud and out-going and expressive type of people. As opposed to Chinese-Indonesian, or Javanese-Indonesian, which are more quiet and reserved. The Batak culture has thier own religion as well, it is a type of Christianity. Both Albert and Ana come from Batak culture. This made the wedding a lot easier. In Indonesia, typically you marry within your own race. It is looked down upon if you marry outside of your race. (I have another friend who's getting married next weekend she is Chinese-Indonesian, and the groom is Ambonese. The brides father refuses to go to the wedding and she had to beg her mother to come.)

Also, by law, in Indonesia you are not allowed to marry unless you are of the same faith. So a Christian is not allowed to marry a Muslim etc. (even if they are not practicing thier religions). On every birth certificate the religion of the baby is recorded. Babies are named what ever religion they are born into. So if your mom and dad are Christian, then atomatically the baby is Christian. You are not allowed to change your faith until you reach adulthood. Then you have to supply proof to the government that you have changed your faith. So for example, in our church, when someone gets baptized we provide them with a "baptism certificate," which is signed by the minister and then given to the government. Then when you get married, you must bring your baptism certificate (or whatever proof you have of your religion) to the goverment in order to receive a marriage certificate. They must make sure you are marring of the same faith. Its quite interesting.

Albert and Ana are both from my church, they no longer practice the Batak religion. But both of their families do practice it. So before the wedding ceremony, Ana and Albert took part in the traditional Batak practices. So before the actualy ceremony held at the church, the brides family puts together a feast (this is what Ana's aunt and I were up so early preparing for). The entire family on the brides side comes to the brides parents house. But in this case, Ana's parents have already passed away so her aunt and uncle took on this role. I think there were probably about 50 people from her side of the family at the house. Then the grooms parents and everyone on his side of the family arrive at the brides house. At this time before any of the grooms family enter the house, the eldest member of Ana's family (and the parents of the bride) receive a greeting from the grooms parents and eldest member of the family. They exchange some words (I'm not sure what they said, it was in Bahasa) and shake hands, then the parents present the groom to the bride. The bride pins a corssage on the groom, and the groom gives the bride her boquet of flowers. Then the bride and groom, along with the groomsman and bridesmaid, stand at the entrance of the door to the house, and welcome (shake hands (kiss on cheek for women) with all the people in the grooms family entering the brides house. Then the brides father (in this case uncle) says a prayer and everyone eats the feast. After everyone eats, both families stand in a circle, with the bride and groom. They sing some Batak songs and the father of the bride says some words (I'm not sure what). Then the father of the bride prays for the bride and groom and the new family (at least I think that's what they prayed about) and we all process out of the house in to the cars to go to the church for the ceremony.

The bride and groom have a wedding car that they ride in with the groomsman and bridesmaid. At the church, the ceremony was a typical wedding ceremony very much like an American one. But the minister seemed to talk to long. And then when I looked at my watch it wasn't any longer then most weddings. So I reasoned that it took so much longer to me, because I didn't know what he was saying. :) After the ceremony everyone went to talk in the hall, while they set up for the reception.

The bride and groom and the groomsman and bridesmaid make special appearence into the reception area. First, Batak dancers process into the room and do a dance for the guests. Then the bride and groom, and groomsman and bridesmaid follow the dancers. We had to dance the Batak dance into the room. Everyone got a kick out of me (a white person) in the traditional cloths, with the traditional hair doing a traditional Batak dance. They thought that was a sight to see.

The rest of the reception was much like an American reception, with a toast and tossing of the boquet, etc. But it was so much fun. They sure know how to put together a party. Not only was there dancing but there was also kareoki! The bride and groom kareoki to the "Greatest Love of All." There is a Batak dance that has all the same moves as the electric slide. So of corse I did that dance with them (because I knew it) and they were amazed that I knew a Batak dance! Ha! I tried to tell them that its the "Electric Slide," but they didn't seem to understand. :)

After the reception, the bride and groom were the last ones to leave the party, making sure to greet and thank every single last guest for coming. I was so inspired by thier hositality and gratitude the entire time!

So all in all, it was a wonderful wedding! I was exhausted by the time I got home!

United Nations Day

2007-11-13T15:39:00.000+07:00

These are my kids on UN Day. Everyone had to wear their national dress. So Allegra is wearing a kebeya with green pants (usually you wear a kebeya for weddings with a sorang). Princess is wearing a batik dress. Batik is the type of print that the dress has on it. And Jeremy is wearing a chinese outfit, although he is Thai and Malaysian, so I don't know why he is wearing chinese. And then of corse, there is me, as an American. Our clothing is so boring!

The other picture is all of the Kinder and 1st graders with the flag behind them.

Javanese Wedding

2007-11-13T15:24:00.000+07:00

This is my maid. She is Javanese. Javanese is a type of nationality here in Indonesia. This is her muslim wedding. It lasted from 6 in the morning until midnight. The bride and groom changed four times into four different outfits during the day!

Bandung

2007-10-19T13:43:00.001+07:00

On my holiday break, I went to Bandung. It is the where the mountain is. I went with 30 other singles. We had such a blast. We all stayed in one Villa! Two rooms for all the girls to squeeze into and two rooms for all the boys to squeeze into. Not to mention one bathroom with no running water for the toilet. It was an experience to remember! It cost me 14$ US dollars for transportation to and from Bandung, two nights stay at the villa and one complete meal, with a few snacks. The other meals were not provided, I bought my own, then. So for the money that I spent, I'd say I did pretty well. This is how most people live, so I sure did not complain! In fact, I had the time of my life, as you might be able to see from the pictures!

The brothers and sisters here love to sing and dance. Here, we are being serenaded by one bro with the guitar!

They love to sing American songs! They knew more songs then I did!

They were amazed when they found out I knew the "electric slide!" HA!

We drove to sulfer hotsprings on the mountain.

My new silly friends!

This is the view I woke up to in Bandung every morning!

Bandung grows a lot of strawberries. People even grown them in their own yard to sell them.

Our last meal together!

The Beauty of Jakarta

2007-10-19T13:40:00.001+07:00

My balcony is my favorite spot in the entire city!

Anchol

2007-10-19T13:30:00.000+07:00

My friend, Angel, took me to a beautiful area called Anchol. It is where the Marina is. There is also an Amusement Park and a Water Park, but it was too crowded to go on a holiday.

Traditional Weddings!

2007-10-10T11:43:00.000+07:00

My new friends!

I arrived in my traditional kebaya on a motorbike. The Indonesians sure got a kick out of that!

The traditional clothing for attending a wedding is a Kebaya and sorong.

The idiocyncricies of Indonesia!

2007-10-10T11:27:00.000+07:00

The sign says:
If you go #1 you must pay 1000 Rp
If you go #2 you must pay 2000 Rp

Can you believe I used this toilet!

Bali Adventures!

2007-10-10T11:18:00.000+07:00

Two weekends ago I went to Bali with my staff at school. We had a blast! It was supposed to be for Professional Development.

Two of my co-workers and I went a day early, so we could have a mini-vaction as well. We left Friday after school, it took us over ttwo hours to get to the airport with traffic, we almost missed our flight.

We got in to Bali around 9pm and immediately went to the town. We walked around Kuta (shopping area and beach). We ate dinner at the Hard-Rock Cafe, and then took at hourse and carriage ride back to the hotel. My co-worker, Kelly, (she's lived in Indonesia for 7 years) she said that I have to take a bath in the Balinese flowers. So of course I took up her advice. We gathered the Bali flowers and made a marvelous relaxing spa in our hotel!

Saturday morning I woke up early (I was just too excited to sleep). We ate breakfast at the hotel. Of course I had to check out the pool after breakfast! Then Kelly and I went shopping at the Kuta shops and bargained for some Bali paintings and of course tourists shirts. Before heading back to the hotel we stopped that beach to relax. What service we got. For 8$ I had one person giving me a manicure, one person giving me a pedicure, one giving me a back massage, one braiding me hair. All as I laid by the beach watching the waves roll by.

There are two sides of that story. It actually wasn't as pleasant as it sounds. In reality when we got to the beach 15 women mobbed us! They harrassed us and harrassed us until we finally broke down. They were so desprite for customers they would not take no for an answer. I wasn't sure how sanitary everything was so I didn't want them touching my feet or my head at all. But they were so insistant and so rough, that I felt I could not say no. Finally after 20minutes of them harassing me, I decided they could paint my toes, just not clean them or cut them. I also broke down and let the lady give me five braids, because she would not stop touching my head. And the back massage was actually painful. And anyother lady kept trying to get me to buy her jewlery and would not leave me in peace until I bought something. I know I was one of those tourists that encourages them to keep acting like this, because they know that eventually they will break us down. So if you go to Bali, don't make the same mistakes I did. All and all, I wanted to do it for the experience.

After the beach Kelly and my other co-worker (who had stayed at the spa in our hotel all morning) went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. It was so good to eat Mexican food. They don't have many places that sell Mexican food in Indonesia.

After lunch we rented a car and a driver for 30$ (includes gas). He took us to Monkey forest. This was an experience I do not think I will ever forget. Monkey Forest is exactly what its name is. A guide takes you around a forest full of monkeys. These monkeys are used to people and are not scared of you at all. You can buy bannanas and peanuts to feed to the monkeys. I was told to hold on to my belongings because the monkeys tend to steal things from people. Many people have gotten their glasses stolen right off of their face. I was scared out of my mind. But I fed the monkeys anyways. They come right up to you and take it out of your hands. I have great pictures of this! I'll have to update my blog. Once your food is gone you must open your hands so they know you have nothing left, otherwise they will get violent. One monkey jumped on my co-worker, Carol's, back!

Outside of the forest was a little hut. I saw huge fruit bats hanging from the hut. I realized there was a man feeding these bats out of a bottle. So we decided to walk over and see what it was all about. (Yes, Marquia, I went to check it out!) The man gave me the bat to hold! I fed a bat like you would feed a baby. I held a bat like a baby and fed it! Not just those little bats you see back at home, these are huge bats! Don't worry, mom, I got all my shots already and washed my hands! I have some memorable pictures of this too!

Wow! You would think after that exxperience my day would be coming to an end. But no, its only halfway done. Then we went to Tanalot (no not Camelot, Tanalot). It is another beach with a muslim temple on an island. It is the most beautiful place to watch the sun set. I went to the temple and washed my face in the fresh water spring and received a blessing for good travel and long life! The sun set was just gorgeous!

Of course after sunset, we were off, to our next destination... Jambari Beach. This is a famous beach where they have the best sea-food. So we ate at a reataurant on the beach at a table in the sand by the water and watched Balinese dancers. What a perfect end to our day!

Of course the next day the conference started, but not until 12noon. So Carol and Kelly and I hit up the local Indonesian market in Suawaki. It is where all the locals buy things. It is cheaper then things in Jakarta. So I made out like a bandent there. I bought some traditional clothing and some great souvineers.

The rest of Sunday and Monday was busy with the conference, but we did have some time inbetween to enjoy the five star hotel and resort the school paid for. Sunday night for dinner they made a fabuluous baffet with all you can eat of everything. And they hired some balinese dancers to put on a performance for us.

All in all the trip was a hit!

Bali!

2007-10-10T09:41:00.000+07:00

Of course we had to start our holiday off with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe! I never thought a hamburger could taste so good!

I had the whole pool to myself!

Is that a bat?!

That is the ugliest looking baby I've ever seen!

Sunset at Tanalot Temple. - A little taste of Heaven!

Seafood on the beach!

Can you guess which one is the newest addition to the Balinese dancers?

Ahh, what hard work I did at this confernece!

Little Miss Vail

2007-10-02T13:43:00.000+07:00

Little Miss Vail,
was checking her mail,
using the computer.
When along came a cockroach,
who thought to approach,
Miss Vail cried out, "Abuser!"

Just a little poem I felt describes my experience teaching in a third world country. The nasty little bugger was giagantic... half the size of my hand. I had to have Ibu Dian spray all around my desk for me.

Fun times in Jakarta!

2007-09-28T14:08:00.000+07:00

Bahasa Indonesian "Indonesian Language"

2007-09-24T12:28:00.000+07:00

I thought it'd be interesting if I shared a few words and phrases that I've learned in Bahasa Indonesian. (Bahasa actually means language)

Greetings:
Halo - Hello
Selemat Pagi - Good Morning
Selemat Siang - Good Day (use during 12noon-3pm)
Selemat Sore - Good Afternoon ( use during 3pm - sun-down)
Selemat Malam - Good Evening (after dark)

Taxi Phrases:
Stop! - Stop
Kiri - left
Kanan - right
Terus - straight ahead
Lerus - straight (line)
Ini - here

Saya mau pergi ke ________. - I would like to go to _______.

Meals:
Makan pagi - breakfast
Makan siang - lunch
Makan malam - dinner
Makon - to eat, meal

Saya mau makan __________. - I would like to eat _________.

Words I use often:
Ma'af - sorry
Terima Kasih - thank you
Toilet - bathroom
Permisi - excuse me
Tolong - please

I'm learning more and more each day. Slowly but surely I will be able to speak to people. My goal is to not use a translator in church by February.

Tid-Bit about Muslim Holiday

2007-09-15T15:02:00.000+07:00

Today (Thursday Sept. 13) is the beginning of Ramadan... (Muslim fasting). The muslims fast for four weeks. They eat and drink nothing in the day time hours, only after dark may they eat. They may not even swallow their saliva, so we will see lots of people spitting on the streets. Restaurants and buisinesses close shop early for the next week, so they can get home before dark. Restaurants and people who are not muslim, make sure to close their blinds, so the muslims do not see people eating. It is extremely insulting to eat or drink in front of a muslim during this time. They break the fast in four weeks with a huge holiday called Idul Fitri. This is two days of feasting for muslims. This is a tremedous holiday and most schools get two weeks off during this time. We only get 6 days off. Most places close down because people go home to their villages to confess all their sins to their family and ask for forgiveness... people travel thousands of miles away to go back to their villages during this time.

Depression in the city of Jakarta

2007-09-15T14:58:00.000+07:00

Hello All!
I'm sure most of you heard about the 8.5 earthquake and the sunami afterwards. Don't worry, I'm writing to let you know I"m ok. I didn't even feel it. The 8.5 earthquake was off of a different island. It is so sad. Many people died from it. Terrible, terrible. We did however received a 7.9 after shock directly off of the coast of Jakarta. That one was felt by most of Jakarta. Not much damage was done to the city itself. And, as for me, I was in the shower and didn't even know there was an earthquake. My co-worker who lives below me felt it and freaked out! She said the doors started swinging and all she could hear was cracking and crumbling noises. She called me over and over on the phone, then she came and knocked on my door. Then she ran down to the lobby and wouldn't go back up to her room for hours. And the whole time I didnt hear anything. I was as content as could be singing in the shower! :)

My PDA (Bible Discussion Group) came over to my apartment about 30 minutes later and I asked them if they felt the earthquake. They all said, yes... but they weren't really concerned. They feel them so much here, its almost abnormal if you don't have one. So no one was really interested in talking about it. I appreciated all of your concerns and prayers for me and Jakarta. Its nice to know that I'm cared about back home.

There are so many ways I see depression in this city. Last weekend when I was driving with a friend through Jakarta, we drove by a burning building... people just staring at it... with the smallest fire engines and just a little bit of water, trying to put it out. Also we drove by a lady that had cimbed up into a tree and was threatening to jump and comitt suicide. There was a police officer trying to get her to come down... and a crowd of people watching. It was just terrible. So please say a little prayer for this city.

Women's Day and Worship Concert

2007-09-11T15:18:00.000+07:00

This weekend, was amazing! I enjoyed my entire weekend with the church family. I am beginning to feel so much closer to people here, and I think I'm making some good friends. I feel bad because at church so many people come up to talk to me, and there at so many people in the church that I just can't remember who I meet on Sundays anymore. I forget everyone's name, unless I"ve spent time with them. I'm so encouraged that people want to be my friends. Here are some pictures of the concert this weekend. I tried to upload a video I taped, but I couldn't get it to work. The pictures don't do the concert justice. The concert had all kinds of special effects... a video, fake snow, different-colored lights, strobe lights, and confetti at the end.

This is our women's day program. It was so great and inspiring! Nadine Templer from India preached the lesson. We have some famous Indonesians that our a part of our church... so they put together a huge concert with all of their famous friends. It was a huge production and very well put together. I enjoyed myself.

This is a famous singer in Indonesia that is similar to our "Elton John." He sang at our Church Worship Concert.

This is another famous Indonesian singer (Jimmy). He is like our Justin Timberlake. He is studying the Bible. Cool, huh?

This is Ria Warner. She is a famous singer in Indonesia as well. Her career took off when she was nine years old. She is part of our church, and is one of the disciples that put the whole concert together. She now only pursues her singing career on the side, she has devoted her life to God, and is on staff in the church. She has got an amazing story.

More details on my trip to Singapore.

2007-09-10T12:35:00.000+07:00

So I just spent the weekend in Singapore. Wow, what a neat country. I enjoyed it a lot. After a month in Indonesia, it was so refreshing to be in a first world country for a few days. I loved that I could drink the water anywhere I went; my sinus' did so much better in the polluntion-free air; I could communicate to others and ask simple questions; no taxi driver drove me around in circles; there were other blonde haired and light-eyed people therefore I didn't get started at like I was a lunatic; I ate some Ialian, and American food; and how could I forget that they spray for mosquitos twice a week, so I didn't have to worry about Dungay Fever or itching. Anyhow, I enjoyed myself a lot.

I stayed with an American woman and her Austrailian husband that are in the church in Singapore. They were so hospitable and took me everywhere. I even got to enjoy the Night Safari at the zoo. It was so neat to see Asian, African, South American animals in the nighttime. Since it is so hot in the day time, most animals are lazy and sleep or hide. In the night they come out to do their feeding and play. So I got to see some Rhinos playing in the mud, a tiger eating its dinner, all sorts of exotic birds and other animals. It was quite entertaining.

I had to shop on Orchard street in the down town area. Singapore is known for their shopping. And now I know why, they had everything. They had maybe ten or 15 shopping malls just on Orchard Street. On the street level of Orchard is very expesive shops. The malls are made for extremely wealthy people with stores such as... Coach, Dior, Prada, Luis Vultton ect... it made me sad, that never will I be able to shop like the people I saw there. :) But further a long there is the Lucky Plaza which is more for the local people (and less fortunate people like myself). This is more like Indonesia, with shops crammed together and less quality of things, its full of souviner shops. I bought a shirt with all the funny rules of the coutry (example, NO CHEWING GUM, NO SPITTING, NO FLUSHING THINGS DOWN THE TOILET)... I'll have to look at my shirt for more.

My favorite place, though in Singapore was the electronics mall. It was so huge and had everything you could ever need. (Dad, you'd love it.) It was 7 stories high with only electronics. This is the best place (with good quality of things, plus the cheapes) to buy computers. So I spent a lot of time in this place. A girl from the Singapore church went with me to find the perfect computer. She knew a lot about computers and is also from Indonesia so she knows how to bargain. I ended up leaving with a brand new MAC ibook. The store I bought it from wanted my buisness so bad he threw in a case, scratch protector, key protector, mouse, and speakers. And because I bought it in Singapore I got a tax refund from the airport. I think I did pretty well. Now all I need is the internet. :)

I spent almost all of my time with the people from the church. They have been so good to me. My friend from church (Kelly) that works with me in Jakarta set me up with all the people in Singapore. So I wasn't a lone a lot of the time. And people showed me everything. I got to go to a single woman's devo on Saturday and then out to dinner with the speaker. The speaker is from the states but has lived in Africa, Iraq (during the war), Suadi Arabia, and is now in Kruate. (Sorry my country spelling is terrible, but you get my jist). She was absolutely amazing. Sunday I got to go to church in English and sing in English and it was fabulous! They have about 800 people and they just built a new church building (Daren and Karla, I took notes and have so many ideas for ours). They had a book store in the church and I purchased a New Testament(12 cd's) and Old Testament (12 cds) series with a book for each along with cds of lessons, written by Douglas Jacoby. I'm so excited to start my new Bible Studies. Sometimes I just need to hear a lesson in English for myself (instead of translation).

Then I went to lunch with the singles and they are having a huge campaign this month so I helped them invite people to it. Then Monday morning they had a prayer and song devotional. So I had a full weekend. Of corse all of this along with my sightseeing. I was exhausted by the time it was time to go. I was pretty ready to leave and find my bed at home. But then when I got off the plane in Jakarta it was a quick realization that I am no longer in a 1st world country any more. :) It is good to be back in Jakarta, despite being started at and the communication barrier. I am beginning to make friends here and realized that as I was away. So it was good to come back to people who missed me, even if I've only been here a month.

Oh, some excited news I forgot to tell you. Now for some of you this may come as a shock so be prepared. I'm a TRACK COACH for the lower school here at NJIS! Isn't that funny. I'm sort of excited for it. We had ome practice already and the kids had fun. Don't worry, I'm not the only coach, I'm just an assisstant, which in reality means I'm just there as another adult. Ha! But I'm coming home with a COACH t-shirt!

Singapore!

2007-09-06T12:47:00.001+07:00

This is a tastey treat that Indonesians love. I learned about it from my new friend inSingapore that is origionally from Indonesia. It is bread with butter and chocolate rice (chocolate rice is chocolate sprinkles). Its not bad, it tastes exactly how it sounds...like bread, butter and sprinkles.

You can't really tell from the picture, but it is pouring down rain. I was soaking wet just running from the taxi to the entrance to the mall. It rained harder then I've ever seen.

This is my friend from the Singapore church who took me to the huge electronics mall to get my laptop. She's so great, she bargained well for me.

If you look closely we are eating icecream folder up in a piecec of bread. Its a Holland treat that is popular in this area of the world. My icecream flavor is sweet corn. (it was quite yummy)

This is me at the Night Safari. It was so neat to see the animals in the night time. They are so much more active... Tiger eating its prey, hippos and rhinos playing in the mud, otters sorting out recycling. But I couldn't use my flash on my camera so none of the pictures turned out well. But it was something to remember.

Wow! Other "bulay" (white people). To the left of me is a disciple with an amazing story. She has lived in African villages, Iraq during the war (and couldn't leave her apartment), many other places and now lives in Kruate (huge muslim population). She was the speaker for our "singles talk."

And to my right is the married disciple that I stayed with. She's from the States. That's why they wanted me to stay with her. They were great hosts. Showed me everything I ever needed to see.

This gigantic building is the church in Singapore. The top floor is a cafe that is run by disciples and is only open before and after church on Sundays. The basement is a DPI library. They open it up to sell books every Sunday. It is beautiful inside.

Wonderful Family!

2007-09-05T15:08:00.000+07:00

This is the fabulous family that has been taking such good care of me. (left to right) Donald (Father and church administrator), Madison (4 years old), Andrew (2 years old) Kelly (Mother and co-worker of mine). They take me to church every sunday and then out to lunch. I spent time with them periodically throughout the week as well. Its almost like I live with them. :)

My Classroom!

2007-08-27T13:52:00.000+07:00

My Kindergarten Class!

Kalista, Princess, Jeremy, Allegra (from top to bottom and left to right)

Jeremy and Allegra playing with bocks.

Usually these two play together.

Kalista and Princess playing with the puppets. These two usually play together.

Ms. Vail and Ibu Dian ("Ibu" is the Bahasa word for "Ms.")

Ibu Dian is my full-time aid. Its hard work with my four little ones!

GROSS!

2007-08-27T13:49:00.000+07:00

I counted 19 mosquito bites on my body in the first week of being here! They are nasty little buggers! Look at how gigantic the bites are! And they ich like crazy!

Indonesian Independence Day

2007-08-27T13:13:00.000+07:00

Here's me and my Indonesian friends for the day. I couldn't tell you their names... and I haven't seen them since that day... mostly because the church is so big you can never find anyone again. That's why I call them my friends for the day. Notice how I wore a hat... I thought I wouldn't stick out as much with my blonde hair covered up!

Since I'm so much bigger than the Indonesians, they convinced me to play tug-a-war, because they thought I'd be so much stronger! Don't forget my big muscles everyone... now I've got proof!

I participated in this one: You have to run to the other side with a balloon inbetween you and your partner. Our balloon popped and we had to start again!

Carrying a marble in a spoon in the mouth.

Who can eat the cracker on the string with out their hands the fastest.

Sack Race: Two people jump in the sack together and race to the other side.

August 17th was the Indonesian Independence Day. The church had a huge celebration. We had a game-day. All 1500 members were divided up into teams of about thirty. Every team was a different color. We then played Traditional Indonesian games. It was so neat to participate in this cultural experience. I was on the Red ("Merah" in Bahasa) team. We had a chant they tried to teach me. It went something like this:

Yo ayo tim merah

Ku mau harus menang (maju) 3x

Maju tak gentar membela yg benar

Maju serentak

Tentu merah menang

Bergerak (2x) (tut 2x) serentak (2x) (Tut 2x)

Mulah (2x) Merah
I don't know what I was saying, but it basically said something like:

Fight Red Team
Go Red, fight Red

Whatever it said, it was fun!

View of Jakarta

2007-08-27T13:05:00.000+07:00

At night I have a beautiful view of Jakarta. The day time picture looks over cast but in actuallity it is the pollution. It sounds gross, but if you just pretend its fog, its not so bad.

My Apartment!

2007-08-27T12:56:00.000+07:00

My apartment is quite comfortable. I have recently purchased matching bed sheets and bed spread, so it looks much better now, then in the pictures. I have all of the necessities; a washing machine (no dryer, although they air dry within a few hours outside on my balcony) microwave, T.V, DVD player, etc. This is a good deal for free-99.

Prayer Rooms

2007-08-27T12:46:00.001+07:00

They had prayer rooms for all three different religions in the Twain airport. What a neat cultural experience I witnessed just in the airport!

Traveling

2007-08-27T12:41:00.000+07:00

I took Eva Airline to Twain, then to Jakarta. My travel time was 23 hours. What a long day! Thanks to Jen's sleeping pills I didn't even notice it took that long.

Saying Goodbye

2007-08-27T12:37:00.000+07:00

Saying goodbye to my friends and family was the hardest part. My beautiful sister is graduating college while I am away.

School Website

2007-08-27T11:19:00.000+07:00

This is my biography picture from my school website. The school 's website that I'm teaching at is:

http://www.njis.org/

If you want to see where I'm teaching and learn more about what I'm doing here in Jakarta check out the website. Later in the year I'll post my classroom website. I don't have one just yet, but I will soon.

School Starts!

2007-08-23T09:48:00.000+07:00

Hello Everyone!
This is the first week of school with the kids! The days go by so much faster with the kids! I just love it! Now I remember why I am here. When I'm in the classroom I feel at home. The classroom is my comfort zone. Sometimes as I'm teaching I forget that I am thousands of miles away from everyone. That's how I know I am meant to be here.

The kids are wonderful! All of them are Kindergarten. I have three girls: Princess, Allegra, and Kalista (all Indonesian) and one boy: Jeremy (he is Thai). They all were in the Pre-K class here last year and they all speak pretty fluent English. They are sweet and well behaved kids. (Kay - they are not extremely affectionate, like the kids back at home. But they may become more later on in the year.)

They are only here from 7:30 am until 12noon. They gradually will move to full day Kindergarten by January. They have so many specialists here for the kids. They have: Swimming, Computers, Bahasa, P.E., Music, Choir, Art, and Library. They have Two forty minutes sessions of each class every six days. So that usually means I have two or three specialists a day. I barely ever see my kids! It will be better when they are full day, though.

There are high demands on us here in an International school. I have a Reading, Language Arts, Writing, Spelling, Math, Science, and Social Studies Curriculums. For you teachers... Can you imagine having 7 teacher manuals for Kindergarten! Think of how my planning books! It is extremely intense.

My classrooms has all the supplies I would ever need. Two classrooms were filled with Kindergarten Curriculum not just one. I had to go through all the old stuff and throw out what I didn't want, because they needed to use the other room for Manderin Class. I have four kids computers... one per kid (Ha!). The things we are teaching them are very similar to what the states teach. Actually the reading program we use for Kindergarten is Rigby. (Evergreen teachers... I gueses Indonesia is just one step behind you.)

I'm so grateful that I had so many wonderful teachers in my life to help me out last year at Evergreen in Kindergarten, because I'm sure that is what will get my through this year on my own in Indonesia.

The staff here is like a family. They do everything together. I guess you kind of have to in a different culture away from your own family. We all went out to dinner on Saturday to celebrate the beginning of the year. Yesterday, Teresa Cook (the principal's wife, who is also a teacher here) invited me to coffee. Then I spent the evening in her hot tub and ate dinner with her and her husband. They both are from Washington as well. They have taken such good care of me.

Its just the first week and already I am getting a cold. I have no voice and I wake up in the night coughing. Well... that's being around kids, for ya. I don't think you can get away from it no matter where you are if you are a teacher. I'm trying to rest when I can.

Next weekend they are sending me to Singapore to get my visa. So I will be taking Friday off and traveling around over the weekend. I'm looking forward to it. I hope things are going well back at home.
I miss you all.
Take Care,
Becky

Tidbits About Indonesia

2007-08-15T15:23:00.000+07:00

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

School and the Church

2007-08-15T13:34:00.001+07:00

Hello Everyone!
Email number 2! I did not get to finish writing what I wanted to write in my last email. I left out two major parts to talk about. So this letter should catch you completely up to date.

So I start teaching next Monday. Last week we had new teacher orientation. They showed us around the school and Jakarta. This week we have all-staff orientaion. We have long meetings in the morning and the afternoon is set aside for us to work on our classrooms. I have four students in my class, all of them Kindergarten. They all were at the school last year in Pre-Kindergarten. Can you believe it, four kids and they all went to Preschool! Wow! Three of my students are Indonesian and one is Thai. The school I am at is a private international school and is very expensive for the students to come here. All of our students are children that are from a higher social class. The students that come here are usually children of business people whose companies pay for the kids schooling. And aparently most companies do not pay for Kindergarten, that is why my class is so small. These kids usually have a driver and a maid for each kid in the household. Most Indonesian kids are very spoiled. Some are spoon-fed until the age of ten. Some kids do not go to the bathroom on their own or dress themselves on their own, mostly because their maids raise them and do everything for them. Some maids even do the kids homework. So my job as a kindergarten teacher is to teach them more independence. But I'm lucky because these kids were all here last year. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you, I have a full time aid in my classroom as well. She is great. She is Indonesian and is learning English. She basically does anything I ask her too. She has been in my room everyday since last week setting up my classroom for me. I have so many things to work with here. They have every toy you could possibly think of and all the curriculum tools I'd ever need. I've been sorting through everything and getting rid of stuff, because there was just so much. Ibu Dian (that's my aid, Ibu is a title, just like Ms.) she follows me around waiting for me to tell her what to do. Its so different for me. Its sometimes hard to think of things for her to do. I'm used to preparing my own classroom and everything for 22 kids on my own. I have it good, what can I say. This kind of treatment and I might not want to come back and teach in the states! Just Kidding!

I got hooked up with the church here in Indonesia last week. A disciple actually works at my school with me! I"m so excited! She's from the states as well, and is married to an Indonesian-Chinese (Kelly is her name). Her husband works for the church and is actually one of the disciples I've been emailing back and forth when I was in the states trying to get connected. Small world! So she's lived here for 8 years and knows Bahasa. She is such a great resource and I'm sure going to be a great friend. She is a great person to talk to because she understands a little about how I'm feeling since she moved here on her own as a disciple as well. She took me out on Saturday shopping at the local stores and bargined with the locals for good prices for me. Then her and her family (she has two young kids) took me to REAL chinese food for dinner (not American chinese food). I spent the night at her house on Saturday and got to know them very well. They took me to church in the morning. Service was so neat! It was all in Bahasa. Kelly translated for me. She's going to every sunday. Some songs they sing are Kingdom songs and so I can sing a long in English, but others are more contemporary songs in Bahasa. But they have a big screen that the words are on, for me to read. They own their own building, its actually an office building. But its very nice on the inside. They just bought it this year. Kelly introduced me to Vania and Harlem (the evengleists of Jakarta church). They are very nice and invited me to spend the night in two weekends. I'm excited to get to know them. I also met some of the singles. There are so many! A lot of them speak English as well. This is very good for me. There is one single who just moved to teach here one month ago from Orange County. She seemed really glad to meet me, because I can relate to her. I connected with her right off the bat, I think we will become good friends. I also met a girl named Angelica from the Boston church who is good friends with the Mitchells in Seattle (John and Tracey). Again... What a small world! I feel so much better now having met the disciples.

Well I miss all of you so much! I am so glad to hear from those who emailed me. I love to know what is going on back at home! Well, I really should get back to my classroom... there's so much stuff to sort through!
I love you all and miss you tons!
Please keep me posted.
Becky

I'm here!

2007-08-15T13:18:00.002+07:00

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

Leaving Tacoma

2007-08-04T07:17:00.002+07:00

Well Guys,

I am setting up my blog. I haven't left yet. I am still in Tacoma. I leave in 8 hours. I have mixed emotions, but everything has not sank in.

I want to thank all of you for coming to my goodbye party last night. I was so deeply encouraged and so grateful for all the love and support that I received. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. You all will be in my prayers and I will be keeping in touch consistently.

I want you all to know I will not be updating my blog for a while, because I will not have a computer right when I get to Jakarta. I am purchasing a laptop when I get there, through the school. But I will make sure to be consistent in my entries.

I love you all and will miss you greatly!

Your deeply humbled friend,
Becky