I am alive and well!

I am sure that many of you are probably wondering what has happened to me. I haven’t had any Internet access since I arrived, so that is my excuse. This has been a whirlwind of changes, but I am doing quite well. I feel like I have been here for weeks, rather than days. Let me give you a re-cap on what has been going on down here for the past while.

Wednesday, July 14th

I arrived at the airport in Jakarta in the evening. Narda, the phenomenal go-to woman at SPH Lippo Village welcomed me as I passed through a crowed of faces; she new exactly who I was and gave me a hug. We waited on the side while two other people from our school were coming through security and baggage. After we were all together, we all hustled through the airport doors. We made our way along the walk way, into the parking lot, and then into the car. As we drove along the roads and highways, I took in everything around me. Despite the darkness, I noticed a few things: people, cars, and motorbikes everywhere, hot and muggy weather, crazy driving, and small shops and restaurants set-up along the streets (this reminded me of Nicaragua). As we entered into Lippo Village, I couldn't help but see how everything got nicer and cleaner. I saw high-rise apartment buildings and nice restaurants and stores. We drove down a road and then arrived at the gate of SPH. Although it was dark, I could see that the school was huge and beautiful. Our host families were waiting for us at the school. My host family is the Mercers: Don, Rebecca, Ben, Hannah and Kayla. Don is the high-school principle and Rebecca also teaches at the school. I got into their car and they took me to my apartment. In order to get to my place, you have to pass through 2 gates with guards (satpoms). My new home is the last apartment of a whole row and it is just a few steps up from ground level. I opened the door, with my new keys and took it all in. It is a nice little apartment with the tiniest kitchen I have ever seen! I have a very small fridge and stove, with a small, single sink and about 1 foot of counter space on either side of the sink. The school provided all of major furniture: loveseat and chair, coffee table, kitchen table and chairs, a spare twin-sized bed, desk, queen-sized bed, wardrobe, and 2 night stands. It was so fun to look around at everything that would soon be my home. My host family said goodbye and I sat on my bed. It all felt so surreal. I could hardly believe that I was finally here in Indonesia, and in my new home. To be honest, I felt a bit uncertain and sad, but in the morning everything changed.

Thursday July 15th

I woke up at 6:00am, after a pretty rested night of 7 hours sleep. Instead of trying to go back to sleep, I decided to start unpacking my stuff. I covered by bed with everything, and then found homes for it all throughout the apartment. At 8:00, a driver picked me up from my place and then took me, and a Chinese couple, to the school. We had breakfast at the school and got to meet all of the other new staff for this year. It was so fun to meet all kinds of new people and here about their stories. Everyone was so nice and friendly and the food was delicious. That morning, we had some orientation, a school tour, and some banking details to figure out. The school is amazing! I could not believe its size and beauty. There are plenty of beautiful trees and plants everywhere and all of the halls are open-air which gives it a very nice feel. After lunch, our host families took us shopping to the super mall. This mall is very big and there are people everywhere! The first thing we did was find the E-center so I could find a cell phone. There are probably over 20 different booths that sell cell-phones. Hannah helped me by bringing me to a good place. I decided to buy a very simple and cheap phone. It only cost me 35 dollars for everything, including about 10 dollars of minutes (which goes a long way at 3 cents a minute). After this, we went to the Hyper-Mart (similar to Wal-mart) and I bought several items for starters. After delivering all of my stuff I went with the Mercers out for supper in Lippo. On the way, we picked up Sarah Chow, who is another first-year teacher. I went up to her apartment and looked a bike that she wants to get ride of. It is awesome! It is blue with a basket, a bell, and 6 gears. I am so excited about my new form of transportation, especially because it is free! I still haven’t picked the bike up, but that will happen in the future. We ate dinner at Dixies, and then the Mercers dropped me off. Before I went to bed, I unpacked all of my new items and put them away. I flipped on the AC, and then crawled into bed.

Friday July 16th

We had more orientation at SPH which included cultural awareness, some school missions, and other details concerning health and insurance. That afternoon, I came back to my apartment and cleaned out all of my cupboards and I washed all of the floors. I felt like I could not feel comfortable until I knew everything was clean. I also didn’t have much else to do, so it felt good to do something productive. After that, I went to the school for a BBQ with all of the other new teachers and their families. The food was amazing, as always. It was very nice to sit and talk to everyone. I feel so blessed to already be surrounded by such wonderfully supportive people. I was pretty tired after the long day, so I went to bed on time when I got home.

Saturday July, 17th

There was no orientation activities planned for Saturday, so I spent the day with my host family. I went with Rebecca, Hannah (13) and Kayla (5) ice skating at a mall, in Jakarta. This mall was gigantic, with at least 6 floors. We went early in the morning to beat the rush of the day. We skated for almost 2 hours on the ice. The skates were almost like a combination of figure skates and hockey skates, and the ice felt different too. Even so, we had a lot of fun going around the ice. There were all kinds of young skaters practicing with their personal coaches on the ice, there were also a few people stumbling and falling all over. After this, we went back to the Mercers for lunch. Then, Rebecca brought Hannah and me to my place. Hannah helped me figure out my first ojek ride so that I could learn to do it on my own (an ojek is a motorcycle taxi)! We each took an ojek to the mall. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing more shopping at different stores in the mall. I got to explore different places and search out items for my apartment. My find of the day was a dining set! I got 4 bowls, 4 salad plates, and 4 dinner plates for only 15,000 rupiah each ($1.50 each). I was very excited because I really liked them and they were SO on sale. I was going to take a taxi home from the mall, but there were none close by, so Rebecca brought me home instead. We dropped all of my stuff off and then went back to there place for a quick bite of food. Then we headed to night church at IES (international English service) in Jakarta. The music was very good, but also very LOUD. The speaker was very gifted and the people were incredibly friendly. I got a free mug and an informational DVD about the church for being a guest! A good deal for me! After church we talked with some people, and then headed home.

Sunday July 18th

I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was clean my bathroom. I felt icky every time I went in there, so I gave it a good cleaning. After I cleaned the bathroom, I cleaned all of my new dishes, and then assembled a little shelf for in my bathroom. After that I put all of my other things away and then had a shower. After a lovely lunch of left-over pizza and grapes, I got a phone call from the internet company. The man was speaking to me in broken English, so it was a very challenging phone call. After a few minutes, we figured out that the company would be able to come on Saturday at 10:00am. Phew…one more week of no internet. I will preserver through it!

And so, here I am, in my apartment. I am listening to Hillsong United and relaxing as the cultural noises of the mosque and motorcycles come and go. My place is clean, and my “blog” is updated. I might go and explore my neighbourhood a bit. This place really is beautiful. The main roads are lined with tropical trees and there are green plants everywhere! It is like vegetation is pouring out of everything.

Monday July 19th

Another week has come and I am really starting to feel more comfortable here. The next big thing now is teaching! I am so nervous/anxious/excited about it. I still have a zillion questions about everything and I begin teaching next week already! I just hope that it all sinks in and that I don’t panic. I will definitely need prayers for peace and confidence as I begin my first year of teaching.

Today, our orientation included some Q&A time as well as some discussion about Christian Education. It was so inspiring and motivating to here all of the new teachers’ idea of Christian Teaching. I will have to constantly remind myself that being a Christian teacher means that everything we do to influence our students really comes from the LORD. This reassures me that, despite my fears, God has got my back. 

So, today after an early release from our orientation, I went with another new teacher, Sarah, to a hair salon near my Taman (or apartment area). I also got what they call a cream bath which is a massage for your head, arms, and shoulders. It felt sooo wonderful! So after 2 hours and the price of only 165.000 rupiah, I left the salon feeling wonderful. The only thing was that I wanted to go into town to find an internet café, and so my lovely hair got a little tussled by the light rain and wind on the ojek ride. Now, I am sitting here with Allison, another new teacher, as we catch up of the things in the cyber world. Oh, and I promise pictures sometime in the future.