Life in Indonesia, Month 1

Many people have asked us to share our experiences and it's so hard to put into words what our life is like here, but I'll try...

Jakarta is massive.  I actually have no idea how large because everything is measured in terms of traffic times, not kilometers.  The population is 10-20 million, depending on where you look.  I read in the paper that there are 10 million registered motorbikes and 4.5 million cars.  No wonder there is so much traffic.

We live in South Jakarta and, on the ordinary day, probably don't go more than a few miles in any direction.  Many roads are tiny (what we would consider alleys back home) and covered in speed bumps so it's impossible to drive fast, even without traffic.  I'm still fascinated by all the things we see driving through these mazes of streets and the way the traffic moves.  Food carts, a sewing machine on a bike, men loaded down with coconuts, entire families on motorbikes...you name it, it's probably here.  Motorbikes are everywhere, passing between cars, weaving through traffic, heading the wrong way on a one-way street, and occasionally on the rare sidewalk (part of the reason they don't have more sidewalks).  I can never guess who has right of way because cars yield in these weird games of chicken, but drivers aren't aggressive.  The streets are loud and polluted and vibrant with life.  I wish it was easier to walk here because I'd love to wander and explore.  And I would love to eat some street food but that's generally considered a guaranteed dose of Bali belly, so I'll have to stick to restaurants.

A lot of our lives revolve around the international school.  When you pass through the gates and get inside, it's like a quiet college campus...a real sanctuary in a busy city.  The education is great, of course, but what we're most excited about is all the other opportunities afforded the kids here.  They have tons of after school choices and can ride late buses home.  Right now Alex is doing Tae Kwon Do, choir, Lego robotics, computer coding, and card games, plus a private piano lesson.  Ben is doing Tae Kwon Do and private guitar after school, and has started orchestra and electronics at school and will be doing a special-interest program during school starting next week (he requested photography, drone piloting, and the minecraft team as his top choices...how cool are all of those??).  They offer adult classes as well so I signed up for yoga.  It's really awesome that we can get so much enrichment through school!  Especially when driving is a hassle and we want to be efficient.

Speaking of driving, no way would I get behind the wheel here.  We have a wonderful driver that has worked for the company for many years and was highly recommended.  He takes Matt to work (which thankfully is one of the closest office buildings to the school, so Matt has a short commute) and then comes back to the hotel for me and drives me around during the day until he needs to go back to get Matt.  It's a weird feeling knowing someone is waiting on me all the time.  I feel like I should go out more just so he's not bored!  Most places have a little hut outside for all the drivers to hang out, maybe watch TV or sleep.  When we move into our house, our driver will be able to relax with his own space in the garage.  All the houses have extra bathrooms outside and small rooms to sleep or pray in.

As I type this, I can hear the 3pm call to prayer.  The volume depends on your proximity to a mosque.  Prayers are something like 4am, 9am, noon, 3pm, and 7pm.  Thankfully, we never hear the early one.  At other times of the day, I kind of enjoy it because it's sometimes really pretty and it reminds me to pause what I'm doing and give thanks to God for all He has done for us.  Maybe I'll make a habit that sticks with me.  There are churches here, mostly small, and we've already visited a few and been happy to worship with other Christians.

Indonesian people are so happy and so friendly.  There are smiles everywhere and they love our feeble attempts to speak Bahasa and I think they appreciate our efforts.  Most people do speak at least a little English, so communication hasn't been a huge problem.  Thank goodness for smartphones and Google translate, though.  It's invaluable at the grocery store when I'm staring at 100 kinds of green, leafy veggies and trying to guess which one is basil.  (It's kemangi)

One of the big challenges is not drinking the water.  The pollution is terrible and it has contaminated the water table.  We have to use bottled water for everything, even washing vegetables.  But we still wash the dishes in the hot, dirty water and don't use them until they're completely dry.  That still bothers me.  It's hard to rinse out your toothbrush with only bottled water as well.  I have to remind myself constantly not to open my mouth in the shower.

Overall, I'd say we've had a very good and successful first month.  The time has absolutely flown past and the culture shock hasn't been nearly what we expected.  Many things are common to Southeast Asia, so even though Jakarta is very different from Singapore, lots of things weren't surprising to us this time around.  The kids have each had a few tough days but they jumped right into school and never looked back.  Expats are very friendly and the American community here has welcomed us with open arms.  There was a mass exodus of Americans a few years back when oil prices dropped so apparently new faces are exciting.  I've already joined a boot camp in a personal trainer's house, a book club, and a Pokeeno group.  I'm also doing Bible Study Fellowship in my fourth country, which is always interesting.  Here it is bilingual, so ladies are singing hymns in Bahasa and English at the same time and the lecture is in English with a translator speaking at the same time in the balcony.

This weekend we move into our house and I'm honestly a little sad about leaving this hotel.  It's been a great home for the first month and a little safe haven in an unfamiliar place.  And I dread the thought of packing up suitcases AGAIN but this is the last time for hopefully a very long time.  We won't get our sea shipment for another month or so, but we have some rented furniture in place so we can start settling into our real home in our new country.  Here's to a great three years!