Friday, 1Sep06
Highlights: paid the balance of the rent, finishing check-in at the embassy, visiting the guards, dinner with Lydia & Brook
This morning had me running around, trying to cash checks & change Singapore dollars to American dollars,,, all in an effort to whip up a balance of $8,300 to finish paying the rent.
For my first feat, I went directly to the Citibank headquarters branch, because the check office at the embassy can’t cash checks above $1,000 without notice. Citibank is right behind the Jakarta Stock Exchange tower complex. What an imposing set of buildings. That block almost has a downtown Chicago or New York feel to it.
Citibank can’t cash checks over $1,000 either without express permission from the embassy finance officer (which nobody told me to get),,, but our quick fix was for me to write 5 separate checks for $1,000 each. (= There’s never a rule you can’t get around with a little ingenuity.
The second feat had me looking for a money changer office, which charged me $30 to get $1,600 USD.
The third feat was to get this cash back across town & into the hands of my landlord, who can now sleep soundly at night, because he has all his money. Now I can play the patience game & wait for OHA to kick in.
Inside the embassy I ticked-off a few more items on my check-in list: met the ambassador (talked for 10 minutes or so in his office; nice guy), had my sit-down with my boss’s boss (Col Richards) who is very supportive, especially as the FAO program is not well understood in many places. I got business cards on order! (I’ll officially be a somebody in about 2 weeks. Ha ha), I got a radio, registered for an Dept. of State e-mail account (don’t know how much I’ll use that), and a few other errands. I felt productive anyways. The guards here are great, and really enjoy seeing an American that can greet them in bahasa Jawa! (= ha ha.
Speaking of guards, I hung out with the SATPAM guys at my house for a bit (Satuan Pengamanan = security unit; Indonesia is as fond of making acronyms as the U.S. military). Nice bunch of guys. Everyone coming in or out of our home area goes through them. Most housing complexes & gated homes have security guards; one during the day, two at night. This is where they spend their time.
And just for clarity, I noted the source of the less-than-fresh breeze which occasionally blows. It wasn’t bad today- but we don’t have open air sewers like this in the states…
Highlights: paid the balance of the rent, finishing check-in at the embassy, visiting the guards, dinner with Lydia & Brook
This morning had me running around, trying to cash checks & change Singapore dollars to American dollars,,, all in an effort to whip up a balance of $8,300 to finish paying the rent.
For my first feat, I went directly to the Citibank headquarters branch, because the check office at the embassy can’t cash checks above $1,000 without notice. Citibank is right behind the Jakarta Stock Exchange tower complex. What an imposing set of buildings. That block almost has a downtown Chicago or New York feel to it.
Citibank can’t cash checks over $1,000 either without express permission from the embassy finance officer (which nobody told me to get),,, but our quick fix was for me to write 5 separate checks for $1,000 each. (= There’s never a rule you can’t get around with a little ingenuity.
The second feat had me looking for a money changer office, which charged me $30 to get $1,600 USD.
The third feat was to get this cash back across town & into the hands of my landlord, who can now sleep soundly at night, because he has all his money. Now I can play the patience game & wait for OHA to kick in.
Inside the embassy I ticked-off a few more items on my check-in list: met the ambassador (talked for 10 minutes or so in his office; nice guy), had my sit-down with my boss’s boss (Col Richards) who is very supportive, especially as the FAO program is not well understood in many places. I got business cards on order! (I’ll officially be a somebody in about 2 weeks. Ha ha), I got a radio, registered for an Dept. of State e-mail account (don’t know how much I’ll use that), and a few other errands. I felt productive anyways. The guards here are great, and really enjoy seeing an American that can greet them in bahasa Jawa! (= ha ha.
Speaking of guards, I hung out with the SATPAM guys at my house for a bit (Satuan Pengamanan = security unit; Indonesia is as fond of making acronyms as the U.S. military). Nice bunch of guys. Everyone coming in or out of our home area goes through them. Most housing complexes & gated homes have security guards; one during the day, two at night. This is where they spend their time.
And just for clarity, I noted the source of the less-than-fresh breeze which occasionally blows. It wasn’t bad today- but we don’t have open air sewers like this in the states…
posted by jonathan adventures at 11:37 PM
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