Highlights: Arrived in Jakarta & back on familiar ground, saw Lydia & visited Eli, played on-line until jet lag knocked me over the head & dragged me to bed.
My Garuda flight touched down smoothly, and I was back on home turf. Coming back to Jakarta is like re-entering a familiar scene in a movie you once saw. I’ve only been gone 2 months,, but, it seems both long ago & like yesterday.
Tell you what though,,, I forgot how hot it gets here! Whew! it’s humid & 95 degrees! I thought San Diego was pretty warm, as Uncle T regailed me with stories of the inches of snow falling on Boston as he left. Yeah- doesn’t compare to a city within spitball distance of the equator apparently. Sweat was breaking out on my forehead before I got out of the airport!
Another thing I forgot about was how casually direct Indonesians can be with their questions. It’s like there’s no inner monologue (as Austin Powers might put it) sifting through which questions to ask out loud, and which ones to silently wonder about on their own. Today’s example: A group of security guards at the baggage claim exit were tickled that I could speak Indonesian. “Where are you from? Where are you going? How long have you been in Indonesia? How do you speak Indonesian? How old are you? Have kids? Already married?”
In turn I gave them 2 word answers, until the last one… where I explained,,,, “no, not married, but dating a Javanese girl I met in Yogya.”
“ah… udah pukuli?” were the next words out of his mouth, which translates to,,,, “so, have you tagged that booty yet?”
I’m sorry, did you just say that? (my inner monologue)
“um,,, no pak… I’m being respectful to her & her religion, and have not ‘hit that’ yet.”
Nods of approval followed around the group.
So,,,, I haven’t been out of America that long, and can’t imagine a similar scene in an American setting, with head on questions about a persons sex life. As funny as that is, it’s not uncommon here.
After coming back to the house, It was fun catching up with Lydia & hearing some of her stories. Seems her social life picked-up quite a bit. (= She was proposed to on a first date with an Italian guy,,, and despite that, actually dated him for a few weeks until his desperate attachment issues got a bit too much. Ha ha. She was interviewed in a Jakarta magazine (Pasadena: your guide for fashion, beauty & lifestyle magazine; edisi 15, Feb 2007) with a nicely done 2-page foto shot situated next to an article about Desperate Housewife, Eva Longoria! Huh! not bad! She should feel pretty good about that. Ha ha.
After that I walked over to Eli’s house to check on her & her family. They were happy to welcome me back. Eli’s dad passed away a few weeks ago. He was 52. I didn’t know Eli is the oldest of 11 kids, and 1 of 3 by her mom. Her dad had 4 wives. Polygamy is still alive & well in the countryside, despite being a controversial subject among Indonesian Muslims today. It was sad for her to lose him. He used herbal medicines to treat pain associated with a kidney problem, and by the time he was admitted into the hospital, there was little that could be done.
On a more positive note, Vita’s 13th birthday was last Wednesday! (= I asked if she did anything special,,, and the response was so casually “no”, it made me think how their financial circumstances put extravagances like birthday parties out of reach for many families here. She’s funny though. I asked her what she’d like for her birthday, and her eyes lit up. Pizza! (= ha ha. It’s her favorite food, and at $7, it’s a luxury she usually only gets once a year. The whole family (of 5) usually eats for about $2 a day. I think we can make that happen here.
For her real present though,, I’m taking her shopping tomorrow at Blok M. Jakarta’s newest official teenager gets to pick 3 things (= I’m excited about taking her shopping myself! Should be fun.
In San Diego I figured out how to set up Yahoo instant messenger, and finally downloaded it to my laptop. I got tagged by 5 different Indonesian friends within minutes of getting home, and spent the next few hours keeping in touch, until jet-lag caught up to me around 8pm. (=
My Garuda flight touched down smoothly, and I was back on home turf. Coming back to Jakarta is like re-entering a familiar scene in a movie you once saw. I’ve only been gone 2 months,, but, it seems both long ago & like yesterday.
Tell you what though,,, I forgot how hot it gets here! Whew! it’s humid & 95 degrees! I thought San Diego was pretty warm, as Uncle T regailed me with stories of the inches of snow falling on Boston as he left. Yeah- doesn’t compare to a city within spitball distance of the equator apparently. Sweat was breaking out on my forehead before I got out of the airport!
Another thing I forgot about was how casually direct Indonesians can be with their questions. It’s like there’s no inner monologue (as Austin Powers might put it) sifting through which questions to ask out loud, and which ones to silently wonder about on their own. Today’s example: A group of security guards at the baggage claim exit were tickled that I could speak Indonesian. “Where are you from? Where are you going? How long have you been in Indonesia? How do you speak Indonesian? How old are you? Have kids? Already married?”
In turn I gave them 2 word answers, until the last one… where I explained,,,, “no, not married, but dating a Javanese girl I met in Yogya.”
“ah… udah pukuli?” were the next words out of his mouth, which translates to,,,, “so, have you tagged that booty yet?”
I’m sorry, did you just say that? (my inner monologue)
“um,,, no pak… I’m being respectful to her & her religion, and have not ‘hit that’ yet.”
Nods of approval followed around the group.
So,,,, I haven’t been out of America that long, and can’t imagine a similar scene in an American setting, with head on questions about a persons sex life. As funny as that is, it’s not uncommon here.
After coming back to the house, It was fun catching up with Lydia & hearing some of her stories. Seems her social life picked-up quite a bit. (= She was proposed to on a first date with an Italian guy,,, and despite that, actually dated him for a few weeks until his desperate attachment issues got a bit too much. Ha ha. She was interviewed in a Jakarta magazine (Pasadena: your guide for fashion, beauty & lifestyle magazine; edisi 15, Feb 2007) with a nicely done 2-page foto shot situated next to an article about Desperate Housewife, Eva Longoria! Huh! not bad! She should feel pretty good about that. Ha ha.
After that I walked over to Eli’s house to check on her & her family. They were happy to welcome me back. Eli’s dad passed away a few weeks ago. He was 52. I didn’t know Eli is the oldest of 11 kids, and 1 of 3 by her mom. Her dad had 4 wives. Polygamy is still alive & well in the countryside, despite being a controversial subject among Indonesian Muslims today. It was sad for her to lose him. He used herbal medicines to treat pain associated with a kidney problem, and by the time he was admitted into the hospital, there was little that could be done.
On a more positive note, Vita’s 13th birthday was last Wednesday! (= I asked if she did anything special,,, and the response was so casually “no”, it made me think how their financial circumstances put extravagances like birthday parties out of reach for many families here. She’s funny though. I asked her what she’d like for her birthday, and her eyes lit up. Pizza! (= ha ha. It’s her favorite food, and at $7, it’s a luxury she usually only gets once a year. The whole family (of 5) usually eats for about $2 a day. I think we can make that happen here.
For her real present though,, I’m taking her shopping tomorrow at Blok M. Jakarta’s newest official teenager gets to pick 3 things (= I’m excited about taking her shopping myself! Should be fun.
In San Diego I figured out how to set up Yahoo instant messenger, and finally downloaded it to my laptop. I got tagged by 5 different Indonesian friends within minutes of getting home, and spent the next few hours keeping in touch, until jet-lag caught up to me around 8pm. (=
posted by jonathan adventures at 7:36 PM
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