Cacti vs. Durian

Emilie came home from school with a funny story.  The other day, her English teacher (who is from Argentina) asked the class if anyone knew what a cactus was.  Emilie was one of two students to raise their hands (the other one is from Southern California).  When Emilie mentioned she is from Arizona, the English teacher asked her to tell them all what it was like to live in a desert.  Emilie thought it was funny that they thought of Arizona as some strange land and that no one even knew what a cactus was.  I asked her how many of our friends from home would know what a durian is. So, (without clicking the link)...Do you know what a durian is?

Reflections

As of today, we have officially been here one month.  When I mentioned this to Emilie, she said, "Already?!?!?"  (I think that's a good sign - right?)  Just before we left, one of our friends asked what we thought we would miss the most.  Stumped, I said it would probably be something obscure that we never realized we were so dependent on.  We have spent the last few nights at  dinner reflecting on the past month and talking a little bit about the things that we miss (and don't miss) from Phoenix.

Other than friends and family (which can probably go into both the miss and don't miss columns depending on who you ask and the amount of drama happening at the time :)), here are a few of the things that have been mentioned.

In no particular order:

• Ranch - Ranch is not the staple here that it seems to be in the States.  Ketchup on the other hand - they seem to love.  They even bring two kinds of ketchup with just about everything they serve.  One is the regular Ketchup (Saus Tomat) and the other is what they call Asli (or original) and is like a ketchup with chile. It took over three weeks, but we FINALLY found ranch at, of all places, The Ranch Market (we have also been able to find a few other hard to find American imports, like Goldfish, here).  They don't have Hidden Valley, but beggars can't be choosers.
• DVR (and other such things like Netflix and ABC Player) - I never realized how much I love my DVR.  Now we have to watch shows when they are actually on and we can't fast forward through the commercials - Can you even imagine?  My Dad's Slingbox has helped.  We have successfully been able to stream his DVR shows (including all Diamondbacks games) directly to our TV.  Now if only Netflix would get with the program and allow international viewing.
• Surround Sound - This one was Chris' and includes, but is not limited to, our entire Family Room back home (HDTV; Surround Sound, Comfy Couch; Entertainment Center; Etc.)
• Wine & Margaritas - Not that I drank Margaritas very often, but it was nice to have the choice ;)  The import tax on alcohol is extremely high here.  We have found a cheap bottle of wine that would sell for about $3 in the states, going for about $25 here. That is the cheapest we have been able to find.  Needless to say, I haven't had a glass of wine since we got here.
• Pizza - So far Domino's is the closest we have found to actual American Pizza.  We haven't tried the Pizza Hut, but neither of these will ever compare to Nello's. 
• Ice Cream - This is a bit of an exaggeration as they do have ice cream here - They even have ColdStone, but the other day Emilie and Chris came home from the grocery store with this quart of ice cream...

And it only cost them $15.00!

• Mexican food - Need I say more?
• Target - Before leaving Phoenix, someone mentioned that a trip to Target was going to be like Disneyland when we got back.  I now know why!
• Baseball of any kind - Try as we might, we have still been unable to find any kind of baseball gear or baseball/t-ball sign up for Dustin.  We have been able to sign him up for Circus classes (Yes, I'm serious and I'm sure we will tell you all about them in a future post!).
• Small Appliances - We have found a crockpot and an electric griddle for $100 each and an iron for $60.  
• Freezer space - We had two full sized refrigerators in Phoenix. We now have this...

• Nespresso - Although Bart (For those of you who don't know, Bart is what I named my Nespresso machine) is considered a member of the family, he still gets a special mention because I miss him so very much!
• Traffic - Traffic in Indonesia makes us miss the 405 in L.A.  Yes!  Traffic is THAT BAD here.
• Visibility - The air quality in Indonesia is not very good (to put it lightly).  On a good day, you can see a blur of buildings beyond the smog.  As long as you don't have to breathe while outside, your are totally fine!

And now for some of the things we have come to like about Indonesia:

• Junk Mail - There is none!!!!  We haven't actually received ANY mail since being here - which means no bills either. I'm not sure if this attributed to the fact that we live in Indonesia or if it is because we live in a hotel.  Either way, I'll take it!
• Cell Phone bills - This month we paid a total of $20 for unlimited minutes, texts, and data for both Emilie and me.  We don't have anyone to text or call out here, but if we did, we could go crazy :)
• Fruit - Apparently, the tropical climate of Indonesia is better for fruit growing then the desert of Phoenix (imagine that!)  They have some amazing fruit here and we have been working hard at trying as many new fruits as possible.  This also means you can get fresh fruit juices everywhere - and they really mean fresh fruit juice.  They throw the fruit in the blender with a little water and there you go.  We haven't tried the fresh avocado juice yet, but what we have tried has been delicious!

• Driving - It has been hard to give up the freedom of jumping in the car to take a quick trip somewhere, but who doesn't like being chauffeured around?  And the traffic is so crazy here, I would not make it back from any quick errand in one piece if I was the one behind the wheel.
• It's a dry heat - Whoever came up with that saying is crazy!  Although it's still the dry season here, we really are enjoying the cooler weather (I'll take 90 degrees with 60% humidity over the 115 degree dry heat any day).  *We reserve the right to change this statement after we have survived our first rainy season.*
• Political ads - It's an election year here too and I have yet to see a single political sign, billboard, commercial, flier (remember - we don't get mail so maybe we are just missing out), and NO robocalls - It's like heaven!!!
• Ace Hardware - In Indonesia, Ace really is the Place!  Ace Hardware out here is sort of like Sears without the clothes.  They have just about everything and can be found in all of the malls.
• The People - Everyone we have come into contact with has been very friendly.  I think it helps that we are working on learning Bahasa Indonesian because they love laughing at the Bules trying to speak their language.  Honestly, I have never been somewhere where people actually smile back at you when smile at them.
• Pastries/Baked Goods - Although nothing can compare to Nanny's desserts, the baked goods in Indonesia come pretty close.  They even have little shops devoted solely to cream puffs - Every type of cream puff imaginable and then some!  And then there is Rotiboy.  Rotiboy could possibly take over the world on the savory smell alone.

Chris enjoying his birthday cake!

It will be interesting to see how these lists have changed a year from now!

On The Move!!!

Last weekend, we spent a little time packing up everything we brought (as well as the amazing amount of things we have already purchased in the short time we have lived here), and moved a couple of floors down to our permanent apartment.  We will be spending the next year living at the Hotel Kristal - Zack & Cody style.  

One of the main differences between our temporary apartment and the permanent one is the view -

From the old view, we could watch Emilie play tennis!

We could see Emilie's school!

 

With the old view, we had a Mosque with the bullhorn pointed directly at us so it was almost like we had a personal prayer (5 times/day)!

And Our New View - 

We live in South Jakarta and face North.  On a clear day, we can see the downtown Jakarta skyline.

Another exciting difference is the stove!

This was how we got to cook for our first 3 weeks here. Needless to say, we ate out a lot!

Now we have this small oven and four burners!

We have also added a washing machine/dryer combo unit!  It is fun to run the wash cycle and dry cycle all in one, but it takes a little over 3 hours to do one load of laundry.  

We couldn't figure out why there were holes in all of the shelves of this little cabinet in our entryway.  We finally asked and were laughed at as we were told, this cabinet is for our shoes!

Dustin's Room! 

 

Emilie's Room!

The Master bedroom and bathroom

Our dishwasher!

Emilie emptying the dishwasher!

This is our giant refrigerator!

 We are working on adding some personal touches to make this feel a bit more like home, but it is nice to finally be in our "permanent" home!

Here are a few pictures from around the hotel.

We have almost been here a month and have made some observations on the pros and cons of living in a hotel:

• Housekeeping - Not only does our house get cleaned everyday, but we don't have to change sheets or wash towels; Plus we get free (really cheap) toilet paper!
• Four restaurants and a deli in the building! As residents, we get a discount at all of the eating establishments.  This is great but, even after only one month, we are already getting tired of the menus.
• Swim up bar...need I say more?
• The nice big pool is GREAT!  So is not having to clean it, but public pools always have a few drawbacks - plus being in a foreign country means speedos :-0
• No electric bill, water bill, internet bill, cable bill, gas bill...But this also means your are sharing the very weak internet signal with a few hundred other guests.
• The noise - Although I'm sure the noise would be equally bad if we were living in a regular apartment building.
• You get free artwork you would never in a million years choose for yourself. Like this lovely thing...

And finally - In true moving tradition, we enjoyed a pizza delivery the evening of our move.  The pizza was surprisingly similar to American Pizza and came with a generous side of ketchup packets!

School Days!

Emilie had her first day of school yesterday!  She is now officially a middle schooler!  She is in 6th grade at an amazing school - Jakarta International School.  We can literally see the campus from our temporary apartment.  25% of the students are from the United States (this is the highest percentage from any county).  They currently have students enrolled from over 60 countries - and the teachers are from all over the world as well!  Her favorite part is probably the one to one technology program - EVERY student in middle school and high school is given their own MacBook Air!  Judging from the speed at which she spent the evening telling us EVERYTHING about her first day, I would say it was a success!

To get on campus, everyone is required to have a badge (students & parents).  Cars are required to have the proper sticker.  This is the main entrance. It is a five minute walk from our house, but the traffic is crazy and the "sidewalk" is more like a shoulder on the side of the road.  Emilie will walk to school occasionally, but will catch a ride most days.

Dustin can't wait to go to school, but at college tuition prices, we have decided to wait one more year before enrolling him.  For now, he is able to use all of the facilities, including the swimming pools, libraries and play grounds!

My pictures of the campus do not do it justice.

There are plants and trees from all over the world; Each one has a placard telling the type of plant and where it can be found around the world.

There are a million places for kids to sit or hang out during lunch or one of their 20 minute breaks thru-out the day!

These covered walkways run through the entire school.  Although, they don't protect from the humidity or the nyamuk (mosquitoes), which both run rampant in Indonesia, the coverings do protect from the sun - and soon - the rain as we head into the rainy season (October - June).

The Basketball Courts where 6th graders gathered on the first day to get their teacher assignments!

The "Small" Gym!  

The "Big" Gym was being used when we had our tour so we weren't able to see it, but according to Emilie, it is 3 levels with a level for locker rooms, a level for volleyball courts and a level for basketball courts.

The Track and Field

Emilie's Math & Science Building from our house!

The Cafeteria is 2 stories! You name it, they offer it. They have every type of food imaginable from Indonesia, Western (American), Chinese, Sushi, Italian...everything except Mexican :-(

The cafeteria is all electronic.  We add money to Emilie's account thru an ATM type machine.  She pays for lunch by scanning either her ID Card or her ID bracelet.  The average lunch costs approximately 30,000 Rupiah (or $3 - in the U.S.).

The "Little Theater" rivals the auditorium at Desert Vista! The school also does live streaming of performances whenever possible.  So you should be able to watch Emilie as she performs on this stage!

The Olympic sized swimming pool is where Emilie will be training for  Rio 2016!

The Tennis Courts are covered from the sun and rain.

                                                                               

The Bali Stage is the center of the Middle School.

This is the Middle School Library.  We also have access to the Elementary and High School Libraries as well as, my favorite, all of their E-Books!

Recycling is not very big in Indonesia, but is HUGE at JIS.  We have been told that we can even bring our recycling in from home and they will recycle it for us.

Matti and Maci are Emilie's newest friends.  They moved to Indonesia from Florida this summer and are currently staying a couple of floors below us.  We were lucky enough to meet them before the first day of school and Emilie has been walking to and from school with them!

Until next time!