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!