A Visit from Nanny

We had a GREAT time when Nanny was here.  Her first couple of days were consumed by Christmas festivities;  And despite the fact that I came down with a case of what I like to refer to as Jakarta's Weight Loss program (also referred to as Montezuma's Revenge), we were still able to show her some awesome stuff.  We were also lucky that Chris was home all but one day during her visit!

We took another trip to Taman Safari.  This time, we went during the middle of the week and the crowds (and traffic) were a lot more manageable!

We learn something new everyday!

We gave Nanny a tour of Emilie's school - as well as what will be Dustin's school next year.  Chris and Emilie also took Nanny to the National Monument (MONAS) for a different view of the city.  I was a little bummed that I was sick because I have been wanting to get to MONAS - I guess Papa Touchdown and Cathie will have to go there with me when they are here in March!

Nanny also go to try her hand at Batik making.

This is what someone was working on while they were there that day!

Pak Firman even played a little music for them!

Nanny's visit was way too short, but we were very glad she was able to visit!  We can't wait until the next time she comes (and maybe we'll let Papa Hamlin come with her next time!).

Damn! I Love Indonesia!

If you were to ask me what Indonesia is like, I would tell you that it's dirty and polluted.  The traffic is horrible and there is a lot of graffiti.  Everyone smokes, inside and out, so it's hard to go anywhere without breathing in some secondhand smoke.  There is absolutely no sense of personal space and people push to get on the elevators before you can squeeze your way out, or elbow their way in front of you in line.  Service is slow and the rules seem to change on a daily basis.  They use sprayers to clean themselves after using the restroom and as a result the bathroom floors are always wet & dirty and typically there is not toilet paper (we quickly learned to bring our own everywhere we go).  Most bathrooms consist of squatters.  People stare at us and take pictures of us. The weather is hot and humid everyday; And most days it rains.  You go through metal detectors whenever you go into any building and security guards check your trunk and under your car for bombs when enter parking lots.  Things are often done in ways that seem to have absolutely no reason other than to make it harder and take more time (someday I will explain the checkout process at Gramedia - the local equivalent of Barnes & Noble).  Phone numbers rarely work and the Internet is horrible.  Most people speak a little English, but trying to get any thought across is typically lost in translation.  There is not a government sanctioned trash service so most garbage is either burned on the side of the road or thrown into the rivers.

Despite all of this, I really do love Indonesia. I love the people of Indonesia.  They are beyond nice.  They love teaching us about their culture and their language.  It is always fun to surprise them with the few words we know in Bahasa Indonesia.  I love learning a new language and the fact that this language is known by absolutely no one, unless you live in Indonesia or Malaysia, actually makes it a little more fun (although it would be nice to have some use for the language once we leave Indonesia).  I love that all of the TV shows have Bahasa Indonesia subtitles - it is so exciting to read the subtitles and actually know one out of every twenty words.  I love learning about a new culture and a different way of life.  I love the fact that this entire experience, even in the short time we have been here, has made us all more accepting, tolerant, and patient.  I love how beautiful Indonesia is.  If you can look past the garbage and graffiti, you drive down the street in a canopy of green.  The vegetation is lush and green and beautiful (and in many places, trees are literally growing out of the concrete - in the actual street).  I love that everyday we experience something new.  I love that my kids are able to see another part of the world from a real life view versus a tourist view.  I love that my three year old dreams about Bali and asks to visit places like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong (Not to mention that these are places he will visit before he even starts kindergarten).  I love that my twelve year old has friends from all of the world and has been able to learn so much from each of them.  I love that she goes to a school that promotes helping the community and even goes as far as as taking them on field trips to do service projects.  I love that we have tried new foods that we had never even heard of before moving here.  I love that Indonesia shows us such a contrast to the United States.  I love trying to explain things about America to other people (We had one particularly interesting conversation when we were trying to ask our driver if we could give him some of Dustin's old clothes for his grandson.  The process of trying to explain the concept of hand-me-downs thoroughly confused him and at one point, we are sure he thought we were trying to get Debi (or possibly him) to wear Dustin's old clothes.).   I love learning these new things from others as well - and not just Indonesians.  A new friend from Norway was telling me a story about how she "stepped in the salad."  I quickly learned that she was telling me she had "put her foot in her mouth."  It made me think about trying to explain either of these sayings to someone in Indonesia and they might decide that we  are crazy for eating salad with our feet!

I love that we have all learned so much in the short time we have lived here.  I love that we now appreciate all that we took for granted back home.  I love that we are able to find excitement in the small successes we have - no traffic at the roundabout down the street, a telephone number that actually works, successfully finding cheddar cheese or goldfish crackers, trying a new fruit that is delicious, a nice little breeze on the walk to school;  And I love that everyday, we find something new to love about Indonesia.

EXTRAORDINARY

Today I had one of the most powerful experiences of my life.  Emilie's school, JIS, is very big on service projects.  In fact, all of the kids are required to participate in a service project outside of school hours.  The school has a division called JIS Peduli (JIS Cares) and they work on ways that JIS students and parents can help in the community.  Today, they partnered with an organization called Gerakan Kepedulian (concern movement), and we went to a couple of communities affected by the recent floods.  We had the opportunity to hand out much needed supplies and tour the communities.  These areas are considered some of the poorest of the poor in Jakarta.  Most of the members are trash pickers - they walk the streets of Jakarta (usually barefoot) with a giant wheelbarrow type of cart.  Trash is collected and traded amongst themselves and then sold to their "boss" for whatever he deems appropriate for what has been collected that day.  The average household income is approximately US$70/month and their rent is US$20-$30/month.  The kids go to local schools and while these are considered free, they are still required to pay for uniforms, books, supplies, and exams.  These expenses range from US$200/year to US$1000/year (depending on the grade level).  The homes are along the rivers and prone to flooding.  Many of the homes are literally under the ground.  One of the communities we visited had flooding about 7 feet high.  They had water rising from the river  - as well as coming in through the leaking roofs from the rain.  They were forced to leave the community and lived in the parking lot of a nearby gas station for several days while waiting for the water to subside.  Now, as they work on cleaning up their homes and salvaging what they can, they are bracing for the next flood which is expected this weekend.   We have been lucky that the last few days have been relatively dry.  That being said, it started raining while we were there and it was amazing to see the already saturated ground become mush in the short time we were there.  There were even areas of the community that we were not able to visit because of the amount of water that accumulated just today.  Gerakan Kepedulian goes into these communities and spends several years working to make their lives better.  They don't just throw money at the problem.  Their philosophy -"Poverty is not a lack of resources, but a lack of caring and sharing." They work with the free clinics to make sure they are providing medical support.  They educate the community members on medical issues and help them become more productive in their community.  They help them build better housing structures.  They help them to feel more empowered, a better sense of community and a greater sense of pride.  The list goes on and on and on...it truly is an inspiring organization.

The people were all gracious and kind. 

This woman took a break from cleaning up after the flood to show us how high the flood water was at her home.

These men were working to remove the mud from the floor of their Community Center.

The members of the group that went today hope to go back after the next round of flooding.  We plan to bring more supplies and much needed food items.  After flooding, the communities lose electricity and are unable to cook.  We will be working on putting together food items that do not require cooking.  We also hope to tour one of Gerakan Kepedulian's completed communities so we can see the amazing results of all of their hard work.