It's Wednesday here, Tuesday there.

Jet lag is not a pretty thing especially when you are middle-aged. Maybe that isn't true for seasoned travelers, but for this Little Tarheel/Texan now living in Jakarta, Indonesia you might want to avert your eyes.

I titled this post It's Wednesday here, Tuesday there. That isn't actually accurate at this particular hour. It is 2:35am in Texas, 3:35am in North Carolina and 3:35pm here - Wednesday in all of those places. We crossed over the Wednesday-Tuesday gap a couple of hours ago. I feel like I am in some kind of space-time continuum. This whole International Date line, below the equator thing works on your head.

The call to prayer is ringing out from several of the mosque that are near our hotel. It is a little odd since there are several mosque and they are all broadcasting over top of each other so it sounds a bit like you can't quite get the dial on your radio set to just one station.

Our arrival here came via a seemingly curious route. We left Houston, TX on Thursday at 4:45pm (that would be 5:45am Friday in Jakarta). Our 11.5 hour flight to Moscow, Russia was smooth. Yes, you are asking yourself; why in the heck did they fly to Russia to get to Indonesia. I can understand that. With more luggage than one would take just for normal vacationing, I wanted the fewest possible hands moving our bags from one plane to another. Going via Moscow meant that we would stop in Russian, get off the plane while it was cleaned and refueled and then get back on. No one told us we would be 5 degrees in the jetway and we would get frisked by a Russian woman who smelled of oranges before we could get into the terminal. But it wasn't overly invasive and she was a young, but serious looking blonde who was all business.

After enjoying the pleasures of walking around on a solid, non-moving surface, we re-boarded the plane and headed for Singapore. That leg of the flight took about 10.5 hours and we wandered dazed and confused to our connecting flight to Jakarta.

In case you should ever come to Singapore, please remember that you cannot purchase chewing gum here. It apparently is a contraband item. You can chew it, just can't buy it. I am afraid to think what they would do to you if you spit it on the ground somewhere. Consequently, we did not explore that and kept our gum to ourselves.

We touched down in Jakarta around 8:45am, Saturday (Friday in the US)and it was 81 degrees and very humid. Massive perspiring ensued and little airconditioning was happening in the van in which we were being transported to the Shangri-La Hotel. Little did we know more sweating would happen once we got out into Jakarta traffic.

It should have been an indication that mass mayhem is the norm when you notice that most of the roads have no stripes on them. Hmmm. Some of the roads we have been driven on would be about 2.5 lanes wide (going one direction) by US standards. Well, being the most enterprising people I've seen in a while, the Indonesians take those same 2.5 lanes and turn them in to a whopping 6 or 7 lane road going each direction. I don't remember who said that two objects cannot occupy the same space back many many physics discoveries ago, but they did not live here.

But I digress from the original opening comment about jet lag and middle age. In the 4 nights that we have been here, not too much sleeping has gone on. The first couple of nights we tried to go to bed at a normal time and managed to go to sleep fairly well. However, we were both awake at 4am. Pulling the curtains back from the hotel window and seeing a sparkling Jakarta below us and hearing the first morning calls to prayer, was kind of a "Toto. I don't think we are in Kansas any longer." moment. All this brain confusion has caused all sorts of issues. When I get stressed I cry. When I get sleep deprived I cry. So, between crying and sweating, I have had to consume a lot of liquids to keep from being dehydrated.

The mantra each day is "It's going to get better." Not only am I sick of hearing this from well meaning people, but also from myself. I love everyone who keeps telling me that and I do need to hear it, but when you are feeling like doggie poop it really doesn't make you feel any better. For those of you who may read this. Please don't take offense if you know you said this to me, because I know you really mean it with all of your heart and I love you for being concerned enough to say it. Just wish there was a better way to get with the program.

I never imagined that I would struggle so with this transition. I really thought that I would just slip right in and get going. Well, I totally misled myself with that premise. Unfortunately, I always think I can just jump right in there and do what needs to be done and get things going. This move has reduced me to a weepy blob of insecurity. Not pretty and not very effective when there is so much to do. I know, it will get better but I guess not quite yet.

It is very much like the stages of any major life trauma that must be passed through to make it to the end and get on with your life. Maybe instead of fighting it I need to embrace it and allow myself this time to adjust. It is hard for a stubborn person like me to let go and admit that I am struggling with it.

Over the course of the last few days, I have seen and experienced a lot. From seeing extreme poverty and squalor to beautiful exotic plants being sold from stalls lining the road. Patient Indonesian people who are always eager to assist you to inadvertently paying $800.00 for two phones that actually I didn't need to purchase. (Anybody who would like to buy one or two brand new Nokia E72 phones, please let me know)

This is my first attempt at a blog. So for folks who read this, "It is going to get better."