Two weeks and counting

Today is Saturday(Sabtu for those of you learning the language with me). Sabtu means that we have completed two weeks of having our feet on Indonesian soil. Hard to believe in some ways and not so hard in others. I still have a hard time figuring out what day it is. Due to no real consistancy in my schedule yet, it is often difficult to tell what day of the week you are celebrating. No, "Gosh it must be Thursday because I hear the garbage truck crusing the neighborhood." The call to prayer is every day. Same time. Same channel. Motorcyclists, which are kind of like an army of ants, are always whizzing to and fro. The days are always about 12 hours long, hence the name of my blog.

The easier part is that some of the buildings and billboards are looking familiar. Not sure what I am going to do when they change the ads because they help me judge when we are getting closer to the hotel. I know we are close when a bevey of young models all dressed in white, using the pouty look that is the international symbol for hipness, stare at me in one intersection. They look like they are having a bad day in a cool sort of way.

I am still amazed at what I see on motorcycles. So far, I have seen crates of chickens stacked about 5 crates high and strapped to the back, a passenger holding a car windshield between he and the driver, a man holding a propane cylinder in one hand and a 4 foot ladder in the other (guess he was squeezing the driver with his knees to stay on)- Nurdin, let that one get WAY ahead of us, arm loads of dendrobium orchids apparently in some kind of baskets that I couldn't see on the sides of the bike making the rider appear to be cruising on a cloud of soft magenta colored blossoms, sleeping children wedged in between two adults, big blocks of ice which I am sure will be much smaller when they arrives at their destination, assortments of plastic tubes, boxes, crates, poles, metal contraptions, a heavy duty Hagen Daz delivery box -- Nurdin, follow that one!

Another observation, totally unrelated to motorcycle cargo, is that many of the Indonesians wear shoes that are several sizes too big. Not sure if it is a hand-me-down situation or that at the time of purchase it was the only size available. Most of the time the shoes look pretty new and like they intentionally bought them that way. Whatever the reason, it makes walking a bit of a challenge. The foot has to be raised and lowered more straight up and down so the wearer can keep the footwear on the foot or there is a lot of shuffleing so your shoe doesn't fall off. In some ways this style of walking or shuffleing isn't necessarily bad. Most surfaces here are stone or some type of tile. Not anything with a tooth to it so your feet don't slide. Think highly polished marble and ice skating. Not very safe for someone like me who is always rushing and walking fast. Maybe this life here will make me slow down a bit.

I have not started Bahasa Indonesia lessons yet, but have learned a few words. Some of my favorites are berapa - meaning how much, Jum'at - meaning Friday (I think it is fun to say but doesn't help me much), maaf - which means sorry (and I say that a lot), cuci ini - as you have already read in a previous post means wash this, apa kabar - means how are you and the answer to that is baik - which means good, fine, Okey Dokey. Some of the words I feel certain George Lucas has used in Star Wars movies. I see the word baru on lots of things. Wasn't that Luke's aunt?

As time goes by, I know the words will become familiar, the heat and humidity won't feel quite so bad, and I will be able to look at a menu and figure out what I am about to order. Speaking of which, the other day during our orientation tour of the city, we stopped at the mall for lunch. Our guide proceeded to give us a tour of the food court. Many places and nationalities were represented, including Burger King. We walked past each restaraunt and she discribed things that were obvious and not so obvious. We paused at one restaraunt and she said that it served traditional Sumatran food. Geography Lesson - Jakarta is on the island of Java and Sumatra is the island north and slightly west of us. I examined the food and asked what was in one of the chaffing dishes. It appeared to be some kind of vegetable in a creamy looking sauce. She confered with the man and he told her what it was. She said a word and then something to go with it - hmmmm...wasn't getting it. "Maaf what?" On the next try, the second word she said sounded like brim and then something about everything tastes better with coconut milk. "Maaf again." On the last try I got it - it was cow brain cooked in coconut milk. Okey Dokey. In my book coconut milk would NOT make that taste any better.