The zeros on the bus go round and round

I think as much as the Indonesians love to have you sign things, they love zeros even more. What else could explain their currency. On Sunday, we spent about 30,000rupiahs for a round trip cab ride to and from the mall we can see from the hotel window. Sounds kind of like a cab fare in Washington, DC. In reality, it is a little more than 3 US dollars.

The current exchange rate is 1 US dollar equals 9348 Indonesian rupiahs (IDR if you are looking at a currency conversion table). For those of you who are math whizzes, you can multiply all of it out when someone tells you how much something costs and know what you are spending exactly in US currency. For the rest of us, you just move the decimal 4 places to the left and know that it is close.

It is mind boggling when you order a 17" pizza (I am taking this from the hotel room service menu) and it is 145,000 rupiahs. At first, it is so shocking for them to tell you something cost 100,000 units of anything you stand there looking at them with wide open horrified eyes. Then you try to calm yourself, and count to four. That would be four spaces to the left. I mean are there that many places where you look at a pair of shoes and the price tag has 1,000,000 written on it? I kind of feel like Dr. Evil with his ransom demands in an Austin Powers movie.

The money is pretty colorful. Red, green, fuchsia, tan and blue bills. The coins feel so light you would think that they are the chocolate filled, aluminum foil wrapped candy you buy at the grocery. They are about the same size, thickness and shiny silver color. Since I picked up laundry yesterday I am out of the red 100,000bills. Maaf.

I don't know why it is so confusing to me. When I go to pick up my laundry from Laundrette and they tell me that the total is 184,500 I need to go through all kinds of gyrations to give them the correct amount. I had to buy some cold medicine for my husband the first week we were here. Now keep in mind I was severely jet lagged. They told me how much and I panicked because I didn't have enough cash on me to pay for it. I went back to the hotel, got more rupiahs (like way too many) and just gave them a wad of money. It is a good thing they are honest people. They helped me straighten it all out, gave me a wad of money back along with some really stinky pills to give my honey bunch to help with the congestion he was experiencing.

These things will sort themselves out....I hope.

It is so strange to have everything that you are familiar with not there any more. There is the language issue, the hotel living issue, not knowing how much to tip in the country issue, not knowing where you are most of the time issues, even the ickiness of what major diet and water changes does to your digestive system issues. Jamie Lee Curtis, where are you with that Activia yogurt?

Today I went to look at houses. I actually looked at a nice modern looking house with a beautiful pool. Problem with it was there was no place to cook anything. No cook top, no oven or range in the house or in the staff quarters. The kitchen sink was a little bigger than a bathroom sink and there was one electrical plug in the entire kitchen. Most of the houses I have looked at are designed for expats like me and my husband. But this was totally amazing to me. Why in the world would anyone design a house without a range, cook top or oven? I guess the builder assumed that anyone living here would eat every single meal out and there would be no dishes to wash. That does not even rate as a "It seemed like a good idea" kind of moment in my experience.

I try to keep in mind that just as I am confused about who these people are and what kind of lives they are living, they feel the exact same way about me. This house was a complete tribute to that fact. Marble floors, sweeping staircase, lovely pool, and nowhere to cook a meal.

My life is so removed from a large percentage of the people who live in Jakarta. This current life for me is so removed from anything I have ever done before. I am sure there are possibly some of you reading this that have maybe never cooked a meal, or cleaned your own bathroom. If so, I think it would be someone who just randomly came across this blog for I don't know you personally.

But I am learning each day. I will be glad when I quit feeling like an idiot all the time. I am not sure when I will cross the line from idiot to D+, but I will be glad to get there. Till then, I am taking it one 12 day at a time, one house at a time, one word at a time, and one step at a time. No running just yet.