"Oh my! People come and go so quickly here"

One aspect of this assignment that I didn't consider is that people will be rotating in and out of your life on a fairly regular basis. Some of the new friends that I have made in my brief time here are being transferred to other areas of the world in April. Expat life is kind of like being in the military I guess. You learn to make friends fast.

So this post is dedicated to those wonderful individuals who have taken me under their wing, watched me wander around dazed and confused and stepped in to help, have gotten me from here to there one way or another, but will be moving on to other places and won't be part of my everyday life in Jakarta.

First there is my British friend. Her relaxed personality, wonderful wit, patients and all around spunky way of looking at the world is an inspiration. I can't believe I am not going to get to enjoy the escapades she is totally capable of getting us in to. She seems to have such a joy about her. I thoroughly love that.

Next is my wonderful friend who is a world class shopper. She is a remarkable resource for where to get whatever you need here in Jakarta. We have had some wonderful shopping expeditions and I am so sad that we only have a few more weeks to enjoy each others company. Along with shopping, she gives good advice without being pushy and her years of experience of living abroad has helped ground me during this phase.

I hope to have the pleasure of spending time with these two again at some future point. One just never knows who will come into your life to help change things around just when you need them.

Also included in this goodbye tribute is our temporary driver, Nurdin (FYI the correct way to pronounce Nurdin's name is Noor-din). At some point in April, we will begin using a permanent driver named Akil. He is a little older than Nurdin and has been driving for expat families for about 20 years. We like Akil a lot and think we are most fortunate to employ such an experienced driver. He is a quiet, smiling man who will take excellent care of us. We are such neophytes to this whole expat/Jakarta thing. We need absolutely all the help we can get. I hope he knows what he is in for.

Nurdin is kind of like a puppy. We have gotten attached to him. He is a very clever fellow who manages to find great short cuts when we are unbelievably stuck in traffic or in worse case scenarios, a demonstration. There are demonstrations on a pretty regular basis. It seems to be a very popular pastime. Guess there is nothing like a good rant.

Ol' Nurdin and I have seen some funny things while riding together. During these trecks off the beaten path, we have ventured down narrow neighborhood streets, past fish markets, farm animals (still in the city mind you), laundry hanging on porches, men shaving huge blocks of ice, men shaping wood and making all assortments of furniture, past school children in uniform, through various parking lots of hotels, businesses and today we even cut through the police station parking lot. That was a completely new one. I spend a lot of time riding in the back seat of the Toyota Kijang we are using observing all of this stuff and sooooo very happy that I am not the one driving.

I have noticed that Nurdin loves to really pour it on when there is an audience somewhere. When we arrive at our destination,if there are people out front, he will jump from the driver's seat to open the car door for me or my husband. I can't decide if it is a possessive thing as in "These are MY bules, back off" or if it is to show off in front of his peers. Which ever it is, I always get a chuckle out of it.

When you call him to ask him to pick you up he always says "I am coming now." The first time he said this to sweetie pie and to me we didn't know where he was or where he was coming from. We were a little unnerved as we weren't sure how long to stand there and wait. We have come to learn that is just the phrase he uses to let us know that we shouldn't worry, he has got it covered.

On occasion I have gone somewhere and called him to pick me up and I get the "I am coming now." phrase. I will be looking all around and down the street trying to find him. Then I realize that he is standing 5 or 6 feet from me holding his handphone against his ear and looking right at me while I am talking to him on the phone. One of the more embarrassing times this happened was when I was at a function at an expat's home. He was parked in her driveway and I walked right past the car. I'm talking to him on the phone and realize he is following me on foot because I wasn't observant enough to see him when I came out the door. Silly bule.

When honey bunch got back from his trip he had a Nurdster moment. Hubby is wandering through the Jakarta airport fumbling with his phone trying to dial Nurdin to let him know he was on the ground and getting ready to come out. He said he kept hearing someone saying his name. After several times, he looked around and there stood Nurdin - in the airport trying his best to pluck him out of the confusion and bring him safely back to me.

He is always waiting for us and I appreciate it tremendously. We are going to miss him.

I can see that your staff will become a huge part of your life. You depend on them so and spend large amounts of time with them. It is going to make it hard to leave them behind. I sense this already.

If I hadn't come here, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to add to my wealth of loving family and friends that we left temporarily on the other side of the world. So to those who are on that side, we have been blessed to find folks to fill in the voids we feel for those we love and miss. You aren't replaced by any means. But you do have well qualified people to fill in for you until we return.