Paging Dokter Gigi

Out and about on the teaming streets of Jakarta, I have seen signs that say Dokter Gigi. As you can probably tell dokter is the way they spell doctor here. The Dutch were the last folks to claim that the Indonesian archipelago belonged to them before the natives decided to take matters in their own hands and declare independence. That all transpired in the 1940's which isn't that long ago when you are in my age bracket. With that in mind, it is easy to see the Dutch influence that is still here. There are the spellings of words like dokter and taksi which are pretty easy to figure out what they mean. Some other borrowed words from the Dutch include, kantor (office), suster (sister), kamar (room) and hanger. Yes, hanger which is just what it is in English. According to one source, there are 3,280 Dutch words used in Bahasa Indonesia. The ones I have listed above, just about cover it for me. There is a Holland Bakery that I pass sometimes during my days out in the city. It has a little windmill on the top. Don't know how good it is, but it sure is cute.


However, Dokter Gigi was a puzzlement. After buying an Indonesian/English - English/Indonesian dictionary I discovered that Dokter Gigi is a dentist. I think this is a splendid title. Since many people dread going to the dentist, maybe they would feel better if they were going to visit someone called Dokter Gigi instead. Like how threatening is someone or something called Gigi? All you think about is Maurice Chevalier purring "Oh Gigi. Have I been standin' up or back to far?" You would go in with a smile on your face and hum away while the dokter is working on your teeth. My dearest friend Mary comes from a family of dentist. I think she should pass this info along to them. It just seems like good business practice to me to call your place of business something very non-threatening. Let me know how that works out for them Mary and tell them I expect dental care in return if their business increases.

Just like in most nation's histories, Indonesia has had many who have claimed them as their own. Before the Dutch, there were the Portuguese. Now as far as honey bunch and I are concerned, our lives would have been easier if the Indonesians had gone straight from Portugal to Happy Independence Day. Hubby has three years of Portuguese under his belt and I know more words in that language than Dutch or Bahasa Indonesia. The language transition might have been a little easier. Who knows? There is an island that is part of the over 13,0000 islands which make up Indonesia where they still speak Portuguese. We are not living on it.

The house hunting saga is coming to an end, we think, and I will expound upon that in another post. Right now I would like to discuss our happy little hotel. We are on a first name basis with almost the entire staff at the hotel at this point. Don't get me wrong, while it has a long time (8 weeks and counting) to live in one room in a hotel, it could be a lot worse. We stayed in a hotel once that was so bad that we slept with our clothes on, on top of the sheets and put a towel on the pillows. Desperate situation and no choice to do something different. Our accommodations here are extremely nice and we couldn't ask for better. It is just a little too much togetherness with my sweetie pie sometimes. I love you honey!

Once this housing situation all gets resolved, there are some things that I will miss at the hotel and the surrounding area. There is a railroad track across the canal in front of the hotel. I love hearing the little trains clickety-clack by and give a little blow on the whistle. Sometimes it is a commuter train with open doors and windows with people standing packed inside. Typically, it is 8 cars long and passes by frequently from its point of origin to its destination. Some of these commuter trains are silver and green, some are silver and orange and some are just very dirty. Guess the color is one way of telling where they are coming from or going to. Whatever color, and whatever direction, they are almost always 8 cars long. I have never seen one any longer. Occasionally, you will see higher end trains on the track. The windows are closed and there are air conditioning units on the top. It is a much more expensive train to travel on I am sure. I also don't think it is a commuter train. Other points on the island of Java are its destination most likely.

I will kind of miss the very energetic guard in front of the hotel who LOVES to blow his whistle to signal the cars to stop so folks can exit the hotel and merge or turn across traffic. You hear that whistle blowing A LOT especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Even way up in the air as we are, you can hear it. He takes his job seriously and I personally think he has an extreme fixation on that whistle. But, I still like him because he has helped us countless times when we have tried to get out. There would be no hope if he weren't out there blowing away and directing. Tip of the hat, but could you blow maybe just a little bit less continuously?

I will miss the production that you go through every time you get out of the car and pass through security. The doors are opened and there must be 10 - 20 people at the door and in the lobby saying hello to you. It feels like a constant wedding receiving line. Sometimes I almost start to giggle because I feel so silly passing through each and every time. Doesn't matter if it was yesterday, earlier in the day, or 20 minutes ago, it is the same every time. God bless their friendly, smiling faces.

I also cannot begin to tell you how much I am going to miss the electric draperies. I know that I have mentioned them earlier, but I have come to love them even more. Why this is such an attraction to me is a little odd. The sheer convenience of it never fails to please me. They better check my bags upon departure.

I will miss seeing my friend Herwig and his delightful wife. When I met her a few weeks ago, it was obvious that she is quite the match for him. She is an extremely fit woman, I guess you would have to be if you wanted to have any hope what-so-ever being married to a pastry chef. She swims for an hours every morning and then works out an hour and a half every afternoon. Jean Claude Van Damme (The Muscles from Brussels) must be somehow related to her. I am impressed and I am most definitely not related to Jean Claude.