Heading into month 2 (right on time!)

Into month 2 (right on time)

It’s Thursday, and a good day. Wednesdays are usually a drag because the children are tired and a little ratty. Thursdays are good because they usually have an early sleep because they’re so wrecked on Wednesdays! Fridays are best because they get sport in the morning and art/computers in the afternoon. I love Fridays! By Saturday I’m so ready for a day off, but then Saturday comes and I don’t have anything to do. When there’s a team visiting here then I can hang with them, or go visiting some place, but this Saturday my new friends will be gone. Dr Rob and his wife, Leanne are leaving on Friday morning along with their two surrogate family members, Joelle and Ashleigh. The four of them were here for 3 weeks and we spent many a lunch and dinner time together – Joelle also helped me in the classroom in the mornings and the 3 ladies took our Art classes in the afternoon – what champs!! Gonna miss you guys!

Lunch today was rice porridge with corn and chicken – not too bad if you get in on the soy sauce action! It’s almost not like having rice when it’s cooked like that, ha! It’s ok. I’m not over rice just yet. There’s white rice, fried rice, yellow rice, cocoonut rice and rice porridge so really there’s nothing to complain about! This week I had fish for the first time. Usually they cook it in chilli and I just can’t eat it so I pass on the fish and they usually give me egg. But this week they cooked up this nice fresh water fish and fried it and I really like it! Luckily the kitchen ladies love me so last night, they fried a fish for me with no chili!! How good is that! This morning too, they didn’t have breakfast ready when I got up there (not too early – 6.40am) so they gave me a plate of chocolate cream biscuits to tide me over, lol! If you’re gonna have friends anywhere – the kitchen is always a good place to start!!

I’m beginning to understand more and more language every day, which is encouraging, because for the last little bit I was feeling like I’d never understand! I understand a lot of words – but not enough to make sense of what is being said. And because they speak so fast, I have a delayed translation of what’s happening in my head and so I miss the next sentence, ha! But I’m getting good chunks now. The kids are also understanding a lot more English. They’ve graduated from saying “habis!” to “finished!” when I ask who has finished. They now say, “like this?” or “like that?” instead of “begini” or “begitu” when clarifying. They’re getting very good at their English numbers and apologise in English instead of Indonesian. They’re progressing really fast, which is so encouraging for me. The biggest hurdle is teaching them to read English and understanding words. As most of them can’t read Indonesian yet, it’s difficult to teach them to read English. I still don’t know what I’m doing in reading classes. But I have 1 week holiday coming up so I might have to do some brainstorming or something.

Two weeks ago we went on a trek to a waterfall. It turned out to be quite the adventure! We went up and down the same road about 3 times, took about 6 wrong turns (thanks to the local person who apparently told half our group one direction and the other half a different direction!!), and got off to a late start thanks to someone deciding they needed the car so they could get some fruit, ha! But it was pretty cool once we got there. We were close to an active volcano so the ground was all silty and when we went swimming, you sink in mud up to mid-calf which used to be fun when I was 12 but now was so much more scary, ha! After we braved the sinking mud we were able to enter the waterfall cave which was covered in billions of tiny crabs!! You’d kill about 15 with every footstep – there was no avoiding them! We jumped off the ledge into the base of the waterfall. It was scary cos it was so slippery that I kept thinking that my foot would slip out from underneath me and I’d smack into the side – but the worst thing that happened was that I surfaced and then realised I had one of the crabs in my hair! Then I could feel biting on my shoulder and I had one in my tshirt but it was in that place where you can’t reach, inside my tshirt (cos you have to swim in tshirt and shorts) so I had to swim back to shore to ask Leanne to get it out for me!! Eww! On the way back we saw a jungle dwelling which I thought was so quaint, but kind of like living in Wesburn or Gore – too far out and nothing to do.

The view down one end of the river of the waterfall area.

The cave of the waterfall. It was difficult to get a good photo of the down pouring.

Some other good news is my storage cupboard was made 3 days ago and I bought a fridge for my room! This may make me a little exclusive, but hey, I don’t drink hot drinks and for me, the colder the better! We also get very little fruit to eat with our meals, so if I have a fridge then I can buy some fruit and keep it for longer. This also means I can buy flavoured milk and drink it cold or frozen! Mmm!!! I never realised how much I would miss dairy products! You can buy Kraft cheddar cheese here but I haven’t yet been brave enough to taste it. I have some sitting in my fridge at the moment – I’m holding out because I’m not sure that I’m ready for the potential disappointment of gross cheese… I’d rather there was none at all… That being said – any groups or people who are coming out here, feel free to include a couple of blocks of Cadbury Crunchie chocolate!! Now that I have a fridge – the sky is the limit and I can ration the goodness to make it last longer J

The storage cabinet that was made just for me - I told them what I wanted and 3 days later, voila!

Looking from my doorway into my room.

Looking from the top bunk into the main space of my room. Doesn't look like much but last night I had 7 kids in there playing a hand clapping game - it's spacious enough!

A couple of days ago the medical students needed some practical training in suturing wounds, so they killed a pig (we could hear it! ‘Squealing like a pig’ is an apt saying!) and slapped in on some leaves on the ping pong table. Then they stabbed it a few times to make some wounds and cut of the back legs for ppl to work on and everybody got to work stitching up the holes. After an hour or so they finished up and a bunch of people took the pig and cooked it up over a fire out the back. Dr Leo and Dr Ellen got to practice suturing post-episiotomy. Lucky for us and them, they used a piece of foam for that one!!

Just relax sir, this won't hurt a bit!

Just some casual suturing.

Some of the kids who live here, four of which are in my class

I’ve included some pictures of my room here. It’s a sort of L shape because the ensuite is in the room, and I’ve kept the top bunk because it means I can put my washing basket up there etc. With my giant can of spray, the mozzies are kept at bay, and I also have a fan in my room which blows them all away. (A little poem for you all!)

I think that is most of what has happened in the last few weeks – things are beginning to slow down now because it’s not so new anymore. Though there are still a few things that I’m just not used to! Like people spitting anywhere outside. Even girls. I’m used to people spitting on sports fields, but outside your house, or while walking with friends. And it’s not always the drip spit, it’s often the hoik spit. Also, I’m not used to seeing adults just hanging out squatting. Kids, yeah, adults? They just don’t squat in Australia. Not unless you’re camping hard core styles. But then you don’t usually see them. It’s still funny to see it happening.

Enda, one of the cool cats here, in the sitting mode of choice. (He's just been swimming by the way...)

Thanks to those of you who are keeping an eye out for beginning readers – we’re starting to look at making our own from printed paper, so anything would be great! My health is great, although there have been 3 kids from class who have come down with a fever in the last week, so that’s not so good. Hendra (the Principal) and Mim (his fiancé) are in Manado for a week organizing a variety of wedding and school stuff.

It’s now time for me to go – hopefully this loads in one go!

Xoxo Aimee

Week 3 (also a bit late...)

It’s a bit cooler today. Yesterday it rained for most of the day. It’s rained nearly every day this past week. It’s a bit annoying because the air gets so humid, and even though it’s not hot, you still get sticky from the dampness. Although it is a nice break from the hot weather.

Teaching here is hard work. The more we do, the bigger the gaps are between those who a catching on and those who still seem to have no idea. I’m used to teaching in small group styles, but with no understanding of activities, and me not being able to explain them, it makes it quite difficult for them to work independently. It’s also hard because the volume in the classroom is so loud because they all need each other to translate for them. It’s been great, though, to see some of them catching on, and it’s not the same battle that it was in week one to get them to understand. Maybe that’s because they’re learning more English, maybe because I’m learning more Indonesian, and quite possibly a mix of the two. The most difficult thing is when someone is hurt or in trouble or done something wonderful – I can’t talk to them like I would and English speaker and using a translator is second best, but still loses a little of the atmosphere in translation, ha! Oh  well. It’s not really a big problem in the scheme of things, but one of the most frustrating areas of life at the moment.

I’m still pretty tired. Communal living has its ups and downs. Ups are that you don’t have to be alone if you don’t want to be, that there’s always something going on, that you get to live with your friends. But the downs are that if people want to stay up talking until 11pm then that’s their prerogative and having a bedroom directly next door to the communal space doesn’t help my sleeping, ha! But in time I will get used to it. Luckily I sleep well in the heat – nights are beautiful here – no blankets necessary!

It’s great when teams come to work/visit. I just said goodbye to some new friends, doctors Conrad, Theresa and Winnie. It was great not only to have people to speak English to, but also to join with people who have a kingdom mindset and are prepared to come here every year for two weeks and teach, train and assist in the clinic. Currently there is another 4 Aussies who will be working here for 3 weeks – long may the English continue! That said, my Indonesian is reasonable now, although I have to speak really slowly and run through all the Indo words I know to see which one it is I want to use!!

Yesterday was fun. I was invited out to breakfast at one of the girls’ houses in the closest big city and about 5 people came with us. There were already 4 girls there and they made a huge brekky!  Then half of them went to church and the rest of us stayed behind to help prepare the lunch. I got to have a turn at grating the coconut, it was so fascinating watching them do it. I had to watch the whole time in case I slipped and accidentally slit my wrist! Ha! The kitchen is outside in this house, cooking over a fire or two. They also had a gas burner inside. There were plain concrete floors and no doors yet (just curtains over the bedroom doors). I think the house was still in the process of being built. We then walked down the road to Cindy’s house where the whole way I was a celebrity! Kids came out and just stared – it was so funny! Some of them asked for photos and others were too scared to even wave hello. Eka’s little sisters eventually warmed up to me and then they wouldn’t let me out of their sight! When the others came back from church, we ate lunch and then some other people who were also in the town at that time came and joined in. Following that we went to the beach. Everyone piled into the van. We had 16 ppl in a 9 seater van!! Luckily it wasn’t too hot a day. The beach water was so warm! Almost too warm really. But beautiful and clear. After that we went home and played in the rain. It was so cold at that stage that the rain felt warm!! (Although in reality it was probably still 23 degrees or something).

Mmmm, fish heads included (a delicacy for some - I can't get there myself...)

All the mums wanted photos with their kids. The little one on the stool wouldn't come any closer than that and would cry and run if I reached for her, ha!

The beach. The water was sooo warm! And clear as too.

Cultural assimilation complete!

Some of the 15 people in the 9 seater car!!

That was probably the most eventful day that I’ve had thus far. Although there have been some pretty memorable moments.

One morning there was a baby owl up at the Dapur (kitchen where we eat). Sooo cute! The baby pigs are cute as too – I want one for a pet!

The cutest animals ever!! If the wind is right I could stand there for ages watching them play with each other. In this pic one is sleeping on top of the other, soooo cute!!

Another cute as animal here.

I saw a rooster sprint from one end of the field to the other just to chase off a rooster that was harassing a hen only to then start chasing that hen himself, lol! She had chicks with her too! Hmmm, think he could have waited til the kids had left home. There are chickens everywhere! The Scarborough’s son Viktor got given a chick who thinks it belongs inside. It just keeps coming in whenever it gets the chance! I think it’s a little too tame!!

The cool people here listen to Justin Bieber, Westlife, Celine Dion, Oldschool Britney Spears and a various range of worship music. And when I say people, I mean boys too. In fact, there are lots of guys who walk around playing music on their phones of the sort mentioned above. It cracks me up no end!!

I have come to realize that Australia has big bugs compared to New Zealand, but Indonesia has big bugs compared to Australia!!! Here are some of the things I have jumped out of my skin at:

·         I had a giant beetle fly into my face

·         A giant rat ran over my foot in the market place

·         I stepped on a giant snail at night time

·         A huntsman sized spider running up my wall in my (very small) room!

And some funnier moments when I jumped out of my skin when I stepped on a pen on my bathmat. (Brain must have connected that something hard should not be on my bathmat and just went into survival mode and jumped!!! Ha ha ha!) My heartrate also jumped up significantly when  a small black plastic bag floated down from my top bunk past my face. Ewww… who know what that could have been!

When these fly at your face you think that the world is about to end... They're everywhere!! Giant beetles! Ew!

These butterflies are all over the place here too - all good until they too fly into your face, ha!

I have included some more photos, because photos tell a thousand words (even though I’m probably close to 1000 already).

My friends Kety and Yulisa with one of my school kids, Feronika, in the background.

A pic of my first outing to the river with the girls - at that stage I only knew 2 of their names, but now we're all buddy-buddy which is good fun!

If I could put out a request – we desperately need beginning readers in English, so if any of you are primary school teachers, or know any, if you have a selection of outdated readers that can be given to us in Indonesia – please contact me and we can look into getting them to a contact at Careforce Church before October when a team is coming out to visit. Thanks!!

As for me – I think that’s all I have to report now. The kids and I are singing to everyone tonight, so that should be cute as! They’re really adorable, I love them all!

Thanks for your continued thoughts and support!

Much love! Xoxo

Aimee



Day 4 (a little late)

23/7/11

Today is Saturday and it’s the fourth day that I’ve been here!! It’s quite ironic really, because everything happens so slowly here, but then time has gone really quickly! It’s funny how you anticipate how things will be.

Like, I didn’t think that there would be geckos in my room – yes, plural – there were three last night. Two in my little ensuite thingy and one in my actual room. They’re a bit like huntsmans really, in that I don’t mind them if they stay on the ceiling and don’t move. It’s when they’re gone that I start getting nervous and shake out my underwear before I put it on!! Ha! Though, that said, I’d actually prefer geckos to huntsmans, although their beady eyes do unnerve me a little!

The weather here is great! I love mid to high 30’s, and at this time of the year the humidity isn’t too bad for me – although my hair doesn’t agree. As soon as I stepped off the plane into Bali the halo of frizz arrived and it arrived with avengence and I think it’s here for the duration of my stay! We’ll see what we can do!

The classroom is looking fantastic! I thought I was going to be working with nothing, but they’ve stocked up well here! The wooden desks were made for the kids and they look so cute! The children are so excited to have their own desk!

Unfortunately there is only cold water in the showers/bathroom, but fortunately it comes out at about 23 degrees so it ends up being lovely and refreshing. Squatting toilets prove to be interesting and let me just say that I understand why they leave their shoes off when entering buildings!! Ha! Fortunately there are some western toilets that can be used.

Some interesting things I have seen are a small snake. It was quite cute – not poisonous – but long and slender. It was chillaxing on the path up to  the meal house. I saw this giant millipede thing and was poking it with a glass bottle to try to make it curl up into a circle – I found out after that they squirt a poison at you that causes you to bleed. It can make you go blind if it gets in your eye and it makes the grass die when it dies!!! Flip! I wish I knew that before I started playing with it, ha!! On my first couple of nights in Indonesia I got eaten alive by mosquitoes!! I counted upward of 73! When I showed Amy she asked if I slept with my fan on – which I didn’t – because I wasn’t hot enough and thought I’d be good and save unnecessary power usage. I then found out that the fan blows the mozzies away... I have slept with my fan on since then and haven’t seemed to have gotten many new bites!!! Oh the joys of learning the hard way!

On the way to the airport in Manado, we took the scooter! With a backpack on my back, both of us on the bike, my big bag on the floor part betwen Epen’s legs and my laptop on top of that –it took about half an hour to get there!! My butt was so sore!! There’s not much choice in sitting position on a scooter... But luckily we made it – and I never felt like I was going to die, so that’s gotta be a good thing. The bad thing was that we were traveling after I only had 4 hours’ sleep, so I was wrecked, and I also wanted to kill the rooster at the base. It was horrible. Imagine a rooster trying to crow at the TOP of his voice and you’re about half way there. Next time I’m there I hope we eat him for dinner.

Speaking of food – it’s not so bad. I’m sure it’ll get boring soon, but at the moment I’m ok with that. For breakfast at the moment, we’ve been having deep fried bread ball thingies. They’re quite nice, although a bit of jam wouldn’t go astray! Lunch and dinner are rice and vegies and fish heads. But they cook the fish heads in chili so I don’t eat them. There’s also something about eating fish heads... Maybe it’s the eyeballs? Or the mouth? I don’t know – I blame it on the chili...

I have met the children in my class and they are so adorable! I love to hear them repeating things after me, and learning new English words. There’s a range of ages with the most being 5-7 year olds with some older ones too. Their abilities range from reasonably fluent English to no English, and some have been to school before and others haven’t. Some of them are rich, indulged kids and others are orphans who have had a start to life!!! A real ecclectic bunch! But they’re so smiley and most are willing to give everything a go.

The last few days have been spent getting the classroom ready (hopefullly I can put some pictures in here) and getting to know the routines. There are a couple of girls in my dorm wing who think I’m cool and although they speak limited English and I speak limited Indonesian, it works somehow. They all wanted photos with me this morning – all I could do was smile, ha ha ha! Nothing like being famous! I will start Indonesian lessons on Monday – and school also starts on Monday – so your thoughts are greatly appreciated for that day.

Well that’s what I have time for now. We claim to have high speed internet – I’d hate to see the ‘speed’ of normal internet then. This is about as good as average speed dial up. But hey, it’s internet, and it keeps me connected!!

Much love to you all! xoxo

Aimee

 Here is one of my room mates.

My Ensuite. Luckily there is a western toilet elsewhere I can use so this becomes my shower room!

Looking out over the main field (to your left) and the driveway leads to Asrama (the dormitories where I stay and the main meeting room.

Asrama. I stay in the rooms behind these ones. Those steps are where 2 pairs of my thongs have been stolen, so far not to be recovered... 

One of the rare, beautiful clear mornings here. Usually it's overcast until mid morning.

The walkway from the main site down and up to the clinics and the eating area.