Better? Yes, Better.

New day.  Has to be better than yesterday.

Imelda will be over at 10 so we can take a walk, and maybe go to find a place to do laundry.  I e-mail and talk to some people at home.  I am happier today.  The internet will keep me sane.  The internet will keep me sane.  I have gotten a message from John the Expat inviting me to lunch along with his friends, a Swiss guy and his Indo wife.  John likes to cook a la Julia Childs.  I'm in!  I text Imelda, and she promises to help me find his house.  I don't really have any idea where I am.  I need a map of how things are connected around here.  Check out Google Maps, and look for Lake Tondano.  I can see it from my house.  Unfortunately, Google maps doesn't get close enough for roads around here.

Imelda texts she'll be here at 11 instead of 10.  No problem.  She arrives at 11:50.  Very Indonesian.  No problem, anyone who knows me will tell you I am always late for everything myself.  But now we are not hanging out, she is just taking me to John's.  I get my first experience with the little Microlets.  They are teeny tiny blue buses that cost anywhere from 1000 to 5000 depending on how far you're going.  I have a feeling, as a Bole (white foreigner) I will never only pay 1000.  That's 11 cents by the way.  You just hop on and off.  There's school kids in the back of this one, and they are excited by me.  Lots of shouting, but mostly because they are a group of 8 year old boys.  There's a couple of older kids, and they just smile a little.  No celebrity here!

We take 3 different buses, and arrive at John's.  

Imelda is worried about how I will get home, but I'll manage.  She writes down my exact address, and the easiest instructions to get there.  I can take a combo of Microlets and ojeks (motorcycle taxis) to get home.  I'm not worried.  It will be a good adventure. 

John is awesome.  He came as a Fulbright Scholar from Boston 35 years ago and stayed.  He still teaches at the largest University in the area (I'm at the second largest).  The house is up on the side of a hill, with Mt. Lokon behind, and another off in the distance, which makes a wonderful view from the front of the house.  

Wonderful but menacing....both are active volcanoes.  Not gonna worry about that though...can't ever spend time dwelling on things like that.  What, like I'm never gonna go back to Hawaii?

Lunch was fabulous.  The company was great, and the grounds were beautiful.  

There were lots of beautiful flowers, 

and Blacky his dog, and Hello the kitty cat.  Plus, Blacky had 8 puppies less than 2 months ago.  

John will be a friend here, I know.  He has told me I am always welcome, and the house is never locked. Plus, he cooks like a dream.

John's (Julia's) delicious cinnamon apple tart.  Yes, that is homemade whipped cream on the table.

Sleeps extra people too, so maybe when visitors come, I'll take advantage of that.  :)  I know my dad will like him if he comes all the way here to Tondano.  Boston and Chicago Irish unite.  Freddy and his wife offered to drive me to the Microlet terminal so I could get to Tataarann easier.  This is the closest "town" to me...and I should be able to take an ojek from there.  No problem.  Their driver takes back roads, and the houses are beautiful.  We get to the terminal, but then discover that there are no busses running.  They take me home.  So very nice.  They all get out of the car to see my cottage.  Freddy talks to the workers.  I am amazed at the transformation.  It has been swept out, and treated with a burnt yellow termite repellant.  It looks bigger than yesterday.  Freddy asks about a kitchen, and they tell him that they are building me one.  Excellent.  There's some tile started in the bathroom.  I notice that there is a small pipe about 2 feet up on the wall (where the wet stain is in the photo).  I hope this is not to be my shower.

I text Dian, and ask her to call me when it's convenient.  We talk a little about everything.  She tells me that she can make them move me to somewhere better, but I say no.  I don't want to rock the boat.  Things are just different here.  Their version of something being clean is very different than mine.  I cleaned off the "clean" white table in the kitchen, and the paper towels were filthy when I was done.  Here, if it looks clean, than it is clean.  There are lots of things I don't think look clean either, but I digress.  I was kinda basing my expectations on what Julianne's house looked like last year, which was also in N. Sulawesi.  

I think a big part of it was that what they took as rules of the contract was more suggestions or guidelines that they might follow.

She doesn't need air conditioning here, it's cold (it's not).

She doesn't need a kitchen, Tanta Yeti will take care of her.

She doesn't need hot water, no one here uses it.

She doesn't need a stand up shower, no one here has one.

Things like that.  I don't know which one to hope for now...for them to finish my cottage, or for me to stay in the big house.  At least here there's some space, and a TV. 

I hung out in the yard for a bit with Tanta Yeti's family.  Om (Uncle) Deni, and their 2 sons, Kiki who's 23, and Miracle, who's turning 2 next month.  Kiki re-taught me how to ride his moto.  Seems Nihta asked him too, because I'm in the middle of nowhere and will need to buy a bike if I want to get anywhere.  Like even to class, which would be at least a half hour-45 minute walk uphill, and I mean UPHILL.  She seemed really happy that I already knew how to use one.  I think they're happy they won't have to find a car & driver for me now for the whole year.  Although how I'll get to class while it's raining, I don't want to think about yet.  Sorry Dad, I know this terrifies you.  To be honest, it kinda terrifies me too...but what else is there to do.  It was very silly, and I felt so uncoordinated, but I know I'll get better again quickly.  Plus, it's really only 1st and maybe 2nd gear here anyway.  There's no highways, so even if I get a scooter I'll be fine.

I made soup on my mini hot plate, and then dropped the only bowl on the floor, shattering it, and spilling soup everywhere.  At least I had left most of the noodles in the pan to eat later.  I found a cup, and ate while watching some bahasa indonesia TV.  I also have the feeling I will watch a lot of Premier League Soccer and the like while I'm here.  There's only a couple of channels.  I did get to watch the last X-Men movie last night though, while I listened to the rabbits that live in my roof scurry around eating carrots.  Yes, rabbits.  A girl can dream, can't she?