The trip to Sanur

So, on a blissful Tuesday morning (Sept. 7th), I left my house at around 4:15 in the morning and took at very expensive taxi to the Manado airport.

From there, I boarded a plane to Makassar.  This is another major city on the exact opposite side of Sulawesi.  I was lucky enough to have a terrific seat with no one in front of me because it was an exit row, and a window to my right.  Visibility was almost perfect.  Here are some views from the plane.  

Mt. Lokon, one of the volcanoes I live near.

Aww, look at how cute all the palm trees look!

Holy crap!  I am flying right over the volcano.

Ok, holy shit!  Now I REALLY am flying over the volcano.
Mt. Lokon actually has 3 vent shafts, and is still pretty "active"

Sulawesi is a really weird shaped island.  Check out a map.
The part I live on is so narrow, you can see both sides from the air.

I don't think I'd mind vacationing on this island.

At Makassar I had to get off the plane.  The flight was to Bali, but there was a stop in Makassar.  I was very confused as to what I needed to do, but a nice couple with a baby that was sitting right behind me explained.  I needed to go to the "Transfer" counter, and pick up a small plastic boarding pass to get back on the plane.  One bathroom stop later, and it was actually time to board again.  The same plane actually.  10 minutes to get back on the same plane.  Hmmm...  Ok, whatever.

These look like trees, but they are actually tiny mountain-y things.
Very strange looking.

Speaking of that couple with the baby...the baby was crying.  A lot.  A whole lot.  But, the baby had laryngitis.  It was the weirdest noise.  Like a wheezing barely there cry.  At first I was like, "that is the strangest noise I have ever heard a baby make."  Then they happened to mention that the baby had laryngitis while we were in line at the transfer counter.  Then I felt super guilty that I was happy that a baby was sick.  Who in their right mind is happy that a baby has laryngitis?  Someone who has to sit right in front of that baby on a 3 hour flight, that's who.  Yes.  I know.  I am fully aware that I am going to hell.  This isn't the only reason.  ;)

So, finally I arrived in Denpasar, Bali.  Noreen had already arrived, and had been blissfully awaiting me at the airport Starbucks while watching a group of hottie Spanish guys.  We were whisked away to our hotel. Gorgeous!  We were even greeted with fresh juice of some kind.  Yummy.

Some gorgeous statue in the lobby.

Another gorgeous statue.

While waiting for Michaela, we had a snack, and Napa Noreen tried some Balinese white wine.  Um.  Not so hot.  But, it was so nice to just sit and relax in paradise.  After the drama of the last 2 weeks, I really did need a vacation.

Michaela arrived, and we relaxed in the room for just a little bit.  The bed was HUGE.  We all could have fit in there no problem, but um, since I have a tendency to snore and drool (line forms to the left guys) while I'm sleeping, I took the cot.  Which was really a single, and oh so comfortable.  

Noreen demonstrating how much room she has.

Ahh, vacation.

Then it was off for a walk to the beach.  I almost walked right through a "celebration".  Here are some photos.

Some umbrellas.

Some women carrying offerings on their heads down to throw into the water.

Ok, wait, these weren't the things they threw...
just the things they paraded around.

We didn't know what exactly was going on.  No one standing around watching seemed to know either.  Looked cool though.  After one of the offerings was thrown into the water, we realized the basket had a live duck in it.  Someone was on it though.  A guy from one of the little restaurant/food stands ran and plucked it out....while the rest of the ceremony was still going on.  Very interesting.  I'm sure he just wanted a pet, and it had nothing to do with, um, roast duck. 

On the way back to the hotel, we decided we were in need of some pampering.  My wonderful silver nail polish still looked fine from before I left for Indonesia (increadibly), so I got a facial while the girls got pedis.  It was funny, because we were still trying talk to each other, but lots of my responses were grunts because I had stuff drying on my face.

Noreen waving at me through the window.  Notice the price for the pedi.
Roughly translates to $3.50.  My facial was $6.00.

After it was over, I felt drugged.  It was hard to stand.  Just from a facial.  It was pretty awesome.  

More relaxing in the room.  The girls had a snack, and I went swimming.  Night swimming.  

Ok, so not a night picture, but you get the idea.

These pink flowers would drop in the pool and float around.

Water was perfect.  Air was perfect, TOWEL was perfect.  Birds were swooping around and all the flowers were rustling in the wind.  Pretty much perfection.

Then it was time for a night out.  Bali is known for it's nightlife.  After culturally imposed nights at home, we were ready.  Turns out the place where we were going, wasn't so much a bar, as a gorgeous high end restaurant.  Oh well.  I think my meal was more than my hotel room. but just look...

Baby lobster risotto, with shrimp flavored foam.
Bruschetta and JAMON SERRANO!

More of the tasty jamon, and Noreen's tuna tartare  (I think)
decorated on a plate with thinly sliced cucumbers.

An espresso after dinner drink that came like a little meal,
 and packed a wallop.

And then dessert.

Praline tart, caramel flan, and cinnamon ice cream with crumbles underneath.

The restaurant was right on the beach in Kuta.  It was a beautiful night.  The place was beautiful, but it wasn't really our scene, and after our meal, we were pretty sleepy.  So, off to the hotel we went.

Noreen demonstrating just how big the bed is.

Smiles!

Michaela was having none of it.  :)

Just one little disclaimer.  These posts are pretty late, but they take an awful long time to write and upload.  The photos alone are a couple of hours, not counting when the computer and internet decide to freeze on me and erase all the work that I've done, while I'm actually trying to save it.  Or the fact that I didn't really have any internet access at all for the last 2 days.  

Baby steps.

Bali - Part 1

Well, after 2 long weeks of settling into my new life, I did what any normal human being who has rats in her kitchen would do.  I went on vacation, and let someone else try and take care of the problem.  I met up with some of my fabulous new ELF friends and took a trip to Bali, home of the Australian tourists.

This isn't really an update...just a little note to let you know I haven't forgotten about you guys.

More to come, with pictures and stories soon.

My latest adventures

So, I have been pretty lame.  I have mentioned that I am kinda in the middle of nowhere.  I knew the nearest village was kinda far away, but I didn't know how far.  On Thursday, I took the plunge and found out.

Imelda had surprised me at the door with my Kitas, passport, and multiple re-entry card.  I snagged a ride with her into Tataaran.  This is the name of the village near me.  I had a plan.  Go to eat an early dinner and then the ever important walk home.

I had the usual at the Chinese place.

Sean, you'd probably like it here.

Girls peeling the shells off eggs for their yummy food.

It's a rice dish with excellent brothy vegetables like carrots and cabbage that I can get with chicken or pork.  This depends on what they have available on any given day.  Imelda stayed with me and went over the menu, so that in the future, I can try some other things.  There's even a drink menu.  I had tried to order an orange Fanta.  I saw the word Fanta on the menu, and pointed to it.  It had a word after it that I assumed meant bottle, or something like that.  Nope.  It meant "milk"  Fanta with milk.  No ordinary milk though.  Condensed milk.  It was a strawberry Fanta (which is already absolutely pure red colored sugar water, and then they give you a glass with 2 inches of condensed milk to go with it.  Seriously, I have no idea how everyone isn't 300 pounds here.

Speaking of that, I came over here expecting there to be only skinny people, and that isn't really the case.  I think western food, and changing daily chores and expectations are modifying the population.  Not for the better, just like in America.

Anyway, it was time to see just how far I really do live from the village.  2 roads to go down.  Just one left turn...that's it.  Really easy.  I can't get lost.  It was an interesting walk.  Lots of people said hello to me.  It was pretty funny.  We're told to expect this, and having been to China and S. Korea, it's nothing new to me.  Lots of "Hello Ms." No "Hello Mr." like I was expecting.  I guess people in Minahasa know their salutations better.  :)

One of the lonely roads.

Hey, at least this isn't my house.

I stopped and watched some guys playing volleyball with their feet.  Yup, their feet.  Kicking it back and forth over the net like a huge hacky sack.  A couple of kids on bikes followed me for a long time.  Here's a picture of them.

My security detail.

It took me 48 minutes.  Yup.  That's how far away I am from everything.  With a bike it would take me less than 10 minutes.  Unless of course it's pouring.  :)

On to FRIDAY!  What a day of adventure.  Imelda picked me up, and we took the 5 different buses we needed to meet Nhita in Manado.  Yup.  A nice day in the "big" city.  We opened my Indonesian bank account.  I brought $1500 cash in newish 100 dollar bills here to save myself some international ATM fees.  They didn't like some of my bills though.  They scanned every single one with a machine.  If there's any fold mark or crease of any kind, they won't take it.  So, I opened my account with only 900.  Oh well.  It should still last a long time.

Then it was off to lunch.  All I wanted, was access to a salad.  My only option was Pizza Hut.  Now usually, I never ever eat at Western places when I am travelling, in fact, I hate it.  ...but, I really really wanted a salad.  OF COURSE, it ended up making me sick.  Karma strikes again.  Oh well.

Then it was off to purchase my ticket to Bali.  I will be going for the holidays to meet up with some other ELF's.  Since I hadn't been asked anywhere cool by anyone here (unlike a lot of the ELF's so far) it seemed like the thing to do.  Unfortunately, this does mean I miss out on a party on the 11th at John's house.  So, I guess I was invited somewhere, but that's only one day, and after this long week here, I really do already need a vacation.  I am a lame un-FAT ELF*, I know.  No need to rub it in.  I feel bad enough already.

So, back to the mall, and Imelda and I went to see a movie, The Expendables.  It was awesomely violent, and totally over the top.  And mmmmmm....Turkish.  What more can I say?

Then I went shopping.  I bought another fan for the front room.  Here's a picture of my new BFF.

It turns in every direction, and even has a timer.
I love it so.  We're totally getting married.  June wedding.
You're all invited.

I then spent over a half hour trying to find new bedding for my room.  I went back and forth with Imelda about if there are flat sheets here or not.  Turns out not.  I still got a nice green patterned blanket, and a white fitted sheet and pillow cases.  Care package anyone?  With the lack of laundry here, and the huge amount of sweating, a flat sheet is kinda important, I think.  But, of course, who am I anyway?

I also found this, and with my friend, Diet Coke, and a lime, combined 2 of my favorite things into my 3rd favorite thing.  After the taxi ride home, this is how I spent my first real Friday night in Tonsaru.

Michaela said it the best in a text message,

"I'm reading a magazine with a bottle of iced tea next to me. My Friday nights sure have changed."

Cheers to me!

I'm really happy to have contact with my fellow ELF's here.  whether it be to commiserate about the number of dead bugs I wipe off the table in the kitchen each morning, or to talk about how the rats have started to chew into the kitchen counter.

Smooshed dead bugs on the paper towel, and the pile
that didn't smoosh.  They may be tiny, but man, do they bite!

Really?  Is wood delicious?  At least they are staying out of my
bedroom, and that's all I really care about.

Or just a little hello....It's nice to know I'm not here alone.

Sat and Sun were nothing days.  Nothing but The Closer on DVD actually.   Plus, I spent almost 2 hours trying to make a spanish tortilla omelet.  I waited 20 minutes for the water to boil for the potatoes, then sautéed red pepper and onion with garlic....then whipped it all together, and watched it turn to charcoal within 30 seconds, totally ruining my only wok/frying pan and wasting all that time, and all those ingredients in the process.  How does my stupid hot plate stove take 20 minutes to boil water, and only 30 seconds to burn my eggs?

I made soup.

Oh, here's a picture of Miracle in my kitchen.  His favorite game is to throw rocks at me.  It's hysterical!

Seriously?  Rocks?

*Flexible Adaptable Tolerant English Language Fellow

The Tikus and The Kitty

Well, it's official.  I saw my first tikus in the kitchen 3 nights ago.  I walked in to make dinner, and there he was, looking up at me.  He then hopped away through a crack in the cabinet on the floor, and he was gone.

Julianne, thanks for the help with the text to Tanta Yeti.  Maaf, saya tidak ada air dan saya lihat tikus besar di dapur.

Yeah, for those of you who are translate savy, I was also out of water again 2 days ago too.  Seems it gets shut off if they notice I'm not actively using it.  Hmmm.....

The last 3 days have been fun.  I went to the campus and met the Dean of the Languages Faculty.  There are 7 Faculties in the school.  Not the owner of my house, BTW.  Turns out it's the Dean of Engineering's summer house.  I met a few of the students there.

I am huge, but TALL!

The library.  Kinda sad, huh?

Marko working on his thesis in the library.  Excellent English!

One of the buildings of the Foreign Language Fakultas

No classes yet.  No schedules either.  Seems maybe there might have been, and that's why they were hanging around, but nope.  Things like that are very laid back here.  Imelda said many of them will be here for the couple of days to find out their schedules, and then go back home until after the holidays.  Things like schedules and attendance are pretty relaxed here.  I hope that's true for me too.  The ELF's are planning our own trip to Bali for the holidays, but it is not set yet when exactly I need to be back.  Before I left the US, I was told the 17th would be fine.  Now class may start on the 13th (Julianne and Mark say probably not).  Imelda has told me that it is fine to stay away with my friends, but she's also the one who told me my internet would be free, so waited for confirmation from a higher power.

Speaking of which, I haven't seen or spoken with my counterpart since Friday.  It's now Wednesday.  I hope she isn't upset with me about my reaction to the house.

I did go to try and meet the Head of the English Department a couple of times.  She never showed up the first time.  Well, she did actually, but was busy, and then left in a hurry for Manado.   I was taken for Chinese for lunch, which was wonderful.  Here was a gorgeous view on the way home.

Rice patties and mountains in the distance

People keep asking me if I like the food here.  To be honest, I haven't really had that much.  Just the couple of outings I have been on, and 2 of those have been Chinese food.  There are no restaurants in the nearby village except the kind that have food sitting out in the windows (Padang).  When you sit down, they bring everything over.  When you're done, they return it to the wondows.  Not sanitary in the slightest.  Germs from other people , first of all.  Second, it just sits there all day, and third, seeing glances at where they are preparing this food, kinda makes me wanna ralph.  This was one of the major warnings from both the orientations, as well as from Julianne.  Not gonna risk it yet.  I need to wait and find bigger or crowded ones (thanks for the tip Michael).  So, instead I've only eaten at a 3 walled Chinese place, including today.  Today I got to wipe dirt off of my plate, though.  Yum yum.

So instead, I eat soup at home and raw and peeled veggies that I have scrubbed in the sink.  I can't to salads, because I have no way to clean the lettuce.  :(  I will miss my salads.  They will probably be the staple item whenever I go on vacation while I'm here.  I also bought a pre-cut packaged veggie thing with a sauce packet.  Like everything was cut and included for me, including a cut up chicken meatball.  It was DELICIOUS.  Not sure is this was the recommended preparation, but it sure tasted good.

When I finally met the Head of the Department yesterday, she asked me what my name was, and what my qualifications were as a teacher.  She also asked how long I was going to be there, and what I would like to teach.  Very interesting.  Didn't you know I was coming?  My counterpart not being there, my other helper, Imelda was there to lend a hand.  I basically got to pick my own classes and schedule.  Sweet!  2 sections of Speaking III, 1 of Writing II, and 1 Cross Cultural Understanding.  Afterwards, we all went to lunch at the Mayor of Tomohon's house.  Not with the mayor or anything...in between elections, the house is lived in by the "caretaker" of the city.  His wife is a lecturer at the school.  She had surgery a while ago, and is still bedridden, but enjoys company, so instant 20 person lunch!  The grounds were absolutely beautiful, and the house was HUGE.

Robert, the Kajur, and the Secretary of the English Department.
The Kajur is the Department Head.

One, yes only one, of the main rooms of the house.

A totally different main room.  They probably have rabbits too.

Speaking of houses, this lack of water at appropriate times thing that I have going on is going to be a problem.  I woke up yesterday, and plugged in the pump.  Nothing.  Lucky though, Tanta Yeti was about, and they fixed it.  The pump was sounding worse and worse.  It has since been "kinda repaired" and isn't nearly as scary to plug in now.  I had water when I woke up this morning, no problem (which was good since I woke up 20 minutes before I was supposed to be picked up, because I had set my alarm for 8:25 pm instead of am.  Whoops!  At least I randomly woke up on my own).

I have even more rabbits.  Lots and lots of rabbits.  Today there was a whirlwind of activity as they boarded up a bunch of holes throughout the house, in an effort to curtail my rabbit problem.  They did this, because yesterday the fix was to give me a cat to live in the house with me.  I nixed that.  I mean, I have Mina at home, and I do miss her, but I will probably be very allergic to this new cat (as usual) and I don't really think they have baby power scented kitty shampoo here, nor flea collars.  And, as a person who has been bit by fleas while sleeping, it's not something I want to risk.  So, boards it is.  Good times. We'll see if I wake up with this again tomorrow.

Little presents all over my sink.

Yes, that's rabbit turds in my bathroom sink.  Good times.

I have however, been keeping on top of the mosquito issue.  There's this stuff here called Force Magic.  It is a bug killer which is pretty nicely scented.  I use it with a heavy hand.  It is pretty fun to spray it around the bare bulb in the kitchen and watch the bugs literally fall out of the air.  I then have to sweep them up, but I have no problem with that.  In the morning too, there tends to be about 20 dead insects on my kitchen table.  Again.  I do not have a problem with this.  Dead mosquitoes and gnats to not bite me.  I do however have a big problem with a possible side effect.  I haven't had nearly as many geckos around.  Then last night I found one in my sink after I washed my dishes.

Very sad looking, totally water logged gecko.  :(

I thought he was just hiding in there, but then I realized that maybe I had poisoned him and I got really sad.  Then I thought that even if I hadn't, maybe I had drowned him while doing my dishes.  I scooped him out, and he was moving a little.  I went to flip him outside onto the grass so he could get out of my toxic kitchen, and....I kid you not....I flung him against the outside wall of the house instead.  I am SO uncoordinated.  He was crawling on the ground a little after, all limbs functioning, but so slowly and sadly.  I checked on him a little while later, and he had moved about a foot.  He was not there this morning.  I am in denial again, and believe he regained full function and scampered off later in teh night to go hang with his gecko friends.  They of course all have British accents.

Today at school was INTERESTING.  I was told yesterday that there was going to be an introduction for the Semester I students.  They wanted me to be there so they could show me off.  That turned into sitting down in the front of a lecture hall with 400+ students and staff, and being whispered to, "You will make a presentation about how to learn a foreign language."  "30 minutes is ok?"  Um......sure.  I hastly wrote down an outline (always carry a paper and pen) and gave it a go.  I think I did OK.  I even spoke a little Indonesian to make the students giggle.  I tried to upload a video here of all of the students singing a grammar song.  It was really cool.  Too bad my computer isn't cooperating.

 I still saw lots of texting "out of sight" like in handbags, backpacks, and behind papers.  Just like home!  :)

Like I said, when I got home today, there was a flurry of hole covering.  Here are some pictures of my house BTW.  It really is cool.  It's just a really cool wooden cabin in the middle of nowhere, which would be awesome as a summer home (which it is).

The "main" room.  It is a pretty sweet micro-suede
couch.  It just happened to be covered with
spiders and dead insect carcases when I first got here.
Febreeze to the rescue!!!!

My awesome kitchen.  Complete with 1 hotplate stove
and holes in all the screens.  My precious "Force Magic" is on top
of the cabinet (the only storage) with the yellow cap.

 Yay!  Home is getting better.  Then there was a huge downpour.  It was fun.  I was sitting in my room, checking my e-mail, and then I realized that it was raining in my room.

My room.  Notice the awesome bedspread, and
the still living out of suitcases that I'm doing.
The rain came in by the pink curtain.

Oh crap.  Seriously, will it ever end?  I grabbed a bucket and prepared to sit it out...Until it started in more than one place, and I didn't have any more buckets.  I gave up and shouted at the workers next door, "Maaf, saya ada air di kamar."  Boom.  They were on it!  Climbing into the roof with a homemade bamboo ladder and mailing more stuff to the house.  The rain blew away as this was happening though, so I'll need to wait to see if it's fixed.

Just another adventure.  :)

Here's a random picture of some chickens that live with me.
Did you know that roosters do not start cock-a-doodle-doing
when the sunrises?  It's more like 3:30am.