I can't sleep; it's 10:32 pm our time (7:32 am in BC) and the students in the "uni" house behind us are keeping me awake with their yells and their laughter. Laughter is a good thing, but not when I am trying to get my beauty sleep. Five am comes pretty fast. However, before we moved here I thought we'd be moving to a noisy, dirty area with busy roads, and so to live where we live is a real blessing; the laughter of students is not hard to take. It's better than people yelling at each other. One thing we have realized is that Indonesians love to yell. Not at each other (I've actually only seen that once, where my taxi driver had a freak-0ut at some other driver), but at sports events.
Last night we went to the final championship game for our local university (UPH). We drove with friends into Jakarta, ate at Burger King (big deal around here...especially with our American friends), and then headed to the game. We parked in the stadium parking lot and could hear the game from way off. There were snare drums being beat the whole time that we were there, and the crowd never stopped yelling. Rumour has it that the opposing team, visiting from a far city, hired their drummers and cheering audience. How much would you pay someone to cheer for your team for 2 hours??? Along with the drums were airhorns and various noise makers. What kind of bothered me is that not once was there a quiet moment, not even when there was a foul shot. That would have added MORE drama than having the constant noise. My opinion is that they need a cheering conductor.
I have to admit, the lights were pretty wild, with the swirling colours painting the walls. It was a bit much when the stage/flood lights were turned on into the audience...not sure how the operator thought that was good for spectators who were trying to watch a game. Anyways, the noise made the game that much more enjoyable, even if my ears did ring afterwards. It was fun to watch Tris. I could tell that he was coaching the uni students from his seat in the bleachers, trying to convince them with his "sports mind powers" (whatever) to slow down, pass the ball, and obey his basketball mind. Unfortunately they didn't catch wind of what he was muttering to them under his breath, because in the 4th period (?) they lost by about 10 points. Overall, it was a great game. I expect over the next year, at least once Tris is finished his Masters, I'll be reporting that he's coaching some basketball team or other.
One last observation before I head to bed to try and sleep. We had parked in a pretty decent spot last night, but people here tend to park behind parked cars, sometimes 3 rows deep. I wasn't sure how we were going to get out, but the common practice here among drivers is to leave your car in neutral. That way, guys like our friend Jason can move cars back and forth in order to get their car out. It's quite funny when you see a bunch of guys moving cars like chess players on a huge gravel chessboard. When Bruce originally told me that is how cars get out of what I would call 'parking jams,' I thought he was joking. Last night I saw that it indeed is true. Can you imagine leaving your car under a certain tree only to find that it's 50 meters down the track when you return? I have a hard enough time finding my car when I know the colour of the area I parked in and the section number.
Also, just wanted to say thanks to Stephanie (Zach and Zoey's mom). I received the package that she mailed to us in September and it came straight to our door. I only had to pay $.30 to get it (yes, that's 30 cents, not 30 dollars). I think that the Indonesian mail is all about patience on my end. The salt and vinegar chips were a special (and intact) treat...was just saying last week that I was craving them. Good things come in small packages!
Thanks for reading.
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