Indonesia is a good place to be

Summer must be coming because it's getting longer and longer between blogs. The weather hasn't changed much, but it seems my computer time has shortened. It probably has had something to do with the fact that Dale was here for 3 weeks and that afterwards the kids had assignments to finish up before the end of school. Now that school is officially out (as of this afternoon), we're prepping to head off for a bit of time away. Most people are heading back to their home countries but we've decided to stick a little closer to Indonesia. I'll be heading to Singapore for a history tour/conference and I'll meet Tris and the kids in Bali.

Sometimes the reason I don't blog is because I have so many ideas that I put off writing anything down. Tonight I want to share a few things that are truly Indonesian. First, there are a few funny stories about communication or lack thereof, and second, we have a few silly labels around our house. Finally, I have a list of wonderful things about Indonesia and I think the end of our first school year is a great time to examine it.

The other day the woman that we are sharing a driver with, Sarah, called me and told me a funny story. Our driver, Haris, was at work for about 3 hours when he approached her and told her that his ankle was dead. The translation for the word dead here can mean 'dead' or 'off' and it wouldn't seem too odd to say that an injured ankle was a dead ankle. I'm sure that we say weirder things when we speak Indonesian. She asked how he hurt his ankle and Haris answered "fell in the bathroom." Throughout the day she hadn't seen him limping so she assumed he must have just done it. He asked if he could go home for a little bit and then return home. What was weird is that he was going to go home for a bit and then come back to work. If his ankle hurt, why would he go home and then return in a few hours? I can't remember how she figured out the whole story, but eventually her husband Mike, who had no knowledge of Haris' hurt ankle and his wanting to go home, received an sms (text message) saying "my uncle is in the ground now. May I come back to work?" Apparently Haris' uncle had died in the late morning and was buried within a few hours of his death. It is a common Indonesian custom to get the body into the burial plot before sunset, and so the funeral is as spontaneous as many of the deaths themselves. Family members can attend the burial and be back at work within a few hours. Sarah and I have decided that we need to learn how to say "I'm very sorry for your loss" in Indonesian, and make sure that it's a proper translation!

Another funny story happened while mom and dad were here, but I didn't figure it out until months later. Recently I was going through our cooking cupboard and found some ginger oil, which is ginger infused into sesame oil. It's quite expensive and I couldn't remember having bought it, so I asked our (past) helper. She told me that when I was sick with dengue fever, my mom asked her to pick up some ginger oil to help me feel better. What my mom had asked for was 7Up or Ginger Ale. Just a slight misunderstanding, but I refuse to drink the stuff!

When Dale was here she noticed a funny label on my barbie-sized mix-master. It seems odd that they'd label something 'food grade' when it's made specifically for the kitchen in the first place. Where else would you use a mix-master? Art class? How would you advertise that? "Everyone needs a mix-master! And this one is safe for food, too!" Obviously advertising is focused on the consumer, and here it seems most Indonesians ride or own a motorbike. Check out the description of this L'Oreal hair gel: "Resists hair being messed up by hands, clothes and helmets." I chuckled at that...in BC it could say "Resists wind, rain, sleet, snow and ski helmets." Too bad it doesn't really do what it says.

Finally, now is the time that everyone is leaving us for their home countries, whether they're going for a visit or permanently. As a result, it's a little difficult for those of us who have decided to stay behind and tour locally, because we miss family, friends and all things Canadian (in our case). With so much emotion flowing during this time, I've had to focus on the positive things in Indonesia. I'd like to end this post by sharing the really good things about Indonesia with you:
*you can buy fresh strawberries, melons and pineapples any time of year. They vary in price but they're always reasonable. Sometimes the pineapples and melons are dirt cheap.
*the thunder storms are the coolest! The storm can sometimes be right overhead, and the thunder shakes your bones it's so close.
*if you wait long enough during a rainstorm, eventually you can walk outside again because the rain DOES stop within a decent time.
*you can hire someone to clean your house, wash/hangdry/iron your clothes, and cook your meals as well as someone to drive you anywhere you want to go.
*it's pretty cheap to eat out
*it's tropical and palm trees are everywhere. My favourite trees are coconut, mango or frangipane. I actually think that frangipane might be a bush, to tell you the truth. A really big bush. that smells incredible.
*the SPH school community is extremely welcoming.
*there are oodles of photo ops.
*depending on the time of year, it could cost our family less than $1000 to visit Bali, one of the world's finest tropical destinations, for a few days.

There is more but I'll leave you in suspense. We do miss our family and friends.
Thanks for keeping in touch, and thanks for reading.