Quiet Jakarta

School has started, my helper is on holidays for another week, and today I had the house all to myself.  Usually I crank music (well, in the distant past) and clean, but today, I scrubbed, mopped and folded in complete, lovely silence.  Even the outside help, the village-hired street sweepers and yard maintenance ladies haven't returned from their holidays yet, and it's so quiet around here.  Ramadan ended with Idul Fitri last week, and during the week surrounding Idul Fitri everybody goes away, either back to their village or typically, if you are an ex-pat, off to somewhere that is NOT Jakarta and the surrounding area.  Tris and I, we hung around our village and thoroughly enjoyed the quiet.  Last Monday, while the kids were still at camp, we headed into Jakarta and into the 'old city' of Batavia (Old Town).  Unfortunately, because it was a Monday, the day of the week that many things are closed, we weren't able to visit any museums or anything, but we did visit the old Dutch part of Jakarta, one of Jakarta's Chinatowns (Glodok), and the docks.  While at the docks we sat in the car and ate our lunch.  Although it was still during the time of fasting, we weren't so much respecting the Muslim tradition as we were trying to enjoy our surroundings without being obvious.  Apparently where we were isn't really all that safe a place to just hang out, so we kept a low profile.

What was incredible about the day trip is that we really were gone only 5 hours, but we drove through more districts (some more than once as we tried to become 'unlost') in those 5 hours than we typically could in 3 days.  It was a great way to gain a new perspective on how the city is laid out.  Sadly, the people are slowing trickling back into the city and into our village, traffic is once again becoming congested, and day trips into the city from Lippo Village will probably consist of one district per trip.  It's nice knowing that there are at least 2 days a year where one can drive into and around the city of Jakarta, get lost, find one's way again, and still make it home in time for dinner.