Pak Mark and Bu Candice meet Ibu Jamilah

September 27, 2011.  Today is the first day of having a pembantu be a part of our Jakartan life.  Pembantu doesn't really have a direct translation.  It is often translated as maid, but a pembantu does more than just clean; she also cooks, shops, runs errands, etc.  I think a better translation is assistant.

Yesterday I talked with Ibu Jamilah.  Ibu is not her name.  Ibu and Bapak are sort of like Ms. and Mr. and used when addressing women and men in Bahasa Indonesia.  It is the polite thing to do.  They are often shortened to Bu and Pak. 

The whole concept of having a pembantu is weird and a bit uncomfortable for me.  It helps that Ibu Jamilah seems quite comfortable.  She has worked at our apartment compound for many years.  She currently works for our upstairs neighbors three days a week and is going to work for us on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Ibu Jamilah is very nice and for all intensive purposes does not speak English.  Actually, at this point she can probably say more in English than I can in Bahasa Indonesia, but that isn't really saying too much.  This should be a good opportunity for me to practice speaking Bahasa.  Currently, I feel a bit sorry for her as I rattle off short phrases and sentences in Bahasa that don't really make sense except for in my head.  As I'm grasping for a word that I "know" (i.e. I know that I have been exposed to the word, but I can't remember the actual word), I seem more than willing to substitute a totally different word in Bahasa Indonesia than the one intended.  For example, I was trying to tell Ibu Jamilah that Mark and I like to eat spicy food and I actually said that we like to eat uncooked rice.  (The word for uncooked rice is beras and the word for spicy is pedas.) 

We don't really need a pembantu, but I'm happy to play our part in supporting the local economy.  I will also admit that I am happy to have some help in controlling the dust bunnies on this great expanse of white tile that is the floor of our massive apartment.  However, the thing I am most excited about is having someone to cook. 

As Mark has often commented, given the fact that I love to eat, one might also think I have at least some interest in cooking.  Provided I have a good recipe with precise instructions, like those published by Cook's Illustrated, I'm actually capable of making some very tasty dishes; it is similar to working in a science laboratory.  I don't know why I don't like cooking.  Perhaps it has to do with my lack of cooking intuition.  I get discouraged and disgusted with cooking when I spend hours trying to put something together and it turns out like a bunch of tasteless slop.  This happened just last week.  Thank goodness for salt.  Salty slop has more flavor than unsalted slop.  Like Julia Child in Paris, I would like to pursue a passion here in Indonesia, but unlike her, I don't think it has anything to do with cooking.  (Mike Jr., my hair dude in Rockville, suggested I watch the movie Julie & Julia when I told him we were moving to Indonesia).  Regardless, having someone cook a couple times a week seems very indulgent and I am really looking forward to eating dinner tonight.  I bought chicken breast, eggplant, and peas and Ibu Jamilah is going to make something to go with either red or black rice. 

 The Before Picture:  Chicken, Peas, and Eggplant

On Rice

September 27, 2011.  Rice is a big deal here.  I've read that if you haven't eaten rice yet, then it's considered that you have not yet eaten for the day.  I had some excellent rice when we were in Bali.  It was called red rice.  I have since figured out that red rice is the same as brown rice.  There are many different varieties of rice with varying degrees of quality although I'm not sure if I would be able to tell if I was eating top quality rice or not. 

There are also several words in Bahasa Indonesia for rice.  The Life of Rice is as follows:
padi (rice plant)
gabah (rice still in husk)
beras (unhusked, uncooked rice)
nasi (cooked rice). 

Here is a picture of beras hitam (black rice) and beras merah (red/brown rice).  Much more common, of course, is beras putih (white rice). 

Beras Hitam and Beras Merah

Bahasa Indonesia WOD:  Beras/Nasi = uncooked rice/cooked rice

Saya suka makan nasi hitam dan nasi merah, tapi tidak suka makan beras hitam dan beras merah. 
(I like to eat cooked black rice and cooked red rice, but I don't like to eat uncooked black rice and uncooked red rice). 

Glodok

September 24, 2011.  Glodok is the name of Chinatown in Jakarta. 

Live Fish for Sale

Seafood Market

Meat Market ;)

Dried Seafood

Chilies and Sambaal

Tasty Snacks

Banana Stand

Paper Money for Burning

Rechargeable Mosquito Zapper

New Artwork

September 26, 2011.  I'm not sure if I have the correct orientation. It looks good either way...

By Dane Doyle

Mailing Address - Check!

September 21, 2011.  Success story:  Our "new" mailing address works and no one yelled at Mark!

Before we moved to Indonesia we were informed of our mailing address.  We received multiple emails confirming this DPO mailing address and I was told that I should also use that address, as Mark's dependent.  Mind you, we have all of this mailing address info in writing.  So, I ordered some books and had them sent to this address.  The books arrived in due time and the box was placed on Mark's desk at work.  Great.  Right?

Here is where the story gets a bit interesting.  In addition to receiving the books, Mark received a visitor at his office the same day.  It was the post office guy who proceeded to yell at Mark for using the wrong address and threatened him that if we received any more mail at the DPO address it would be sent back!  Supposedly we are NOT allowed to use the DPO address.  The post office guy was not interested nor did he seem to care that we were instructed to use that address.

So, Mark did a bit more investigating and learned we should use a different address.  Yesterday we received our first mail through this address.  It works.  No one seems put out by the fact that we used this new/second/correct address and no one has yelled at Mark.  All is well. 

I was excited to receive In Search of the Rose Notes, a new novel by Emily Arsenault.  She and her husband Ross are friends from Peace Corps South Africa.  I really enjoyed reading her first novel, The Broken Teaglass, which has a very unique and memorable setting, and look forward to reading the second one.  I recommend you check them out.  Her web page is:  http://emilyarsenault.com/  Emily is very low-key and modest about her accomplishments.  I think it is awesome that she is successfully pursuing her goals and would not mind if she bragged about it - I think she should.  

Sweet bird nest on the cover!

Mailing address - check
Getting our stuff shipped over here - to be continued...

Trip to Bali

September 9-13, 2011.  Mark had a conference in Sanur on Bali and I tagged along.  The ladies in his office who organized his travel suggested he go on Friday and take me along with him.  I like them.  They were initially concerned about our accommodation because Mark said it was preferable to stay in the three-star hotel where the conference was located, as opposed to a five-star hotel down the street.  When I confirmed this was also preferable to me upon our return, they were convinced that Mark knew his wife well. 

We viewed some sights with his co-worker, Ester, and her two brothers on Saturday.  In the evening we saw a Kecak dance in Ubud.  Mark thinks they should not allow flash photography during the performance.  I agree.

Sunday, Mark attended the conference and I went on a bird walk wandering through the rice fields in Ubud.  Sunday evening I attended the opening ceremonies of the conference with Mark.  The song that the school children sang about science and technology was a highlight. 

On Monday, I headed out to a seaside temple, Pura Ulu Watu.  Ketut, my driver for the day, walked around the temple with me.  I don't think he normally would have done this, but he was extremely concerned that the monkeys would grab my glasses and run off with them and that I would have only a slight chance of getting them back by exchanging over-priced snacks with the monkeys for the return of my glasses.  He offered to take my picture often.  This would have been absolutely necessary if I kept my glasses off the entire time, as suggested by Ketut, because I'm practically blind without them.  I risked it and took in the scenery through my spectacles.  I'm happy to say that I still have my glasses.  I'm unable to determine if this is due to sheer luck or the fact that Ketut carried a stick the entire time we were there. 

Some pictures (click on the pictures to make them larger):  

On beach path in Sanur

Coconuts are...

Delicious

The pool is open when the fountain is on.  Where's Mark?

Banyan tree - Pura Tirta Empul

In Pura Tirta Empul, the Hindu temple at Tampaksaring

Pura Tirta Empul

Natural spring in Pura Tirta Empul

At Pura Tirta Empul

Offering to gods

Roasting luwak coffee

Tea and coffee sampler

Luwak coffee

About luwak coffee - I would love to help collect the beans one morning

Terraced rice fields

We like the rice fields

Passion fruit flower

My mom, MP, likes roosters

Altar in rice field

Javan Kingfisher in rice field - picture taken through binoculars

Female common orb spiders are big

Banana with seeds!

Rice farming organization - ensures everyone gets water

Hibiscus

Hindu temple at bottom of rice fields

Shiva

Pura Ulu Watu

Ketut asks if I would like my picture taken next to the pretty flowers (no glasses, the monkeys are close)

Beware the monkeys

Pura Luhur Ulu Watu

Random picture of Tshepo

Selected bird walk highlights:
Scaly breasted Munia, Java Munia, Javan Kingfisher, Blue-tailed bee eater, Olive-backed sunbirds nesting

Bahasa WOD: Guru = Teacher

September 5, 2011.  I'm on a roll!  When I was student teaching at Rockville High School, every class was started with the word of the day (WOD).  The idea was to help students build their vocabulary.  There was also the not-so-hidden agenda of increasing their standardized test scores, which is the best way to measure not only a student's progress, but also a teacher's ability.  (Did I get anyone riled up with that statement?)  During our first Bahasa Indonesia lesson today, I learned the word for teacher.  It is guru!  That sure does have a nice ring to it.

For the WOD, the student's were supposed to write the word and the definition, then write a sentence using the word.  Here is my sentence in Bahasa Indonesia:

Saya guru biologi. - I am a Biology teacher.

To all my fellow gurus out there:  Feel free to introduce the Indonesian word for teacher into your students' vocabularies and require them to use it when addressing you.

Dragon Fruit Seed Dispersal

September 5, 2011.  We've been testing out the tropical fruits.  The second day we were in Jakarta, our sponsors took us to the Grand Lucky grocery store.  In our excitement, we bought enough fruit to fill a large tub.  Since then, we've been better able to control ourselves and try to buy enough for the two of us as opposed to a family of twenty.  We regularly eat mangoes and kiwis.  There are many different types of mangoes.  They all taste delicious.  We have also been eating golden kiwis.  They look similar to green kiwis except they have yellow flesh instead of green.

Dragon fruit comes from a type of cactus.  The dragon fruit below is red inside with small, edible, black seeds.  We've also had white dragon fruit, which is white instead of red on the inside.  Ever fascinated by pollination and seed dispersal mechanisms, the morning after I ate an entire white dragon fruit I was delighted to discover that the seed dispersal strategy for this plant was quite evident.  I won't go into the details; Doc doesn't like to read about those sorts of things.  But while I'm on the topic (one of my favorites as a microbiologist and former Peace Corps Volunteer - just ask any of my former Biology students at Kennedy High School), I'd like to give a shout out to my niece Karson who has recently had a major break though in this area.  Way to go, KJ!

Red Dragon Fruit

Bahasa Indonesia - So It Begins (or in Mark's case continues)

September 5, 2011 - Labor Day.  Holidays work out in our favor here.  We get both Indonesian and US holidays.  We just had three days off for Idul Fitri last week, and now we have Labor Day off as well.  Actually, I should say Mark is off; I'm off every day, at least for now, but it is like a holiday for me too when Mark is home.  Sweet.

Mark has been diligently studying Bahasa Indonesia (literal translation: Language of Indonesia, sometimes just called Bahasa) every day since we've been here.  I wish I could say the same.  I am starting today.  Mark's long-term goal is to be able to pass the foreign service language exam for Bahasa Indonesia; that sounds good to me, so I'm going to make that my long-term goal as well.  My short-term goal is to catch up with Mark.  As far as languages go, it is one of the easier ones to learn.  The grammar is similar to English and there are no verb conjugations, so we have no excuses.

Pagi ini (a new phrase we just learned meaning "this morning") Mark and I had our first Bahasa Indonesia tutoring session.  Our instructor's name is Tiwiek (the k is silent, so it sounds like tee-wee).  She gave us each a workbook she developed.  It has ten lessons and the words "Crash Course" on the front.  I liked Tiwiek immediately and I think we are going to learn a lot from her.  We are going to have lessons with her once a week.

Crash Course - Day 1

And some random pictures:

Hand-made Batik Sarong (self-portrait)

Mark made a watermelon bowl with a lid (!!!) for the Prapatan BBQ last night - very sustainable!