Christmas, 2005...ho ho ho!

2005 continues

Summer 2005 and Beyond

After my last posting in May, things got crazy and I am just now sitting down at Christmas time to take stock of the last six months. Our summer was spent in the U.S. visiting friends and relatives. We invaded a good friend from the Manila days in Washington D.C. for four nights – and we are still talking! Four children, four adults and the heaven sent Filipino maid for four days is a recipe for chaos or one big party. We chose the latter. Trips to the zoo, runs along the rail trail to Georgetown, a visit at the local Montessori school, two barbeques, lots of gifts and games and ‘Do you remember…” conversations, and we were off to Baltimore to hang with the Gatchell side of the family.

A good friend of mine offered (was actually coerced by me!) to have a gathering of Baltimore buddies at their new pad, replete with pool and gas grill. We were a party of about 12 adults and 12 kids. For some reason, Sam was reluctant to join the party and spent the first hour sitting in the basement in front of the TV, while everyone else laughed and frolicked in the pool. Eventually he came out and whispered to me that he was ready to swim, but he wanted to swim naked. I asked my hostess friend and she said, No prob! Off went the clothes to the astonishment of the older kids (aged 9-12). After about ten minutes Sam asked me why all the kids were giggling at him. Duh, said I – you are naked, Boy! Off I went, shaking my head to get some dinner. When I returned awhile later, what do you know? Every kid was naked and screaming with delight as they took plunge after plunge off the diving board.

As for my family, everyone seems to be doing well, even after the passing of the family matriarch in January. With the big house cleared out and my aunt settled in close to the rest of the family, things seem solidly in place there. It was great to see my brother and his two growing girls, now 4 and 6 years old. Austin continues to be leader of the pack, as the other ankle biters look on in awe.




However, once we got up to the beach in Nantucket, Sam and Sophia, who are used to year round swimming, took the lead in getting Austin and Emory to take the plunge into the Atlantic. Seeing my three-year old riding the sizeable waves on her boogie board, laughing with glee, was a sight to behold. Many sand castles, beach cookouts, yoga classes, lobster dinners, and a big Rodgers’ family reunion later,
we found ourselves heading back to the mainland on the slow boat from Nantucket. Another American summer vacation well spent: with our belts loosened, digital camera full of memories, and giggles still resounding in our heads from good conversation had with family and friends, we headed south for one last hurrah with Jared’s mom.

Back in Williamsburg we spent a week with Nana, who by the way, had earlier spent six days with her grandchildren while Jared and I tried to get things fixed in Nantucket. We relaxed, swam, slept and went to doctors, and spent too much money at Target; all the usual itinerary items for expats who come home for the summer. We managed to spend more money on medical bills in one week than in the entire year spent in Jakarta – by about ten times!! Each time I return from a summer in the U.S. I wonder again how people do it back home – then I remember: credit cards and debt. Ouch!

By the end of July we were experiencing reentry into the teaming, stinky lovable city of Jakarta. On our trip back from the airport, I watched clouds of toxic cotton candy swirl by, fed by constant trash burning and factory belching and felt the usual trepidation about living in this city.

As it turns out, I have had hardly a moment to think about the pollution further. We have had the busiest semester on record, I think. I decided to take on an extra class at school and am now teaching middle school science along with math. It is incredibly fun, but SO much work, as I have not considered the size of the universe nor touched a microscope in decades! Needless to say, I am learning (or rather relearning) a lot!

In addition to school stuff, we managed to travel to Singapore for a wedding, Bangkok (and Phuket) for a week over the Ramadan holiday, and then Jared ran his seventh marathon in Singapore a few weeks ago. The trips were fantastic, and although Jared did not exactly get the time he had hoped for in his marathon, he now has seven marathons under his sexy belt – an admirable feat!

Before I babble on about our Fall goings-on, I have been collecting a few tidbits of life in Jakarta for the past few months which I will insert here.

One amusing tidbit comes from the pirated DVD culture. I do not think I have spent more that 1 dollar for a DVD in the 8 years I have lived in Asia. You even get extra entertainment thrown in when you turn on the subtitles. I have no idea what kind of people get paid what kind of money to write these things, but they are often more entertaining than the movie itself. Here are some examples of some translations I can remember:

From a Sex in the City episode. Mr. Big asks for “Corn flakes and juice”, which is transcribed as “white flange and jurge”. Huh?

In another Sex and the City episode, they talk of “Angioplasty” which comes out as “angel plastic”.

And then there is the story of “Elizabeth Taylor”, aka “Lesbian’s tailor”. Definitely chuckle-worthy.

Another memory involves a rainy Sunday afternoon as I was working in my classroom and Jared was on his way home from the mall with the kids. I heard some sort of commotion outside my window, but could not see what it was. It turns out, just as Jared had turned into our village, a blue bus (awful little minibuses with no windows or doors which careen to and from the mall) had slammed on his brakes and skidded over the embankment into the nasty canal waters below!

Jared reported that he saw two missionaries emerge with Bibles in hand and scrabble their way out. Other passengers followed. No one seemed seriously harmed, but the driver tried to get away. It was not to be... a posse of guards and other enraged citizens ran after the “(drunken?) driver and beat him up to keep him from running away. It took about a day for the blue bus to be retrieved from the canal; it was a sight to behold!

A tale in a similar vein: we have a South African friend who was driving himself one day (a rare occurrence) in his leased BMW. He entered a traffic circle, got cut off by one of the oh so skilled Jakarta drivers, skidded up against the guard rail, and flipped his car! Within moments a crowd had gathered and the men were gesturing for him not to move. Ten minutes later a group of burly lads had flipped the car over and he was ready to go. He did manage to get in touch with his leasing agency, and a representative magically appeared within moments and sent him packing before any more people got a look at his “boulé” (foreign) face. That very afternoon he had a brand new BMW delivered to his front door. He declined the car and has been taking taxis ever since.

Just outside the ashram building where the Art of Living folks gather (my yoga place) there is a tiny canal which you can only cross when a road crosses it. There are actually men with wooden boats who will charge 5 cents to pull you over in their craft from one side to the other, if you are too lazy to walk down to the next road crossing. They spend most of the day dozing, waiting for customers, but they are ever ready to pull you over the six feet from one side to the other. It is a scene out of the middle ages.

This place teems with humanity. I was walking home the other day (it takes about 1 minute to walk the half a block home), but I never forget that I am in Asia. I pass smells ranging from decaying rats, to fetid water, to oily cooking smells from the lady who has her food stall on the corner, to occasional wafts of some kind of plant, striving to survive and send out its signature scent.

As for sights on this diminutive jaunt, they range from passing roly poly Asian kids playing badminton in the street to men on bikes laden with their wares cruising along, yelling out their particular song to advertise soup or chips or ice cream or bread. I often see the clothing man, a roving boutique for the poor maids, some of whom get one day off per month. The fruit vendor is a fun one – I am always ready to purchase fresh mangoes or strawberries.

But the woman on the corner is the best. She, her husband and their little dirty, but ever smiling 5 year old girl, work from 6:00 am until 5:00 p.m., cooking fish, rice, mystery meat and veggies for all the workers in the village. It is a place of neighborly congregation and we all greet one another as we pass by each morning. Most afternoons, as I stroll home, I will see maids out sweeping the streets, drivers washing cars, cars returning home from work, horns blaring so the maids know it is time to open the gates.

The other day our neighbor pulled up to turn into his driveway, but forgot to put on the parking brake. Before we knew it we heard a big crash as their car smashed through out gate and crumpled the iron structure. Hmmmm, thought I…our first accident in Asia and it clearly was not our fault. Sure enough, the old Chinese mama of the family tried to deny they had done anything wrong, as our gate had been broken the week before. Yes, we had had a tiny piece which had since been repaired and she thought we would shrug off a destroyed gate.

I let my maid deal with the big mama while I looked on in disgust. Hard to know which language to argue in. My Indonesian does not take me that far, even after a year. Amazingly, the family got the gate repaired within the week. I take back all those nasty thoughts I had about these neighbors, who, by the way, I had never set eyes on in the year we have lived across the street from each other! They are both HUGELY overweight and probably only walk from their car to the front door, all behind their gate, so I never see them. The Asian crisis was not really a financial one, but a dietary one, as the rising middle class has forsaken rice for Dunkin Donuts and fast food.

It is basically the same with all of our neighbors. I recognize maids, but never residents. One wonders why Sam and Sophia have so few friends. Most children in these parts live sheltered lives behind walls, going out only to be tutored in extra languages or math or maybe music. I know there is a tendency to over schedule our American kids, but these little guys here seem to undergo a dearth of exercise, in lieu of academics and musical pursuits.

In the week it took the gate to be fixed, I actually never saw it, because I had treated myself to a yoga retreat for four days. It was with the same group I worked with back in February, The Art of Living. I am still convinced it is NOT a cult. They have not asked for money, nor asked me to sign over my house or give up any part of me. The leader, the guru in India, truly seems like a good person, whose main theme is for us to strive towards peace and happiness in our lives. It works for me. I had a nice inward journey to my inner self. I thought I might find as yet undetected depth, but it seems I am really just who I appear to be. After silence for three of the days and lots of meditation, I emerged, cleansed and ready to take on the holiday season.

It is now December 17 and my gifts are wrapped and my desk is cleared. Such is Christmas here in Indonesia. We will be spending it in Bali and although we have had our Christmas tree up for two weeks, we will celebrate early in Jakarta and save a few surprises for Bali for Sam and Sophia. The idea of Santa is a bit nebulous over here. He has visited the school, but the kids knew it was really the headmaster in costume. Another impersonation was put on by a good friend at a Christmas party. He totally fooled the kids and they are sure Santa was the one who doled out the gifts. I am not sure how Santa will find us in our Bali hotel room on Christmas day. As the kids are still young, I may just try to ignore that small hole in the story. Without chimneys in these parts the whole story has to be revised anyway.

I wish anyone who has read this far a good sleep, as you may need it now. Also a happy holiday – take it easy, don’t let the preparations bog you down. It is just another meal and an excuse to be nice to one another, things we should do every day. Enjoy all the moments of your life and live each one to the fullest, whether it is over Christmas dinner or during a long dull meeting at work. As a good friend of mine likes to say, “Feel the Love!” Cheers.