Across the street from the apartment there is a crew of guys building a house. I don't know how long they had been working on it before we arrived but judging by the speed they work it was about a month.
The only pieces of heavy equipment that I have seen them use has been an old school cement mixer. They did, however, use cement truck and a pumping truck to pour the second floor of the house. That was a sight to behold! Guys in bare feet, ankle deep in concrete as it is being dropped from the sky. They would also haul up small amount using a bucket and rope. Whatever excess they had was used to patch the road in front of the house. Marni and I are taking pictures to monitor the progress. I think the workers are getting a little pissy about that. But, I am tired about getting starred at in the mall. However, that has advantages when crossing the busy roads.
That leads me to street crossing. Firstly, lanes on Jakarta roadways are simply a suggestion. It makes sense- why have two lanes when four cars and three scooters will easily fit across. Signal lights are used hesitantly. Drivers would rather honk and wedge in. Frankly, I haven't seen as many accidents here as I have in St. Albert, though.
Oh, yah, crossing the street. Rules for pedestrians are "Look out!" Apparently, if you put your hand out, cars will stop. Allegedly, your hand provides you with some sort of force field that will save you. I have not tested the theory. Drivers will not stop for police wielding whistles, either. Having blond children will make drivers slow down enough to get across safely.
Yesterday was the start of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month. People will get up around 4:00 am to eat then they will not eat until after sundown. Many though, just go back to bed because many of our "Bees" did not show up. Those that did were very tired and many of us found them sleeping in our rooms. The problem I had was that I had nowhere to sleep because all the good spots in my classroom had been taken.
We get to go out for dinner, tonight. The staff is heading somewhere downtown. It should take about 1.5 hours to get there. It would be like driving to Red Deer but covering the distance to Superstore.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Aug. 10, 2010
Marni and I are quickly learning that we need to take our camera everywhere we go. Here are just a few things we would take pictures of:
1) An entire family wedged onto a scooter. Oldest child in front, dad driving, mom on the back and a baby squished in between mom and dad. But, to comply with the law, dad is wearing a helmet.
2) People doing everything by hand. Labour is cheap. These guys are thatching the roof of a hut here on campus.
3) The sun. So rarely seen that we may have to take a picture.
4) Street businesses- we have seen everything from noodle vendors, rice di
shes and the lot. But, the funniest have to be the spot on the street with an air compressor and some wrenches where you can do some quick fixes on your scooter. Marni saw a guy with a table welded to his motorbike where he attached a sewing machine for some "on the spot tailoring". And, they all come complete with a cat. We are not sure if they are the second course, though.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Paparazzi
So now we understand how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie must feel. Other then being an incredibly good looking couple, we have very blond kids. Apparently, they don't exist in Asia.
We went to SeaWorld Indonesia today with the kids. Now, we are used to being the only white people walking around, that is fine. There have been a couple of occasions where people will try to touch the kids' hair (especially Caden's) but, we were not prepared for today.
I am sure you have all been to a resort or something that has mascots. You know, those guys in puffy suits and fuzzy characters. Well today, we were bigger then the mascots!
Everywhere we went people were stopping to take our photographs. Zoe posed with more strange kids then she has ever in her life. Families were posing in front of us but you could tell they were taking the picture of us and not themselves. I actually have a picture of a man taking a picture of us! I waved at him while he was focusing his lens then he quickly put his camera away.
Many people were friendly, but some were downright rude. They would talk about us to their children and then stare. I got to be quite uncomfortable.
I think from now on we will charge $10 for every picture.
We went to SeaWorld Indonesia today with the kids. Now, we are used to being the only white people walking around, that is fine. There have been a couple of occasions where people will try to touch the kids' hair (especially Caden's) but, we were not prepared for today.
I am sure you have all been to a resort or something that has mascots. You know, those guys in puffy suits and fuzzy characters. Well today, we were bigger then the mascots!
Everywhere we went people were stopping to take our photographs. Zoe posed with more strange kids then she has ever in her life. Families were posing in front of us but you could tell they were taking the picture of us and not themselves. I actually have a picture of a man taking a picture of us! I waved at him while he was focusing his lens then he quickly put his camera away.
Many people were friendly, but some were downright rude. They would talk about us to their children and then stare. I got to be quite uncomfortable.
I think from now on we will charge $10 for every picture.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Bees
These guys are referred to as the bees. They zip
around and clean up the compound. There are
about 30 of them all around. Here, he is sweeping
up the astroturf around the playground.
He was unimpressed when Caden kicked over his
of leaves.
These guys are referred to as the bees. They zip
around and clean up the compound. There are
about 30 of them all around. Here, he is sweeping
up the astroturf around the playground.
He was unimpressed when Caden kicked over his
of leaves.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Aug 6, 2010
So, we hired some nannies on Tuesday. Because Caden is so wild the school decided that we needed two. Consider this, in St. Albert you might pay your dayhome lady $1000/month for care everyday. We are paying two girls who will clean, cook, do laundry, etc. $100 each plus $20 for a food allowance. They will not eat with us so they cook our food, go eat on the street and then come back to clean up. In fact, they will not even use out bathrooms. They will leave, go to the nanny quarters and come back.
We did look into enrolling little man in to a preschool. Here, preschool is just that, too. It is math, science and languages for three-year olds. Caden did say that he did not want to go with a bunch of babies. That is because he is twice the size of any other student.
We had to buy a washing machine. The one we found has a maximum capacity of (wait for it) 16 pieces of laundry. We may be able to wash one sheet at a time.
Other then that, confirmed enrollment at the school has ballooned to 70 students. That means that each teacher should have an average of 6 students per class. I have two confirmed grade 10's. That should be perfect because I only have two test tubes for science class.
We did look into enrolling little man in to a preschool. Here, preschool is just that, too. It is math, science and languages for three-year olds. Caden did say that he did not want to go with a bunch of babies. That is because he is twice the size of any other student.
We had to buy a washing machine. The one we found has a maximum capacity of (wait for it) 16 pieces of laundry. We may be able to wash one sheet at a time.
Other then that, confirmed enrollment at the school has ballooned to 70 students. That means that each teacher should have an average of 6 students per class. I have two confirmed grade 10's. That should be perfect because I only have two test tubes for science class.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Day two
So....it is really humid, here. And, the small lizards in our apartment make me skiddish. But, all in all things are good.
The school smells like a display at Fort Edmonton and my science lab is old and has some rat shit in it. Kind of like Cuts, in a way.
Our apartment is bigger then the house in St. Albert and we hired two nannies today for little man. They will cook and clean as well as cater to his every whim. The poor girls are 19 years old but look about twelve.
We have been gathering a bunch of things for the apartment. Apparently, soft linens and towels that soak up water are a luxury. Food is relatively inexpensive but we have only been eating at mall restaurants. I would expect things to get cheaper.
Some of the females went for a 90 minute foot massage, yesterday. It cost them $4. Marni plans on taking advantage of this.
I must say that having people do everything for you seems nice- but it is weird. We bought our driver a water today and you would think we cured his cancer.
The school smells like a display at Fort Edmonton and my science lab is old and has some rat shit in it. Kind of like Cuts, in a way.
Our apartment is bigger then the house in St. Albert and we hired two nannies today for little man. They will cook and clean as well as cater to his every whim. The poor girls are 19 years old but look about twelve.
We have been gathering a bunch of things for the apartment. Apparently, soft linens and towels that soak up water are a luxury. Food is relatively inexpensive but we have only been eating at mall restaurants. I would expect things to get cheaper.
Some of the females went for a 90 minute foot massage, yesterday. It cost them $4. Marni plans on taking advantage of this.
I must say that having people do everything for you seems nice- but it is weird. We bought our driver a water today and you would think we cured his cancer.
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