Monkey Business

This Saturday morning a friend and I went to Punti Kayu – a zoo with a park/forest attached to it – to get away from the rustle and bustle of central Palembang. The zoo is supposed to be horrible in terms of animal (mis-)treatment, so I’m glad we didn’t go there (and further facilitate the abuse by paying the entrance fee). 

However, the park/forest was really nice, mostly because it was so quiet and peaceful – qualities a lot of places in Palembang lack. We chose to sit on one of the elevated wooden plateaus that were spread out throughout the woods and then we unpacked, unwrapped and opened the food we got 

beforehand.I'm telling you, dearest readers, Indonesian food is an adventure on its own, but more on that later. 

Good food, wonderful surroundings and, above all, great company make for a a wonderful way to spend an early Saturday morning – any early morning in fact! But then our luck turned around when some 20 unexpected visitors came and caused a ruckus! See for yourself…

Talk soon, lovely people!

Hold on to your momma!

Assessing the snack situation

"What's this?"

Whoopsy Daisy!

A Variety Blog Post

This blog post will be what we renowned writers like to call a ‘Variety Blog Post’. First and foremost, it’s a blog post. Secondly, its text comprises a variety of subjects. You see where I’m heading with this, don’t you? In no particular order, I present to you the following:

1. My Bahasa Indonesian skills…

…are still severely lacking. How do I know this? Well, apart from the laughs I get when I try to pronounce simple phrases, I just found out today that I’ve been washing my body for three fucking weeks with a body wash that serves to make your skin whiter. As most of you know, I like my body tanned so this was quite the downer.

2. Construction work in Indonesia…

…requires a specific set of skills. One: fearlessness. Two, three and four: no understanding of the concepts risk, danger and the Darwin Awards. Don’t get me wrong, these guys work hard and are probably just trying to provide for their families, but this complete and utter disregard for personal safety is simply stunning. Did someone say government regulation? Dream on…

Seriously, no safety measures at ALL!

3. Palembang traffic…

…is something else. Pedicab drivers have a knack for using the wrong side of the road. Motorcyclists are both everywhere and nowhere, which makes for wonderful maneuvering possibilities (I should know!) and the occasional exclamation of “Oh-no-he-did-not-just-do-that!” And in general, it’s just fucking busy and amazing like a giant, life-sized, million piece puzzle… Oh, and I’ve asked around – apparently traffic deaths are quite uncommon here (relatively speaking of course).

One of the natural positions for a becak driver...

4. Work…

…is, all things considered, the main component of my life right now. Thankfully, I’m starting to get the hang of it and I have to say, save for the bureaucratic and administrative hassle, it really is rewarding. I’m starting to see now that children are actually human after all (Disclaimer: before, I thought they were robots).

5. Colleagues come and go…

…and this week I had to say goodbye to Annie, who left for the UK (but not until she visited Bali for four days – JEALOUS!). Unfortunately, I only got to spend 3 weeks with Annie but because we worked and lived together, it was quite intense. So, even though I haven’t gotten to know her that well (or vice versa) I will honestly miss her and that ridiculous British accent of hers. Most of all, however, I will miss the kindness that provided me with an unbelievably warm welcome when I first got here.

Of course, Annie’s goodbye was just that: Annie’s goodbye. However, I can’t help but wonder what my goodbye will look like a year from now. During her last weeks she was drowning in donuts, cakes, all kinds of food, presents, emotional farewells, goodbye lunches and so on. It really was quite impressive to see so many tangible expressions of what she built up during the year with students and people outside of the school. Annie touched lives – truly.

As for me: my goodbye is still light years away and only time will tell what it will be like… Let’s first enjoy the here and now!

Speaking of the here and now: Annie’s replacement will not be here until mid-June so until then, my class load will increase significantly (as will that of the others…).

6. Future plans…

…are in the making! The wise Annie left me with the following piece of advice: travel as much as you can. Now that’s an order I can obey! So, hopefully, June will bring me my first weekend on Bangka Island (which they might as well rename to Fucking Paradise if Google Images is to be believed) as well as my first weekend in Jakarta. How exciting!

7. The first victim…

…of eating with chop sticks is table manners. The second? My ego.  The third? My shirt.

8. The 45^th birthday of Palembang’s Vihara…

…was amazing. It was a night filled with performances, wonderful food and nice people. It got me thinking: I know quite a bit about Christianity and Islam, but knowledge on Buddhism is severely lacking. So that’s my next reading project: reading up on Buddhism and I started this morning.

The Vihara's birthday had it all: song, dance and entertainment. It was just like an episode of Glee! Only difference though: it was all in Indonesian so I kind of missed the plot...

My first wedding

 Well, not MY own, it was someone else's wedding, but you catch my drift. And yes, this blog post is long overdue as I went to it over a week ago. Thank you for your patience, dear reader-folk!

In any case, Danny, one of our school's office boys and by far the funniest, got married! A full delegation from EF went to wish the newlyweds the best, enjoy the free food and nearly succumb to the insane heat. It really was insanely warm and the food, well, it was spicy as hell. Such a wonderful combination!

To be honest, we weren't there for very long. This may have been my first wedding ever, but everyone else had already been to tons of weddings so they weren't as excited, giddy or fascinated as I was. Oh well, I'm still new, naïve and think basically everything is fascinating. Much like a baby, come to think of it. 

So, within 30 minutes, at least about 10 girls came up to us to have their picture taken with us. We are celebrities here! Why, you ask?! Just a simple case of being white. 

Also, there was karaoke (although this shouldn't come as a surprise - there is karaoke here EVERYWHERE! I'm surprised we don't have it at our school. But honestly, it's everywhere!) and the lovely women gracing our ears with song just wouldn't stop asking us to sing. We didn't.

Well, here are some pictures. Talk soon, pretty people!

The couple and family. Look at Danny's shoes - aren't they amazing?!

Gold and red are soooooo fashionable in Muslim weddings these days...

An attempt to capture the scene, but honestly, it was larger and busier than it looks.

Please disregard the little girl giving you the Stare of Death. Instead, focus on the couple and that dashing young fella on the right.

Batik shirts such as these are a national thing here - every Friday is batik day but it is also the dresscode on special occasions such as weddings. And yes, in due time I will most likely get a batik shirt myself as well...

Reflexology

What it actually looked like...

What it looked like with a FLASHHHH!

On my first Sunday afternoon in the Great Palembang, Annie and Diane (colleagues/housemates) took me to Reflexology. I didn’t know what it was either.

So, this is what happens: you come in and you’re brought to these beds that are lined up in this very dark room. There are all kinds of ornaments, some Mediterranean/Oriental lounge music is playing and in the background you hear an indoor fountain streaming away. It was all very relaxing.

You sit down on the bed and you’re brought a bowl with pebbles and hot water to put your feet in. You soak them and then the masseur comes back and then, you know, shit is on. My masseur installed himself behind me and started working his magic on my shoulders, back and head.

Let me tell you: Reflexology is not for the faint of heart as it requires quite the tolerance for pain.

This guy’s hands looked really normal but when he started kneading, it was as if his hands transformed into hands of steel with MASSIVE power. And then he started to use his elbows and knees, which were also made of titanium and put immense pressure on my tender little body. You know how old cars get crushed at junkyards and stuff? Well, the Reflexology place was the junkyard, I was the old car and the masseur was the crusher.

And it was WONDERFUL! No, seriously, I haven’t felt more relaxed in over two months. The best thing about it, you ask? Well, it lasted for 90 fucking minutes and set me back only 65000 Rupiah! Score!

My advice to you, my dear readers, is to get on this reflexology bandwagon like NOW!