Every Day is a New Adventure

September 3rd, 2015
Yogyakarta (Jogja)
Jennifer

So we've finally moved into our new home in Jogja. We said goodbye to our Homestay family and living in 1 room with 3 people and hello to a huge, 2-bedroom, open-concept, beautiful home complete with an indoor fish pond, a full kitchen, and an actual bathtub (yes, this is a big deal!). We were also greeted by the previous tenants messy floors, cobwebs, dirty cabinets and flooding toilet. As a result, we met their pet ants, cockroaches, and other terrifying insects that make me itchy just thinking about them. I'm just finally coming to terms with sharing our house with geckos and frogs, but cockroaches--THE WORST!

Our Family at Andelis Homestay, Jogja

Maybe Benny knocked off his tail with his umbrella 'hockey stick'

Needless to say my paranoia and OCD kicked in to overdrive after we found a banana half eaten on the kitchen table when we woke up in the morning (IT WASN'T BENNY!) and we went on a cleaning frenzy, had the landlord call a plumber, an exterminator and a house cleaner. I know I am a Westerner clean freak living in SE Asia and trust me I am adjusting to lower standards, but I can't sleep knowing there are cockroaches big enough out there to take bites out of bananas like that, it might be my face next time....

Despite the unwanted house guests, our new home is very beautiful and I know it will just be a matter of time (and bleach) before we are settled in and feeling more comfortable. Benny doesn't mind sharing a room with house geckos and he has so much room to play here; our front entrance is basically set up as a basketball court at the moment.

We have explored our neighbourhood a little and there are plenty of amazing restaurants just a short walk or scooter ride away including a seafood restaurant called Rasane where we had an entire grilled fish, calamari, fried tempeh, green beans, mussels, rice, and all of our drinks for about $12CAD amongst the koi ponds and palm trees. We have also dined at a few warungs now that we are becoming a little more adventurous with our digestive systems.. (I just want to note that my auto-correct changed Warung to 'warning' which is actually quite valid). A warung, for those who don't know what the hell I'm talking about, is basically a small, family-owned (sometimes just an extension of their house) shop or food stand generally made out of bamboo, wood, and/or tin. The warungs that sell food typically offer local dishes like Nasi Goreng, Mie Goreng, and Sate; they speak little to no English; and chef Ramsey would use a lot of F-bombs about their sanitary situation. To give you an idea: lunch for the 3 of us (either fried rice or noodles with chicken or chicken sate with rice and peanut sauce) including drinks is about $3CAD. Because they don't speak any english and the menus are all in Indonesian, we  generally end up having whatever we can say in Indonesian like "Nasi Goreng Ayam" (fried rice with chicken), or we point to a picture in the menu which is great if you like to play Russian Roulette with your mouth and end up burning off your taste buds. PS. Never trust an Indonesian when they say it's not spicy, they are lying--Always "TIDAK PEDAS"

The View at Rasane Seafood 

Our new neighbourhood is also great for Benny and me when Jesse is at school because we are a short walk away from a great cafe called Epic Coffee, which is where western people go in Indonesia to eat French food. We are also a 10 minute walk to a preschool/play group where Benny can socialize with other kids his age and where I have offered to volunteer once a week; however, one thing I have learned being here is that you cannot get your hopes up about anything as the organizational skills of some of these establishments is non-existent. ie. I brought Benny to this playgroup 2 days in a row, interviewed with 2 women who confirmed Benny to come back the following day to begin his first day and then I received a text message from them saying their school is full... UUUUGH, and you don't argue with them because this is just the way it is here! So we will hope for good news by the end of the week to see when we can start, otherwise there are a few other schools including a Montessori preschool in our neighbourhood we will check out.

Another benefit to our new location is being a 5 minute drive to the 5-star Hyatt Hotel where all of the culture shocked foreigners go on Sundays for an amazing brunch buffet and to swim in their many luxurious pools amongst the palm trees.

One of the many pools at The Hyatt

Is this real life?

Tomorrow, Benny and I will attempt to order a taksi to take us to a gym I have heard about from other expats that has a great playroom for children and a swimming pool. I am certainly missing my workouts and I cannot keep using the phrase "I'm on vacation" for 5 months. It will be great to establish some sort of a routine for both me and Benny as life has been super chaotic these past few weeks, every task is a challenge for us with the language barrier, the new surroundings, and the difference in culture. Each time we walk out our front door we just don't know what might happen, every day is a new adventure making me so grateful to be here with my little family.

A few things I am missing about Home:
1. Sidewalks: these just don't exist in Jogja. You're lucky if you find a street where there is a foot of broken up brick and sand that you can walk on that isn't already covered with chickens (trust me, they don't want to cross the road), usually you just walk on the road while a thousand scooters swerve around you without slowing down, it's great.
2. Recycling: everything goes in the trash, which is then burned on the sidewalk (actually)... Mmmm nothing like waking up to the smell of burning trash in the morning lemme tell ya.
3. Drinking tap water: I have a hard enough time bathing in the water here knowing what the river under the bridge smells like.

A few things I am loving about Indonesia:
1. The people: there are 400K people living in Jogja (a city that is about 33km2, which is less than half the size of Victoria) and I have yet to meet one I didn't like. The positivity and generosity of these people is unlike anywhere I've been.
2. The food: obviously!
3. The pace: talk about island time. Although it can be frustrating when you would really like something to be done at a time when they say they are going to do it, no one gets worked up about it here, it is just the way it is and even though it would kill a business in North America, it is a nice way to live for a while.

Selamet Sore!

Jenn