Update (including food stuffs for Michaela)

It’s time for just a basic life update.  Everything has been crazy busy.  I can’t officially work yet because of my visa, so I haven’t been doing much, but somehow I seem to still fill all of my time.  Here’s what’s been going on:

First, I moved from my temporary kost to my permanent kost.  My employer put me up for my first 30 days at a kost called Avia Residence.  I really grew to love the neighborhood, but the location was not convenient.  There were also some amenities that I wanted that the kost lacked.  It was very safe, but could have been cleaner.  My room had a queen-sized bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and an aircon (air conditioning is just called “aircon” here).  It also had a toilet and a shower, kind of all-in-one, so I couldn’t take a shower without soaking the toilet.  Also, there was a bit of a drainage problem, leaving about ½” of standing water in the entire bathroom every time I took a shower.  Needless to say, I wore sandals in the bathroom ALWAYS.  My new kost is called Urban Estindo Residence.  I had the option of moving to an apartment or a kost, and I chose kost for a few reasons.  Basically, what I am giving up in the space provided by a 1-bedroom apartment (my kost room is 9’ x 9’ including the bathroom and closet), I am gaining in maid service, laundry service, linen service, free breakfast, and savings.  This kost is just about as far away from Mal Taman Anggrek as my last kost, but now I have access to a pedestrian bridge.  The walk to work is only about 15 to 20 minutes, meaning I’m also saving about $4 to $5 a day on cab fares (not to mention that I am not contributing to the traffic problem). 

Like I said, I can’t officially work because I don’t have my KITAS, only a business visa, but I still hold hours every day because it adds some normalcy.  On a business visa I can still attend meetings, trainings, and observations.  I also spend my time preparing lesson plans – not for my school to use, but so that I have some ready once my KITAS is obtained.  I was holding hours in my center, but I’ve decided to hold them at Starbucks or at home instead, so as to be less conspicuous. 

A normal day looks a little like this:

1)  Wake up naturally or in violent spurts from about 7:30 to 9:30.  Indonesians are LOUD and the walls here are very thin.

2)  Check emails and watch the news – I like Aljazeera or BBC, but I do have CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. 

3)  Get dressed in my gym clothes and pack some work clothes, my computer, and my hairbrush in my backpack.  Check my wallet, and make sure I have about 200,000 IDR (about $16) on me, just in case.

4)  Walk to Mal Taman Anggrek and head straight to the 4^th level (which is actually the 7^th floor) to go to the gym to work out for at least an hour.

5)  Take a shower at the gym (hot water!) and get dressed.

6)  Head to the food court (also on the 4^th level) for some lunch.  The food court is basically just food stalls that are rented out by street vendors on a permanent basis.  I have some favorites, including gado-gado lontong, 

kweitiau goreng sapi,

sop ayam nasi,

kuo tieh panggang,

    

and babi rica-rica padang.

My lunch at the food court is about 50,000 IDR, but for that I'm paying for aircon, running water for sanitation (assumedly), and TWO Diet Cokes from the drink vendor.  I have to purchase coupons from the coupon desk, buy my meal and drinks from different stalls, then turn in my remaining coupons for a refund.

7)  Head to Starbucks to work, or to my Center if I need to print something or get a reimbursement.  Hang out for about 3-5 hours.

8)  Walk back to my kost, usually stopping at the Indomart for water and sometimes a snack.

9)  Do some additional work or personal work (language study, reading, etc.).

10)  Walk down the street to pick up dinner from one of the street vendors.

11)  Change into pajamas and watch a movie with dinner.

12)  Chat, Skype, or catch up on social media and emails. 

13)  Fall asleep around midnight.

This isn’t the most gratifying arrangement, and I really can’t wait to actually start doing the job I was hired to do, but things could be a lot worse.

I miss everyone, and I’ll try to post another update soon…