Well, I made it. We flew to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, from Singapore, and then the other ETA, Adam, and I headed to the outdoor terminal of the Jakarta airport to catch a flight to Pontianak on the island of Borneo. I didn't take any pictures of the Jakarta airport (sad day...), but hopefully in the future I will remember to capture a snapshot or two of the awesome outdoor terminals of Jakarta. So for now, just create a beautiful image in your head of lovely walkways leading to seating areas perched just on the edge of the Tarmac. (Now I fear I may have built up this image a bit too much, so I'll have to take SUPER AWESOME pictures to do the airport justice.)
Anyhow, after having a minor mix-up with the gates, whereby Adam and I found out 20 minutes before the plane was scheduled to take off that our plane had been moved to Terminal 2 instead of the quaint Terminal 7 we so eagerly sat in front of, Adam and I set off for the great unknown region of Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Can we all just take a moment and notice that the equator runs RIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF PONTIANAK?!?! Really?! (As Connie would say.)
Upon arriving in the airport, I was greeted by my counterpart (the individual who's supposed to look out for me while I'm in Indonesia) and the principal of the school I'll be working at. Adam and I said quick goodbyes as he headed off with his counterpart, and I left with Fitri (my counterpart), Mr. Iswaldi (the principal), and two assistant principals. We drove to a nice restaurant in town where I had my first Pontianak meal of seafood and rice (which would prove to be an ongoing theme as Pontianak is located right on the water). Fortunately, for those of you who don't know, I LOVE SEAFOOD. So at least maybe I can check off food as being something that I won't have a hard time transitioning to! Between seafood and the A&W and KFC in the mall twenty minutes from my house, I think I should be able to survive the food war... Until it becomes time to cook! But that's a bridge I'll cross when I come to it.
After the wonderful meal of fish, squid, and of course, rice, Fitri and the rest of my welcoming committee drove me to my place of residence for the next 8 and a half months. So, I'll devote the rest of this post to the house I'll be living in during my time in Pontianak. Bring on the pictures!
So this is my house. Giant, eh? When one of the directors of the Fulbright program informed me of my house, she said that it would be "perfect for me and my 10 kids." But don't worry mammy, I don't plan on having ANY children while here :) I'll just hog all the space for myself or possible visitors.
As you can see inside, I have a giant common area. Basically three different seating areas! So much space to clean... When looking in my front door, you can kind of see the kitchen on the right side. The kitchen is nice, including an oven, microwave, and stove that I'm not sure yet if I can use... Up on the left you can kind of see the railing of the loft, making my home 2 stories! This place is intense. In the entire place, I have three bedrooms, two of them with AirCon. In the back right you can see a sink that is next to one of my, fortunately, Western style toilets! And next to that is a door to my back kitchen...
I hope you like what I did with the pictures... I'm trying something new :) Anyway, the back kitchen is where I have my gas burner, refrigerator, and water tank. I skip between here and my other kitchen when preparing food. Also, for whatever reason, I have this awesome 3D mural on my outside wall next to the stairway to my roof! Note the little fisher people with the awesome hats. The stairway leads to a small area where I can hang my laundry, but I will show you that later. Now, let's go beyond the panda and bird screen, to see my super awesome bedroom!
So this is my bedroom, complete with a massive king size bed, dresser, and personal bathroom. I'm not going to fill you in on the bathroom yet, because I'm not fully adjusted to it, but eventually I will share all! My room is pretty darn big, and fortunately there is open space where I can hunt down the cockroaches! I'm winning the war 8-1 at this point! There are two other notable bits about my room:
The AirCon! I would probably never sleep without this cold piece of machinery. Actually, the nights when my electricity doesn't work, I often don't sleep...
And the other, most important part of any room I stay in -
My memories from home. A card from my sister, the Dickmans, and my friend Paige. The text of the graduation card the Brockmeyers, and a picture of Mammy, dad, Abby and I from Glenn & Fran's wedding! Of course there's always a photo album of friends and family, Eeyore to remind me of Maria, and the Beanie Baby Cheery from Shirley. And, as with all of my adventures, I have the pictures of my Aunt Karen and Uncle Wheat alongside Abby and my Family. See Aunt Karen, I'm always thinking about you :) You know where you stand! So of course, if you want to be a part of my bedside table, just drop me a line or a photo! Oh, and of course the last bit that always travels with me around the world: The Blue Bunny, in memory of Gran. I always miss her as much as I miss all my friends and family at home and abroad.
So that's a glimpse of my house in Indonesia. I hesitate to say 'home,' because home will always be Sayler Park. But it honestly is nice here. I apologize if this was a bit long and boring, but I wanted you to get a bit of an idea where I am. Hopefully my next post will be about some awesome site in Indonesia!! This shall be the first of my 'domestic life' posts. We'll see how they go.
Oh! I also now have an address!! Let me know if you would like it. Apparently mail could take 4 months to get here, as well as 4 months for me to send something to you, but I'm gonna try! I've got 8 months, right?!
"Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts." -Oliver Wendell Holmes
Talk to you soon,
Ryan
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