Jan 24 Ups & Downs

Jan 24 Ups & Downs

 

I was about to do some laundry when the power went out. Will have to do that another time. It didn’t come back on until 2:30 pm, after I had left. I was going to call my Dad, but the battery was low on my phone. Lesson: make sure to keep everything charged up since you don’t know when the outages will be.

 

In the afternoon I met with the director of the local aquaculture center. He is a very nice man and seems very wise in his management of the center and in involving the local people in getting them trained to be able to run things when the aid will end in a couple years.

 

On the way back, I was feeling adventurous and decided to try to find an ATM and try again to find “Sonic” (the high speed internet café). I stopped at an ATM, but it wasn’t on the right system. Why didn’t I realize that the instructions would be in a foreign language. There was another ATM across the street (took 5 minutes to get across) that worked and had a choice of languages. The highest selection for cash was 500,000 rupiah (about  $53) so I did it three times. (Now I get to see what the fees will be.) I knew I was close to the Sonic place so I asked directions: “di mana Sonic?” They looked confused and said “Sony Errickson?” I said “tidak” and then mimicked typing and said “internet.” They said lurus (straight)….and eventually drew me a picture of where it was. Then I went in a shop and bought a cup w/ a lid and some organizing bins. The guy apparently assumed I wouldn’t understand him so he showed me the total on a calculator. I eventually found Sonic and sent some emails. I wanted to get home before dark, so I only stayed 20 minutes which cost 3000 rupiah (32 cents).

 

When I got back to the house there was a stranger in the front yard and motorcycles blocking the driveway. Inside there were a bunch of people, some of whom looked vaguely familiar. It is hard to be in a room full of people happily chatting among themselves and you can’t understand anything. I got a little boy to look at a picture book with me, but most of the adults just smiled at me or ignored me.

 

At dinner we (the 2 women in the house and I) had a good conversation on a variety of topics. Either their English is getting better, or they are getting more confident to use it.