So, I arrived safely in Indonesia, THANK GOD! And I met loads of great people in the waiting areas and on the plane, like we usually do when travelling!!! I met a military dude (short equilateral ;)) who was going to Irak, a couple of nice Hindu dudes on the plane, a girl leaving from Germany and going back to school in London, a HOT tanned Italian dude with a great white smile heading to Phuket (devastated by the tsunami last year!) and an Aussie who had great stories about Indonesia since he was doing business with this country! I love travelling for these reasons...You always meet great people! :)
The trip was verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry exhausting! I calcultate this and I flew over 24 hours! I was scheduled to fly at 3pm on Jan 3rd, but I thought that I wouldn't have enough time between my flights. So I decided to take the flight at noon, but I finally took the one at 11am! I didn't have the time to really say bye to my parents. Like it is with a band-aid, it was quick, but still painful! Funny feeling...Happy yet sad! (And the flight was on time, MW!) Anyways, I didn't sleep much during my flights and tried to maximize the use of the PTVs in my trip from Frankfurt to KL! I got my first wake-up call (in terms of different cultures!) in KL when a couple of dudes where whistling at me! And there it goes I thought! I arrived in Surabaya at 10am on January 5th.
Everything went well, BUT they lost one of my luggage. The one with all my t-shirts and toilet paper. Trust me, you NEED toilet paper around here! I'll have to make a picture of how it looks like, but it is a toilet like we know but they don't have toilet paper...just a hose! And I don't really feel like trying the hose...hehehe! There was another dude who lost his instrument (at the airport) , a Chinese violin. So together, we declared our missing luggage. The dudes were nice and they spoke about me in Bahasa...I guess the woo-woo Tabarnak won't help in this situation...hehehe! One of the dudes thought I was cute... awwwwwwwww!!!! And it is really interesting how they ask questions about your personal life too...about what I study, when my B-day is, about my family, etc. I then met the people who came to pick me up...REALLY nice people!
They brought the car and off we went. First culural difference making me feel uneasy: no seat belts when ridding on a backseat!) LOADS of people were driving motorcycles! Actually, everyone because it is so cheap! And it is quite warm here too...around 30 degrees! So we drove to a typical restaurant where you take your shoes off and sit on the floor. I tried traditional food (picture to come later!) and it was quite yummy! A bit spicy though! And then they dropped me off at my host family. Nice people and beautiful home (pics to come later!). The AIESECers left and I then decided to take a nap. I wasn't feeling well...probably from the travelling and the food. I hope it won't take me too long to get used to the food! When I woke up, I met the 2nd son (they have 4 kids: 2 boys, 1 girl and a younger boi) and we chit chatted. It was a challenger but I learned a couple of words in Bahasa. We had an interesting conversation about water, cuz I obviously can't drink tap water!!! Food was also pretty good!
Showering time...I freaked out when I saw the bathroom on the 2nd floor, but I took my shower (they call it taking a mandi (taking a bath)) on the first floor. They have a bucket of water and a shower like we know them. It wasn't too complicated and I managed pretty well. Wooohooo! Then some AIESECers came to meet me and I went to bed straight after. I took my mom's medecine (and thank god the luggage I had was the one with the medecine. Thanks mom :)!) and some other stuff too! I felt much better the next day!
How do I adapt to the culture and signs of any culture shocks? YES- had multiple crying attacks, but I controlled myself up to now!. Today, the 6th, I woke up, took a mandi, ate soup with eggs and onions and I was almost crying...The Bu of the household (Ms.) told me to go blow my nose...May, I had to cry my #@^^ off instead! At 10am, a dude came to pick me up to go to Immigration, change some money, call my parents and then go to the AIESEC local! He had a motorcycle and it was the first time I rode a motorcycle....I LOVE IT! Obvicouly, it isn't the Yamaha or Ninja type, but It was pretty fun!
The people are all nice here, and some are nicer and more open than others, which is normal! I know what my schedule will look like in the next couple of days, and they have a muslim celebration on January 10th where they sacrifice lotsa sheeps! DH, I hope I'll be able to eat meat anyways...I'll try not to look at the killing too much...weak stomach! :( Anyways, I am going to be pretty busy and I told them I want to try EVERYTHING and want to go out and do something everyday, or else I'll have a crying fit and a 'why the hell am I here' tantrum! They are all super nice and I think they understand that I should be quite busy because I will be harder if I am not! Good!!!! :P
I am now in a mall and I took a Mikrolet (sort of a van with no seat belts and the door is opened!), bumped my head when steeping out of it (moron!) and I have to buy a couple of things here! It is very interesting here and the landscape is very nice! I hope I'll be able to visit the many mountains and volcanoes!
I am feeling a bit sick now (stomach) and I'll have to jet now! I wish you all the best and if someone knows how I can post pics online, PLEASE let me know! I want you guys to see where I live and what I see! :)
Lotsa love and PLEASE write me e-mails...I want to know what is happening in Canada! :P
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