Yes, we do have a frig (not full size, but larger than the original) and a microwave. We’ve also bought a toaster over (no oven in apt) and we have a stove top. The frig has 2 small ice trays that we fill with bottled water. We have to boil water or use bottled water to wash dishes, then rinse in another bowl with bleach and bottled water and a final rinse in bottled water. Yes, it takes a LOT of bottled water!!
The water in the shower and kitchen sink is not potable. Weird, but they have hot water that can easily scald you in the bathroom, but no plumbing for hot water in the kitchen. When I asked about it, they get this wild-eyed look like they can’t imagine why anyone would want hot water in the kitchen! It’s just odd to me that they can plumb it for the bathroom but don't see the need for it in the kitchen. Weird…
I am going to interview a Muslim woman (Ibu Edi) soon that has been recommended to clean for me. I’ve been told that she is “older” (turns out she’s my age!) HA! I could tell from the reference that she is really more into cooking and taking care of kids but I have explained that I am interested in cleaning only, and she apparently still wants the job. So I hope to meet her within the next few days, when the lady who is giving me the reference can bring her over and translate for us.
Here’s the bottom line I think. Our standards of cleanliness are just different (higher) than theirs and the people who clean are poor and live in dirty conditions themselves. Clean to them is not clean to me, at least this is what I’ve been told and has been my experience thus far with our current “cleaning service”. Our current service is a sweet little boy named Yoto, but he uses a filthy broom, filthy mop and filthy water. After coming back into the apartment last night from being gone 2 nights (it was already rented out for Idul Fitri and again mid-September before we signed our contract), the place was supposed to be really clean (landlady said she wanted them to clean for 3-4 hours before letting us return). I thought to myself “well see…" Well, it was funny to me that the toilet paper was folded into a point like in a hotel, but there was human hair (NOT OURS) and other dirt on the floor!! Whatever!!! It will help my sanity a lot if I can find someone to come in 2-3 times a week and clean. Everything has to be open with no AC and stuff just gets dirty/dusty really fast.
As for a driver, I think we are going to have to do that too. It is a pain in the patoot dealing with these cabs and public transportation! So much time is wasted. Night before last we had to go to a Fulbright dinner and we waited at the end of our street for one hour, calling the cab company (supposedly the “safe” one that uses meters and don’t try to cheat you as bad) NINE times before they finally said they weren’t coming. It was an extra busy night with all the hoopla over Ramadan so that was the issue. We finally had to call our landlady and ask her to take us, which I really hated doing!! Taxis normally take about 30 minutes to show up. Ronnie needs someone dependable to get to work and also it will be nice if we have a driver so that I’m not trying to give directions in Bahasa to find this place. Most cab drivers know the general area but not how to get to our apartment which requires winding down several streets and coming down a bumpy alley to the dead end where are located. Neither of us want “live ins" but I’ll admit that having some help here would certainly remove a certain amount of stress, and just being this far from home in an entirely different culture is stressful enough.
Ronnie is here most of the time but next week he’ll be spending a lot more time in the office. Can you believe he’s made 8 trips to the Immigration office and still hasn’t completed our paper work? The bureaucracy here is ridiculous!!!
NO, I don’t feel safe going anywhere by myself. We get out a lot but always together. I will walk maybe a mile or so from the apt by myself but I am so unable to communicate with non-English speaking people that I’m not about to venture too far alone at this point. Ronnie met a Caucasian couple on the running track at ITB (both runners) and he was so excited to meet them that we immediately planned to get together, which we did last Sunday. He is with GE and they have been here 3 months. I've told her I'm up for movies, lunch, spa, shopping, or whatever. Maybe we can even do some “exploring” together since we both like photography. There is certainly no shortage of photo ops here! Also, there are a lot of outlets in this city and I want to visit some; however I don’t know how I could possibly get home with anything extra in my bags and it costs too much to ship stuff.
To date, we have only met one other Caucasian family, and that is the missionary we met in the supermarket. We took he and his family out to eat last weekend and enjoyed that very much! Two Caucasian families and we’ve already gotten together with both of them! Turns out they are both nurses/translators/missionaries on Papua province (a tribal area) and are here in the city for the birth of their 3rd child. I’m trying to connect them with Project Cure, an awesome organization in the US that collects used/expired medical supplies and sends them to third world countries.
As for the mall, Paris Van Java mall is the one closest to us and it is nice enough, though the clothing, etc are naturally geared to this culture. CarreFour is the big store (like our Walmart) and it is overwhelming with funky odors!! As far as having to wear a head scarf, no I don’t and it’s a strange mix as many (perhaps most) do but many do not. Not sure if that means they are not Muslim or ?? I just wear my usual clothes and I stick out like a sore thumb, primarily because of my skin color.
If you read my post, we do have a washer (such as it is) which is almost more trouble than it’s worth (Ronnie has started washing his running clothes out in the tub each day) and we are now using a laundry service that at least brings them back soft and not as stinky smelling. They “perfume” them with somewhat of a sickening floral fragrance (I suspect it is to mask odor), since they are washing them in the same water (not potable) we are. But at least they are clean (?), and soft and it is CHEAP! The guy on the scooter whips a hand scale out of his pocket and weighs them at the door, then gives you a receipt and drives off with our dirty clothes on the back of his scooter. Cost for several days laundry is usually around $3US including pickup and delivery! HA So that is definitely the way to go – if you read my post on “to laundry or not to laundry” you will understand why I say that.
Yes, the apt is furnished (the kitchen pitifully equipped for any real cooking) and it has a nice TV, although we can’t find too many channels we want to watch. Game shows, sit coms and soap operas in Bahasa are not my cup of tea! Yes, you already know we have internet access but it is often slow and frustrating. Ronnie is going to try something different when we return back to the apartment after mid-September and try to actually settle in. For the time being, we’re still pretty much living out of suitcases, as we know we’ll be booted out again in 2 weeks.
Our landlady is Chinese, very nice, speaks good English and tries to be accommodating. She is one of the reasons we settled on this place. I feel fairly safe and I know I could call her if I had a real problem, which is a real plus.
If we had rented a house, it would have probably come with a housekeeper/guard/cook and such but we both value privacy and just didn’t like the idea of total strangers living in the house with us and cooking our food. If we can get a little help with cleaning and getting around, that would be more to our liking.
Well, I hope I’ve answered most of your questions (you asked a lot!) and if not, ask me again and I’ll try to do better.
Love,
Jan
PS As for our kitchen situation - my sister Marilyn said to think of it like I was camping out – except with electricity and potty! I’m trying to remember that and it does help my perspective vs concentrating on what is missing!
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