A Regular Day...

Ronnie is guest blogging for me today. I asked him if he would write what a typical day is like for us here in Bandung. Not too exciting, but this is pretty much our "new normal."

Routine is something most of us enjoy. It brings comfort, allowing us to live on “autopilot” for the moment.

Daily routine in our apartment goes something like the following. We wake early usually before 6am due to sunlight through the windows, roosters crowing or dogs barking. More often, the motorcycle noise of a neighbor as it climbs the steep hill outside our bedroom windows wakes me. Jan is able to sleep a little longer since she stays up later, but she is generally up by 6:30am.

coffee is ground into a fine powder, then settles in bottom of cup

I generally have mud coffee, although I will use the coffee pot if Jan decides she wants coffee instead of hot tea. We have breakfast, then to clean up, we boil a large pan of water and pour it into a pink wash pan, which has dish soap and a half a cap of bleach. The water is drawn from the bathtub which, unlike the kitchen, is piped with hot but non-potable water. We run rinse water into a blue pan from the bottled water dispenser and wash the dishes. We place the trash outside our front door for the boys to pick up as they do their daily routine of sweeping the stairwell leading to our apartment.

We respond to mail, read news on the web or enjoy Facebook. Seldom is the TV on since few of the channels make any sense to us.

Ronnie drawing hot water from bath tub

Sometimes the routine is disturbed by the boys coming to change the air (water) bottle, which is empty. For that we pay Rp. 12,500 (about $1.47). Today it was disturbed by them collecting yet another rat out of the attic. I heard it squirming in the trap during the night.

On Monday thru Wednesday I shower, dress and take off to work on the ojek (motorcycle), or use the car and driver which we have rented just this week. I pack not only my computer bag, but also my lunch and my running clothes to use later in the day when I run the track at ITB. On MWF, Jan greets the pembantu (house keeper), who arrives around 9:00am.

boiling water to wash dishes - several times a day

Ronnie leaves for work on ojek

Every day the apartment must be swept because of critters that enter during the night, or debris that comes thru the open windows, cracks under the doors or tracked in on our shoes. Anyone from Indonesia that enters our apartment always removes their shoes at the front door. Slippers, thongs and sandals are popular here for that reason.

When I arrive home from work at the University, we generally prepare supper together. We haven’t eaten out that often for several reasons—haven’t found a restaurant where the food is outstanding, has a menu we enjoy or that excels in cleanliness. Our cooking gear is pretty modest. A Teflon skillet, a sauce pan, and a large pot. All three are generally used every time the kitchen is used. Our “dirty kitchen" (the outside kitchen) is used for frying and boiling water. The inside kitchen is used for warming frozen veggies, cooking potatoes or boiling pasta. After supper, we go through the same routine (using the pink and blue pans) to clean up the dishes. Many times we use paper goods to avoid having to wash too many dishes, or concern about what critter has crawled on the dishes at night (cicaks—lizards, roaches, ants, etc.). That creates trash which we put out the next morning. Jan says our camping experience has served us well here. Her sister Marilyn advised us early on to think of our apartment as camping but with roof, electricity and potty. Adjusting our perspective to that has helped some. Jan here: However, we have had 7 rats removed from our apartment and that is something we’re both having trouble adjusting to!

bottled water dispenser, frig, stove top, dishwashing area

In the evening, I go through my routine of reading the comics and the news highlighted by Yahoo or Google. I catch up on email or Facebook and then work for a couple of hours reading, entering research data, grading papers or studying the language. Jan blogs, responds to email, reads Facebook and spends time on her laptop. Thank the good Lord for the Internet and our laptops! Otherwise, we would truly be isolated and miserable without contact from our friends and family. (AMEN to that!!)

On Thursdays, Jan goes to Bible study while I just relax in the apartment or run on the streets nearby. I don’t like to do this because I can get tagged by a motorcycle, have to smell the burning trash on the roadside and worry about injury from the uneven surface of the street (potholes, rock cover or uneven pavers). On Fridays, I take my swim lesson at Cipaku pool and Jan walks in the same neighborhood with her Bible teacher.

On Saturday, we get out and shop or try to see places in the city, but it is very crowded with tourists that come to Bandung to shop the outlet malls or enjoy the cooler weather. On Sunday, we attend BIC (Bandung International Church) and get out in the afternoon to scout the city or buy supplies at Setiabudhi Market to begin another week.