Dwi picked us up after breakfast and drove us to see 3 apartments, then back to the Immigrasi Office to deliver a letter we failed to take yesterday and pick up our multiple entry/exit form. I must say the apartments were expensive and very disheartening. But this afternoon Dwi learned that ITB owns a house and can be rented by visiting professors. He is under the impression that it is available and possibly even new! It is very hard not to let ourselves get excited about this!!
However, I also have the huge concern of personal safety. So my excitement is tempered with fear of disappointment that it's not available, as well as just plain fear, as I have also noticed a lot of gang graffiti around that area.
After searching several hours yesterday and again today, we finally found the ITB house that we had been so excited and hopeful about. We were disappointed to see that each of the bedrooms had 2 twin beds on opposite sides of the room (dormitory style). We would also be sharing the kitchen and living area with others living in the house. We politely told Dwi that we'd like to keep looking. Oh, and we're discovering that their definition of "new" is very different from ours - this "new" house was at least 40 years old if it was a day!!
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| housekeeper in ITB house kitchen |
There is absolutely no way to describe what the traffic is like here. It seems there are almost as many motorcycles as there are people! And they are all going somewhere all of the time. Every minute of the day seems like rush hour. Every time cars stop, motorcycles fill in all the empty spots, literally. They remind me of water flowing downhill, going between and around every other vehicle. There is always honking and the traffic is erratic and crazy, yet no one seems to lose their cool. How can this be??
Dwi is an example of the way Indonesians control their emotions in public (this is very important to them). As I said, we spent many hours trying to find the ITB house. He must have stopped to ask directions at least 10 times. It was obvious that his back was hurting, not to mention he had not had anything to eat or drink all day (Ramadan), yet he never appeared ruffled. Even the cab driver who got a ticket with us in the car didn't show any emotion. Sheesh!
And if they don't eat or drink (which they don't from midnight to 6 pm the following day) then neither do we. We're hot, tired (still suffering jet lag), hungry, thirsty and discouraged, yet we are careful not to let our emotions show either.
At one point in our search, the road was so narrow that when we met a car, we had to stop and let others help both drivers maneuver past one another, while all the while motorcycles continued flowing around us.
As I said my journal lasted about 5 days but this is where the blog picked up. Thanks for taking the time to share our experiences with us!
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