groundhog day

Greetings from Jakarta, land of the FAO merry-go-round.

I make a loop from Eric & Dale's house to the project office, with an occasional trip to the main FAO office. Like a carousel going around and around, the scenery never changes. It is starting to make me sick. No government clearance to actually work or travel outside Jakarta. The present reason may change, but the outcome never seems to. Minimum one hour to go anywhere, stuck in Jakarta traffic and its associated noxious fumes. Not to mention Rozy's obnoxious cassette of 80's and 90's pop that he plays endlessly in the car. No internet outside the Deptan office, even though I now have a satellite modem, because it doesn't seem to be working with my clunky personal laptop. No email from my Blackberry because the woman at Thamrin who programs them is often on holiday. No official laptop for at least another week and a half. Slow connection at Deptan occasionally punctuated by some ill-explained busywork that is apparently quite urgent. Texts and emails to the boss about how to transfer large sums of money via Paypal (for a year's worth of rent) ignored, leaving me to seriously consider a cash advance through AmEx, with an associated large fee.

Then, when a whole day of that is over, we go home to let out the dog and be eaten by mosquitos inside the house. It is dead silent at the house, except when the bloody dog is barking or whining. I'll take Dale's new rooster crowing over Sheena any day. After an early dinner of rice, fried chicken, tempeh, and maybe some vegetables, everyone falls silent into his or her book, laptop, or room. And that is it for the night. Repeat for the full day on weekends, with an occasional shopping trip or dip in the pool. I have finished 4 books, a dozen crosswords, the daily paper, 2 magazines, and many games of solitaire since I left the U.S.

Sorry to be so depressing. But, well, it is depressingly frustrating. Tomorrow is election day for the governor of Jakarta and a work-from-home kind of day. Traffic is expected to be horrible, and crowds may not be safe. I think would scream if I had to sit all day at the silent house with no access to the larger world. I will find a cafe or bookstore, even if I don't actually have any work to do, and go there. For the whole day. Next week we are to go to Yogjakara for intensive language training. Normally I would be excited, but today I'm finding it hard to be excited about much. It has to be better than my current situation. Yogja is supposed to be nice. I hope we get to see more of it than the inside of a classroom and the house we are renting for the week.

On a brighter note, Dale and I visited the orchid market this weekend. If I can figure out how to make the payment, I will get my micro-penthouse apartment hopefully by this weekend. It has been suggested that I wait to move my stuff in once we are back from language training so it isn't sitting there for a week, available to be stolen while I am gone. Great!

It was nice to talk to the family over the past few days, and congrats to Mark & Heather on their engagement! Stay in touch...