I am writing this just before dinner on Tuesday, with two days of official in-country orientation and one morning of language training under my belt. What a packed two days it has been!
Both mornings have begun with a delicious breakfast (Western food for now), followed by devotions. The group of eight of us then heads to the MCC office, which is a five minute walk from Karen and Major's. The office feels so homey, which I think is a combination of the building itself, and (much more so) the truly phenomenal MCC Indonesia staff. Everyone greets us with huge smiles, with warm words, and with an eagerness to help us in anything we may need help with.
Yesterday's activities included an introduction to MCC Indonesia, a session on finances, and an informal discussion on goals and expectations. We had an incredible lunch at Dan and Jeanne's house (the Indonesia MCC Reps), that included most of the MCC Indonesia team. It was a great chance to meet some more awesome people and eat some great food (seriously, this Indonesian food scenario is amazing! I've never had so many good meals in a row- not one has let me down yet!). In the evening, we all went to a Warung (a food stall) for sate (chicken on a stick with peanut sauce) and Lontong (rice that has been wrapped in a banana leaf and packed together, and then cut into pieces). We sat on mats in the Pancasila (the main ring in the city, though some of you will also know the word for its political meaning) and watched children go by on mini 4-wheelers that you can rent and ride around the ring (one of many clever ways to make money!).
Today we had our first of what is going to be a traditional pancake Tuesday breakfast, followed by devotions. We headed back to the MCC office for our first language session with Pak Putut. He's a pretty young guy with a lot of energy, awesome English skills, and an ability to make 4 hours of language training fun! We learned more vocabulary than I think I'll ever master (and it's just the first day!) and had a lot of laughs as we (or at least I) stumbled over the simplest of words and phrases. We plan on studying a lot tonight!!
We went out for gado-gado lantong (a type of salad that includes lettuce, tomatoes, fried tofu, lantong, crispy chips, and peanut sauce) and Jus Milenium (a coconut-lemon juice combo). The total of my bill came to Rp. 13,000- less than $2 Canadian. The cost of food in Indonesia is incredibly cheap! We've been encouraged though, not to think in terms of cost compared to Canada, but costs compared to Indonesian wages. A service worker in Indonesia makes around Rp. 30,000 a day, which he would use to care for his entire family. My meal at lunch would have cost him nearly half of his salary for the day. It's going to be really difficult, but really important, to think along such lines in order to truly integrate into the lives those who we will be living with this coming year.
Now on to the reason for the title of this post... a squatty potty mishap! Luckily it didn't happen to me (though I have full permission to post this story), which makes it allll the more funny! So we got back to Major and Karen's about an hour ago, and Jason, one of the SALTers (who is quite tall), went straight to the bathroom. He has been very committed to mastering the art of the squatty potty (and for those of you who watched the link I posted in the previous post, you'll know that it truly is an art), and has religiously used the squatty potty every chance he's gotten. I suppose though, that 2 days is not long enough to truly grasp the squatty potty concept, because he came out of the bathroom looking all sheepish, saying, "Um, do you guys have cleaning supplies?" When we asked him why, his response was, "The worst thing that could have possibly happen, happened... Stupid foot spots aren't accurate at all!" For the next ten minutes, all we could hear from the bathroom was splashing and rustling, as Jason attempted to remedy the situation. Lesson learned: look before you... well, you know. Otherwise, as Jason put it, you'll end up with a "diluted mess" on your hands.
Tomorrow is our second and last language training before a week with our host families. I think when we get back from that, we'll be even more motivated to learn the language than we are right now!
Have a great day everyone!
This is "Uncle" John. I have just finished reading your blog from beginning to current end and it looks like you are having an incnredible time and as expected I am jealous :). The country looks gorgeous. I trust your week with your host family will go wonderfully. Enjoy the end of Ramadan feast. God bless.
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