...And Two Weeks Later...

Hello Hello, my lovely friends and family!

Once again, I apologize for the severe lag in posts, and for the mammoth essay that I am now writing to compensate for that lag. On the upside, however, this gap can be taken as a good sign; the last two weeks have been busy busy busy, and absolutely chalk FULL of fun things! I'll waste no time in sharing those things with you...

Last Tuesday and Wednesday passed by at a snail's pace, as the days leading up to something exciting seem to do, though Wednesday night was a highlight as we (my friend Debora and I) went out for an awesome dinner with Ibu Linda and Pak Heri, to celebrate Pak Heri's birthday. In this case, the excitement was Mike's arrival on Thursday night. Mike is a fellow Indonesia SALTer, but his placement is one of the two that are not on Java. Because of the distance and the flight costs, Mike has not been back to Java since we left Salatiga back in October. I anticipated his arrival with almost as much excitement as I did my dad's (though I managed to hold back the tears of joy this time...) After TK and a shortened session at Ichthus FM, my host parents and I headed to the airport. Mike's flight was on time, and it was a great little reunion with what felt like a long-lost member of our Indo Fam. My host parents treated Mike (and myself) like royalty, with activities and adventures every night. We enjoyed some AWESOME food, did some mall-hopping (malls are by far the most common hangout spot for youth and young adults in Semarang- I suppose some things are just universal!), and satisfied Mike's cravings for McDonalds, which cannot be found where he is serving. Laura joined us on Saturday night, and we went to a movie on Sunday night (more for the experience than for the actual film- "Chronicle" was among the most scarring movies I have ever seen. If it's playing in North America or wherever you are, I discourage you from seeing it.) Having Mike and Laura here was a huuuuge spirit-booster for myself, and it was especially exciting because our trip to Singapore (SINGAPORE!!!!) was on the horizon!

On Monday morning, after a little incident involving a bottle of blue nail polish that fell off my desk (and predictably shattered on the tile floor, flinging nail polish everywhere- it took me over two hours clean up today), Laura, Mike, and I headed off to Salatiga. We arrived in the late morning, and went straight to MCC, where, on top off all the good things that were going on, I found a package from my friend Rachael that arrived four months after she shipped it!! After checking week after week to see if it had arrived, I had given up on it, so it was such an awesome surprise! I opened my package, and then we headed for lunch to Cosmo cafe. Riki and Jason arrived in the early afternoon, and the five of us took a bis kecil (small bus) up to Kopeng to hang out at Laura's. A feeling of absolute contentment swept over me there, as I thought about how incredibly lucky I am to have these people in my life here. Being here has not always been easy (as you may well know), but my life has been SO enriched for meeting these people, and this experience has been worth it for that alone.

We returned from Kopeng in time for dinner at Karen and Major's, where Nicole met us. The eight of us talked about the logistics surrounding our trip to Singapore, and then we baked cookies (well, I ate freshly baked cookies) and played some Settlers of Catan (I lost miserably) before heading to Dan and Jeanne's for the night. I had the best night sleep that I have had since arriving in Indonesia (complete with good dreams!), and awoke to something that is next to impossible to find here- bagels! It was my first one in over six months, and those and the fresh banana milkshakes that Jeanne made, assured me that the day was going to be an amazing one.

Karen and Major and the boys (who had slept at Karen and Major's) arrived just before 8AM, and we were driven to the Semarang airport. Our two and a half days of pure bliss began the second we got through security, with Riki's purchase of fried cheese pockets that she generously shared with all of us.We boarded our plane just before 11AM, and flew to Jakarta (about an hour-long flight). Minus Mike, it was everyone's first time back in the Jakarta airport, and we were amazed at how beautiful it was. We certainly didn't remember it that way when we were coming from North America! Karen and Major had appointed Nicole as the person in charge of all money and passports, so I felt like I was traveling with my mom, who normally deals with paperwork; I could completely relax! From Jakarta, we flew to the Singapore airport, arriving around 4PM on Tuesday afternoon. I wish I could put into words the feeling of arriving there. The Singapore airport has been ranked number one in the world (though it is in stiff competition with the Hong Kong International Airport), and once you've seen it, you'll understand why. Besides being spotlessly clean (you could almost lick the floors), there are waterfalls, gardens, playgrounds, a pool, and a mini-forest growing inside. It's just ridiculous!! And coming from a place that doesn't rank number one in cleanliness (likely doesn't make the top 10 list either...), our jaws dropped at the sight of this place. I would have been perfectly content to spend our two days in the airport, but we had more to do than just hang out there, and so we went through immigration, grabbed a burger at McDonalds, and hopped on the (spotless, air-conditioned, punctual) SkyTrain which would take us to Philip and Iris' flat in Queenstown. Philip and Iris are friends of Karen and Major's, and they have past connections to MCC Indonesia. Philip is from New Zealand, and Iris is from Malaysia, and they have an adorable two year old son named Jeffrey. After a bit of confusion and disagreement in directions, we arrived at their flat on the third floor of a 30-floor apartment building, the most common living accommodation to be found in Singapore. Once the introductions were made, Philip and Iris spoke the magic words: "Here's a key. Come and go as you please." WHAT!? I wish I could convey to you just how much joy that brought me and everyone else on the team, all of whom are coming from six months of the opposite. We had almost forgotten what that kind of independence felt like like, and I will be forever grateful to Philip and Iris for allowing us to fulfill our craving for that.

We took full advantage of the chance to do just as we please, beginning about 10 minutes after we arrived in Queenstown. After dropping off our things, we hopped back on the SkyTrain to Holland Village, where we were told we could find a Mexican restaurant (yes, in Holland Village- odd, I know). Sure enough, Cha Cha Cha's was waiting for us (or rather, we waited for it, as it was Valentines Day, and every restaurant in that area was overflowing with people). We walked around for a bit beforehand, eating doritoes and marveling at the cleanliness (Singapore has very strict laws about litter, spitting, and gum chewing, and I wholeheartedly support these laws), and by 9:30PM, I found myself staring at a massive quesadilla and a dish of refried beans. We had been expecting mediocre Mexican cuisine, and our lowered expectations once again worked to our advantage. I don't even really eat Mexican food at home, but this meal was likely the new number one meal I've eaten in 6 months. (I'll acknowledge now that this blog post will be absolutely filled with references to food, as that was our top focus in Singapore.) It was also by far the most expensive meal I've eaten in 6 months (I gasp in horror when a food bill in Indonesia hits 30,000 rupiah, or about $4 CAN, just to give you an indication of what I've become accustomed to here), but it was worth every penny. We sat around chatting for awhile, and then headed back to the flat for a decent night's sleep.

On Saturday morning, we awoke around 7AM and had a quick breakfast at the flat, before heading to Pak Wahab's "visa office" to deal with visa renewal things. This visit- the sole purpose of our trip to Singapore- took place on a McDonalds patio on Orchard Road (the top shopping strip in Singapore), and consumed about 4 minutes of our time. It is a bit unnerving to hand all our personal documents and $1000 USD to a man who works out of a McDonalds, but these were our instructions by MCC, and they've done this more than once, so we trusted the system in place, and didn't give it a second thought.

From then until 4PM, the time was ours, and we used it as wisely as we possibly could. We began our day at an import grocery store, where I anticipated purchasing enough snacks to see me through until Andrew's visit in April. I eagerly grabbed a basket, and began exploring the options. After about 45 minutes, I went to the checkout line with my goods- one bag of chips and a box of Voortman's cookies. Turns out that reverse culture shock is entirely legitimate, and I was completely overwhelmed by the selection (and the prices) of the goods available to me. It was the oddest sensation to struggle so much with a grocery shopping trip, and I found it enough to just look at everything. It also struck me that part of the anticipation of going back to Canada is the food. I've already been sent packages that contain Western goodies like Kraft Dinner and Crispers, and I just didn't feel the desperate need to satisfy any more of my Western cravings; there's something exciting about the anticipation of waiting to fulfill them in July! No one else seemed to have any issues however, and purchases included Tostitos, salsa, Nature Valley bars, and Aero chocolate. Just outside the entrance to the grocery store, I stumbled across a very VERY beautiful invention- bacon wrapped sausage. The debate over whether or not to invest in a stick was short-lived, and within 30 seconds, I found myself savouring the taste of salty bacon. What a treat that was!

The six of us headed to a bookstore after that, and then to a really nice souvenir store. We then walked to a Subway to get subs, and then headed back to the flat to drop off our purchases. Nicole stayed behind for the day as she wasn't feeling the greatest, and we all took a few minutes to rest before continuing on our adventures. The five of us headed back out around 1:30, to Marina Bay Sands, a REALLY upscale hotel and shopping area right on the water. The shopping complex had a canal running through it, where one could ride boats if they so desired- inside! Bizarre. Since the prices were a mite out of our league ($6 for a cupcake...), we just looked around and took in the cleanliness, and then headed back to the Orchard Park area in time to pick up our passports. Jason ran ahead to do this, and by the time the rest of us caught up with him, Pak Wahab had come and gone, and all of our visa stuff was taken care of! We were free to do what we wanted for the rest of the time in Singapore!

We stopped for a beverage at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and then took the SkyTrain to Little India, to satisfy a craving for Indian food. Little India was a really cool part of the city, with lots of little shops and restaurants. We went to a vegetarian restaurant that proved to be delicious (though I passed on the food item that was labeled "Mango Milk Barfi"), and then went to a little souvenir shop to pick up a few things. We had planned to do the Singapore Zoo Night Safari that evening, and conveniently, there is a bus stop specifically for the Night Safari in Little India. We were picked up around 7:30, and driven a ways away to the zoo. The Singapore Zoo is supposedly the best zoo in the world, and after the night safari, I can understand why! The zoo is designed in such a way that it looks like the animals are roaming freely. They use trenches and hidden fences to give the zoo a natural look, as well as tons of trees and lots of space. The result is spectacular- it feels like the hyenas could just leap across the road and consume the water buffalo that live on the other side. (Man, it must be torture for the hyenas to look at those water buffalo all day, without any way to get to them). A night safari is such a cool thing, because the night life of many of these animals is so rarely seen. We took a tram that we could hop on and off of, and saw animals from all parts of the world (as well as a ton of deer, who, I believe, are the equivalent to pretzels in party mix- the item that no one wants, but that beefs up the content.) We went right into the bat cage, and watched as Jason flinched and flailed every time a bat flew by (Aunt Debbie, you would have loved this exhibit!). We hung around the zoo until 11PM, and then took the same bus back, and caught the last SkyTrain ride of the day, back to the flat. We were absolutely exhausted, but blissfully content after our day of sightseeing and eating.

We decided to go out for breakfast on Thursday morning, and found a place in the mall that served the traditional bacon/eggs/hashbrowns/toast. This was another first for me here on this side of the world- it was delicious! From there, we headed back the The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to have another drink and sit on their beautiful patio. Finally, around 10:45, we begrudgingly tore ourselves away from the streets of Singapore, to pack up and head back to the airport. Our flight left at 3:30, and we left enough time to grab lunch (Subway) at the airport. Our flight was delayed, giving us a bit of extra time to sit and chat, and then before we knew it, we were back on the plane to Jakarta. We had to say good-bye to Mike there, as he had to head back to his placement, and the rest of us boarded our flight to Semarang.

My host parents met us at the airport, and took Riki, Jason, and I back to our place (Laura and Nicole took a taxi back to Salatiga). They eased us back into life in Indonesia with a stop at KFC, and Jason and Riki slept over at my house. Jason left yesterday morning, and Riki stuck around until this morning, which I was really grateful for. It's really hard to go from having so many people around to being alone again, but the transition was made much smoother with the staggered departures of my dear Indo Fam. We had our expectations set quite low for our return to Java, and the good thing about that was that being back hasn't been as hard as I was expecting. I know we were only gone for two nights, but I was worried that after getting a taste of familiarity (Singapore is a VERY Westernized city), I would really struggle with my return. However, thus far, I've found that that trip had the opposite (and much more positive) effect on me. Besides being refreshing and fun, Singapore reminded me of what I felt like back before arriving for this year away. I had become really worn out prior to Singapore, and had forgotten what it felt like to feel just carefree and lighthearted. I forgot what that feeling of independence was like. It was such a relief to discover that my struggles here are not a permanent personality change. I was becoming really worried that this experience was making me a worse person rather than a better one, and that thought was beginning to consume me, and really paralyze me. It took just that one day of stepping outside of my circumstances to realize that that is not the case, and that knowledge has actually taken away a lot of my stress, even in being back here. I feel like the rest of this year will be substantially easier now that the weight of that belief that I was becoming a worse person has been lifted. In fact, I'm feeling downright excited about these upcoming months! Three weeks from now we have the MCC team retreat, which includes everyone serving with MCC. That means that Mike, Nancy, Allan, and Catherine will be there as well! Another month after that, Andrew and Mike's girlfriend Ellen are arriving, and we have some really exciting travel plans in the works. Mike and I are REALLY looking forward to their visit! Besides that, there is a potential missions trip that I will be going on in May, and then we're into June and July! I only have these few short months left to live my Indonesian life. I am really going to try my best to enjoy it to its fullest (even the food struggles!!), since this experience is a one-time deal! Life is just easier when you're able to enjoy it.

Anyways, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing before you stopped to read this! Thanks so much for reading!

Have a great day!
Love,
Ellery