Hello from Jakarta

Hello from Cempaka Putih, one of the ‘central’ neighbourhoods in Jakarta, Indonesia. Before leaving Dubai, I spent time in Sharjah, an Emirate which is much older and more traditional than Dubai, where I visited the Sharjah Art Museum and shopped in the local market.










Near the market in Sharjah (…local roof top patio?)


I arrived in Jakarta Saturday evening - it is hot and very humid here, and has been mainly sunny but with a few sudden bursts of rain to cool things off. I was met at the airport by the sister-in-law of a friend of mine from Adelaide, who helped me get to the guest house where I am staying and taught me about getting around Jakarta. On Sunday AM, I was met by other friends who took me to church for Easter Sunday service, where I was very warmly welcomed. I met a woman from Fredericton (what a small world!), who has been living in Jakarta for the past year teaching Biology at an English high school.

Like any major city, Jakarta has its share of traffic and air pollution issues; although part of Sunday was a ‘car free’ day, so many of the main roads were shut down to reduce traffic.










‘Car free’ street....










...then full of motorcycles this morning....

This morning (Monday) I spent some time touring around Jakarta and visited the Plan Indonesia office where I met staff, including one who was using the ChildData system :-)










National Monument in Mendaka Square


On the surface, it would seem that I am fitting in well – I am average height :-), have dark hair and speak very quickly, but that is pretty much where the similarities end…so to help adapt to the local culture, I am learning some basic Bahasa Indonesian words. So far I can say please (Silakan) and thank you very much (Terimah kasih banyak), yes (ya) and no (tidak), tell people my name (Nama saya Susan), where I am from (Saya dari Canada), how old I am (Umur saya tiga puluh empat tahun), that I am single (Saya bujang), that I am here for 12 weeks (Saya di sini selama duabelas minggu), order a basic meal - ayam (chicken) and nasi (rice) - and most importantly - that I don’t speak Bahara Indonesian (Saya tidak bicara Bahasa Indonesian) and that I don’t understand (Saya tidak mengerti)!








Near entrance to guest house

This afternoon I am at the guest house just enjoying the warm weather and getting ready to travel to Banda Aceh tomorrow morning, so I will be in touch once I settle in there….