Earthquake

Howdy,

We had a little excitement on Wednesday. An earthquake on the richter scale of 7 - 7.5 shook us up a bit. The epicentre was at least 300km away and it was a lateral move sideways, not up and down - but it was a good ride.

J was in Kalimantan - only got home yesterday, but last night was hectic (soccer practice, home at 6:30, then dinner, shower and books before 8). Don't know if he felt it.

Kids were on bus almost home - didn't feel it, but the pool still had waves crashing over the side when they came inside.

I had just gone to get a cup of tea after having sat for 3 hours in a meeting. I was with another Australian (very rare occurence in my office) who is slightly older (65 yo) and with a lot of travel experience (goes home every 59 days, record time in Aus, 2 hours (came back on same plane)). Anyway, I was swaying and saying - hey, you know, I feel kind of woosy. It's an earthquake dear, let's get out (I work in a very Indonesian building (marble floors, walls, but DODGY)).

We went outside and there are powerlines 5 m up on 3 sides of the entrance area, plus a lovely overhang over the stairs. Being outside worried me more than being inside.......the tremors kept going. It was surreal.

Anyway, when we were sure they had stopped, we went back inside to continue the meeting (yes, we were the first people inside - silly Aussies). Then the phone call home to make sure the kids were okay (during a freak storm earlier in the year a massive sign fell over onto the road that they travel on). Just checking.

Noone was traumatised, everyone thought it was great excitement. Don't worry, this little family is doing fine (if anyone read this blog I could get in SOOO much trouble for that pun).

Home Sweet Home

By popular demand - I present - Our HOME (see Imi, I did listen between G&T's and wine).

Our grass hut in the slum world of Jakarta - well - something like that anyway.

There are three houses in the complex. We love living there, not just for the house itself but because we have neighbours where the adults and kids get along great. We have events like Chinese new year, halloween and even the odd play. But we also live very seperately (no needy spouses around this complex).

Yes - there is a vomit of colour on our walls. Especially blue - which happens to be my favorite colour. There are a total of 12 colours on the walls in our house - we had it painted before we moved in (I cannot stomach white or cream walls). And before you ask - yes - the kids all sleep in the same room (their choice). The lego room was supposed to be bears room - but he didn't want to miss the party.

As you can see - there is plenty of room for visitors (hint hint all relatives and friends (don't make me name names)).

Oh - and if I haven't mentioned it before - we love living here. Next to school, the house would be the second thing I would miss most about Jakarta.

Can you blame me?

Tsumani in Jakarta

If you have seen the news recently- you've seen that a dam broke in a built up area in Jakarta and at least 77 people were killed in their sleep. I was under the impression that it was only the poor people who were affected, but I have heard some stories this morning (coffee with other expats while our kids playted futsal) that some expats had water damage and a couple of near misses. The 77 bodies are all poor people though. They don't have the luxury of sleeping upstairs or behind compound gates/fences. This is the reality of living in a third world country.

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1104ap_as_indonesia_dam_bursts.html (I don't know how to do links yet).

What really surprised me was the that one of the fathers I was talking to donated 50 body bags that he had at the office. They also have 5 coffins, 3 gun licenses, $50K US, 3 glocks, 400 rounds of ammunition at their office AND a jet on contract to come at a moments notice. In the 1998 riots, he had 3 french soldiers (foreign legians?) guarding him as he stayed behind to represent the company. Type of industry he is in? Oil and Gas. Wow - that blew my mind.

What I have always trusted is that J's company will get us out in an emergency. They have an emergency plan and we would be evacuated in a riot, natural disaster or medical emergency. Are you thinking you have solved the riddle why noone wants to visit us? Come on - it's not like that all the time.

We have always thought we would batten down the hatches and stay at home in a crisis. When the floods were on in 2007 the only thing that affected us was our pool overflowed and we didn't have to go to school or work for a few days. We've also had a few mini earthquakes that we hadn't noticed. This house is built with the finest of Indonesian craftmanship, so it's definitely far from indestructible, but when you see the photos on the news of the houses in Indonesia, don't stress. We aren't suffering too much.

The furniture from our old house in Australia (minus the stuff in storage) fits upstairs. The kids ride their scooters around downstairs (as well as playing serious soccer dodgeball) because it's minimalist.

Visiting the Big Smoke

I have been really sick this week. Bacteria Infection of the intestines. Caused by contaminated food or water. Think I have located the source, so will deal with that when I can sit upright for 10 minutes (on trail now).

Being sick makes me a bit emotional, especially when I have watched "the Changling" and "secret life of Bees" today. But I think there's more to it than that.

On Sunday, I found out the kids had a new cousin. Where did we find this out? Facebook - where else do you receive family news? When I told hubs, he did know, he has been away since his birthday last week (10 days now), and for some reason he turned on his phone with the Aus sim card - there was a text message to tell him. So I guess we weren't left in the dark after all. But it sure felt like it.

Still, it reinforces how all of our experiences here have been in total isolation of everyone we have ever known while living in Australia.

Not one single friend or relative from Australia has made the trek over here to stay with us. And YES, there have been a few opportunities, although none taken. Yes, we have invited friends and family - but the invites aren't taken seriously. It's not like we don't have a spare room. It's not like I don't have time to show anyone around, my job is the most flexible it has ever been in my entire life. It's not like we wouldn't absolutely love it. In fact, we thought some people were coming and the kids had an itinerary of what they could do with them.

And yes - we seem to be alone with this. Other friends have their 75 year old "mum, dad, aunt, sister, brother etc, with all manner of health issues, from Sth Africa, Australia, US, England, Belgium etc"

It's just - no one we know wants to come here. Plain and simple.

The contract is up at the end of the year. We want to stay because we love it. But given the economic crisis, that may not be an option. So at the end of the year, if we have to move back to Aus, a whole 3 years would have passed and not one single relative or friend from the past will have any idea about any of it. Not a single clue.

Yes, we have made fantastic friends while we are here. But that's just it isn't it. We are surrounded by adventurous and socially (and charity active) active people here. Everyone here has taken a risk, gone out on a limb, made a massive change in their life and are taking opportunities whilst giving up some things at the same time. To be part of our future, surely people from our past have to know something about the little 3 years known as the "jakarta years".

Yes, as I said - feeling a bit emotional at the moment. But so what. This has been a life changing experience for us. Our kids will never be the typical - not ever. They are more world wise now at 5, 7 and 10 than what I was at 18 (or probably 30 for that manner).

Anyway, everyone needs to say what's on their mind sometimes, and this needed to be said.

Reasons to love or hate

There are many reasons to love or hate living in Jakarta.

First the love - here is a direct copy from a friends blog.

Explanation first - A bajai is a 3 wheeled taxi (like a Thai Tut tut) -high in pollution and rarely used by the expat community (unless really desperate and going a very short distance). Traffic in this area is very slow, usually bumper to bumper and never above 30km/hr.

"So after watching a really, really crappy band we decide to move on. We then had a brain wave to sort out who paid, ..............A competition!!!!!!!

Yes my competitive friend wanted to race Bajai's around the Kemang circuit. Yes that crazy expat thing. Well I had never done it, so, with a belly full of booze, it was "OK your on" sport. Trusting driver organised the suitable racing vehicles, and after a quick lesson on how to drive, change gears, stop and start we were off. I lagged behind mainly due to some "up the wrong side of the road" antics from the competition. But I had my revenge as I roared through the Macca's carpark, dodging the parking attendants and the drive through traffic, to snatch back the lead.I returned to EP to a huge cheer from all and sundry to claim the victor's spoils.

EP's 2009 Bajai Champion.

The competition was stunned on his arrival to see me being hailed the Champion.

And all this for 7 bucks Aussie."

This really sums up the freedom that we as expats have in Jakarta. I just wish I had been there (but our kids don't go to the same school and it was a school function........well it started as a school function).

Now the Hate / dislike.

Our electricity bills have been astronomical for the last 8 months ($800 a month). It was around $500, but in May it jumped up and it didn't matter if we were away for 2 weeks of the month, the bill was always that high. But that's not the complaint.

On arriving home from Canada, our bill for Dec was only $400. That is a bit more like it. The difference - the water pressure pump above our house had been turned off for the entire time (we discovered a week after returning home and having to have showers downstairs to get SOME pressure - not the complaint either).

Then we discovered it had been turned off because it runs 24/7 even though it is supposed to only turn on when someone turns on a tap. So we innocently asked the landlord to get his man to look at it. After hearing nothing I put a note up for our housekeeper to organise the guy to be here this morning to look at it with me (I leave for work before the housekeeper starts - communication via whiteboard is great). My very helpful nanny, on reading the note, informed me that the man had been the day before and the pump runs 24/7 because it is also connected to the security house.

Now - before you say - logical - let me explain. There are 3 houses in our complex. The security is for all 3, we pay extra for this and it is a communal cost, plus this is the first I was hearing about it.

She very knowingly nodded her head - it runs 24 hours a day because there is a FAMILY that live above the security post (in a 3m x 3m room) and they need water for like - WASHING!!! (please pronounce all capital letter words with extra emphasis, like I was an IDIOT).

Oh, so the family of 3 and one security guard use water 24/7 but our family of 5 and 4 staff don't use water all the time (even with 5 bathrooms and a pool)????? Now I understand, thanks, I feel better now.

Well, I text the landlord (that's what we do here, phone calls create language barriers, texting in english means you can understand accents), he then texts back that the pump is only 1.5% of the power bill, fridges run X watts, ac run Y watts,...........off he went with his statistics.

Only, I am much more pathetic in the maths department than he gives me credit. We are meeting on Tuesday to go through it - I will have a spreadsheet on what percentage the water pump uses. We turn off lights (and have energy efficient lights), AC, everything when we are not using them.

Now, what is my complaint you ask- it's that the landlord didn't say - hey, I just got sprung hooking up one of my costs to my tenants, I will replace the pump because it is broken and runs 24/7 before anything else is mentioned about my cost being zero (but still charging us for it). No, he wants to have a dispute that it isn't a big cost (since he's not paying, that's a great way to be I guess).

That pump should have been replaced before my text was even responded to. That's what bugs me - there are no rules here, it's just - do whatever you can get away with (see story of bajai above).

This also means you have to be on your toes ALL the time, which can be wear you out (and sometimes makes you paranoid). So, I love the freedom here, I hate the freedom other people have.....no, that's not it. I love the freedom I have, I love that the lessons I learn are not too expensive and that they will help me for further potential rip offs later on.

No, I wouldn't replace any of it for a quite suburban existence in Aus. At least here I know I am alive. I'm not tired from working too hard and having very little life.