Once a month the English teachers can leave early. It allows for banking and other business since many of those institutions close at 2pm. I usually take it as a mental health day, as was the case last week. Even with a day off on Tuesday, last week felt long and excruciating. Since I hadn't taken an early leave day in two months, I felt entitled. I had a great plan too. Except the best laid plans lead often to disaster (chuckles).
I left work on Friday at noon. It was hot and sunny so I thought I'd grab an hour at the pool. I changed and it was sunny. I got in the elevator and it was sunny. I got out of the elevator at pool level and it was cloudy and darkening. Within fifteen minutes it was sprinkling (insert expletives here). "Fine, I'll go back up before it starts to pour", I mumbled to myself. If I'd waited there it surely would have. Since I went inside, the sky promptly began to lighten.
I changed clothes and prepped a bag. Last weekend was a men's international slow pitch softball tournament (more to follow on that tomorrow). I'd gone last year and was excited to go again. I departed, thinking I could soak in some sun and beat the Friday afternoon traffic. HA HA HA on all accounts. Twenty minutes into my taxi ride it started to spritz. Twenty five minutes in it was raining. At thirty minutes it was pouring. The ride to the sports complex took nearly an hour. On a "normal" day it should be a 35 minute trip.
I spent all afternoon there, shooting the sh*t with other Americans, drinking beer and eating sate. I was quite happily surprised I didn't get sick from it. BoT (that's all he's to be called for now) came to meet me after work and we went for Mexican food. Dinner was good apart from a misunderstanding resulting from miscommunication. Home again, home again for a quiet night in.
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| Softball babes! |
BoT showed up about late (comic eye roll here) as per usual. The we grabbed a cab to meet "our peeps" for drinks. Beyond was not beyond expectations. It was busy, but only two foreigners in the bar other than us. The beer was reasonably priced but 95,000 Rp for a weak vodka/sprite is painful. Folks trickled away to other bars and eventually we did too. About 2:30am Carla, BoT and I headed to meet some of the others from before at Venue. It was so packed we could hardly get in the door. It was not good from moment one. There were people hassling us, we were hassling them back, it took a full lap around to find our group. After about five minutes Carla and I headed towards the toilet only to find someone had taken her phone from her bag. We went hunting for the guy and in the process someone stole BoT's phone from his pocket. We think it was the same guy since he was hovering and obnoxious. The night took a swift down turn from there. Seeking out the thief resulted in collaring him, letting him go, tracking down his friends, following someone outside, then trying to leave the bar. It was at that point that we were surrounded by a mob of bystanders, 98% of whom had nothing to do with the situation and at least 50% of whom were drunk. We were in the car being rocked and windows punched by the crazed Indonesians. It was scary as hell. Why didn't we drive off I can hear you wondering. The driver bailed and took the keys. Why? Because it's Indonesia, the land where only the illogical can be expected. After what felt like an eternity, while the girls tried to keep the boys from killing anyone or getting thumped on themselves, we finally made it outta dodge.
After all that, a snack at 24 hour dim sum was quite a comedown. We were all coming off an adrenaline rush and were tired. Sunday was a well deserved day in; just watching dvd's, eating and doing nothing. It was well needed after the rest of the weekend.
Monday morning was an unwelcomed sight today. It's hard to leave a comfy bed to deal with children any time, but especially at 6am!!
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