Weekend plus

I'm breaking down the weekend into bits.  There will be another blog tomorrow to give more information on Friday's events.  I won't go into all the drama.  That seems to be the new norm lately.  I will lay out the broad strokes though.

Me with the headache

Friday afternoon from 12-5pm was Teacher's Sports Day at school.  It culminated in a meal together and I left at 4:30.  The ojek took me home, I changed, showered and napped for about ten minutes.  I then tried to spring from bed only to realize I have what I have affectionately termed, the railroad headache.  It's a headache I get sometime, well often enough to give it it's own name.  It's the railroad headache because it feels like someone has driven a railroad tie into one eye socket and straight out the back of my skull with the main pain points being in my eye and at the back of my head.  I struggled out and made it to dinner with Zoe anyway.  She and I caught up and she graciously let me beg off after to go home and rest.  An hour nap with an ice pack on my head in a cold room after taking tylenol (paracetamol or panadol, it's all the same active ingredient) and I had beaten the headache into submission. 

Me after nap, drugs and ice pack!

BoT and ridiculous roommate (his not mine) came straight from work to pick up Carla and I for a house party.  We all intrepidly trouped out.  We'd had lots of trouble finding this house last time.  The gods were on our side and we had the best taxi driver.  He got us there, no problems. The party was a blast.  Remember what I said about the bule world being small?  Turns out one of the secondary school teachers I met that afternoon was at the party that night.  And his girlfriend knows a woman I knew who left Jakarta last year.  We are all flies tangled in a small, tightly interlocking web.

The party was great.  The drama kicked in after.  It sort of revolved around group dynamics and taxis as was the case last weekend.  I don't have the patience or interest in regaling you with all the boring details.  I think part of it is that BoT and I rarely see each other during the week due to the fact that we have almost opposite schedules.  I'm up at 6:15 and home by 4.  He's into the office at 1 and off at 10 if there's no overtime.  It means that weekends become a pressure point of seeing each other but also having a ton of stuff to do.  Solutions pending.

How did I end up as an inhabitant of Total Drama Island?

After drama that bled into early Saturday morning, I slept fitfully and was a mess most of Saturday.  Carla was a doll and let me moan and was an optimistic beacon through the din.  We laid out at the pool and I recovered at least physically, if not finding any inner peace.

Sunday brought a few answers and a definite tan.  I started by day off with a meal of champions.  A brunch time meal of fried rice and cold Heineken.  Oh to be a bule in Jakarta!!  Carla's good friend Jo is in from NZ.  Accounting for jetlag, she'd planning an epic day of doing nothing by the pool.  I was obliged to join them as to be hospitable.  After five hours by the pool I was a nice shade of brown. I headed out in the evening to join BoT and IOMH for a couple beers.  The conversation was good and I needed to see BoT.  Not much had been sorted since the taxi thing of Friday night. I'm feeling better about it but there's work to be done. That will have to suffice.  I know there are a couple of you who are close enough to deserve an explanation.  It's on the way but with final grade reports due this week I'm not sure when I'll get the email out to y'all.

Best news? We had a surprise early release day today.  I nearly ran out the front gate at 12:30 after teaching five classes in a row.  I spent 100,000Rp and over and hour  and a half on three taxis rides but I got three errands out of the way that I'd spent weeks procrastinating on and was still home before dark (which is at 6:30 everyday, all year).  Worst news? Congestion and cough are back again.  Maybe they come with living on Drama Island.  Anyone have a cure?

Weekend Recap - Jump into June

My life in Jakarta may be a lot of things, but it's rarely boring.  Last weekend was another example of that to add to the countless others. The plans were fairly simple, I thought. This was the last weekend that everyone was here before people start leaving for summer holidays. Last week I sent out the all call via facebook that we would be going out for jsut that reason.  Friday night - dinner and EP.  Saturday night - dinner and dancing at X2.  I was hoping Saturday day to run some errands with BoT and then have a lazy Sunday by the pool.

Courtesy of liberalartsduq.wordpress.com

What actually happened was that BoT couldn't set anything for Friday.  His boss kept talking about after work team drinks on Fridays but then it would never materialize. They all left work two hours early to go for drinks after two guys got fired; one is BoT's good friend and roommate. Not only was it a surprise, the last thing you really want to go do after a firing is have drinks with the boss. The boys, as good British boys do, went "a-drinkin" and I didn't hear from him after 10:30.  I did see the fired friend at EP for a goodbye drink.  The girls went through two bottles of Jose Cuervo and I surprisingly had only two tequila/sprites from the bottles. Instead I was "bartending" as the mixings were all on our table. I saw a heap of people who are other regulars at EP, some of BoT's footie boys, and we even met a Mexican named Carlos who sounded like Rango. After tucking a drunken friend or two into taxis, I headed home with Carla.  There we had this bizarre lasagne her maid had cooked. Now we know why the Italians, and not the Indonesians, do pasta. There were cukes oddly, but not nearly enough cheese, tomato sauce or flavor.

AYYYY Jose!  Por que estas siempre con nosotros? Que fatal!!

 Saturday was a slow start but improved rapidly upon my descent to the pool.  Carla and I sat there from 11:30 until nearly three.  The sun was out, we had tunes, snacks and good convo.  We both agreed that in someways, life here is pretty darn good.  Then we went up to our respective apartments for naps and showers.

It was about four pm that I finally heard from BoT and what was happening.  They'd tried to find a way to keep fired friend in town.  It was like a tennis match - he was staying, he was going, he was staying but had to change his flight, he was going because he couldn't change his flight, he was staying but not with this company. I nearly got motion sick!   I went out to dinner with a couple of the girls and then we headed over to X2, a dance club, as planned.  We got there and others started joining.  We must have been twenty strong or more at some point after midnight.  It was brilliant.  BoT and fired friend even made it out. The dramameter then ratcheted up another notch.  One of the office girls from their company was at X2 and threatened to go to the boss (which she did on Sunday). Nothing here is ever simple.

We traipsed home about 4:30 and tucked snugly into bed, not to be roused before noon on Sunday.  The weather meant it wasn't worth going to the pool.  Instead it was a video, eating, lounging in the apartment day.  My favorite kind of Sunday.  I am still holding out hope that someone will institute a third weekend day, called Restus, in the spirit of Festivus and to be taken literally. Two days to see people, have fun, run errands and rest is not nearly enough.

Courtesy of cartoonstock.com

A last note, I was honored to hear that I inspired someone else to blog. It gave me a warm, happy glow. She's a newbie here in Jakarta and is trying to deal with the acculturation. Her worry was that it would turn into a winging, ranting, complaining spot.  Don't we all deserve one of those?  I've happily joined her site and will be reading along.  We haven't met in person yet, but I hope to before summer holidays. I didn't imagine that my blog would be anything other than my silly anecdotes for the benefit of my friends and family (who are obliged to read.  This means you JENJEN!!) and the random stranger who finds me mildly entertaining.  Perhaps there is more to it.