Country Club Living!

Second day in Indonesia was awesome! Again, blogging from the Coffee Bean Coffee Shop next door!

However, I would like to update about our first day a little more since we were too tired to yesterday! Here is a quick low down on our first day in Jarkata/Lippo.

We arrived in the afternoon Indonesian time and was instantly hit with the heat. However, coming from the Oregon cold, we all enjoyed seeing the sun shinning bright! We bought our Visas, went through customs, all baggage was accounted for and then went through customs again? I'm not too sure, this was the first time for most of us, so we aren't really sure what we did. However, we were in long lines, passports in hand, and we all made it in the country okay!

Next we loaded our bus that will be providing our transportation for the next two weeks. That's when Indonesian driving became apparent. I feel like it might be a bit hard to describe to you blog readers exactly what the driving is like. I want to compare it a little with California drivers (no offense Cali readers!) and the driving in Mexico. Basically there aren't any real rules of the road besides that they drive on the left side. People switch lanes constantly by giving a little honk of the horn. There are more motorcycles than cars. Pedestrians do not have the right away. In fact, we were told today that the most dangerous place for a pedestrian is the pedestrian walk way on the roads. It's insane. However, the system works because we have yet to see a crash!

We also were able to walk across the street (at our own risk of getting hit by motorcycles and cars!) to the super mall! It's huge, tons of stores and tons of people! We traded some of our American monies for the local Rupiah. The exchange rate is about 9000 Rupiah equals $1.00 american. We still don't quite understand it...and the conversions are a bit confusing when we do it in our heads. We've only really bought coffee...and we awkwardly handed them our largest Rupiah in confusion! While exchanging monies we looked around at a grocery store next door and found some interesting Pringles flavors: shrimp, seaweed, and crab....yummmy!

And lastly, we got to meet the University basketball team that we will be playing in a friendly match tomorrow (yes, we're playing some bball! Bring out the high top sneaks, we're ready to drain some 3's!) Everyone has been extremely nice and helpful. We're also facebook friends with most of them now (I love you social media!).

Now the second day events!
All of us woke up at random times in the morning. The consensus was that most woke up around 4am-5am Indonesian time because our sleep schedule was a little messed up. Nonetheless, breakfast was served at 7am. The food has been very good. Breakfast was two little plain omelets, very delicious!

Next on the agenda was heading to the COUNTRY CLUB! We were living in luxury from 8am-11am. This place was beautiful (see pictures below). We all went swimming, tanning, and relaxing for those three hours. The heat mixed with a refreshing pool made for a good time... along with some good tan lines!


ohhhh the life of college students. seriously, don't you guys feel bad for us :)


Hilarious picture taken by the great Emily T. The landing wasn't pretty though... the bruises and one lost earning are proof!

After swimming at the country club, we came back to the university for some lunch. It was amazing! Consisted of "Gado Gado" (I think we spelled that wrong) which is a salad of mixed greens, tofu, potatoes, corn, plus more and peanut sauce for the dressing (peanut sauce is amazing!). Chicken skewers with teriyaki and peanut sauce on it. So amazing! We have been extremely blessed already on this trip, every meal is made for each individual and set out for us right when we arrive. We are being treated like first class status, it's crazy. So very blessed.

We then headed to SPH (Sekolah Pelita Harapan) which is a K-12 private school. It's amazing and beautiful to say the least. The athletic facilities alone are better than most we've seen in America. Not to mention the two pools they have as well. We attended chapel, got a tour of the beautiful campus, and talked with the head of the school. Education majors (Kaitlyn Mc, Katie, Jessica, and Erin) loved this as they provide opportunities for ed majors to come and teach at this school for a two year+ period. They were are cute little nerds when we met the head of the school, taking notes on every word he said!
Facilities at SPH:
We all decided we would be on the swim team instead of soccer team if we lived here!

However, the soccer facilities are so nice... I guess we'll stick to our niche: soccer!

Kapel (chapel) service with xylophones sounded so great! Different than guitar and drums that we're used to!


And who doesn't like sweaty pictures in the kamar kecil (bathroom/toilet) mirror pictures?!

When we got back from SPH we had another amazing meal for dinner. It consisted of rice with a medley of beef and veggies that were sauteed separately in their own dish, boiling when they came. The food has been excellent! We now have been given free time to go to the book store, coffee shops, mall, or sleep!

It's about 9am Indonesian time and most of us are heading to bed or are in bed (we're practically old lady's over here!). We've all adjusted very well to the time change however, with the heat and possibly from the tanning from this morning, we are very tired! Next up for tomorrow is a soccer camp at an Indonesian elementary school and then a basketball game against the University team! Busy but fun day ahead! Thanks for reading followers, see you guys tomorrow!


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