If I'm not meeting with the home office into the night, or going out to dinner and sitting in a car for the 1 hour drive back home, we're out entertaining my daughter. Last night, this meant attending Disney's Princess on Ice.
The evening started by my wife and daughter picking me up at the office and going to dinner. We went to the Setia Budi mall by my office and ate at Pisa, known as the "Bule" restaurant. I had a big plate of Gado Gado for lunch at noon, so I wasn't very hungry at 4:30. I had a small plate of Fusilli Carbonera, my wife got a pizza, and my daughter had Nasi Putih dan Ayam (white rice with chicken).
During dessert, my daughter demonstrated she is truly her father's child. In addition to Italian food, Pisa is known for their ice cream. I like their Frago Royalle - in fact, I thought Frago meant "strawberry" in Indonesian, until everyone laughed at me when I tried to order Frago juice. My daughter got the "blue" ice cream. We gave her samples of the other "colors", but no sooner would the color hit her mouth than she would say she liked the blue one better. So, she got the blue one. The below picture truly explains how much she liked it and, yes, that is chocolate syrup on her eye brow.
We arrived at the show about 20 minutes before the start time. Traffic was horrible. Then we sat in a nearly empty stadium, really more the size of a high-school gymnasium in the US. The show started promptly at 6:30, and I thought the seats may fill in as people finished fighting traffic. After all, the section I had wanted to purchase was 'sold out'. The stadium never filled much more than what you see in the below picture.
During the show, my daughter demonstrated yet again she is her father's child. Most kids smile and laugh when they are watching something they enjoy. Not my child. She stares at the show with a ferocious intensity and such deep concentration that nothing around her distracts her. I remember some of those moments in grade school where I would be focusing so intensely on completing a math problem that, until I solved the problem, I heard no sound. As soon as I finished the problem and sat back, I would hear a rush of sound as my mind allowed external stimuli to interrupt my thought patterns. I saw that same intensity in my daughter at the show.
Of course, she also has her mother's genes and thoroughly enjoys the simple things in life - a princess crown and cotton candy. It's a good balance, actually.
On Tuesday, my daughter started school. She goes every day for a half day. The school is close enough that her and my wife take the three minute walk from our house and back. Some people would say we're pushing her too hard - those people don't know her. She is BORED at home and ASKS to go to school. She wants to be around other kids and have the learning experience. So, we oblige.
A few other random thoughts:
1) We have been in Jakarta 21 days. Today was the first day it did not rain.
2) I've learned there are certain subconscious things we take for granted. Like, when you are walking towards someone on the same path, or in the middle of the hallway, you both move the same direction so you can pass each other. In the US, we naturally move to the right - the side we drive on. In Jakarta, I still move to the right while everyone else moves to the left - the side THEY drive on. I'll switch my brain at some point.
3) The poverty here is hard to fathom. People on welfare in the US are paid 10x the amount my driver earns for doing nothing, and he gets up at 4 AM every morning so he can be on time for me. When I bought furniture last week, I spent more than his monthly salary at one store. Our first day shopping we spent his annual salary buying pillows, linens and home appliances. It's very difficult to not feel embarrassed for spending like that in front of someone who has so little. I can't even imagine supporting a family of four - he has two kids and his wife does not work, paying for them to attend school, and still being able to eat and clothe oneself on that kind of salary. He is also one nicest people you'll ever meet - though he does have a grim outlook on the opportunities available to the everyday Indonesian. I wish I didn't know how much he made. I'm not sure I can shop in front of him anymore.
4) Tonight we will interview a pembantu (literally "helper", we usually say nanny or maid). She wants more per month than my driver makes. Not sure I'm up for that. She'll need to work VERY hard to be worth that to me.
1) We have been in Jakarta 21 days. Today was the first day it did not rain.
2) I've learned there are certain subconscious things we take for granted. Like, when you are walking towards someone on the same path, or in the middle of the hallway, you both move the same direction so you can pass each other. In the US, we naturally move to the right - the side we drive on. In Jakarta, I still move to the right while everyone else moves to the left - the side THEY drive on. I'll switch my brain at some point.
3) The poverty here is hard to fathom. People on welfare in the US are paid 10x the amount my driver earns for doing nothing, and he gets up at 4 AM every morning so he can be on time for me. When I bought furniture last week, I spent more than his monthly salary at one store. Our first day shopping we spent his annual salary buying pillows, linens and home appliances. It's very difficult to not feel embarrassed for spending like that in front of someone who has so little. I can't even imagine supporting a family of four - he has two kids and his wife does not work, paying for them to attend school, and still being able to eat and clothe oneself on that kind of salary. He is also one nicest people you'll ever meet - though he does have a grim outlook on the opportunities available to the everyday Indonesian. I wish I didn't know how much he made. I'm not sure I can shop in front of him anymore.
4) Tonight we will interview a pembantu (literally "helper", we usually say nanny or maid). She wants more per month than my driver makes. Not sure I'm up for that. She'll need to work VERY hard to be worth that to me.
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1 comment:
She gets the blue ice cream taste from our dad's side of the family for sure! Blue Moon anyone?
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