Kamar Kecil dan Air

C3 has arrived in Waitabula, Sumba! (Or Weetabula – it is spelled differently every time I see it written.) We are settling into our house, which is much more spacious than I had imagined.

As you can see, Chris is bubbling with joy. This job has been a lifelong dream for him and it is actually coming true!

There is so much to write about (e.g. our new helpers: Este and Novi, Colby’s new friends, and the field site Wainyapu and its chief Pak Cornelius). I think these items deserve separate posts. For this post, I will tell you about the delicate situation that is the bathroom (kamar kecil). In my last post, I was hoping for an actual toilet seat.  In the real world, boys and girls, wishes don’t always come true. What we got instead of a Western style bathroom is a traditional mandis. It is nicer than having no bathroom at all, but it will take some getting use to. This is the toilet.

I don’t think you are supposed to sit down. Instead, you hover. It’s like camping. When you are finished, you use the pan in the photo to pour water into the toilet for “flushing”.

To take a shower, there is another section in the bathroom with a larger holding tank and another pan. The water sits in this stone basin in the shade and becomes very cold. VERY cold. Um...It’s quite... shocking refreshing first thing in the morning.

When we arrived, it was exciting to see that the house had running water (Air). There is a faucet in the toilet area, the shower area, and in the kitchen. We share a ground well with the boarding school next door. (Trust me. A whole other post!) Our water is relatively clean and can be used for cooking, washing vegetables and dishes, and other cleaning. Our helpers boil water for drinking.

The water is was pumped from a ground well into a holding tank. Then, another pump brought the water into the house.

On our first morning here, we ran out of water. I couldn’t believe that our small family could impact a tank meant for a boarding school that much!  I decided that it must be washing day at the school. When we came back from the field site, Novi told us that we had water in the kitchen, but only a trickle was coming out in the bathroom. Pak (Mister) Kosmus, our landlord, came over and discovered that ALL of our water was in one of the neighbors yard. Their yard was totally flooded! Apparently, a pipe somewhere under the tile floor of the house between the kitchen and the bathroom had burst. Pak Kosmus disconnected the house from the pump and installed a hose.

For now, we (by we, I mean our amazing helpers) have to carry water into the house in buckets. Pak Kosmus told us that we have three options to fix the situation.

1. 
   
   
   We could leave it like it is.
2. 
   
   
   We could get a longer hose and run it into the house to fill up the necessary basins.
3. 
   
   
   We could buy a holding tank and Pak Kosmus would have it installed and new pipe run to the faucets in the house. The smallest tank is 800 liters and costs about 1,000,000 rupiah (~$110). He claims this would take 2 days.

I think the girls are hoping that Pak Chris (that would be Chris) and Ibu Tina (that would be me) decide on option 3. Pak Chris and Ibu Tina think this option is probably best for everyone, but have to wait until the ATM is working again more money.

Once the leak was stopped, the holding tank for the school and the house filled up. Unfortunately, it didn’t shut off and the tank in our yard overflowed. The flow didn’t fill up our yard, which was my initial concern.  I mean who doesn't need  a nice big mosquito breeding ground in their front yard when you live in a malaria endemic region. Instead, the resulting river flowed down our dirt street and ran into a different neighbor's yard. We are really popular. At least, the local kids liked it.

SUMBA-Bound

A quick update:

The Indonesian government has granted our official Kitas (VISAS), and they are finally under the right names!  The minister of science had the main visa under my name with Chris being my female spouse.  This clerical error raised some red flags at immigration when they realized I am a girl and Chris is a boy.  This whole process was again supposed to only take three days, but we have been in Jakarta for two weeks!  Regardless, we have the proper paperwork to legally work and live in Indonesia for one year.  We also are allowed to leave Indonesia during the year and return to Sumba hassle free!  Christmas in Australia, anyone? 

Jakarta might be a dirty, busy city, but we have enjoyed our time here - mostly taking in all of the strange contradictions that abound.  I mentioned already the dichotomy between off-road and on-road personalities.  There was also a woman outside of a mosque dressed modestly and wearing a hijab, but the man next to her was wearing a black T-shirt with the words “The Virgin”.  I can only assume that he does not speak English.  I wanted to say to him, “Excuse me sir, but you know your shirt could be referring to the Virgin Mary.  You know, the mother of Jesus – the other team.”  We found another glaring contradiction near the harbor in the old neighborhood called Batavia.  There is a canal of sorts down the middle of a main street.  On either side is a large sidewalk and the canal has lights all along it pointing over the water – illuminating the sludge flowing in the canal gently taking trash and feces to the ocean.  Surrounding this olfactory offense was beautiful, old hotels, historic buildings from the 1600s, and a famous 1930s-style Jazz bar and restaurant called the Batavia Café. 

Well... Goodbye Jakarta and Hello Sumba!  (I am a little nervous about what our toilet will be like.  Keep your fingers crossed for something more than a hole in the ground!)   

Choo-Choo!

There are subway and train systems all over the world and in almost every major city.  They are great ways to transport large numbers of people.  Each train system is unique with characteristics that set it apart from other systems and firmly identify it with a particular region.  For example, the subway in Singapore was superbly clean and thoroughly organized.  Trains there ran with extreme precision and the passengers were consistently polite offering their seats to those in need. 

The train system in Jakarta is completely different, but fits the city perfectly.  The trains are dusty and dirty and get to their destinations...well... whenever they get there. 

Instead of paying for your ticket by distance like in Singapore, you pay by the class of the train.  It costs about $1 to ride the Express AC.  This train goes to major destinations only and gets there with frightening speed.  The doors on this train close and it isn’t very crowded.  The Ekonomi AC costs about $0.50 and stops at every station along its track.  It can be rather crowded (watch your belongings!), but the doors close.  This train is a good option if say you miss the last Express AC back to Jakarta while on your trip to Bogor Botantical Gardens, you know...for example.  The Ekonomi train costs $0.12 per trip and is always crowded.  The doors do not close on this train.  Why?  I came up with 3 reasons:

1.  The doors are broken.

2.  Having the doors open lets in more air and saves passengers from heat stroke and/or the stench.

3.  More people fit on a train with open doors. 

We took an Ekonomi train from the Eijkman Institute one afternoon, mostly out of curiosity.  Luckily, the train was not very crowded that day.  The whole experience made me extremely nervous, though. 

Colby was thrilled to wait in the train station and watch all of the trains go by.  He was so excited that he babbled incoherently.  Now, I know he babbles incoherently most of the time, but this was babbling so fast that he could hardly breathe.

It wasn’t until we saw this Jakarta phenomenon that all of C3 were speechless.  Fortunately, I was able to pull it together long enough to snap a photo!

Jakarta Kotor

Warning: This post is lacking in photos.  If you are only interested in pics of Colby, please ignore the text and scroll to the bottom!

C3 is still in Jakarta, and the work has started! I am actually enjoying being back in a lab environment and thinking about a scientific problem.  I am starting to put together some ideas to write grants to help bring in some funding.  It is interesting and exciting to think about a different problem and get to come up with my own ideas.  Although, I will admit it is extremely overwhelming!!

We have met the team at the Eijkman Institute.  We are working for Kevin Baird and the Eijkman-Oxford Clinical Research Unit.  While here, we are learning techniques we will be using in the field like how to make thick and thin blood films for malaria identification.  We are supposed to leave at the end of this week for Sumba.  The rest of the team will be joining us shortly and staying for 2 weeks to do a massive field study.  We are testing a new, rapid diagnostic test for an inherited blood disorder (G6PD deficiency) that has effects on malaria infection and treatment.  The company who makes the test is giving us 1,000 for the study.  The team will go to remote locations in Sumba, set up makeshift labs, and enroll 1,000 (hopefully) registrants in two weeks to test the efficacy of this new test.  Talk about being thrown into the fire! 

Chris is also still dealing with our immigration/visa status.  (He has to speak for all of us, because Indonesia is still primarily a patriarchal society.  I am trying to not let this... um... “cultural difference” bother me.  I am successful about 40% of the time.  I am pleased with this rate.  It is an improvement.)  We have our visas (from the Embassy), and our research permit (from the Minister of Science - RISTEK).  Now, we have to get “stay” permits from immigration and the police.  At every juncture, each agency has collected its own set of fees.  This process has been more complicated, and more expensive, than any of us imagined, but we are at the finish line!

Most of our time here has been in the city-proper.  Jakarta is a big, dirty city full (and I do mean full) of people.  It is not a pretty city, but there is something strangely interesting about it.  For instance, everyone here seems to have a dual personality.  The first personality is the one you meet in an office or shop setting.  They are calm, rational, easy-going, and overly optimistic.  They second personality rears its proverbial head on the streets of Jakarta where it has probably developed out of necessity.  They are wreck-less and almost rage-full.  Defensive driving (or walking, for that matter) is not an option.  Without sheer aggression when facing your daily commute, you will not survive on the streets of Jakarta.  I can think of several cities in the U.S. where driving is also aggressive, but 2 differences stand out.  First, the dichotomy between the non-road personality and the road personality is not as striking.  Cities with aggressive drives are also filled with equally aggressive business people and politicians.  Second, cities in the U.S. have traffic signals and actually use them.  True genius.  

There really isn’t much to see or do here, especially for kids.  The nightlife, we are told, is exceptional, but it starts a little too late (i.e. after 9pm) for tiny Master Nixon.  Though, I am sure he would love a good dance party.  This past weekend, we needed a break from Jakarta so we took the train (an adventure which deserves a posting all of its own- with pictures, promise!) to Bogor.  Bogor is a suburb of Jakarta that boasts a large botanical garden.  This garden was beautiful, but in a very different way than the garden in Singapore.  It gave us just what we wanted: a large green area for Colby to run and be crazy.  As always, he made tons of friends and somehow managed to find bubbles. 

 

H2O: A boy’s best friend

As you could tell from the previous post, all of the bureaucratic nonsense we have been dealing with was really cramping Buzzy’s style.  We spent the weekend doing kid-friendly activities in an attempt to reset the little guy’s calm demeanor.  On Saturday, we ventured to Sentosa – a small islet to the south of Singapore.  It is dream destination comprised of every touristy nightmare I’ve ever had.  You pay S$3.00 (~$2.10 USD) to ride the monorail onto Sentosa and then all transportation around the island is free, but that is about the only thing that is complimentary.  On our way to our first tourist attraction, The Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom, Colby found a water feature.  I am not sure it was meant for splashing and playing, but we were already wet from the daily rain shower.  (Colby had broken our only umbrella in a violent fit of frustration.  Why, you ask?  Please see the wheel of woe.  Pick one.)  Whatever troubles he had that morning were promptly washed away.

You should have seen the looks we received from passersby.  Colby was a tourist attraction in his own rite Saturday morning.  Several people stopped and giggled at the blonde-haired, blue-eyed little boy.  Then they snapped photos of him.  He is a celebrity.  People stop us and ask if they can have their photo taken with him, and he is constantly being offered balloons, chocolates, and lollipops.  When I firmly say no to the sweets or accept and quickly shove the proffered item to the bottom of my purse, the (usually) older, Asian woman looks crushed to her core.  I feel horrible, but one little boy can only handle so much candy in one day, and I would very much like him to eat something other than Chupa-Chups each day. 

Once we got our little star dry and dressed in fresh clothes, we headed in to The Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom.  It was interesting though over-priced.  It was similar in cost, but not nearly as impressive as the Jurong Bird Park.  Unfortunately, it was still sprinkling and I wasn’t able to get any good photos either.  We didn’t stay long and decided to head over to the Underwater World and Dolphin Lagoon.  Aquariums are always a big hit with the short guy. 

With all of the excitement, he fell asleep on the train ride back to the Broadway Hotel. 

     

On Sunday, we decided to check out the Singapore Science Centre.  This place was impressive.  There were exhibits for all sorts of science and techy nerds.  We checked out the sound and music exhibits and played in the little people discovery area where Colby made some music of his own. 

The day ended with Colby’s favorite of the elements – water!  The Science Centre had an amazing, outdoor waterworks exhibit.  This unprepared mother was unaware of this cove of fun and forgot to bring Colby’s swim trunks, so he went in his diaper. 

Who knew diapers could hold so much liquid!

He had a blast!  When we finally told him it was time to go, I thought there was going to be a fight.  He was so overjoyed with the day that he left without so much as a tear.  He just giggled softly.  Finally, our sweet boy has returned! 

On Monday, we headed over to the Singapore Botanic Gardens.  It is a gigantic parked filled with extraordinary plants and trees.  There were lakes, statues, waterfalls and wildlife.  It was truly beautiful. 

For a small fee, you could enter the National Orchid Garden where hundreds (maybe thousands) of orchid cultivars are on display.  Many of the orchids are native to Singapore.  I love to photograph flowers and took close to 100 photos in the short time we were there.  I will only share a few here.

We arrived safely in Jakarta just a few short hours ago and are staying a lovely guest house with FREE internet and laundry service!!  We have several meetings over the next few days and then it is off (FINALLY!) to Sumba.  I am excited to unpack!

 

Big Troubles in Little India

*The photo used to make the "Wheel of Woe" was taken by the Indonesian Embassy and is now part of Colby's official immigration application.  Our dear little boy has inherited his mother's explosive temper, but hasn't yet learned to control it.

Bureaucracy, Birds, and Barbarians

We left for Singapore on Monday evening to finalize our 1 year Indonesian visas.  Singapore is a small country which has only been independent for 45 years.  In those short years, it has become one of the most prosperous countries in the world.  It is a small island country north of Indonesia and south of Malaysia.  

   

Having trouble finding it?  Let's zoom in....alot.         

We have spent most of our time here at the Indonesian Embassy waiting in lines and filling out forms.  We are learning that anything official moves slower than snails in Indonesia.  We were told the ministry of research and science (RISTEK) needed us to report to an embassy on June 29th.  So like good little boys and girls, we rearranged our flights and reported here.  

First problem..... immigration failed to send our sponsorship letter.  "Please come back tomorrow," says the nice lady.  Second problem.... our sponsorship letter arrived on the 30th at 2pm - 30 minutes after visa application acceptance closes.  "Please come back tomorrow," repeats the same, polite lady.  Today, we were finally able to have our visas processed.  Though, our return flight to Jakarta departed while we were having new photos taken.  Now we just have to wait 2 business days to pick up our visas.  Looks like we will be hanging in Singapore for the weekend and booking new return flights!!   

Since we are here, we are taking in as much of Singapore as possible.  One of the places we checked out was the Jurong Bird Park.  It is an entire zoo dedicated to birds and is famous for its expansive, open exhibits.  Colby LOVES birds!  We couldn't get him to take his eyes off of the flamingoes - even to smile for a family photo! 

The birds were numerous and stunning. 

A scarlet ibis...

Some Victoria crowned pigeons...

 Colby particularly enjoyed the Lory Loft where he could get up-close and personal with some parrot-type birds.  

There were 1,000 lories in this aviary flying about our heads and climbing along the railings looking for visitors to offer them some honey water.  Colby didn't quite know which way to run with all of the birds to chase after!

Poor thing was so exhausted he screeched at some rather large birds of prey (thank goodness for chain-link) and completely passed out.  Chris and I were excited that we had rented a wagon for him to ride around in!

With Colby fast asleep, We continued to walk through the enormous park and found the largest pelicans I have ever seen. 

Seriously gigantic.  Look at the wingspan on these things!

Just after the pelicans, as we passed the african grassland exhibit we saw these birds hanging out on a rock. 

I looked everywhere for a placard for some information.  What are those things hanging from under their chins? I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but that bird is dropped on his legs.  His (or her?) feet are hanging off the edge of the rock.  He/she is standing on elbows or knees!! 

Well, I have told you about bureaucracy and birds.  Now for the barbarians.... actually,  just one barbarian.  (Mom, Dad - while reading this, please remember I am 30 years old, married, and have a child.)  

We are staying in a neighborhood called Little India.  As we walk to and from the subway, the smell of curry is intense.  Everywhere you look you see saris and intricate gold jewelry for sale.  I finally gave in and did something I have been thinking about doing for almost a year.  

That is a tear in my eye.  I had it manually pierced, because I wanted a diamond stud.  The guy behind the counter said it didn't hurt at all - "only a pinch," he said.  I started to get nervous as I watched them file the post of the stud to a sharp point.  It hurt.  Alot.  I may have yelled liar at the nice Indian man behind the counter.  I now have 6 piercings on my face (5 in my ears).  I have no intentions have becoming Elaine Davidson, but I am pleased with my new addition.