Crashes, strikes, screams and volcanoes - all in one form or another

Recently, we along with our friends Brian and Jen, decided to make a weekend getaway to Bandung about 100 miles east of Jakarta. We had heard good reviews about the train that runs to Bandung and decided to travel by rail. The four hour train ride was a refreshing experience on what Java has to offer considering that most of our experiences are limited to the chaos of Jakarta. For me, as a geography teacher, it was exciting to see the transition the city made as we left the CBD and made our way through the various urban zones until finally reaching the surrounding rice terraces.

Bandung was established by the Dutch and at one time was called the 'Paris of Java'. Although charming with its Art Deco buildings and green space it was clear the city had lost this label. Bandung, however, is 750 meters above sea level so the cooler climate was welcomed and appreciated.

We were only going to be away for a little more than 24 hours so we wanted to make the best of our time. So what was first on our agenda (well the girls' agenda at least)? Shopping! Bandung is known for its factory outlets and that's what a lot of people come for. Wasn't top on my list of things to do and by the second hour I was ready to throw a tantrum. Reciprocation is important in a relationship and after going into 4 or so outlets Brian and I stumbled across a bowling alley and went bowling along with Liz and Jen. He won the first match and I the second with a 189 I believe. 244 is my high score but I do not consider myself a bowler. The Big Lebowski just happened to make an impression.

Bowling was followed by a trip to the movies to see Paranormal Activity. Yes, we were having quite the cultural getaway. Why did we leave Jakarta again? I am not a big fan of fright films but I was actually entertained by this film. Seeing almost any film in the theater enhances the overall picture but it was fun to hear everyone's reactions to the film as it progressed. I was also impressed by the fact that the makers of the film were able to produce the picture for just over $10,000. Pretty inspiring if you ask me. After agreeing not to scare one another that night we headed back to our hotel to get some needed sleep.

The next day we got up and with the aid of a driver headed to Tangkuban Prahu, a volcano that collapsed from a build up of ash. Volcanoes always fascinate me and it was an interesting site to take in despite that fact that the surrounding parking area was a major tourist trap. After inhaling sulfur for a bit we made our way down a slippery trail to Kawah Domas, another volcanic area that is on the side of Tangkuban Prahu. We watched people wading in the sulfur geysers, spreading mud on their bodies, and some were even boiling eggs. While scrambling over rocks we could hear thunder approaching and decided it was time to head for the car just to play it safe. About a quarter of a mile on the trail the skies opened up and lightning began striking 3 - 4 miles away. I had to shake my head at the families (both western and local) heading toward Kawah Domas with no rain gear, flip flops on and little children. Not the safest or wisest decision in my opinion. After having to take shelter twice along the trail we made it back to the van but were all in need of a change of clothes.

Our final stop before getting back on the train was to be a visit to the Museum Konperensi. A colleague told me it was a must see. Basically it was where the Asia-Africa conference of 1955 was held. This conference was attended by such figures as Sukarno, Ho Chi Minh, Nasser and other Third World leaders of that time. Unfortunately we made it there 15 minutes after closing so I had to get my history fix by peering through the windows of the auditorium.

Despite being a short visit it was a needed refresher. We'll definitely have to make it back so we can get to the museum and some of the surrounding tea plantations. Next stop is New Zealand which we are embarking to tomorrow. Look out for an update from there. We'll be talking our camping gear with us and plan to hit the trails as hard as we did when down in South America. Happy Holidays to any and all that might be reading this.

Rice terraces as seen from our train

Wood worker stripping bark that creates natural design

Kawah Ratu

Kawah Domas

Bubbling geyser

Jen and Liz near geyser

Sulfur vents

Waders, bathers and egg boilers

Liz and Jim at Kawah Domas

Ahh...Bali

All smiles after our first diving trip in four years

Ask anyone who has been to Indonesia, and they say "Ahhhh...Bali." So, as our first school holiday approached we decided the best place to start exploring the country would be in the famed location of "Ahhhh...Bali." Why wait any longer to see what all the hype was about?

With only a week to explore, we decided to spend most of our time in the northwest corner of the island in a village called Pemuteran. Pemuteran is a quiet little place with black sand beaches and abundant coral reefs. We stayed at the bungalows our dive center offered and couldn't have been happier. We spent four wonderful days diving and snorkeling. The diversity we experienced was incredible. The different varieties of coral alone were unbelievable, not to mention the life swimming around it! We watched sea turtles with remoras on their backs, pygmy sea horses hiding in fan coral, and puffer fish parades. It was simply stunning. At night we played games and had laughs while we enjoyed the sound of the crashing waves. It was paradise after a hectic few months of settling in.

To round off our Bali week, we finished up in Ubud. Interestingly enough Julia Roberts had been in town the day prior to our arrival shooting for her upcoming movie Eat, Pray, Love based on the book by Elizabeth Gilbert. We hoped to get cast as extras, but there were no crews in sight. We went to lunch followed with a fright at the Sacred Monkey Forest. We had been warned by our friends that the monkey forest was pretty intense, but we didn't fully understand this until we saw it for ourselves. We watched aggressive monkeys attack each other, jump on onlookers’ backs, and snag food out of visitors’ hands. The entire time Jen and I pretty much clung to each other while Jim and Brian took photos and laughed. When I watched a large man with three monkeys on his back fling from side to side, I knew it was time to go. We returned to our Balinese induced state of calm after a little window shopping, which is endless in Ubud.

With only two days in Ubud, we didn't get a complete view of everything to experience, but we did join a cooking class, which gave us an interesting window into Balinese culture. We went on a tour of the local market to learn about the common spices and ingredients used in Balinese cuisine. After that we returned for what was more of a demonstration with tasting than a cooking course. This was the first time Jim and I had ever done anything like this and we really enjoyed the experience. After the cooking class, Jen and I spent the afternoon at the spa. We had massages, body scrubs and then hair conditioning crème bathes. It was four fantastic hours of pampering. A must while in Bali!

A week in Bali was certainly not enough, but it did help us understand why people refer to it as, "Ahhhh...Bali." The people have a calm and warmth you don't experience in other places in Indonesia. The food is incredible and every where you look you are surrounded by beauty. It really is paradise...and we are going again in February!

Our vacay crew...Jen, Brian, Liz and Jim

My jump shot is really improving! Must be the yoga:)

Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest...enter at your own risk!

This fiesty little monkey was ready take on Jim because he had his hands in his pocket and the monkey thought he was hiding food.

Ubud Market

Jim pulled out his bandanna for his turn to marinate the meat...as always he got the group laughing!

Making pork skewers...yum!

Rice paddy in Ubud

More photos can be found at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lizhaske/OurFirstTripToBali?authkey=Gv1sRgCNGgq-HbsLDUPw#

Introducing Lola and Minke

We are proud to introduce the newest additions to the Haske family...Lola and Minke. They were found about fifteen minutes from our house while I was out for a walk. I could hear their little kitten cries over my i-pod. How could I even think about walking away? After working with a security guard to get their brother, who has been placed in a home, out of a nearby canal I toted them home in an old plastic pail. Jim was a little more than surprised when I returned from my walk with a bucketful of kittens who I convincingly explained needed to come inside. After trying to socialize them so they would be ready for a home, Jim started to warm up to the idea of having another pet. And so here we are with two little kitties who are as cute as can be. Lola is mostly black, but has bronze colored stripes and a dusted face. Minke is a bouncer, he pounces around and when he finally tires out comes for a cuddle. Lola was definitely weened too early and when she is really sleepy, tries to milk Minke's tummy. It is quite funny to see! They both have curled tails, which is very common in Indonesia. Although we can never replace Zoey and Estevez, who back in Syria living with a new owner, they do bring a sense of home into our big house here in Indonesia.

Lola



Minke
Their brother who has been placed in a home.

(Behind us is our wonderful cook, Iboh.)

Jakarta Round Bali Bound

Tomorrow the bubble bursts as we head to Bali for a week with our friend's Brian and Jen. It's definitely well deserved after 3 months on the hamster wheel. We have only heard good things about this island paradise that is an hour's flight away. Diving, hiking, and kicking back are all on the agenda.

Today another earthquake was felt. A 6.4 just west of us. I was sitting pool side with friends when I began to feel my chair shaking. At first I thought it was my buddy's kid rocking my chair but then I realized he was in the pool. My next thought was that it was his dog having its way with my chair but the dog is a she and she's the size of a loaf of rye bread. Another teacher then came in moments later and asked if we felt the quake. I don't know what it will take for me to relize that I just experienced an earthquake, but in a way, I don't really need to find out. This is the second I have felt and I didn't pick up on it until it was finally pointed out to me.

Here are a few pictures to show what we have been up to. I almost had a great photo of a doll faced monkey on a motorbike but was too slow to get out the camera. Liz saved three kittens the other day and I said she can keep them if I can get the Jakarta Monkey Moto-combo. I am still awaiting an answer.

The Ladies of Oktoberfest. Yes, we even had horses at our party.

Only $10 an hour for 3.

Mid rescue

The Abandoned

Brian and Jim - Hole in 1 ball
Liz, Jen and Brian on the back streets of Jakarta in search of furniture

Trying to not get hit. Notice the expression on Liz's face

The next few pictures are some from South America that we were unable

to get off our camera until our adapter arrived in our shipment

Jim buying a new crown in Ecuador
Please help with this one if you are a KISS fan. We were killing a day in Lima, Peru waiting for a flight, and knew KISS was in town. We walked by a hotel and a mob of fans was standing outside the car park. We took interest and started hanging out. Then this guy walks out and everyone goes nuts yelling 'Eddie, Eddie!' but who is Eddie? As far as I know there is no Eddie in KISS and never was. Please clarify if you are part of the KISS Army. We stuck it out for an hour but never did see Gene Simmons.

Liz with a diehard Peruvian KISS fan

The KISS Army

And yes, it is true, we did in fact go down to South America for

three months to go on tour with the Village People

I Feel the Earth...Move...Under My Feet

Minimum Wage Monkey in Jakarta

(notice that the poor thing has a doll face over its head like a mask.)

Last week we experienced our first earthquake: a 7.0. I happened to be in a meeting when the room started to shake and sway. It was crazy because the night before I dreamed that there was a tsunami warning and despite my best efforts I could not run away; my legs just wouldn't move. The next day when the earthquake hit and a tsunami warning went out, I must admit I was a little shocked. But thankfully there were no big waves and I wrote my dream off as a coincidence.

We have been trying to get outside of our bubble and see a little more of real Jakarta. But at the same time we know we need to get our feet planted and this requires extra hours in the classroom and numerous shopping trips to set up our home. (We of course have also made a few other detours to places like golf courses, spas, outlet malls, and fabric markets to keep us sane.) So needless to say, at this point we really haven't seen much of the country itself. But hey, we've only been here a little over a month and settling in takes time! And because of that, it really hadn't hit me that we were living in a third world country until we went for a walk outside our gated community. We were meandering along and I turned to Jim and said, "Wow, this is really third world." I think his response was somewhere along the lines of a polite "Duh." I guess it is really easy to lose perspective when you live in an beautiful house and work at a world class school where you want for nothing. Below are a few photos from our walk that brought me back to reality. Unfortunately the sun was going down so the lighting in the photos is not the best.

Fruit stand just outside of our gated community.

Creative use of space? A garden right under the power lines

Hungry Goats

Indonesia really needs a recycling program, because at the moment they burn their trash.

As always...if these photos are not enough for you, there are a few more at this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lizhaske/AroundTown?authkey=Gv1sRgCMy1_a_VjtixSw#

First Week Highlights and Delights...

We started school last Monday and by Friday it seemed like a whizzing whirlwind swept the week away. Anyone reading this who has ever spent time teaching can certainly relate to how quickly the days pass when you start a new year. There never seems to be enough time to get things done, which pretty much continues until the last day of school. Ahh, one of the many joys of our profession:)

Despite how busy we may feel at the moment, we are both extremely happy and excited to be here. Our students seem great and so many more things are in place than have been at our previous schools. For the first time in over three years, I will not have to reinvent the wheel...this astounds me! Our school does such a great job of making life easy so that we really can focus on why we are here: helping students learn. (Example: There are banks and post offices on every campus!



We had a three day weekend thanks to a national holiday, which was a nice way to recover and from our first week with students and take time to indulge in some of the perks of living in Indonesia. At this stage, we haven't done a whole lot of exploring because we are still setting up our home. Although I was able to visit an area called Kemang, where furniture and interesting home decor is sold. There were so many beautiful pieces to see and I only went into a few shops. It appears that Indonesia will be a shopping paradise.



One of the highlights or maybe delights of our weekend was going to the Sunday Brunch at the Mulia hotel with a few other teachers who we have connected with. It was such a wonderfully decadent morning that we have pretty much agreed to do it again next week. It is so unbelievably affordable to have five star brunches here.



Another delight that cannot be left out was going to the spa...On Friday I had an hour Javanese massage with essential oils and then a conditioning cream bath on my hair. It was so good that three of us decided to go back Saturday morning for facials! I think a visit to the spa will definitely be a regular part of my weekly schedule. (While the girls were at the spa, the guys were out golfing. I guess this is the male version of relaxation.)

Needless to say, life is good. Jim is back to playing basketball twice a week and I start my first yoga class tomorrow. Our transition appears to have been pretty seamless. We have met some really nice friends and are starting to discover what Jakarta has to offer. It is a very exciting time and we appreciate that you take the time to share in our adventure by reading our blog.

We haven't been taking many pictures lately, but here are a few from our brunch.

We don't look too full, right?

A brunch isn't a brunch without a choclate fountain!

Away We Go...

After an amazing summer our "life of leisure" came to a screeching halt as we packed our bags and closed up our new house in preparation for our next move: Jakarta, Indonesia. Everything went without a hitch, or at least we hope it did, and we set off to join the ranks of the working once again. It was difficult not to reflect on our past year as we looked forward to what was ahead. In just the short span of an academic year we experienced: a sudden school closure, deportation from Syria, the loss from leaving pets behind, the beauty of the first snow, holidays with family, game nights with friends, life changing journeys through South America, cramped hands from signing the paperwork for our first home, and most importantly treasured time with family and dear friends. It truly was an amazing year.

And now after four connections and many hours of flying we have arrived in our new home. The school provided orientation has been absolutely fantastic. From the minute they greeted us at the airport to our final social gathering, everything has been seamlessly planned and organized. They put so much effort into making our transition here as easy as possible it never seems to amaze me. Simple things like having paperwork to open a bank account filled out so that all you have to do is sign or the simple fact that they offer a transportation service available 24/7 until we receive our resident permits and can buy a car. They really take care of you here!

We are feeling a little like we are living a dream life. Our beautiful four bedroom home comes with a live-in staff. (The school pre-assigns help for those that want it; we of course pay for their very affordable, but invaluable services.) Iboh and Sukito are an absolutely lovely married couple that has been working with expats over twenty years. They were with their last family for eight years, so we know they are good. Iboh really knows her way around the kitchen and Sukisto can iron like no one I have ever seen. I was not sure how I would like having someone do everything for us, but I have to say that it is so great to start the day with breakfast on the table and after a busy day at school it is so nice to have dinner taken care of so that I can have time to myself to exercise or swim. It really makes life more enjoyable. Although I love cooking and experimenting in the kitchen, I will gladly wait for to the weekends or summer time.

Our school facilities are like nothing we have ever seen. There are three campuses, two elementary and one secondary. Jim and I work adjacent campuses that look more like parks than school grounds. The buildings were designed so that there are no right angles, ensuring that every classroom opens up to green space. It is really something to see. We haven’t taken any pictures yet, but will be sure to in the coming weeks so that you can get a better sense of where we spend our days.

So far everything has been phenomenal. We really like the other new staff members and are excited to see a little more of Jakarta. There is so much more to say, but by now I have surely maxed out your reading limit so it will have to wait for our next entry.

Our new home

Click the link to see inside...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lizhaske/BintaroHome?authkey=Gv1sRgCPP_l5SI29qUyAE#