A Kept Man's LIfe

When we decided to move to Jakarta,  there was a possibility that I was not going to be able to work. After all, we were moving here because of Gloria's job, and getting a work visa here is not an easy task. It takes over a month after you get all the approvals and sponsors. This is exactly the situation I find myself in. I am working with Accenture's Jakarta office to get everything in place to allow me to work in Indonesia, but it is taking some time.

In the interim, I am unemployed. But this is a good thing, because I get to be a kept man. Yep, I have a sugar mama. My wife brings home the bacon, and I, uh, hang out (I'm inclined to make a joke here about eating the bacon, but that seems somehow inappropriate). I even get an allowance which pretty much goes like this:

Brian: (opens wallet) I'm running out of cash.
Gloria: (opens wallet and pulls out 1 MEEELLION RUPIAH) Here.

Marriage is the best!

Awesome. So as of now I live the life of a kept man. I hang out at home, do my daily "honey do lists" from Gloria, and kind of do whatever I feel like. A sampling of the things I've been up to:

I've become very familiar with the layout and (sometimes lacking) selection of our local Hypermart (grocery store)

• Frustration with said grocery store led me to check out another nearby market, which turned out to be a great discovery. They sell much better quality items, and illy coffee! Speaking of coffee (on a bit of rant here), we live on the island of Java, and one of the other prominent islands of Indonesia is Sumatra. Those are two words synonymous with good coffee, yet there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of good coffee to be found here. This really has me scratching my head. Many people here have extolled the virtues of Indonesian coffee as being the best in the world, yet mostly what I've found so far is Nescafe style instant crap, or insanely bitter nasty Indonesian coffee. Are they exporting all the good stuff? Am I not looking in the right places? Clearly I'm missing something. Maybe I'm spoiled in the US, but I was very happy to find illy here. I'll keep looking for good Indonesian coffee though. It's gotta be here somewhere.

Where's my coffee named after you?!?!

I am free to go to the gym as much as I want. This has translated into a grand total of 3 trips to the gym. Sad, yes. Prior to the wedding both Gloria and I were very disciplined, and we both got in pretty good shape. I've regressed a bit, and I have to get back on this. I recently met with a personal trainer here (3 sessions came free with the gym membership). His name is Leonardo, so even if the training doesn't work out, I'll at least be on my way to becoming a ninja turtle. See what I did there? Leonardo...? Get it? It's funny. Meh...

Goals. It's good to have 'em.

Cleaning the apartment is part of the daily chores. One nice thing about our apartment is that it has tile floors, so it helps everything stay cooler. One not so nice thing is that those tiles are off-white, so every little thing on them shows. Also, we have a clothes washer, but no dryer, and no dishwasher. So, vacuuming the floors, washing dishes, doing laundry, etc. have all become pretty routine. Not that we didn't clean before, but it's definitely a more frequent occurrence when I'm not working. And did I mention Gloria's long, black hair? It's everywhere! White tile damn you!

Just like the locals and color coordinated too!

TV. My favorite part of being at home. I get to catch up on TV. And not local Jakarta of Asian TV (which can be vastly entertaining in it's own right). I'm talking good ol' American TV. We get The Voice (surprisingly entertaining), The Amazing Race, a bunch of other shows on Fox (yes we have a Fox channel here), HBO, Cinemax, and several other channels. So I'm pretty well caught up on a lot of shows. But the real kicker is sports. We actually get some live sports here. For example, when I wake up on Monday morning here, the Sunday night NFL game is on (we're 11 hours ahead of US Eastern Time). Likewise on Tuesday morning I can watch Monday Night Football. Even a game or two of the Sunday NFL programming is shown. Similarly all of the baseball playoffs were on TV live and on repeat (ultimately this was not a good thing for the Tigers fan in me). 

(this photo is for demonstrative purposes only. we don't actually watch these teams.)

But, the real cherry on top of all this is something I have because of Gloria: as a wedding gift she bought me a Belkin @TV box. For those who aren't familiar with it, this is a wonderful little device. It allows you to access the programming back home through the internet including live programming, or things recorded to the DVR. I can control a TV in the US from my couch here in Jakarta. The only requirement is that the box be hooked up to an active TV receiver.  So, before I left the US I hooked the box up at my parents' house in Muskegon, MI and since they have DirecTV we bought NFL Sunday Ticket to get all the games. Now, every week I record the Lions game for me, the Eagles game for Gloria, and whatever else I want to watch. For example, I've been able to watch all the Notre Dame football games. Go Irish! That said, there are a couple quirks with using it:

• It requires a pretty solid internet connection, which we don't always have here. So, the connection gets stuttered, and drops fairly frequently. Not a huge deal, but a bit of a bummer when it drops during the big play.
• Using the @TV takes over the TV. So even though this is hooked up on my parents' basement TV, occasionally they are watching it when I tune in. Which means I can't watch what I want. First world problems....uh, while living in a ...3rd world country. eeesh.

Other than that, it's a brilliant invention and I highly recommend it to anyone who's going to be away from home for an extended period of time. And it's all due to my awesome wife hooking me up with it. I'm a lucky man....

As long as I have wifi, I have football. All I need is no shirt and a beer.

In the coming weeks, I've got a few other things I'm going to be working on. One is trying get better at photography. There are a bunch of really cool photo opportunities here (buildings, neighborhoods, people, etc), and I'm going to go out on some photo treks to try my handiwork. I've only started shooting in manual mode a few months ago, and I've taken one photography class, so I know some basics. Time to practice, practice, practice. I also want to learn some post processing stuff with photoshop. I welcome tips, suggestions, tricks, etc. from my photographer friends. I'll also be working on my Bahasa Indonesia, which is the local language. Both Gloria and I are taking lessons, and we've definitely run up against quite a language barrier. We'll cover that in more detail in another post.

So there you have it: I buy groceries, I clean, I watch TV, and occasionally I get some exercise. I'm basically a 50's era wife, except I'm a dude. Other than that, it's exactly the same...give or take.

Until next time...

Seriously, these are my lists. Womp womp.

It's the same...but different.

I remember going to Hawaii to visit my cousins when I was about 16. Delle took me to McDonald's and was I ever so shocked to see "Saimin" and "Portuguese" sausage on the menu. What the feezy?? That's when I learned about regional specialties offered by big chain restaurants. In Indonesia, it doesn't stop there!

We've really enjoyed experiencing the "Jakarta" version of US style things. Of course, factor in the attempted "copies" of western things and it's been it's own adventure. Here are a few gems:

It's right on the corner of Holy Wood and Wine

You dunk these in mili-ili-ilk.

When in doubt, any office supply name will do.

I've never heard of this secret.

Yes, Fatburger here sells Fat Chicks.

It's just like home!

Livin' on 5 Prayers

Could you imagine if all of the Christian churches in the south had loud speakers pointing in every direction and blasted them out loud 5 times a day, every Sunday? I mean that would be some serious praising. And a lot of noise. So replace Christian with Islam, church with mosque, the south with Jakarta, every Sunday with every DAY and you've got yourself what's considered just another ordinary day. Or, what Brian and I like to call, "epic prayer 'battles'". 

Mosques or "Musholas" are as abundant here as 7-11's and McDonald's are in the US. They are everywhere. Every office has one, every mall has one. They're even at many gas stations and rest stops along the roads. This makes sense of course, because one of the pillars of Islam is prayer 5 times a day so having a mosque close-by at no matter where you are in Jakarta is not an issue. In fact, there are nearly 9000 mosques in Jakarta alone.

If you think 5 prayers a day shows devotion consider this: prior to prayer, there is the wudu, which is the ritual of cleansing head, hands, feet, and face. It is a rule that this cleansing must be done before touching the Quran, and if a male purposely touches a woman before prayer, he will need to wash again. Ah, I see. So that's why all the men in the elevator had their hands and arms pinned down so tightly to their bodies. And again, this happens 5 times a day, every day and no one even blinks.

It's incredibly interesting to be living in a Muslim majority country* and just as so much of Christianity forms the basis of many practices in the US, so does Islam influence the day to day life of everyone in Indonesia.  People do their best to schedule meetings and participation around prayer and it seems that it's a respectful understanding. People don't ask for it, but it is provided and expected. Particularly on Friday, which is the holy day, it is good practice to ensure that any male that you work with has the opportunity to pray at the appropriate time to participate in the lengthier prayers for the day. 

It's such a stark difference from what we are used to hearing in the states, where there is such a fear of showing any kind of "preferential treatment" towards any religion or even enabling folks the freedom of facility to practice in the way they want to practice (I am sure it is much easier to do so in a country that has such a HUGE majority of one religion). 

So Brian and I are slowly getting use to the daily prayers rising from the city below. Sometimes we even go out on to the balcony to listen. In fact, here's a little Friday prayer (3- 4 Mosques as heard from the 18th floor) that through the magic of iPhones and youtube, we would like to share with you:

*Super asterisk lesson time!
The difference between a country such as Indonesia, which is a Muslim Majority, versus Saudi Arabia, which is a Muslim Country, is that Muslim countries are run by Islam government and rules. Indonesia, is a republic though heavily influenced by Muslim practices due to the largest Islamic population in the world being here.

~dear Muslim friends - if I've gotten any part of my descriptions wrong, please feel free to correct me!

A Midwestern Boy in Strange Land

When I was a kid, if you had asked me if I'd ever live in a wild, exotic place like California, I probably would have said no chance. Little did I know just how far from Muskegon, MI I would go. Alas, here I am in Jakarta. I arrived here 2 weeks ago today, and since that time I've been doing my best to take in the city and get my bearings. But first, a couple thoughts about my travel here:

• Lightning and planes don't mix. My very first flight of the trip was canceled due to the plane being struck by lightning during its landing into Grand Rapids, MI. So, I had a multiple hour delay in Grand Rapids, followed by a 6 hour delay in San Francisco. But, everything was saved when I boarded my flight from SFO to Hong Kong. How you ask? Simple: Business Class is awesome! Check out the video below. It shows the view walking into my seat in business class. The seat is a little pod with room to stretch my legs out as far as I could, my own (large) tv screen, noise canceling headphones, pillows, blankets... oh and it lays flat. That's right, it's a bed! I had never traveled like this before, and it fantastic. I highly recommend it. Thank you GSK!

So despite some initial hiccups, my travel to Jakarta was quite enjoyable. Since my arrival, I've had a lot of the same impressions Gloria noted in her 48 Hours in Jakarta post, along with a few of my own:

• Traffic here is truly something to behold. Imagine cramming all of the traffic of a city of several million people onto mostly 2 & 4 lane roads. Also, those roads are not in great condition and don't feature luxuries such as convenient turn-offs onto side streets, traffic lights, stop signs, or really much direction of any kind. It's very much a free-for-all, but somehow everyone here seems to make it work and thus far I haven't seen any real accidents or anything. There are just far too many people and cars to fit on the streets. 
• As Gloria noted, of said traffic, a driver is a must. 
• People find "creative" methods of travel. For example: 



Seems legit...

• This is a Bajaj. It is a 3-wheeled form of public transportation. These originated in India, but are now built in Indonesia.  We have yet to experience a ride in one personally, but from what we're told, a ride in Bajaj is hot, bumpy, noisy, smelly, and best described as harrowing. 
• When public transportation isn't available, people take to carpooling. 





This is OSHA compliant, right?

• Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population, and you really can't miss it. There are mosque's all over the place, and you can hear the call to prayer coming from loudspeakers across the city. This is especially pronounced on Fridays. Check out this video to see an example of what it sounds like:

• There is also huge discrepancy between the wealthy and the poor. Take a look at this panorama I took from our balcony. One the right side, you see the towers that make up the rest of the complex where we live, with the skyscrapers of downtown Jakarta in the distance. Then, on the left, immediately across the street, there is a village of old houses and shacks. It is a striking difference and really makes me appreciate how fortunate we are.
• Also notice the haze on the horizon. That is pollution. Jakarta is an extremely polluted city and there seems to be a permanent layer of hazy pollution covering the city. Along with that pollution, there seems to be a distinct smell here. It's sort of a mix of pollution, overpopulation, heat, humidity, and smoke, all stirred up in a tropical stew. It's definitely something I notice every time I walk outside. 
• Adventures in Eating
• Coming into this experience I figured my stomach would have to adjust to the new kinds of foods and spices. The first few days were uneventful - lots of chicken, beef, noodles & rice. Pretty standard stuff. Then, at lunch one day I took a bite of what I thought was some kind of a squash type vegetable. Wrong. Holy hell that was a pepper! For the next couple hours my mouth was kind of on fire. It was pretty intense, but I made it. I thought that was it, but oh no. At some point the next day, I managed to eat something that really didn't agree with me. Let's just say my system did not appreciate whatever it was I ate, and Cipro is a wonderful, magical medicine. 
• I'll write more about the food here at a later date. Undoubtedly there will be more food adventures in my future...

That's all for now. There is much more I'll write about later, but this post is already rambling and scattered enough as it is. Until next time...