Holding Ren's hand
feeling vulnerable and tender
we look down at Borneo
from the air
vast forests, winding rivers,
and then the town of a million people
Palangkaraya...
no big skyscrapers here
we land and are met
to our delight
by Emilie, the French volunteer
who is in the internet video
(google: bcu school Indonesia video)
Emilie says: "It's eencraydeebel"
in her winsome French accent
The BCU school bus takes us
and our 100 pounds of luggage
(what 50 pounds of possessions
would you choose for 5 months in the tropics?
For me, pills and books for school
are the major items.
I'm happy to have brought
our little singing birds,
my battery powered coffee frother,
some games, and a dragon puppet.
We stop at a grocery
for some food basics
completely stop-me-in-my-tracks
overwhelmed by the food choices
mostly packaged, unknown brands,
contents labeled in Indonesian
OI!
Rupiah is the currency
8,000 R equals about a dollar
The drive from the airport
takes an hour and is an absolutely
straight road built by the Russians.
It goes all the way to the border
of Malaysia.
Compared to the traffic in Jakarta
this is tame
Rural, lush with greenery
houses of wood built on stilts,
little shops along the road
people sitting on porches
behind the roadside houses
uninhabited forest
Finally we Arrive
And then, here we are,
entering the compound
it looks just like the video!
We are taken to our cottage
lovely screened porch
nice kitchen
open air screened bath
two bedrooms
lovely
we find and greet
the beautiful, stately
spirit-of-the-place tree
and introduce ourselves
to the jin spirits
asking permission
Karim, the school principal
buzzes by to greet us on his motor bike
warm, welcoming
what a joy to finally unpack
shelves, drawers, hangers...heaven
nice dinner at the resort restaurant
and then a hard days night
We find that the bed is just a box springs
so we pile cushions from the living room
on top of the box springs
and attempt to sleep in this heap
pillows too hard
temperature sweltering
even a hard rain
doesn't cool things down
no top sheet
only a comforter
how could anyone need this?
What a roller coaster of feelings....
feeling vulnerable and tender
we look down at Borneo
from the air
vast forests, winding rivers,
and then the town of a million people
Palangkaraya...
no big skyscrapers here
we land and are met
to our delight
by Emilie, the French volunteer
who is in the internet video
(google: bcu school Indonesia video)
Emilie says: "It's eencraydeebel"
in her winsome French accent
The BCU school bus takes us
and our 100 pounds of luggage
(what 50 pounds of possessions
would you choose for 5 months in the tropics?
For me, pills and books for school
are the major items.
I'm happy to have brought
our little singing birds,
my battery powered coffee frother,
some games, and a dragon puppet.
We stop at a grocery
for some food basics
completely stop-me-in-my-tracks
overwhelmed by the food choices
mostly packaged, unknown brands,
contents labeled in Indonesian
OI!
Rupiah is the currency
8,000 R equals about a dollar
The drive from the airport
takes an hour and is an absolutely
straight road built by the Russians.
It goes all the way to the border
of Malaysia.
Compared to the traffic in Jakarta
this is tame
Rural, lush with greenery
houses of wood built on stilts,
little shops along the road
people sitting on porches
behind the roadside houses
uninhabited forest
Finally we Arrive
And then, here we are,
entering the compound
it looks just like the video!
We are taken to our cottage
lovely screened porch
nice kitchen
open air screened bath
two bedrooms
lovely
we find and greet
the beautiful, stately
spirit-of-the-place tree
and introduce ourselves
to the jin spirits
asking permission
Karim, the school principal
buzzes by to greet us on his motor bike
warm, welcoming
what a joy to finally unpack
shelves, drawers, hangers...heaven
nice dinner at the resort restaurant
and then a hard days night
We find that the bed is just a box springs
so we pile cushions from the living room
on top of the box springs
and attempt to sleep in this heap
pillows too hard
temperature sweltering
even a hard rain
doesn't cool things down
no top sheet
only a comforter
how could anyone need this?
What a roller coaster of feelings....
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