Sunday Part 1
The week is already half over and I'm just barely getting a chance to tell you about our busy Sunday!
Our original plans for Sunday included a relaxing day and a visit with friends for some worship and listening to a sermon together but our friends wound up with a sick kid...so, our day ended up looking quite a bit different than we expected!
We went to downtown Salatiga as a family for the first time. I wish I could express to you what a trip downtown looks like here. What it feels like and smells like and sounds like. We didn't bother bringing our camera along for this first trip - it was stressful enough just ensuring that our three children were accounted for!
Our trip started with a 10 minute walk up the hill to catch an angkota - basically a van with bench seats that serves as public transportation here. We stuffed ourselves into the available seats on the Nomor 9 angkota and held on for the ride. It was hot, stuffy, smoky, but a nice slow ride. The other passengers were all tiny little ladies who stared in awe at us. We must have seemed like giants from another land - oh wait, that is exactly what we are!
Anyway, the trip takes about 10-15 minutes, depending on how many times they stop for more passengers or drop somebody off. We could have gotten off at any time but decided to ride to the end of the line, which is conveniently located at one end of the main street of Salatiga.
Once hopping off the angkota (and paying our 20 cents per person for the ride), we headed straight for Ramayana. Picture a four story concrete building, stuffed to the gills with clothes, shoes, and people! Then add in some blaring music, high heat and humidity, the dinging and pinging of an arcade, and a man and woman talking loudly to each other over the PA system, radio-style. We carefully made our way up three escalators to the top floor - I think I only knocked over one woman who was trying on shoes in the crowded aisle. On the top floor resides the Super Wal-Mart. Or something like that. Or something not very much like that but what other words do I have to describe this to you?
Sean and I wandered around, picked up a few things we needed, and headed off to pay. I had found some Coke Zero, which I had to have, of course and that proved too much for the cashier. We waited a looooonnnnngggg time for them to figure out the price of my four-pack of liquid energy. (It was well worth the wait, by the way.) We finally finished paying and realized we had far more bags to carry than we meant to. One of us still had to carry Paige, while the other carried overloaded grocery bags....back down the three levels, winding our way through every floor on our way to the next escalator. I didn't think it was possible, but the place was even more crowded than it had been on our way up!
We left the building in a daze. Whoa. That was crazy! But we made it!
Next, we had to find an ATM to take out some cash. (We have to pay for everything with cash.) I waited with the girls on a curb while Sean took care of that - I let him brave the long line and crush of people there.
Once our errands were taken care of, we toyed with the idea of walking farther down main street to explore a little bit...well, we toyed with the idea for about two seconds - the length of time it took us to feel the weight of the heavy, sticky baby and four heavy grocery sacks in our arms. Instead, we decided to get out while the gettin' was good and flagged down a dokar.
A dokar is a basically a horse and buggy with a driver for hire. But when I say "horse" I really mean scrawny, skinny, short, overworked, underpaid, pony. And when I say "buggy" I actually mean two-wheeled cart that is tiny, squeaky, totally NOT up to code, and not meant for giants from another land to ride in.
What a wild ride! We weaved in and out of traffic, up and down hills (pretty sure that measly excuse for a horse was also our breaks), and around pedestrians, motorcycles, vans, buses, trucks, and more. The whole time I'm wondering if the first thing to buckle under our weight would be the horse or the buggy.
Oh that poor horse!
But we made it! The girls thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world, the Indonesians who saw us clip-clopping along in the dokar got a good laugh, and we managed to get home in one piece with some Coke Zero for me and a dorky cell phone holder for Sean. A success!
And that was just the first part of the day.....
Our original plans for Sunday included a relaxing day and a visit with friends for some worship and listening to a sermon together but our friends wound up with a sick kid...so, our day ended up looking quite a bit different than we expected!
We went to downtown Salatiga as a family for the first time. I wish I could express to you what a trip downtown looks like here. What it feels like and smells like and sounds like. We didn't bother bringing our camera along for this first trip - it was stressful enough just ensuring that our three children were accounted for!
Our trip started with a 10 minute walk up the hill to catch an angkota - basically a van with bench seats that serves as public transportation here. We stuffed ourselves into the available seats on the Nomor 9 angkota and held on for the ride. It was hot, stuffy, smoky, but a nice slow ride. The other passengers were all tiny little ladies who stared in awe at us. We must have seemed like giants from another land - oh wait, that is exactly what we are!
Anyway, the trip takes about 10-15 minutes, depending on how many times they stop for more passengers or drop somebody off. We could have gotten off at any time but decided to ride to the end of the line, which is conveniently located at one end of the main street of Salatiga.
Once hopping off the angkota (and paying our 20 cents per person for the ride), we headed straight for Ramayana. Picture a four story concrete building, stuffed to the gills with clothes, shoes, and people! Then add in some blaring music, high heat and humidity, the dinging and pinging of an arcade, and a man and woman talking loudly to each other over the PA system, radio-style. We carefully made our way up three escalators to the top floor - I think I only knocked over one woman who was trying on shoes in the crowded aisle. On the top floor resides the Super Wal-Mart. Or something like that. Or something not very much like that but what other words do I have to describe this to you?
Sean and I wandered around, picked up a few things we needed, and headed off to pay. I had found some Coke Zero, which I had to have, of course and that proved too much for the cashier. We waited a looooonnnnngggg time for them to figure out the price of my four-pack of liquid energy. (It was well worth the wait, by the way.) We finally finished paying and realized we had far more bags to carry than we meant to. One of us still had to carry Paige, while the other carried overloaded grocery bags....back down the three levels, winding our way through every floor on our way to the next escalator. I didn't think it was possible, but the place was even more crowded than it had been on our way up!
We left the building in a daze. Whoa. That was crazy! But we made it!
Next, we had to find an ATM to take out some cash. (We have to pay for everything with cash.) I waited with the girls on a curb while Sean took care of that - I let him brave the long line and crush of people there.
Once our errands were taken care of, we toyed with the idea of walking farther down main street to explore a little bit...well, we toyed with the idea for about two seconds - the length of time it took us to feel the weight of the heavy, sticky baby and four heavy grocery sacks in our arms. Instead, we decided to get out while the gettin' was good and flagged down a dokar.
A dokar is a basically a horse and buggy with a driver for hire. But when I say "horse" I really mean scrawny, skinny, short, overworked, underpaid, pony. And when I say "buggy" I actually mean two-wheeled cart that is tiny, squeaky, totally NOT up to code, and not meant for giants from another land to ride in.
What a wild ride! We weaved in and out of traffic, up and down hills (pretty sure that measly excuse for a horse was also our breaks), and around pedestrians, motorcycles, vans, buses, trucks, and more. The whole time I'm wondering if the first thing to buckle under our weight would be the horse or the buggy.
Oh that poor horse!
But we made it! The girls thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world, the Indonesians who saw us clip-clopping along in the dokar got a good laugh, and we managed to get home in one piece with some Coke Zero for me and a dorky cell phone holder for Sean. A success!
And that was just the first part of the day.....
Ah, another Coke Zero fan, I knew I liked you!!
ReplyDeleteI love your descriptions of your new experiences here in Indo. I especially appreciate your good attitude. You are quite a trooper!
Blessings!!
Joy