Vacation! What a word...what a difference! Just a few days away from the daily struggles of India gave me such a boost. It gave me the strength to face the last few months here and a new ability to cope with the organized chaos that defines this place. I've been back a month already and have seen such a difference in my attitude towards the city, the heat, the people, even the auto drivers. Self care is so very important when you live in a place that almost daily can tax your sanity! Maybe that's why they force you to leave every six months for a visa run lol...they know you'll need a break by then! ;)
I headed out to Jakarta, Indonesia via Kuala Lumpur and after arriving there, I took a short domestic flight to Semarang. My four hour layover in KL was amazing. There were shops and restaurants everywhere! I went to three different Starbucks and just reveled in all the "western-ness" of it. Unfortunately I went a little "too American, too fast" and got a stomach ache from the progressive 4 hour breakfast I had while waiting for my next flight. But it was still worth it lol!
I arrived in Semarang and my dear longtime friend Dinny picked me up with her uncle and father. It had been 2 years since she had moved from Arizona to work at Yale University and I was so excited to be reunited and to be able to visit her hometown and meet her family. Dinny was a student of mine when I taught ESL classes at ASU several years ago and we've been close friends for many years. We chatted the whole car ride from the airport to her town. I met her mom when we arrived in her home and saw her family had graciously set up a spare room for me to feel comfortable. Her parents could not communicate with me but there are some language barriers that can always be crossed with smiling and gesturing. We soon got ready and went out to eat for dinner and then after a pretty large local meal, they picked up traditional chicken satay with peanut sauce for "dessert". It was the best thing ever and after saying how I would only eat one or two skewers since we had just eaten a large meal out, I had no difficulty putting away about 10-15 chicken skewers! I seemed to have another stomach especially for satay!
Since I had not slept the night before on my flight, I had to call it a night around 9 and get some sleep. I woke up the next morning excited to check facebook to see if my new nephew had been born. My sister had been scheduled for a C-section while I was asleep and I hoped I would wake up to his face on my screen. I didn't have to wait long and I was excited to see that Graham Avery had been born healthy and happy! This is the second time I've been on vacation in SE Asia when a niece or nephew has arrived and it's kind of a fun story I hope to be able to share one day with them. Dinny and I spent the morning walking around her neighborhood, chatting with neighbors, getting fresh juice, seeing her former teachers at her elementary school and catching up on each other's lives. It was a beautiful walk and I was so thankful to be outside and not a sweaty mess. Then she took me on a motor bike ride tour of the town and again, it was a nice day for a ride and we had fun looking around.
Around noon, her family was done for the day with work so we all planned to spend the rest of the day in Semarang. We drove into the bigger city and saw a few sights, had the most delicious lunch with marinated beef that was to die for (I should preface that I ate a ton of beef on this trip since it's very rare in India) and then went to a karaoke room for an hour of crazy fun! Since language was somewhat difficult, I knew that singing would be a blast since music can absolutely break all language barriers! Her dad loved to sing and we did a few duets which was so fun. We ended the hour with "We are the World" which was not only hilarious and an apt song to sing, but closed out the fun with a poignant tone. Dinny and I decided to walk around a bit alone and visit a few more places before meeting up with her sister for dinner. We didn't get that far before her family came and found us and we all ended up going out to dinner. They took me to this fun beer garden place and I had a burger (big surprise) and a mojito! Then Dinny, her sister and I walked around this nice mall that was across from our hotel and tried desperately to have boba tea but every place we tried was out of boba :( So sad! I did however, get some amazing pants that I will wear until they have huge holes in them. They are so comfy and have cute Indonesian designs. Best $7 I have ever spent!
Dinny and I went back to the hotel after the mall closed and I decided I was going to take a bath. She had splurged on a big beautiful hotel that was so nice and luxurious. I was like, "See ya in an hour" and that was about right. I enjoyed every minute of my soak in a tub and then we stayed up chatting until way too late. Especially since I had to be up at 4 am the next morning for my next flight which would take me to BALI!
More to come on the glory that was Bali...
I headed out to Jakarta, Indonesia via Kuala Lumpur and after arriving there, I took a short domestic flight to Semarang. My four hour layover in KL was amazing. There were shops and restaurants everywhere! I went to three different Starbucks and just reveled in all the "western-ness" of it. Unfortunately I went a little "too American, too fast" and got a stomach ache from the progressive 4 hour breakfast I had while waiting for my next flight. But it was still worth it lol!
I arrived in Semarang and my dear longtime friend Dinny picked me up with her uncle and father. It had been 2 years since she had moved from Arizona to work at Yale University and I was so excited to be reunited and to be able to visit her hometown and meet her family. Dinny was a student of mine when I taught ESL classes at ASU several years ago and we've been close friends for many years. We chatted the whole car ride from the airport to her town. I met her mom when we arrived in her home and saw her family had graciously set up a spare room for me to feel comfortable. Her parents could not communicate with me but there are some language barriers that can always be crossed with smiling and gesturing. We soon got ready and went out to eat for dinner and then after a pretty large local meal, they picked up traditional chicken satay with peanut sauce for "dessert". It was the best thing ever and after saying how I would only eat one or two skewers since we had just eaten a large meal out, I had no difficulty putting away about 10-15 chicken skewers! I seemed to have another stomach especially for satay!
Since I had not slept the night before on my flight, I had to call it a night around 9 and get some sleep. I woke up the next morning excited to check facebook to see if my new nephew had been born. My sister had been scheduled for a C-section while I was asleep and I hoped I would wake up to his face on my screen. I didn't have to wait long and I was excited to see that Graham Avery had been born healthy and happy! This is the second time I've been on vacation in SE Asia when a niece or nephew has arrived and it's kind of a fun story I hope to be able to share one day with them. Dinny and I spent the morning walking around her neighborhood, chatting with neighbors, getting fresh juice, seeing her former teachers at her elementary school and catching up on each other's lives. It was a beautiful walk and I was so thankful to be outside and not a sweaty mess. Then she took me on a motor bike ride tour of the town and again, it was a nice day for a ride and we had fun looking around.
Around noon, her family was done for the day with work so we all planned to spend the rest of the day in Semarang. We drove into the bigger city and saw a few sights, had the most delicious lunch with marinated beef that was to die for (I should preface that I ate a ton of beef on this trip since it's very rare in India) and then went to a karaoke room for an hour of crazy fun! Since language was somewhat difficult, I knew that singing would be a blast since music can absolutely break all language barriers! Her dad loved to sing and we did a few duets which was so fun. We ended the hour with "We are the World" which was not only hilarious and an apt song to sing, but closed out the fun with a poignant tone. Dinny and I decided to walk around a bit alone and visit a few more places before meeting up with her sister for dinner. We didn't get that far before her family came and found us and we all ended up going out to dinner. They took me to this fun beer garden place and I had a burger (big surprise) and a mojito! Then Dinny, her sister and I walked around this nice mall that was across from our hotel and tried desperately to have boba tea but every place we tried was out of boba :( So sad! I did however, get some amazing pants that I will wear until they have huge holes in them. They are so comfy and have cute Indonesian designs. Best $7 I have ever spent!
Dinny and I went back to the hotel after the mall closed and I decided I was going to take a bath. She had splurged on a big beautiful hotel that was so nice and luxurious. I was like, "See ya in an hour" and that was about right. I enjoyed every minute of my soak in a tub and then we stayed up chatting until way too late. Especially since I had to be up at 4 am the next morning for my next flight which would take me to BALI!
More to come on the glory that was Bali...
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