Learning patience

I know I’m lucky to be in the beautiful island of Lombok, and I definitely got to see an unbelievably astonishing side of it this past weekend. But one thing is visiting such a place, and another one is working there. The pace in paradise is slow, and people are not in a hurry to give you a schedule or to deal with mundane issues like helping you set up your Internet connection or figuring out why your phone doesn’t work. Life is to be enjoyed in such a place.

Going back to work was more frustrating than before because after a perfect weekend I expected a perfect week, and that’s not really how it goes. On Monday morning I went to the Language Center to take a placement test for my Bahasa Indonesia lessons and I bombed it. Level one it is! And I thought I already knew the numbers… Ha. I think starting from the very beginning will be beneficial anyway.

After the test I was supposed to meet Ibu Mira to talk about my class schedule, so I walked over to the English Education department—I don’t get lost anymore—and I sat to wait for her. While I was waiting, a message sent by her about an hour earlier popped up in my phone. As I mentioned it before, my Internet connection pretty much doesn’t work and I get delayed messages all the time. Mira had to cancel the meeting because something had come up. A little disappointed, I walked over to the Rektorat to see if I could talk to someone else about getting help with my phone and a few other little issues. When I got there, Mira was walking out with a Japanese woman that was visiting the university to award scholarships to low-income, promising students. They invited me to join them for a late lunch, and since I wanted to talk to Mira anyway, I tagged along. I already had eaten, so I just ordered a Durian dessert (not the best choice) and chatted with Mira and Mari about cultural issues in Indonesia. Next, we went to visit a traditional pottery village Mari wanted to see before going back to Tokyo the next day. We walked among aisles of beautiful clay pots, bought a few items, and then they dropped me off at home. No work got done and no schedule was discussed. It was a nice afternoon though.

The next day I was starting to get exasperated by not being able to accomplish anything, and instead of sitting around and waiting, I walked over to the Rektorat to try to find out what was happening. One of the student workers who I met on my first day was in the office, and I politely forced him to take me the vice-rector's office where we were granted use of one of the university vehicles to run some errands. We went to look at bicycles, attempted to receive some money my sister had sent me, and tried to fix whatever was wrong with my cell phone and Internet plan. After a couple of hours failing at getting anything done and torturing the driver and the student worker–I was in a bad mood and it was past lunch time, which made them look pretty unhappy—I was taken back home with nothing done. I tried to chill and started studying some Bahasa Indonesia for my first lesson the next day. Then I got a call from boss Jenn, and she told me that she was going to make sure things got worked out and reassured me that the RELO office had my back. One thing that also had me worried was my visa situation, which she explained was being dealt with as a priority, and then she lightened things a little by laughing about the different pace of things in Indonesia and the fact that we really need to breath and keep calm. The conversation was heartwarming and I remembered how thankful I am to have such amazing support group and how awesome my new boss is.

Eva and Erny take me shopping

On Wednesday there was a shift on the way things were going. I went to my first Bahasa Indonesia class and then met Mira in her office. She finally gave me a schedule and explained the reason why I hadn’t gotten it yet: she was trying to change some weekend and late evening classes that had been assigned to me to more convenient times and days. She was just trying to protect me but hadn’t communicated anything to me, which she apologized for. When I went back home, my neighbor took me to a bank and I was able to receive the money transfer I was waiting for, and to celebrate, I invited Mira and 3 of my neighbors to have dinner at a neighborhood restaurant. After we got back to our building, we all sat in the gazebo to listen to music, eat cookies, and be neighborly. To top it all off, Jenn messaged me to tell me that my visa documents were ready and that I could book my ticket to Singapore to go get my extended stay visa! Thursday and Friday were good days too, with no classes yet but getting to practice my Bahasa Indonesia, hanging out with my neighbors, my new coworkers, my language teachers, Eva and her friends, and some students interested in starting an English club. I also started to get ready for my upcoming visa trip.

We are starting an English club

I got up very early on Saturday, called a taxi, and flew to Singapore to meet Alicia, another fellow who was also getting her visa at the same time. This is my first time in this country, and I have found it strange, interesting, and somehow mind-blowing. I’ll write next about my impressions of Singapore. For now, I’m ready to discover what this place is about and to get my documents in order so I can go back to Indonesia and really settle into my new life.