• Cherine’s narrative for May
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• We’ve been here almost two whole months already, and I still have to pinch myself to believe I’m really here.  Things we’ve discovered so far that make everyday life here a little different are:
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• - Eggs are not always washed.  Guess I never really thought of that before I opened the first carton here. 
• - Coke tastes “funny”.  Because there are so many Muslims in this country, they have to make Coke with a different process that is acceptable to that religion.  Don’t get me started on trying to describe the taste of Diet Coke. 
• - A smoked turkey breast costs $80, and a pint of cherry tomatoes is $19. 
• - Rice noodles, chilled Jello and imported chocolates (from Switzerland and Germany - YUM) are each given their own isles in the grocery store, and all are very low in price.  I guess you can tell what Indonesians like to eat most.
• - Indonesian mints are made with eucalyptus instead of mint, so while I have fresh breath, my sinuses are also clear.  At least they taste slightly better than Vicks cough drops.

- There really is a TV show called Indonesian Idol. 

-You can buy chicken feet by the kilogram at the meat counter.  I have not experimented with making this Indonesian delicacy yet. 

- Pedicures are $5 for 45 minutes….ahhh.

- The Morning Call to Prayer over the loud speaker is more reliable than any alarm clock, especially if the “regular” singer is off that day – it can resemble a howling dog.

- Small earthquakes are frequent (3-4 every day), but it’s still fun to feel them.  I guess that’s the geologist in me. 

- Indonesian time moves at a glacial pace.  Even Indonesians poke fun at their own culture by using a term called “rubber time”.  It is completely acceptable to be late for a meeting or taking two months to complete a simple repair.  You can’t be in a hurry here. 

Collecting native art is a habit I seem to have picked up lately, and it's a nice way to decorate our apartment.  I’ve been able to buy several things in the Lowlands from a gallery and from people selling things along the road.  Most of the artwork here involves wood carving, and there are a couple different styles people use.  Some are native Papuan and others have Indonesian influences that have come with people moving here from other islands.

The natives make wonderful drums made out of hollowed trees and snakeskin.  And judging from the size of the skin, they must have very big snakes here, although I haven’t seen one yet. 

One animal commonly found in carvings are crocodiles.  I have decided to adopt one as a pet.  His name is Fluffy.

I also got a hatchet made out of stone, and it weighs about 3 pounds.  I think it’s a pretty lethal weapon.  And I bought a hand woven bag made out of grasses.  I’m afraid I’ll break it so I’ll probably just hang it up. 

We've started taking Indonesian language classes, and I hope we can learn the language fairly quickly.  Even though most of the people we deal with on a daily basis speak English, it would be nice to understand the language so we can communicate with people outside of work.  My favorite word so far is pronounced "chew-me", and it means squid.  Coincidence?

Speaking of food, we have eaten a lot of different foods here.  The squid here is VERY fresh, and tastes really good, like very mild fish.  The river prawns that we can buy at the resort in the lowlands are always enormous, and were caught that day. 

Of course we eat more mundane things on a daily basis like chicken or tuna sandwiches.  We can even find peanut butter once in a while here. 

One thing that is funny to me is that American foods that I didn't really eat much of before are now the most wonderful things on earth.  For example, I hardly ever ate Doritos back home, but the day Mom's care package arrived, containing Doritos, I had to dive into a bag...and even had some for breakfast the next morning. 

So far, everyone here is very nice.  Even people who don't speak English.  Wearing a smile is very important here, especially since we (especially me) stick out and tend to get stared at.  I'm still not used to that.