I made it, all is well.

Welcome to Indonesia!

What has seemed like a fortnight for me has actually only been five days for me. In short, I made it and things are going great. Here is a bit more for the curious...

First off, it is hot all the time. And humid. All the time. That has taken a few days to adjust to. Showering gives you minutes of relief from what feels like a constant seepage of sweat. It makes everything from sleeping to reading more complicated. But despite that fact, after five days I have started to acclimate and stop sweating profusely.

Secondly, the people here, both the locals and volunteers, are tremendously gracious and kind. The kids are fascinating and find foreigners interesting. Because of the remote location of the work site, we get "Halo Meester" and a wave from nearly everyone. When one replies back, "Hello", the group breaks into giggles. The last time I checked my email a few days ago there were five or six young kids looking over my shoulder at what I was doing! As for the volunteers, living this life we realize there are no conditions to complain about; everyone has made a conscious choice that seems to underlie behavior, attitude and activity. These two things, the heat and kindness, are at the front of my thoughts at the moment.

My normal work day routine is relatively structured and goes as follows:
6:00 - wake up slowly, get some breakfast (always malaria pill + corn flakes with powdered milk with a pbj)
7:00 - rinse off the face and arms in the cistern outside, get dressed for work, gather the tools
7:30 - go to the work site
8:00 - start work! (it has been either material recover or demolition, more on these later)
12:00 - lunch break! So far it has been rice with a curry meat dish (tonight I think it was goat) usually about 3 stars for spice
1:30pm - back to work
4:30 - head back to the base house
4:45 - bucket shower (pictures on its way) and dinner (same style as lunch)
6:00 - group meeting to discuss field reports on projects, new project assessments, housekeeping issues and new volunteer introductions
7:00 - free time, yay! This is where I rest, read, hang out with new friends, come into town to blog etc.
10:00 - quiet hours start, usually everyone, including myself, is asleep at this point
2:00am - another volunteer starts snoring in the next room
4:00am - freaky loud zombie cat breaks in and meows "brains" over and over for an hour.

Massage gently, rinse and repeat.

p.s. My apologies for the lack of pictures. The internet is definitely not cooperating.