Wed. Sept 22

Yet another interesting and satisfying day, and in the end one that left me feeling very fortunate to be here with very friendly, interesting, professional, and helpful people everywhere I turn. I expect that things will get even better once I'm teaching daily - and in my own house.

It was a lot more quiet today in the Pusat Bahasa ( Language Center ) - though by late morning, groups of students were walking and sitting everywhere outside.We went back to Immigration for the final time and I was promptly given my passport with multi-entry permit, and a separate passport-type booklet called a 'kitas' which I need to carry with me, I was told.

On the way back from immigration we took a little side trip to a neighborhood restaurant where the servers bring 6 or 7 ample bowls of various foods, which you serve yourself from, and at the end you pay only for what you ate. Everyone gets a basic bowl of white rice with a few rice noodles and veggies sprinked around.It all looked good to me, except for the little bowls of tiny raw green chile peppers that many were popping into their mouths like peanuts! I had roast chicken plus tofu stuffed with vegetables, then fried in a crispy batter. ( finally I'm in a place where I can have tofu as much as I want, and in different forms ) The place was 'packed out' with people streaming in and out continually - working-class guys rubbing shoulders with men in Western business attire who drove up in new SUVs, all seated at long dining-hall style tables and 'chowing down' enthusiastically, eating with their hands and picking up food almost by the fistful. Small bowls of water were conveniently provided for each person - good, since I hate having greasy hands.Herizal poured a bit of the water into his bowl when he finished, a habit his mother ( now deceased ) had taught him; he says he remembers her every time he does it.

Back at IAIN the guys hooked up a printer to my laptop and once I'd installed the software I was able to print out a whole raft of activities to use in this Friday's presentation and next week/beyond.Four of the activities were ones I'd just recreated from memory, with some adaptations for the culture and general situation here; turns out I somehow did NOT copy to thumb drives my entire 'inventory' of activities covering the past 10-11 years.

Then Herizal's daughter Hikmah stopped by to introduce a friend and classmate, Rizka - they've been friends for many 10 years.We chatted about lots of things though mostly I had to keep the conversation going as they seemed to have recurring fits of shyness.His daughter did ask the English word for 'braces', which both she and her friend have.It was a new word for Herizal too ( along with 'canine teeth' ).I learned that braces are a fashion statement here - kids want them even if they don't need them!I'm guessing they must not cost anywhere near as much here.I showed the girls a picture story and picture puzzle I will use in my presentation on Friday, and once they 'caught on' they did fairly well with talking about what they saw.

Quiet evening, as usual. Four more nights at the hotel. I'll definitely miss talking with several of the staff; they've started to seem like friends.