Sunday evening Oct. 3

Herizal's family just brought me home from PIM ( Palembang Indah Mall ) where I treated them to dinner at Pizza Hut, which was super-crowded and much 'classier' than US ones, with a very varied menu and stylish presentation all around.The pizzas were good too - we ordered 3,and almost all got eaten up in the end even though Herizal only had a salad ( his wife says he doesn't eat any Western foods ).It was about $35 for seven people, not bad by my standards but for them a luxury reserved for special occasions.Most people there looked pretty 'upscale', in fact.After dinner we went to the Hypermart in PIM and wandered the aisles as I picked up odds and ends I'd missed before, including ice cube trays and pot holders.I did get yogurt and more apples to get me through a week of breakfasts in the absence of cereal.I still have some hope that Carrefour will have muesli when I finally get there.

On Saturday I took a Transmusi AC bus and an angkot minibus ( first time) with Herizal's daughter Hikmah and her best friend Rizka to the other Gramedia bookstore, and on to IP ( International Plaza, 'eeh-pay' here ) - their first time in a Transmusi, and first time up to the 'food court' at the top of IP, though neither experience was anything to write home about.Also hordes of young guys were hanging out all over the mall, staring and making rude comments at/about the girls and their being with me.At the bookstore we spent lots of time looking; again no novels in English except 'Twilight', but it was still interesting to see what Indonesians are reading;I saw hundreds of recent popular US titles, both fiction and nonfiction, all translated into Indonesian, at US prices.I got each of the girls a novel of their choice - almost had to insist that they let me - and got some English-Indonesian folk story and conversation books for myself, plus 2 DVDs and a world map for teaching use ( no US maps,though ), and then ( a nice surprise! ) golden currants from a little health food shop we passed walking to IP.It was warm and muggy out but there was a bit of a breeze and it wasn't too uncomfortable.For lunch we had nasi goreng - lukewarm and bland, but we were all hungry.They had an English lesson at 4 pm, and I went into the school with them: LIA, a nationwide chain.I went into the teacher's room and introduced myself to 8 young women who were delighted to take a short break from grading final exams.Turned out one was in Corvallis in 2008 for a short course at OSU!Small world.They encouraged me to drop by again.I walked from there back 'home' - it's only a few blocks to IAIN from there.

I went out early today and watered the 'garden' - all potted plants, even the mango tree; the bigger ones are far too heavy for me to move, even a bit.Also I discovered some have put roots right down into the ground.But I did rearrange lots of smaller plants to make a more pleasing arrangement, to my eyes at least.I have no idea what species they are but the flowers look familiar, if only from my SE Asia trip last year. Several cats are now hanging around in the garden area, staying back but not running off either.All are small and bony-thin, but look to be full of energy and not sickly by any means.One is a kitten, another has lost its tail.

I turned off the AC for several hours today to save energy and see if I could 'take it'.Only for a while…..Not only do I not miss hot water faucets, but I even wish the tap water were a bit cooler!It's odd:many times the air outside or in does not feel hot, yet I find myself perspiring anyway.The humidity must be close to 100% all the time.

I take four or five quick showers on some days, mostly just ladling water over myself Indonesian-style from the mandi water basin.I can understand why people here prefer it - you can really douse yourself, instead of standing patiently under the limp flow from the showerhead.

Last evening I started a list of all the words I know 'automatically' in Indonesian at this point; I've listed 200+ so far and that doesn't include numbers, days of the week, etc. or basic greetings.Or Indonesian words that are similar to English ( intensif, informasi, and so many more )But it's a bare start and I still don't recognize them all when people include them in things they say to me, sindce they speak so quickly. I do recognize and remember to make adjustments for bahasa Palembang, especially changing -a endings to -o. Usually that's what everyone is speaking around the office.

I've been here one month now and I have to say that the experience has been nothing but positive so far. Initially I'd envied the ELFs who were posted to scenic or historic places like Yogyakarta, but on a day to day basis what matters is that I have a great teaching situation and helpful people who are delighted that I'm here, not to mention the modern house next to school.