Wed. evening Oct. 6 It's been unusually steamy outside, enough that the AC isn't able to get the house cool now.This despite the fact that the sky is 'ominous' and thunder is rolling every few seconds. I guess the rain actually has to fall before the air cools down.( later: and it never did ) I came home a bit early, partly from boredom ( though I had lots of ideas and got lots of prep work done earlier ), partly because my nose was dripping nonstop and the...

This morning I went in a bit early to 'get my head in gear' before my 7:10 Curriculum Dev't class and found a student named Ronnie waiting, wanting to re-confirm for about the sixth time that I would follow through on my promise last week to surprise Tia, a girl in the class that he has a crush on, and whose 20th birthday is today, by having the class sing 'Happy Birthday' to her right off the bat.He quietly pointed her out to me as we walked from the Language ...

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, n...

Nice surprise today: I was invited to another wedding, this time next to my colleague Yani's house, and again on short notice:he called just before 9 to say he'd pick me up at 9:30 on his motorcycle.It was a looooong ride out through heavy traffic, clear out of the city - he said 10 km but I'm sure it was 15 or more, through rubber plantations and open jungly areas with some fancy newer homes scattered around too.His house is simple but spacious and open, with a ...

Sept 26 - in my own house at last! Yes, it's true.Herizal and Yani brought me over here around 11 am.Dian and her husband were waiting and took me around the house/yard, showed me the new simple shower and explained how everything worked, chatted a bit etc. before giving me the keys and driving N to where he works.Then we walked a ways to the home of the ketua rukun tetangga or 'neighborhood chief', Mohammed Sajin, to let him meet me.Older guy, simple wood...