I have been here for a whole month! My how time flies when you are working 12 hours a day and in the honeymoon phase of your living abroad experience. I'm still waiting to hate this city. I'm finding it hard to do after my last experience, and, thanks to my great friends.
This week has, by far, been the most rough. On Monday I woke up to chills, and an upset tummy. I finally got the travelers sickness. The chills have gone, the upset tummy comes and goes. I remembered that in Albania the way I finally ended up getting rid of the tummy problems was a night of beer and cheese, so I attempted the same thing here, except that I can't even stand the taste of any of the cheese. I think I'd rather be hurling for 2 years straight than go on a cheese binge here. Yep. That bad.
Overall the week was quite busy, and being sick on Monday threw off my normal time management and planning skills. On Wednesday morning we had our entry point for this terms IPC (Social studies/science) unit, called Sensational! Entry points are basically our chance to show off as teachers and a way to get the students excited and interested in the topic we are learning. I was told the entry point went very well, but I feel I could have prepared better if I wasn't so tired and sick. It felt chaotic to me, but the kids really enjoyed exploring their 5 senses at the 5 senses stations. Wednesday evening I debated going to the gym, but ended up staying in and reading a book while listening to Willy Tea, which means I made it to the gym zero times this week. On Thursday evening we had our parent info night, which was supposed to be from 6:00-7:30, but I ended up staying until 8:15 talking to parents. Eventually the principal had to cut me off and turn the lights off in my room so I would leave and go home to bed.
Friday was a day I tested my flexibility of every single count, but I made it through it, and managed to get home by 4:15ish. The ex-pat teachers had been invited to the Principals house for mexican food, and after this I had suggested karaoke to which everyone was in agreement with. We snuck in a few beers, sang the night away and headed home decently early.
Saturday was a shopping day...again. Angie and I had great luck! I was not looking forward to it because I had to go jean shopping, which is my least favorite kind of shopping. I somehow managed to lose 5 kilos since I got here and was swimming in my jeans the previous night. I was successful in finding jeans, a pair of kakis, a dress, sunglasses and a cute tank top all for the very low price of around 40 USD. I'd call that a success.
We spent our Saturday in Kemang at Morgan's favorite bar, which I enjoyed as well. It was outdoor, but very enjoyable. I drank more than I have drank since I've been here, and yet I woke up the next morning feeling fine. Sunday we went grocery shopping. We were told to stock up on food because during the holiday the shopping centers sometimes close up. Carrying those bags back was our workout for the day and we spent the morning cleaning the apartment and "watching tv." I put it in quotes because our tv still doesn't work. We basically listen to movies and tv shows we have already seen. A few of the teachers came over for pancakes in the afternoon (it has become a sunday tradition) and Angie and I ended the evening by beginning research for our holiday in October. No decisions made, because I'm positive we can do it for cheaper than these all inclusive tours.
I'm still debating if my "drink a lot of beer to make my tummy better" theory worked. The stomach is still in shambles, but for far different reasons than a travel bug. I hate being a woman. Two days of work and then it is a holiday!! I plan to do a bit of traveling, but we have been told it is better to just stay in Jakarta during this time because everyone is traveling and thus everything is very expensive or closed down. I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit.
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