Bruce Lee Surprises

Okay, three things:

1) Apparently Bruce Lee is in my 3rd grade English class.

I better save Bruce Lee's signature

2) Today during our English lesson, I was randomly questioned by Bruce Lee if I liked fish. I replied with, "Well, it depends. I like to eat salmon." Then, the kid pulls THIS out of his backpack. Yes folks, a live catfish.

Our new class pet?

3) As I paraded around with our new fish friend, one teacher informed me I should consider feeding him to the mother cat and her kitten that are currently living in our school hallway.

Meow

Is it Friday yet?

xoxo amber

When it rains, it pours!

As of Wednesday night, things here in Jakarta have calmed down a little. The flood waters out in front our apartment complex have reduced a lot and is now taxi accessible. However, just 5 minutes up the road and around the corner are more flood waters that have yet to recede. We have been advised to stock up for future flood surprises as meteorologists here have predicted another repeat by the 28th. Now if we could just get paid before then, that would be fabulous..

And now I present to you a brief snapshot of what happens when you live on an island and are affected by 18 inches or more of water in one day. Menikimati!

Empty shelves :(

Flotation device :)

Jakartans making the most of a messy situation

Taken from my view of the bridge

Polisi (police) boats

Family takes residence on bridge

Despite the weather, deadlines must be met (see the flower posters?)

Locals

Keeping his belongings dry

Army

Oh, and incase you were wondering. I'm no longer starving or stranded from the grocery store.

xoxo amber

How not to teach verbs to a fifth grade student

I am mentally drained. Foolishly, I anticipated a 30 minute or less after-school remedial (aka tutoring in the states) for a Primary 5 "P5" (aka fifth grade) student who was absent the day before due to Jakarta floods.

The session started off normal -- you know.. "Here's what we talked about.. make sure you write this down.. does that make sense?" However, like many of the students in my 5 Joy class, verb tenses are not only confusing but also extremely frustrating (perhaps for teachers and students both..)

You would think that being a native speaker of the English language makes you this know-it-all when in reality, you often find yourself frustrated as you don't recall the proper mechanics of the English language (i.e. sang vs. sung vs. sing or hang vs. hanged vs hung)

I thought I'd give the kiddo a few live demonstrations as the, "Now it's your turn to write a sentence," approach wasn't working. I should know better. It's all about modeling! (hits head) Even though this is my second year teaching, I sometimes still have to remind myself that what may seem obvious to the everyday English speaking child is not as obvious to the ELL (English Language Learner). Plus, the kids at Bina often speak more than one language on a daily basis. At school alone, they learn Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia on top of English/Language Arts. I even have one 3rd grade student who speaks 5, yes five languages. He travels often with his family to other areas of Indonesia for whatever reason and since there are so many dialects here, it's only natural that the kid has picked a few up.

Anyway, so here I was at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday, trying my best to ignore my hunger pains as I recovered from a 2 hour lesson with 27 third graders (and a 2.5 hour lesson with 26 fifth graders before that).

The scenario with this dear 5th grade student this afternoon as we sat in remedial went something like this:

Ms Amber (A): I want you to describe what I am doing. (blows up a pink balloon randomly sitting in desk drawer)
Student (S): (eyes get big which is no surprise as my students know about my 'blonde moments') Miss, don't pop the balloon!
A: I assure you, I won't pop it this time.. Okay, now you have to tell me what I am doing in a sentence. (starts blowing up a balloon)
S: Ms Amber is blowing up a balloon.
A: Well, that would technically be present continuous as it is describing my current actions. Just keep it simple -- hence the word 'simple present tense.' Don't add the '-ing' ending.
S: Ms Amber blows up a balloon.
A: Good! How about now? (blows again and stops)
S: Ms Amber blew up a balloon.
A: Excellent. How about now? (continues blowing and is almost out of breath when student finally answers)
S: Ms Amber is blowing up a balloon.

I thought she had it (it was all I could hope for as I was currently out of breath). However, after a few practice questions, it was evident the student needed more practice.

A: (taps pen on desk) Describe what I am doing in the simple present tense.
S: Ms Amber taps her pen.
A: Yay! Okay, how about now but in the past tense? (taps again) 
S: Ms Amber tapped her pen.
A: Spell 'taapped' 
S: T-A-P-P-E-D
A: Good, how about now? (continues tapping)
S: Ms Amber is using her desk as a drum.
A: (trying not to laugh) Well, YES technically that is present continuous because of the '-ing' but I just want you to use the same verb.. Let's try again.

A: (claps hands once) Describe what I am doing in the simple present tense.
S: Ms Amber claps her hands.
A: Yay! Okay, how about now (claps again) 
S: Ms Amber clapped.
A: Spell 'clapped' 
S: C-L-A-P-P-E-D
A: Good, how about now? (continues clapping as eyes start to follow the obnoxious noise)
S: Ms Amber is giving an encore.

#FAIL

Looks like I will be teaching the lesson again tomorrow...

xoxo amber 

What to expect when you're expecting (a flood)

I have just returned from a successful trip to the local mall (the main grocery store is located in the basement) with a couple of teacher friends.

As our food supply shortened, I became more worrisome. We really were running out of the basics -- eggs, bread, milk, etc. After several failed attempts to contact a SAR (Search and Rescue) boat company, I postponed my shopping until this morning.

I was able to reserve a taxi through Blue Bird, but due to excessive flood waters in Pluit, they soon called and cancelled.

We then met a kind man who offered to take us shopping around noon. So kind. In the mean time, Andrew, Aasha and I decided to go explore the streets in front of Mitra Bahari (our apartment.)

I cringed at the thought of stepping foot into those murky waters, even if it simply meant I would be going from one curb to another in order to reach the bridge. I toughed it up, held my breath, and tried not to think about what waterborne-infested diseases were floating in the water. You'd think I'd be concerned, considering I had recently found out a friend of ours was hospitalized due to a bacterial infection..

I tried not to think about the potential crocodile or anaconda (yes, both have been found in the waters here in Jakarta post-flood) below. The locals were quite entertained. They even offered a ride (to cross curbs, no thanks).

I bravely stepped in, prayed I wouldn't tumble, and tried not to gag as cold, brown water and mosquitoes filled my rain boots. The water was at least knee deep! Probably a bad idea considering all the human filth that was floating in those waters, including human bodies..

Anyway, we made it to the top of the bridge and I took some footage. I've had a hard time shrinking the files, but here's one for you to check out. Hopefully it turns out okay.

Although there is still flooding outside our apartment, we have school tomorrow. There are a few things that I find extremely frustrating about the knee deep water out front.

• No aerobic, yoga, and cycling classes
• No 90 minute, $10.00 full body massage
• No pedicure

It sounds ridiculous but those are my vices.. especially the last two.. :S

Our school transportation has been delayed so we are getting picked up about a half hour later (yay sleep) but our generator is getting turned off between the hours of 5-7 am to save energy as it has been running non-stop. It flickered on and off just a little bit ago. However, I don't understand how turning off the generator during these times in order to "save energy" is really any different from dry weather. Why don't they just turn it off then? Maybe someone can explain that one to me.. 

xoxo

amber

It's raining cockroaches

Just a brief update for ya'll. So far, the weather hasn't been too bad at all today. There was some light sprinkling earlier this morning and it did rain on and off last night. However, right now Jakarta Utara (north), specifically the Pluit area is okay. The water is starting to work its way in to our apartment complex drive way but the security guards have now put up these metal gates to help cease the water and any traffic that may bring a bigger mess in.

I was going to go explore the streets but because security was blocking everything off, I found it wise not to stray too far. Hence, the short video below.

Aasha and I went downstairs to the convenience shop for eggs, bread, milk etc. but the shelves were almost wiped out. There wasn't any jugs of water for our dispenser (thank goodness I purchased one just yesterday) and the Pop Mies (instant Ramen Noodle look-alike) were non-existent.

I did manage to buy some caramel popcorn and four cans of beer. #YOLO

Anker > Bintang

For now, it looks like my Friday night will consist of sleeping, watching movies, and skyping with the boyfriend.

And as for the title of this blog entry? Well, rumor has it.. as the rain drops this way, the cockroaches come and play! We already saw two baby cockroaches at the Chinese restaurant downstairs while we were eating.

Ho, ho, ho... this is only the beginning... if I can't get groceries by Monday, I may need to take up one of the Jakartans' offers and allow them to row their way to Carrefour to pick up some food for me. Our local teacher friend Christly has informed us that yes, this service does exist when desperate times call for desperate measures. It sounds shady and probably is but how else am I gonna eat? I need a boat.

xoxo amber

Rain, rain, go away

The holidays are over and it's back to the grind we go with school. I must say it was quite nice being home for the holidays. I had such a wonderful Christmas and New Year's that I honestly wasn't ready to fly back to Jakarta -- but then again, I don't think I ever will be.

Living overseas in a 3rd world country has its ups and downs. I am very thankful for the way in which my perspective of things has altered dramatically. You always hear about how well off we have it in the States, but you don't really get a taste of that until you learn to live without the conveniences that have become part of our every day life. What do I mean?

Take Wal-mart for example. It's every shopper's dream (well for those who aren't easily overwhelmed) the moment they walk through its automatically sliding glass doors. Food, clothing, housing appliances, stationery, electronics, etc. all available in a language you can read and also communicate in. The closest equivalence we have to Wal-mart in Jakarta is a Carrefour. It's more K-mart sized, if anything. They have your every day items but they are definitely difficult to find (at first), frustrating to compare price (at first), and come in travel size EVERYTHING. I am grateful for American products, but because they are imported, they are 3 or 4 times the price.

I miss home terribly, but now that school has started, I think it will go by fast enough for me not to dwell on it too much.

Today has been very interesting to say the least. I definitely was entertained at school. It is the rainy season in Jakarta so it pours non-stop. Like, I thought living in Tennessee was rainy weather.. but this is definitely monsoon material. I have never seen so many flooded streets! It is so very sad to drive to school in the mornings and pass small, wooden shack like structures that are actually homes to locals in the Pantai Indah Kapuk area just absolutely drenched in waist-deep water.

I took this on Sunday on my way to the gym.. the rain begins 

One of the street vendor vehicles.. surrounded by trash

Local kids trying to make the most of a messy situation

You don't realize how good you really have it until you see the way in which many of the people here live. It breaks my heart.

I find the rain relaxing and the past couple nights have been full of thunderstorms and lightening. I didn't really think much of it until this morning at school when more than half of the kids were missing.

Before I knew it, the school announced they were closing for the day and that all students were to go home. Thus, began the endless phone calls to worrisome parents, nannies, and drivers (yes..)

After several hours, we had most of the building evacuated. They then allowed teachers to go home around 11. We hopped in our transport, not realizing how long the journey was about to be. Normally, it takes maybe 30-ish minutes to get home but it took us well over an hour! I slept most of the ride but during the times when I did sporadically wake up, I saw children wading through water, families of four driving on the motorcycles in knee deep water, homes flooded, trash floating.. it was so sad. So many cars had to pull over on the side of the road because the water levels were so deep.

This picture was taken today by one of the teachers. Crazy, right?

What makes it even more sad is that many of the locals here are street vendors. They literally drive their shop on a bike or pull it using some wagon-type set up. But when there is rain, there goes their business, money, and the way in which they feed themselves and/or support their families.

Man on a motorcycle pulls this around to make money

I found this video that was uploaded by ABC a few hours ago. It will give you a glimpse into our current situation. Just click the link below.

Flooding in Jakarta

Oh, and I'm safe! My apartment is on the 14th floor and I have enough food and water (Aunt Ruthie..)

Miss every single one of you!

xoxo amber