Hello
@hopefaith - you have been warned - I loved it so much in Indonesia, once I start, it is hard to stop me! However, I will allow myself as this is my thread ....... Thank you for asking, it has let me indulge in an hour or so of reminiscing .....
We went there in 1996 and came back 1999 - husband stayed until 2000. It was our one and only posting which was quite unusual for the large International company my husband worked for (we went to the Middle East after he had taken early retirement). He went out to be the company's Country President. Our daughter was just about to start Senior School (11 years old) and went to the British school which was some way out of town, so she had to go on a school bus for an hour through some jungle, past water buffalo and baboons every day. We lived in South Jakarta which is on the main island of Java.
I had to do a lot of entertaining, and parties for 150 each month were not unusual. Luckily that did not involve me cooking - just organising and decision making! There were so many expats there at that time, of all nationalities, and we all had our clubs and activities. Every other week there seemed to be a Ball or a big social event. Extrovert that I am, I just loved it. All the money raised went to the charities we ran to improve the living conditions of local people. There were street children, families that lived on rubbish dumps, no sanitation, beggars, lepers ........ you name it. I joined the British Women's Association, and very soon was running their choir and handling the Social Events. I later became Chairman and we had over 650 members.
It was hot all year round, either hot and hot, or hot and wet in monsoon season. It was
very dirty - we could not even clean our teeth in the tap water, and I had to disinfect and soak all my veggies. There were snakes, monkeys, lizards, rats, civet cats ... dysentery and Dengue fever!
I had a large house staff with security guards, drivers and maids. I learnt the language and became reasonably fluent which came in handy. I had a massage lady that came to the house once or twice a week.(Bliss).
We all became very adept at bartering, and you could have clothes handmade and copied very reasonably. A great deal of my furniture here was handmade for us and we had it shipped back because it's so lovely.
We visited Australia a lot, and Bali and Singapore were weekend destinations. But to come home to UK was a 24hour journey door to door.
It was crazy fun and idyllic - but in 1998 there was a huge uprising and it became very dangerous. They were setting fire to houses, looting, and wide scale rioting and my husband had to organise the evacuation of all the company's expats - all 150+ of us to Singapore. He chartered a boat and a plane and we had to leave him and 3 other 'volunteers' behind. They followed a few days later on a tiny plane, whose pilot hubby bribed with a suitcase of money. Truly!
I used to write letters home every 3 months or so, a general letter to all our friends. Everyone seemed to enjoy them and I found my set of originals a short while ago. It took me straight back there. Perhaps one day I'll make them into a book? It really was fascinating and total culture shock.
I loved the country, the people, the smells, the food, the culture ......... it was hard to leave. We came back for our daughter's education - although living there was an education in itself and she loved it just as much.
As the Indonesian saying goes: 'Djauh di mata - dekat di hati' - 'Far from the eyes - close to the heart' ...... and I left a tiny piece of mine there when we left.
So many photos - but here are a few.. Compare my house to those just a few blocks away!!
XX
United Kingdom
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