Arrival

I woke up this morning to find myself in Indonesia. As I slowly came to consciousness and began to realize where I was, I was filled with delight. I lay in bed soaking in the unique smell of this country I have come to call home. The memories of how I got here feel so dim and distant. I remember it being a long journey.

I was in a plane for what felt like days, squished in between two other people also enduring the long journey half way around the world. As we took off from LAX, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open to realize we were suddenly flying instead of sitting at the gate. After sleeping for 7 hours or so, on and off, I brought myself to wake up and watch a movie. After a few more hours my butt began to throb and I (unsuccessfully) tried to find alternative positions to sit in that might relieve the pain.

Finally under some miracle they landed the plane in Taipei, Taiwan so that we could get off and walk around while they refueled the plane. Lugging my rolling carry-on, heavy backpack filled with laptop and other books, purse stuffed to the brim, and trusty neck pillow, I tried to walk around and stretch my legs but I grew weary from the burden of my heavy load.

Soon enough they loaded us back on the plane where I struck up a conversation with the young man next to me. He was headed to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he had grown up, to visit family and friends for a couple of weeks. He had spent the last 9 months in Texas, near Dallas, working at some sort of computer/technology company. He had studied engineering at a university in Malaysia and gotten a job with this company, that in time transfered him to Texas (they have offices all over the world and to this man's luck he got assigned to Texas!). When I asked him what his impressions of Texas were (I myself have never been, only heard about it from others), he said it was a good place and he enjoyed it. Cheap shopping. He commented on the dry heat, which he thought was hotter than the humid climit he was used to in Malaysia. "When you go outside in Texas you can feel the sun burning your skin, pricking you like a needle," he had said. Surprised by how much he seemed to enjoy Texas, I explained to him where I was going and what I was going to be doing in Indonesia. Soon we both found ourselves lost in a movie or dosing again.

After several hours we finally landed in Kuala Lumpur. I was glad to be back in this familiar airport and felt like I was almost done with my long journey. In Malaysia they speak a similar language to Indonesian, so it was comforting to be able to say the familiar "terimah kasih" (thank you) to those around me in the airport. I found a bench and broke out the laptop to pass the time on my 4 hour layover. I checked email and facebook and all the things a person normally does when wasting time on the computer. I talked with my roommate on skype for awhile, until my computer battery began to die and I shut it down. With time still to spare I broke out a book for the first time my entire trip. Eventually I became aware that a man a few benches down from me was snoring, quite loudly I might add. There was also children's music coming from down a ways and of course the frequent announcements overhead of planes ready to board and passengers being paged. Finally the wait was over and the announcer declared our plane was the one boarding and we took off. Just an hour and a half on this flight brought me to Jakarta, Indonesia.

I quickly walked through the airport, clearing the health screening check point and immigration. I found my luggage had all arrived and gathered it together. Exiting the airport I was instantly stunned by the hot humid air of Jakarta. I sat outside as it grew dark waiting for my transport van to come that would take me to my house. I have used this service before and found it is one of the easiest and cheapest options. As I waited I watched a little Indonesia girl (with way too much energy) run around pushing a cart and crashing into people and things that got in her way or perhaps she was actually aiming for them in the first place.

It was an hour or so of sitting in the heat until the van came and the driver loaded my luggage and showed me my seat up front. I was excited to finally be back in a familiar place and to be in the last leg of my journey. Eventually I could not keep my eyes open any longer and drifted to sleep. When I woke up a little while later I realized we were sitting in Jakarta traffic and were creaping along at a snails pace, making very little progress towards my home. Unable to keep my eyes open I fell back asleep. Sooner or later the van stopped at a rest area for the usual scheduled stop. Feeling nauseous, I wished we could not stop and just keep driving straight home. I wandered around until at last the rest of the people in the van felt ready to go and asked the driver if it was time. We all climbed in and in less than an hour were exiting the freeway again at the off ramp that leads to my house. I told the driver where to go and he unloaded my bags onto the curb and drove away.

Finally I was home. The house was dark as my two new roommates were already asleep (it was now after 10pm). I tiptoed around as quietly as I could and found the strength to lug my suit cases upstairs. In delirium I brushed my teeth and then realize I was using the tap water instead of bottled water. This certainly won't kill me but also could make me sick as the water is not safe to drink. Finally I fell into bed, barely conscious of my surroundings and where abouts.

Perhaps this is why I was so surprised to find myself the next morning in my home in Indonesia. I linger in bed, excited that I was able to sleep until 7:00am. I sit in wonder at the Father and His faithfulness to me. He was faithful to bring me safely half way around the world and is big enough to still be present with me here as I wake up in Bandung.

And so year #3 of living in Indonesia begins. Welcome along for the journey.