Getting to know you . . .

Two weeks now in Surabaya.
There is way more to write about than I can actually write.

I have been getting used to a new job, of course. As with most new jobs this includes a new boss, new co-workers, new names to remember, new passwords and access codes, new time schedules, and new duties. There is a lot to remember. Plus work is extremely busy right now. Luckily, part of the time I had a chance to interact and observe the person I am replacing here. That was helpful. The first day of work I didn't go straight home as I was scheduled to help out at the Consul General's house with an "Iftaar" with some community leaders. During the Islamic month of Ramdan, Muslims fast from sun up to sun down the entire month and break their fast after sun down each day usually together with family. There have been a number of these events during the month, which ends at the end of this week. I also went to one later that week and took my family. This one was at a little school run by a non-profit organization that gives a high-quality education to children from lower-income families. The kids were really impressive and I think our kids were also impressed. We have been to a couple of things since then, too. It's like that when the consulate is small.
I usually ride in a van to work with a driver from the consulate until I find a driver of my own to take me. It takes less than 1/2 hour if I leave early, but if I leave just 15 minutes later it takes at least 45 minutes. Traffic is crazy with all of the motorcycles and crowding into the lanes. The normal thing for a couple of lanes of traffic is a couple of cars and several columns of motorcycles. It reminds me of the time example where you fill a jar with big rocks and then fill it in with gravel and then sand to fill it up. The jar is the street, big rocks are cars, gravel is the motorcycles and bikes and pedestrians are the sand. It's full.
On other matters, we have met so many new people, from other ex-pats to teachers to church members. It makes your head spin, but I'm glad I have a wife who is good at meeting new people, remembering their names, and becoming friends. We live near a group of teachers, so we sometimes see them around the area. We even went to a swimming pool with one family we met who has some children the same age as ours yesterday. That was fun. The expatriate community in Surabaya is also pretty small, especially compared to some other large cities in Southeast Asia.
We are trying our best to participate in church even though it's all in Indonesian. I can understand quite a bit, but certainly not all. My family doesn't understand much at all and is at the mercy of translators, so it is quite a challenge for them. But they are trying to be positive about it. I did understand enough to get the time to clean the church building yesterday. We went as a family and cleaned windows, vacuumed and cleaned benches, which are all wood. We got a new branch presidency today and I was called into the branch president's office during the last part of Sunday School and issued a calling. So I guess I'll have to use the Indonesian I know at church more than just trying to understand what's happening.

With so much to learn, remember and do, it's good that I am back to running in the mornings and that I am sleeping (mostly) normally. I say mostly because every once in a while the gecko that also lives in my bedroom, (I think of it as a pet of sorts), makes noise that wakes me up. I found out from a book my youngest checked out from the school library that geckos are the only lizard that make noises. The gecko in my room sounds like it has a little laugh and I'm starting to get attached. I would include a picture, but when I tried to take a picture of it up on my wall near the ceiling the little red light on the camera that goes when you focus made it run behind the curtain and I just got a shot of the wall. The only other thing is that on any given day I have at least a couple of mosquito bites that are itchy. I'm getting a bit used to that, too.
Surabaya, getting to know all about you.