I have been the most forward foreigner I ever
thought I would be. I’ve asked more questions than one foreigner ought to ask.
I’ve tried to get myself included in all kinds of activities. I have not been
as successful as I wish.
I have been here in Garut, West Java for two
months now. It took six week of
pestering to find out who my counterpart(s) were going to be. The afternoon
that question got answered I started asking what classes I would teach and
their days and times. The day after not
getting answers to those questions the school went on a two week vacation. No teachers have been here. I’ve checked - every morning and afternoon.
A month ago I asked the men teachers with whom I
share an office, if there was even one teacher with enough civic pride to show
foreign me the ins and outs of Garut, point out some point of natural, civic or
religious interest, or include me in some family Ramadan activity. It was
suggested that I take myself to the local office of The Ministry of Islamic
Education and was told what public transportation I could use to get myself
there. This is not what I had in mind.
However the nest day three teachers took me to a Hindu temple on the
outskirts of Garut. We had the evening meal (breakfast for them, dinner for me)
at the home of one of the three. It was
a very nice outing.
The third week of Ramadan was a week of
orientation for new students at my school. I met many of the 960 students. I gave a speach to the new 10th graders in
both Bahasa Indonesia and English. I taught a class for the students in the
student government. (I was told to expect between 30 and 50 students but only
three came.) At the end of that week, looking at two more weeks of no school
and no teachers around, I told the teachers in my office that if I had to spend
two more weeks alone with nothing to do I would go home. Tomorrow will be two
weeks exactly since I said that. I have not seen or heard from another teacher
or administrator.
I got a call from a PCV saying there were 8 PCVs
at the beach about 4 hours south of me.
I should come down. They were going to stay until the next day. The day
I got the call was a “STAYFAST” day. The
national presidential election results were to be announced and all PCVs were
to stay where they were and not use public transportation considering the
chance that there would be some kinda civic unrest. I don’t know how long the 8
had been at the beach or how far ahead they had planned to go. I felt like an
afterthought that wasn’t thought through.
I asked my host family to include me in their
after Ramadan activities and visits.
Ramadan ended 3 days ago. The two day celebration ended yesterday.
Either they didn’t have any after Ramadan celebrations or they forgot to
include me.
Yesterday, July 30, I wrote the man in charge of
us PCVs in West Java telling him about what all was not going on, how I was
feeling and my thinking of going home. I
got an automated reply that he was out of the office until July 10.
What I think will probably happen is this: One
of the teachers will call today or tomorrow and invite me to do something OR the
PC guy in charge will call or write telling me hold up till school starts next
week when more teachers and all the students will be back on campus AND I will
say “Sure” and stay. But I gotta
tell ya, my heart ain’t in it.
I went through more than a year of application
processing so that I could do Peace Corps for the third time at the start of my
retirement. I spent three months of what
was for me very difficult language training so I would be able to talk to
Indonesians. I’ve spent the last two months doing nothing and speaking to
hardly anyone.
An earlier suggestion from my PC guy was for me
to take myself two hours north to Bandung for a couple of days. I’ve wandered
around big cities alone all over the world. I don’t think it’s a wise move to
wander around alone now that I have grey hair. Thinking of self-security, an
old foreign man alone lost is a big city
seems like a target to me. During training we talked a lot about not putting ourselves into situations where we might be at risk.
Do you ever get a song stuck in your head? For the last week or so I have had one that’s
driving me crazy. I don’t know the title and only remember two lines of the song.
“Winners never quit and quitters never win. So, let the sun shine in. Face it
with a grin.” I hate that song. Although, it has gotten me through some nasty
times that ended up being good adventures.’’
Today is Thursday. School starts Monday. I am supposed to
observe for the first two weeks then start co-teaching with my two counterparts.
I know I will be teaching eleventh grade English but I don’t know how many classes
or what days of the week I will teach. I suppose I could give the place two
weeks more to see what’s what but that’s cutting it a little close to the time
someone will move into my house in Beaver.
I’m not 100% sure what I am going to do.
