Life update!

Selamat siang semua!

Good day everybody!

I've officially been in Surabaya for 3 months! (actually closer to 4 months now!)

It feels like longer, and also that its only been a few weeks at the same time.

I am LOVING my job so far! I do wish we were in person vs online, but I've learned to enjoy the little things while teaching online. 

I have some great students and I look forward to the day I can meet them in person.

One of the few teaching pics I have- Had to change it up and taught while sitting on the floor!

 
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I do have to say that timing was on my side for my arrival though! Shortly after I arrived my city went in to lock-down, and foreigners weren't being allowed in to the country. My housemates told me that this lock-down was a little more serious than the previous ones, as even the malls here were going to be closed. So other than the supermarket close to the house we really hadn't been anywhere.

 

Walking to the supermarket

Flags for the National Day in August

Night view from my street while I was waiting for food to be delivered.
 

With that being said Dila started feeling sick one weekend. She got tested and turns out she was positive for COVID😞. 

We all self-isolated for 2 weeks- not leaving the house AT ALL and really not even seeing each other while still living in the same house. Myself and other two housemates got tested twice and were negative both times (aboout 5 days in, and then after 2 weeks.). We found an app the lets your order groceries and have it delivered to you- so I took full advantage of that. I spent a lot of time on our roof to at least get some fresh air and sun! Otherwise I really haven't done much else besides work, read and watch Netflix!

Some of my many roof top hangs

The sky was so blue! 

My favorite time to be out there is from 4:45ish to 5:30ish then the bugs come out

This is Larry! Ive adopted him, but he stays outside. 

He comes to say hello on the window every night.

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After our 2 week isolation, Dila and I found a lady that did at home manicures & pedicures. It was fun to have a girls day!! Next we want to get massages!

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We are still in lock-down but at a lower level now, so things have started opening back up!

Ashley and Dila took me on a little adventure one weekend! We rented a car and drove around town a bit Sunday night and then on Monday we went for a longer drive to Gempol (at least that's what the Geo-location on my pictures says)! We took city streets to get there and it took about an hour and half. The drive was nice because I got to see more of the are and there are some mountains!!!

These are all things I saw along our drive to the mountain!

The fanciest KFC I've ever seen!

The art was sooo pretty!
 

We went to a place called d'Gunungan. It was absolutely beautiful! It was up on a mountain (more of a big hill 🤪) and had the prettiest view with some gorgeous flowers/plants! We had lunch and just hung out enjoying the cooler weather and the sun!

The plants/flowers were so pretty! I took way too many pictures!

Dila, Ashley & I enjoying the sun, cool air and delicious food!

A happy Margaret!

Look mom! I have friends!

I really wanted to jump in the pool, but sadly it was closed.
 

 

On the drive back we took the Toll Road, which was much faster and also had way less traffic! The Toll Road too us to the "Singapore of Surabaya" aka West Surabaya where we walked around and grabbed some snacks! It reminded me of a college area with lots of shops, cafes, etc. This is also where the U.S. General Consulate is- I waved to the American flag! haha

That's a truck full of cows- at least 10!

The "Singapore of Surabaya"

"Bule" means foreigner

 So pretty at lit up at night!

 

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Ashley, Dila and I have gone to the mall a few times the past few weekends! We are on a mission to find them things for their wedding in November. Its been nice to see more of the city on the drives to the malls and eat at a restaurant! We even checked out a newish hotel to possibly have a stay-cation at in October.

They have an app here that we use to "scan in" and "out" of the mall so they can keep track of all the people who are there. Its been a little bit of a struggle because its not meant for foreigners. I've been stopped each time so far having to show proof of vaccine.

 

I can't tell you how EXCITED we were to be out of the house and at the mall!

Waiting for our Grab Car (Indo's version of Uber) to take us home!

Dinner time! Salted Egg Chicken, Fries and Mushroom Lasagna!

Little Tokyo area of the food court! The Sumo dude needed some help!

The view of the city from The Westin hotel.
 

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In other news I have a standing FaceTime date with my favorite boy every Friday! Its one of the highlights of my week! Hes starting to say more and more words, and Liam and I had an little argument with him saying "No"! over and over again when I tried to get him to say "Mimi" 🥰 I'm working hard on getting him to say "Mimi", but no luck so far! He definitely recognizes my voice/face and always has the BIGGEST smile on his face when mom answers my call. He shows me all his toys, feeds me cheerios thru the phone, he even puts me down for naps in his little fort my dad made him!🤣🤣

We practice making silly faces each week

  Giving his Mimi kisses! he alternated kissing the phone and the magnet!

Putting me down for a nap in his fort! 

The view of said fort that Grampy made.

He was so excited to show me his plane and the noises it makes!

What does an alligator say? CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP!

More silly faces!

Dila wanted to meet Liam, and then he showed off his Bee-mobile!

We practice our serious faces too!

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 I've settled in to a nice little daily/weekly routine and I'm really enjoying myself!! Here is a little glimpse of my current schedule:

Tuesday to Saturday are work days.

Tuesday & Thursday classes from 2:15 to 8:30

Wednesday & Friday classes from 1:00 to 5:45

Saturday classes from 9:00 to 3:00

Sunday & Monday are my weekend- Usually spent watching Netflix

Typical day: I wake up around 8, read for a bit then shower and get ready. I aim to start my admin tasks and lesson prep around 12pm after i have lunch. After lessons I finish my admin for the day and make dinner, then its netflix time and bed!

 On Fridays I celebrate the week being almost over with "Friday McDonalds" 🤣  and then my facetime with Liam and mom. When I'm finished teaching on Saturdays, Dila and I take our laundry to the laundromat and go to the supermarket for our weekly shop. We enjoy our weekly walks together as it gives us a chance to talk and get out of the house.

Could I do my laundry at the house? Yes, yes I could. But it takes time and energy to fill up the machine with water, drain it, switch to the spin dry, and then hang everything to dry...The laundromat washes, dries and folds my laundry for less than $2 🤑 Its a cost I'm will to pay each week to save me the time and energy! Plus I get to see gorgeous sunsets like the pic below on my walk home.

How is this real?!

My last laundry adventure!

No falling this time😉🤪

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Here's to hoping that the COVID cases here continue to go down and I can start exploring more and more! Really hoping to get some beach time in soon too!

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Adios for now,

Margaret💛

 

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Ps. I started taking some of the free Bahasa Indonesia lessons that my company offered. The teachers are cute, but they just didn't match my learning style and I felt I wasn't actually learning anything. (I'll try the free lessons again in couple months) So I've been using DuoLingo and having Dila teach me some! I now know some random words and I can count to 6!

Bule = Foreigner

Buncis = Green Beans

Tanpa es = No ice

 1 = Satu, 2 = dua, 3 = tiga, 4 = empat, 5 = lima, 6 = enam! 

past 6 gets a little complicated for me 🤪🤣

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