FLOOD!

Its been awhile since I felt like yabbering. The time has come for me to share my wonderful switch to the Indonesian life. I've been here for almost a month now, love it here. It's nothing like Singapore yet it is similar. More about that later but now my flood experience. On Friday, Feb 2, school was closed cause of the then impending flood. We had a short meeting and it was decided that school will be closed until the flood subsides. By Sunday, Feb 4, the flood was getting higher and higher and electricity and water was affected. So, on Monday, Feb 5, we were evacuated from our apartment as the school's management felt that was the best for its staff just in case the electricity supplied by the generator ran out and we would be stuck in the dark. Also water by the galon was getting too expensive; one galon was going at 50,000 rupiahs, before the flood it was 9,000 rupiahs. Anyway, getting back to our evacuation, we packed about 2 luggages of stuff (hey! I have kids!) We then took this dirty old truck on a really bumpy and flooded pathway. This led us to a lowland which had turned into a lake overnight! We had to wait for raffles, business and economy class rafts to waddle us for about 10 mins (4 guys pushed the raft) to dry land.

Once we got there we waited through the scorching sun getting ourselves hydrated while we waited for the rest of our colleagues and bags. We then hopped on rubbish-pulleys!! It was a sight most of the passers-by enjoyed I am sure! Anyway we then went to another area of dry land near the highway and some of us managed to have lunch, thanks to my buddy Mus who had brilliantly ordered lunch from his ever so wonderful local friend John who had gone on a mission to get us food. I on the other had decided that my stomach might not be able to handle the food and had a steaming corn on the cob instead. Still burning under the sweltering heat, we waited for the bus to pick us up to our final destination. Not surprisingly, the bus had taken the wrong route and was stuck in traffic. Jakarta traffic jams are no joke. Only if you are Thai would you REALLY understand what I mean! So then our CEO Pak Tony hired another truck to lug us to Kebun Jeruk where our other campus is. We had finally reached our destination, sun burnt, hip ache, leg cramps and all. Most importantly we were safe and back to dry ground. :)