Sidoarjo - 4 months in (a third of my time in Indonesia is gone!!!)

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In a few days, I will have been in Indonesia for 4 months, which is a third of my time here. I went out shopping at the Sunday roadside market; the stalls literally spring up by the roadside on Sundays at 6am. I've bought all sorts of things, ranging from wicker sunbathing mats, clothes, crockery, a mobile phone... Today I bought a set of PC speakers that cost 115,000rp (about £6), among other less interesting items.

I've been learning a little bit of Javanese this week, as my Indonesian is getting stronger. "Mator suwon" (probably spelled wrong) is 'thank you'. "sici, loro, thulu, papat, limo, enum, pituh..." is the numbers 1-7, I can't remember 8-10. Indonesians are mildly impressed if you can chat in Indonesian, but they really love it if you throw a bit of Javanese around! Saying "mator suwon" usually elicits a beaming "sami-sami" (you're welcome) and a laugh from all the people around you.

Teaching's still great; I have received some good feedback from a fair number of students. We have PTM (Parent-Teacher Meetings) at the end of a course, and numerous parents told me that their child was always excited to come to English. It was very flattering to have the parents thank me for helping their child to learn English. The schedules are getting busier; i have 18 classes (80 minutes each, spread over 5 days) in the week after the impending holiday. Ramadan ended today, so Indonesians who've been fasting (about 95% of the population over the age of 7) get to eat whenever they like again. Also at the end of Ramadan, there's a week's holiday to see family (kind of like the Western Christmas holiday).

I've been exercising a fair bit too. After losing about 10kgs of bodyweight since getting here, I've started to enjoy running a lot more than I did in the UK. I ran a mile and a half in a time of 9:35 today, which excites me a lot; my best time before that was 9:50 (or so)! I've also learned to cycle in the last 4 weeks, and have done a fair bit of cycling around Sidoarjo. It's not easy to cycle around the city without going on main roads, and Indonesian drivers are completely different to British drivers; they pull out from the roadside into the stream of traffic without checking behind them at all, for example. It's often an interesting experience to be in a car in Indonesian traffic, but on a bike it can be downright annoying. I sustained a (excuse the bluntness) testicular cut from breaking hard to avoid smashing into the back of an Indonesian on a moped who'd just thrown his moped in front of me without a backward glance. I slid off my saddle, and bashed the wedding vegetables on the metal pole under the handlebars of my bike. I subsequently swore very loudly, so loudly in fact, that he heard me, and whipped his head round, nearly falling off his bike. I'm glad he wasn't within arms reach, as my anger at the time far outweighed all reason but pain. I was in a fair amount of pain, doubled over wincing (I genuinely thought it was worse than just a cut; I thought I'd popped it for a second) and trying to feel my testicle without it hurting, to ensure that it was still whole. An elderly woman who'd seen the whole thing was standing across the road staring at me with no small amount of consternation, and after some minutes I managed to say "aka oropopo, mak." (I'm ok, mam). Her response was to look startled that I'd noticed her staring, and to promptly totter on her way. Now I think back on it; my nearly crashing, swearing loudly, and rummaging around in my underpants wincing must have been the highlight of her week, although her family probably thinks she made the story up.

I've managed to find some shampoo to help with my psoriasis (psorias in Indonesian - pronounced 'persorias') and have used it twice now. It burns my skin when I use it, so I can't imagine that it would pass UK Health and Safety tests, however, it appears to be doing some good so far.

I have a week off from teaching this week, and will be visiting Pachet (a hot spring, and fishing pool, all set in the mountains of Java) for the first time, and possibly Malang for a second time, depending on availability in the hostel I stayed at last time. I will post again once I get back!

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