Worlds Away

After less than 24 hours in Jakarta it is abundantly clear that I am worlds away from my comfort zone. The last time I lived in a country where I did not speak the language I was 6 years old. Needless to say my parents took care of everything.

Things I have discovered so far:

• I can walk in what I think is a straight line and end up back where I started. At least I can find my hotel. The other places I am looking for not so much. The streets in Jakarta are only occasionally labeled and do not resemble any sort of grid. I definitely got several laughs from the food vendors I passed three times as I tried to find my way to the office. Luckily this was just a practice run for tomorrow. 
• Even the few words I have learned in Bahasa Indonesian throw me off. I understand the general greetings … Selamat Pagi (Good Morning), yet whenever anyone said that to me today they got a blank stare for about 5 seconds before anything processed. I am sure this will get better with time, but for now I am woefully lost. 

On the other hand, I tried Nasi Goreng last night. It is Indonesia's version of fired rice. As my first foray into Indonesian food I am excited to try more dishes. I managed to go to the store buy water and biscuits without incident. I decided to try a new biscuit though there were Tim Tams, an Australian biscuit that I almost lived on last summer when I was traveling in Down Under.

I think it might be time for a nap. Thanks to jet lag I woke up at 3 am this morning.