“No two days are the same,” could generally sum up our life right now. Following devotions, exercise, breakfast and preparing for the morning, Melissa greets the pemantus at 0730, trying to give instructions for the day and reviewing the list of duties. A few moments with Andrew in the morning is cherished before the tutor arrives at 8. While Andrew plays in his room or with the pemantu, we study at the kitchen table, reviewing our vocabulary and discussing culture. Our tutor will record all the items we’ve discussed for the day as well.
At 10, we head out for our daily excursion. During the excursion, we take pictures and make cultural observations about the particular event or outing. So far we’ve experienced public transportation, shopping in the market, visiting a local corner store, visiting an Indonesian’s home and watching how the average Indonesian does their laundry each day – down by the river.
Following lunch, Andrew is put down for a nap and then we begin our information filing. We enter the pictures taken and the tutor’s recordings into a software program that allows us to later go back and review and test our comprehension of the vocabulary. We also document our cultural observation and do some required reading.
When Andrew awakens, we head outdoors for more live language interactions. For the next hour or two (or three,) we spend time visiting with the neighbors, playing with the neighbor kids or going out on the town to visit with and experience the Indonesian culture. Beware: Information overload can occur at this point, so watch out for spinning heads.
During dinner, we are often either serenaded by a local musician looking for some money (they don’t sit on the streets here to beg, they come right to your front door) or some other person asking for some money. We are slowly learning the appropriate response and/or amount to give in each situation, but these visits definitely keep us on our toes.
In the meantime, as it is now dark (it gets dark by 6:00pm), Bryan retreats to the office to study while Melissa plays with Andrew. Bryan is required at least 40 hours a week of language time (including class time, cultural events, outings, live language and home study) while Melissa only has to record 20-30 hours, so we are getting used to not having daddy available in the evenings.
Once Andrew is bathed, read to and put in bed, Melissa than joins Bryan to study and review the information and to prepare for the next day. Believe me, falling asleep at the end of each day is NOT a problem.
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