When we first arrived in Jakarta, there were a lot of things I wanted to share with you. Everything was new! I knew that eventually life would settle down and we’d gain our new normal and routine. I remember during the first week how I longed for something to be familiar. The places, the people, the sounds, the smells, everything was different from the world we had just left and that was exhausting. Different doesn’t mean negative, though. Many of these new things were wonderful and some of them I could do without, but they were just not familiar.
After four months I have found that longing for familiarity has faded. Our apartment is familiar and comfortable, it is home. Our journey to school each weekday is a welcome part of our routine; the bajai drivers’ faces and the flower shops are familiar, and we can count our way as we pass by the buildings we know as landmarks. School is a second home to all of us as we spend just as much, if not more of our time there.
Familiarity is a welcome comfort.
Yet this means that life is not as full of new things and I struggle to think of what to blog about. We’re just a family doing our best to live out the life/days God has set before us. Each day comes with it’s own monotony. Each day comes with its own struggles, its highs, and its lows.
When I began this blogging journey I admitted that I am no writer and do not have words bursting from my mind waiting to tell you a story. As we’ve settled into regular life, I’ve struggled to think of things you might care to read about. But I committed to telling you about the journey of our family as expats in Jakarta and so I will do my best to dig deep and let you in on what’s going on. I can forget that you’re not here with me and what I’ve now taken for granted, you might find interesting. …Orrrr maybe you’ll find it just as boring. Either way, it’s our story and I’ll try to keep telling it. Thanks for being here.
What would you like to know about our life in Jakarta?
Below are some of the places and things that have become familiar.
Hi Alecia! Great to read your blog and to see the pictures of your neck of the woods! I have a question is there always a drone of noise with all the people and the various modes of transportation? Sirens all the time like downtown Toronto, or it it a hum of humanity? Okay that question morphed into more😁. It is a joy to read your blogs, it gives us a different perspective of life elsewhere and reminds of us that there is a big world out there and you are getting to experience and live in another small part of God’s creation. Mundane translates into new experiences and new memories. It is good that you are settling in, let us settle in with you, it has been a joy to get to see inside a window of your new reality. You are covered in prayer! Love Terri and family
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Thanks for your question and encouragement Terri! I guess there are always sounds. Inside it’s that of the air conditioners always running, sometimes we turn them off just for a break. Outside I can always hear birds, motor bikes and construction (because it’s everywhere). There’s always someone sweeping too, almost everywhere you go. Inside the malls the music is always so loud as well. Oh, and there’s the call to prayer many times a day. It is a pretty noisy city!
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