Jakarta (another entry authored by Alissa, thank goodness) As we have received several e-mails pointing out the lack of new postings, I guess I’ll write one. What have we been doing, you ask? Mostly we have been watching you, Rita, Katrina, the too-soon-exodus from Houston, and trying to keep track of who has electricity (Houston) and who doesn’t (my parents). I spent a bit of time on Wednesday finding a hotel that I could pre-pay for my parents as they have been without electricity since Saturday when the trees started falling down and taking out the power lines. My parents live in the Entergy area, and today’s Chronicle says that some areas may not get power on again for a month. But did my parents tell anyone they were without power? No, that would make us worry. Luckily, my brother went up on Tuesday just to make sure they were as well as they said. So mom and dad are now ensconsed in some boutique hotel in downtown Houston. All the hotels closer to their house are filled up with the 7000 electricity workers brought in to repair the electrical power grid. Here? Everything is fine. We are watching the news carefully as the government is raising the fuel prices tomorrow and this type of action often leads to protests, which can in turn lead to riots. We don’t want to find ourselves in the middle of a riot, even if we have played “The Worst Case Scenario” games and I have read all about getting away from riots. Lucky for us, the riots and protests tend to always happen in/near the same streets, so the goal is to avoid driving near certain streets. Annaliese is part of the play at school (props and costumes) and opening night is tonight. Arianna, Christopher, and I will go out to eat and then on to the theater. Alas, it is a musical. Bye-Bye Birdie. Arianna had her first track meet last weekend. Her long jump was 405 (over 13 ft). She also has first in the 100 meter and the 400 relay, we’re pretty sure. We’re still waiting for the official results. Christopher and I are (pending the protests and such) are going to the Historical Society’s dinner/auction Saturday night. Another black tie event. Good thing we had that tuxedo made for Christopher. The auction is all artwork – great timing, because we could use some art on the walls. We left all our art in storage in Houston. Christopher is becoming very involved with the Historical Society. They plan tours around Jakarta, the surrounding areas, and Indonesia. He is part of one group that is focused on “how Jakarta works” so perhaps he will be able to discover just what does happen to our trash! I’m fine, too. But mostly I work (and discover things like: my brassieres have been ironed, which explains why they seemed a bit stiff and scratchy and icky - Don’t even start thinking too hard about why anyone would ever iron a brassiere. It’ll just give you a headache. It did me…) and I don’ t ever talk about work. I will say I’m enjoying it and that it is LOTS of good work. |