One month and counting

Hello again! Well, today is the one-month milestone. I can't believe it's been already a month since I arrived. I am glad the first month is over and I am feeling more at home here.
I think I left off right before VBS started last week. On Tuesday morning, the church's VBS program started. I rode with Debbie, whom I met at the birthday party the week before. She is an Indonesian who is married to an American and has lived for many years in the states. I enjoyed talking with her during the car rides throughout the week.
My job in VBS was to be a crew leader. The crews are made up of 5 children of diverse age groups. My crew had 3 boys and 2 girls. I enjoyed all the kids in my group, but I especially enjoyed talking to Tirzah. She is going into 6th grade and is mature for her age.
On Wednesday the whole group (we had almost 100 kids) took a field trip to a naval museum. (The theme for the week was High Seas Adventure.) I experienced a cultural situation there. Apparently, anyone not holding an Indonesian passport is not allowed into this museum in case they are a spy or something. But the group did not know that beforehand. So we got all the way there, and then me and the 3 other Americans helping that week had to go back to the church. At first I was disappointed, but it turned out well. I got to talk with a mom and daughter from america, and another young adult, Heidi, from America. We went to a grocery store near the mall that sells western foods not available in regular grocery stores. I was able to buy tortilla chips, taco seasoning, and tortilla shells. As a side note, I bought what I thought were tortilla shells the other week, but turned out to be something that you have to fry. I tried making wraps for my filippino friends, but they failed miserably because the shells had no taste. Anyways, after shopping we had coffee/smoothies at the store's cafe. I got an oreo smoothie, which was delicious. :)
Thursday was my trip to Singapore! I woke up very early (2:45 a.m.) to get to the airport. A school car picked me up and took me there. Unfortunately, nothing in that airport opens until 4, so I had to sit around waiting to get to the check in counter. Then I found out there is a departure tax, and I didn't bring enough rupiah, so I had to use American dollars, and they charged me a lot more. :( Oh well, I'll know better for next time. I had to wait some more for immigration to open, and then wait for my gate to open. Finally, I was able to board the plan. I was pleasantly surprised to find that even though it was only a two hour flight, we were served breakfast.
Once there, a couple picked me up from the airport and took me to their apartment. They were hired by the school to take care of my visa for me. They took care of everything; all I had to do was sign the form.
I was able to go shopping with their 19-year-old daughter, which was fun. Singapore has a lot more western stores than indonesia...like Gap and Forever 21 and Subway! I spent most of the time in an English bookstore where I bought the newest book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency! Yay!
Back at their house, I met another lady from the philippines who was there renewing her visa as well. She teaches at a small school near me. We were able to travel together since we had the same flight back. We went to Subway in the airport to have a snack. :) It was nice to have a travelling buddy, even for a little bit.
I arrived back to my apartment at 12 a.m. Actually, it was my first time to sleep in our new apartment. (We switched to the one that will be ours for the next year.) Even though Singapore has more trees, and a beach, and more Western stores, I was still glad to be back in Indonesia where I know people. I am definitely starting to feel more at home here.
On Friday, it was hard to wake up for VBS, but we got to go swimming there, which was fun!
Saturday was the last day of VBS. They had a "bazaar" for the kids at the end where they could pick out prizes with the coupons they had been earning all week. I was sad for the week to be over, because I had really enjoyed all the new people I met and seeing them every day. Thankfully, a few of the people there do go to the east for church like me, so I will see them there.
On Sunday, Tina, Janice, Laarni, and I went with Mr. Arno and Santa's daughter Lunae to church in the West. It was fun to see the kids from VBS sing two of their songs from the week during the service. After church, we went to see the Eclipse movie with Lunae and one of her friends. I never thought I would see any of those movies, but it was o.k. I was a little lost because I didn't see the other two, but it wasn't too hard to figure out.
Before we left the mall, we went to the grocery store. There I encountered a language misunderstanding. I had bought one thing of juice. The cashier scanned it and then started saying something about free and going to the information desk. I thought she was saying the juice was buy one, get one free, so I ran to get another one. Well, I got charged for both. I went to the information desk and found out it was really buy 2 get 1 free. So now I have 3 containers of juice when I really only wanted one. :) Oh well.
Well, that's about all. This week we are back at school getting ready for the new year. School won't start until July 19th though.
Oh before I go, here are some more cultural notes. Instead of forming one line when waiting, you line up behind the specific counter or bathroom stall you want. It took me a while to figure that out, so I wondered why people were going ahead of me.
Another note: most people here love pictures. Mr. Arno put it this way: Back home, most people run from the camera. Here people run to the camera. :) I have never been a part of so many large group photos in my life!
To end with, I am sorry for the lack of pictures on here. Most of the time the internet is too slow to upload pictures. But I just put a bunch up on facebook for you to check out if you want.