The last couple of weeks or so...

First, I must point out that the "rainy season" is over. However nobody bothered to tell mother nature. We had a sudden, and not just brief, severe storm with heavy rains.  Naturally, my office wall leaked again. This was actually a good thing as we confirmed that the leak is not yet fixed.

Second,  we were talking about movies and movie theaters with our Bahasa Indonesia tutor. I have now learned how to say "I am having popcorn at the movie."  Here goes:  Saya memiliki brondong jagung di bioskop. The English word popcorn is also acceptable: Saya memiliki popcorn di bioskop. Ah! A little easier.

Third, we've had mini fauna invasion.  We had this pigeon sitting out on our balcony for several hours one day. I even opened the door and yelled at it but it just sat there on the table. Did it hit the building and get injured? Perhaps one of the other building residents feeds it and they are away for the summer? I have no idea. All I know is that it left its calling card in a couple of places on the table and balcony floor and eventually left, but not before I got a photo.

The mini-invasion continued. We have an indoor "common house gecko" as it is known here. It's called cicak (pronounced chee-chak). They apparently make a noise that sounds like this word. I haven't heard it yet.  I discovered it one night high up on our bedroom wall. I'd seen it out on the master bedroom's balcony quite a few times. I had seen it scurry out from beneath the door several times as I opened it. The raised threshold apparently gave it a nice place to hide under the door. I suspect that on a recent opening of the door the little guy got in.  So now what do we do? Really not sure, but I have learned the phrase "please catch the gecko" in Bahasa Indonesia. In case any of you need the phrase, it it this: Tolong nangkap cicak. Ibu Tin says if she sees it she will catch it and put it back outside. I do wonder just how easy they are to catch. I spent my one encounter with the little guy just looking at him and taking pictures. Then he disappeared.

Last, Ibu Tin (our household helper) was away for 2 weeks which meant I had to take on additional household duties. Shortly after Bu Tin arrived back in her village, her mother passed away. There is a 7-day mourning period after which Bu Tin returned to town. She might have opted to stay in the village longer, but she wanted to be kept busy she said. There is also the lure of the paycheck I suppose. She arrived back in town the day before the start of Ramadan. More on that in another post.