#whenhelpinghurts

Today I did not have to go to Kampung Halaman, so I decided to get started on my book review for When Helping Hurts (I finished reading it yesterday after Selamat Pagi). I worked on it for a little bit this morning, but then I found out that my phone charger broke because my phone was on 10%... so I went to the mall with Nana to buy a new one lol. After we bought a new charger, we went to Dunkin Donuts, but my iced coffee was waaaayyyy too sweet… I keep forgetting to say no sugar whenever I order drinks here (sugar is a huge product here and Indonesians put sugar in almost everything lol). Oh well, I drank it anyway haha and got a lemon cream filled doughnut.

When we got back to the homestay, I continued writing my book review and let my phone charge. Then, Nana and I left and met-up with Rak at the mall again for his birthday! His birthday was yesterday, but unfortunately he got back late because his flight kept getting delayed in Jakarta. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate. The food was so good! I had mushroom bruschetta and healthy fruit juice to drink.

When we were finished, Nana and I left Rak to continue with his studies and we went back to the homestay. Bagus picked me up soon after and we headed to Asmara for an art show. Mengayunkayu invited me to it the last time we hung-out. Apparently her ex-boyfriend is the artist and is friends with the people I’ve been hanging out with. I recognized a good amount of people that were there like the lead singer of Summerchild amongst others.

The art was really abstract and cool—it was hung-up along the walls of Asmara. I didn’t get a chance to really look at each piece since Asmara was so packed, but luckily Bagus bought me the art book! :D The bands that were playing were also very cool—lots of rock ‘n’ roll, love it!

Today was a relaxing Sunday. I slept in later than usual because I stayed up until 3 in the morning video chatting with Alex lol, but it was worth it. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for brunch and watched a few episodes of Last Week Tonight and The Tonight Show while I slowly woke up. John Oliver and Jimmy Fallon are both hilarious, amazing people. I then read two more chapters of When Helping Hurts (now I’m over half-way done!). Nana got me an apple fritter from a French bakery- she’s so nice! I’m very glad that I met her; it’s great having a friend here to help me feel not so lonely. 

We then went to a fitness center together in a hotel not too far away from here to look into getting a month-long membership. The fitness center is awesome... It has a weight room equipped with various types of machines, a studio room for fitness classes, a tennis court, a pool, and even rooms for massages! We didn’t pay for the membership yet though because we want to check-out other fitness centers around the area first before we make a decision. Next we went to the mall and ate at a yummy noodle and rice restaurant for dinner. After that we went to a teenage girl store called Stroberi and I bought so many things... I am a sucker for cute accessories lol. I then ventured over to Chatime to get a bubble tea, which I am so glad that I finally got to try here; I’ve been looking for places that sell it for awhile now. I LOVE it. I already mentioned it to Alex and thank God he said that there is a place that sells bubble tea in Charlotte because I’m hooked.

After getting back from the mall, me and Nana watched an episode of a show called Switched At Birth, which she is watching in order to learn more sign language. The show’s main characters use a lot of sign language because some of the characters are deaf. Nana is watching it in order to learn more sign language so that she can communicate better with one of her friends who is deaf. It seems like a really great show, so I am definitely going to watch more of it with her here and continue watching it when I’m back in the states. 

Tomorrow is a big day because I start my week of Bahasa classes at Sanata Dharma University and it is my first day of my internship at Kampung Haliman. Time for shut eye!

Selamat malam!