Kindness can be so simple. It is amazing how so little effort can go such a long way some times. Maybe you don't even realize you are being kind, but it means the world to whoever is on the receiving end. This is something I think about often. How my actions might effect others, and how the wrong or right word or gesture at a certain time can have a huge impact, depending on the person and the type of day they are having.
Today I was at the supermarket, buying some things to eat for the week, when Maline and her daughter Eliza came up and said hello. It took me a second to understand the situation, because it's not everyday that a white person approaches you in the supermarket in Palembang. In fact this is the first time that this has happened to me here. I had met Maline on Thanksgiving, and she is an incredibly sweet lady who has been living here with her family for about 10 years. Her family lives very close to me, and we had been in touch, but I have been travel a lot this past month and we hadn't been able to meet up. She offered me a ride home after the supermarket, and it felt like the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.
I have been struggling with life here, and it was especially hard returning to Palembang after a quick trip back to the states where I was surrounded by loved ones and familiar things. Today was exceptionally hard for some reason, but I managed to leave my room (I could not manage this yesterday) and get some exercise. I was feeling better about things, like I could find a way to manage for the next four months, but running into this family was a blessing. I have a rejuvenated sense of hope, and four months doesn't seem so bad anymore. I learned about the 3 different water parks around here, none of which I have visited.
Living abroad without all of the comforts and conveniences of home, and without the same kind of support system, I find myself feeling vulnerable all the time. Everything around you is strange and your mind doesn't always know how to respond to situations. So when people are kind and helpful and friendly, it is amazing. And so appreciated. Even the littlest things. But when things go less than well, it's hard to really know what to do. For example, people are always honking and shouting and pointing when I am walking, and today I snapped, and started pointing and shouting back at this car. Then started laughing because I'm sure I looked insane to that guy and everyone in traffic behind him. Another situation that has been happening a lot is the water not working. This has been the case twice in the past few days. My two solutions this week were to a)stay in bed (you don't have to shower that way!) and b)join a gym that has showers.
I've tried to keep my posts relatively upbeat so far, because nobody wants to read about my daily struggles. I'm lucky to have people close to me who listen to the negative things and provide love and support, but this really has been a trying experience. It seems like it should be amazing, living in Indonesia, a beautiful country full of exciting things, but there are a lot of difficulties that come up when you try and shift your life halfway across the world. I do experience great things on a regular basis, but this adventure has been far from easy.
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