I get to take that pretty girl of yours to a ball..

Every year in the foreign service, there is an annual occasion where everyone gets to dress up in fancy dresses and tuxedos and drink and dance the night away.  That occasion, warmly referred to as "adult prom", is the Marine Ball.

US Embassies and Consulates around the world have a small detachment of Marines who serve in the capacity of Marine Security Guards.  They work, in conjunction with diplomatic security, to protect classified information and systems as well as protect US citizens within US premises of the Mission.

Every November, the Marines celebrate the "birthday" of the formation of the Marines with the US Marine Corps Ball.  The entire embassy community is invited to attend as well people from other countries' diplomatic missions.  The event included a ceremony, presentation video, several speakers (including the US Ambassador to Indonesia), and, of course, dinner and dancing.

I had a pretty good time for my first Marine Corps Ball and we ended staying till near when they kicked us out around 1AM.  It's a fun event and a good excuse for men to go get a tuxedo and for women to get a nice dress, and since the embassy community is fairly large in Jakarta, the ball was pretty well attended.  Ticket prices were a bit steep nearing $100 (nope, the event isn't free, at least, not for the average employee) but still it's an event I would gladly attend again.

Didn't really take nearly enough pics!

The flags displayed at the entrance.

What's a birthday without cake?

This table honors fallen Marines.

Our table.

Keepsake from the event.

North Jakarta: USS Cowpens, Old Town, and Ancol

The Columbus Day weekend was a weekend of exploration and adventure.  The destination this time was North Jakarta. 

In North Jakarta, is the pier and shipping areas.  We visited the area called Sunda Kelapa, an old shipping area in Old Town Jakarta.  Smaller shipping vessels loading what appeared to be construction materials and sand were in this area.  The vessels here definitely were beginning to show their age and the pollution in the waterways was noticeably visible.

Pepto manufacturing

The most interest occurrence while at this pier was a rather odd fellow that trailed behind us attempting to show off card tricks, speak random phrases of English, and sing any song he might know.  He was not at all seeking money and he was harmless; an interesting character perhaps not all there in the head.  Upon departing, he sought to gift me his deck of playing cards which I could not accept.  From our brief hour at the pier, he clutched the cards as his treasure but it was very kind thought.

He was a very odd man.

Next up that weekend was touring a Navy ship.  This was my first experience on a military ship and while we did not have to the opportunity to see everything, we were able to see everything on the deck of the ship and some of the inside.  The sailors were very hospitable for our tour group and we really appreciated their time.

Maybe my HHE is in one of these containers..

Battleship

After touring the ship, we ended the day with a trip to Ancol in North Jakarta.  This is an area where they have Jakarta's theme park, sea world, as well as a couple beaches (not good beaches).  This is also near the area where you can board boats to take you to one of the many "1000 islands" to the north for a nice weekend getaway.  We came for the seafood!

Picking out our crab.

Oh yeah!

Grilled fish.

Trying the snails!

Moving to My Permanent Home

Moved to my permanent home today.  For the past two months, I've been in temporary housing.  The last place was a two bedroom, 2 bath apartment with a really large living room and dining room.  I'm now in a very tall building apartment in a 3 br, 2 bath apartment.  However, in just size comparison, it's probably actually smaller in terms of square feet. 

The facilities though are nice!  The apartment is fully furnished and has a pool and gym so I'm excited to getting back into the fitness routine.  The embassy has a crossfit group every day after work but I always struggle to make it out on time since they begin at 4:30 in the afternoon.

It is also very newly constructed and modern.  I already received my UAB (Air shipment) and now I'm just waiting on my HHE (house hold effects, shipped via boat). I'll really start to better understand the extent of Jakarta traffic as before I was able to walk to work and now I'll have an actual commute.

One quirk that I will have to get used to is the sound of prayer and religious chanting/music.  The apartment is near a residential neighborhood and the local religious group uses a loudspeaker or sound system to broadcast out.  So from morning till late evening, it's easily audible from inside all the apartments.  Really is a reminder that I'm in Indonesia!

On the different note, I went to karaoke with some friends and had a blast.  Happy to have found a new karaoke group!

The master bedroom.  Artwork came with the apartment.

The kitchen and dining table.

Opposite of the kitchen is the living room.

Guest bedroom.

Third bedroom or office.  I think I'm going to use it for storage.

The view during the day.  I do also hear the construction from across the street during the day.

The view at night.

First Month at Post / Front Office Rotation

Since arriving in Indonesia, after a brief two weeks getting settled in and supporting my home office in procurement, I've been on rotation to the Mission's Front Office.  Essentially, this position is a mix of being an Executive Assistant and being a Staff Aide.  Responsibilities include preparing agendas for senior staff meetings, taking notes in meetings for the Mission Director, and miscellaneous document preparation in response to "Embassy Taskers" (these are requests from USAID, typically for State or for the Ambassador, to provide input on documents, prepare talking points or briefing memos for meetings, and various fact sheets on USAID programming).

So far, it's been a pretty good experience and I'm learning a lot about how the Mission operates, the USAID interaction with the embassy community at-large, and the various personalities and protocol within the Mission.  A fun aspect to this rotation is attending various events and meetings with the Mission Director and getting to see some of the programs that we are implementing.

Socially, there has been a pretty good group of other officers in Jakarta.  I tend to spend most of my free time going out with other USAID colleagues and colleagues I knew through language class.  Continuing to work on building the social network, but I'm pretty content with things so far.  Jakarta has a variety of places to go out to eat, numerous elaborate brunches on Sundays, and lots of shopping options.  I think prices generally are higher than other South-east Asian countries, namely Bangkok, but are still OK.  There also seem to be a lot of nightlife options and I hope to eventually check those out as well.

PRESTASI
The first event I attended was the PRESTASI Pre-Academic Training Orientation.  This is a one of USAID Indonesia's scholarship programs for graduate studies.  This allows Indonesians to pursue Master level degrees in the US or in Indonesia.  This particular launch was to first meeting for the scholarship recipients to get together and understand processes for applying to universities and how the scholarship worked now that they were selected.  Various USAID technical offices came and congratulated the recipients as well as imparted the imperative that they study and obtain the knowledge and skills in their various fields and bring that back to make an impact in Indonesia.

USAID Mission Director and Office Reps speak to the scholars.

Group shot with the scholarship recipients.

MTV EXIT Documentary Launch
I also attended the MTV EXIT launch event for the anti-trafficking documentary that takes place in Indonesia.  This event took place at the Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta.  The event was attended by Indonesian celebrities and the various supporters of MTV EXIT, which includes USAID, AusAid, ASEAN, and more.  The documentary series is just part of the MTV EXIT campaign and also would include a concert that would be held in the city of Bandung in Indonesia.

The Mission Director providing remarks at the event.

Mission Director with an Indonesian official and the project head of MTV EXIT.

Secretary Clinton Visit to Jakarta
Secretary Clinton also dropped by Jakarta during her travels.  During her time here, as per protocol, she held a meet and greet for embassy staff.  It was only for a very brief moment of time, but it was still good and she commented in her address the great work of USAID's programs, particularly our education programs here in Indonesia.  Unfortunately, she didn't have any time for individual photos.  Ah well, maybe some other day.

Being introduced by the Amb. to Indonesia and Amb. to ASEAN

So that pretty much highlights some of the more noteworthy events thus far.  Looking forward to what else will come.