Testing My Zen

My crazy day of today actually started yesterday.

I've been trying to wire someone without a bank account money via Western Union.  Yesterday, I managed to escape from work in the afternoon and I took a taxi through the thick Jakarta traffic to a Western Union office that had been highly-recommended to me.  When I arrived at that office I discovered it had closed early because a water pipe had burst and flooded the office.

Today, I was thrilled to discover that there was a Western Union branch within walking distance of my home.  Got to that office and found out that their entire computer network was down and they couldn't send wires. So, they directed me to another Western Union a couple miles away which I reached, after a 20-minute wait for a taxi.

That Western Union branch was boarded up, permanently closed.  

So, I did a Google search and found that there was another Western Union branch about a 300-meter walk away.  Off I went.

When I arrived at that branch, it was closed for mid-day prayers. But the sign said they'd be back in a half-hour, so I sat outside in the heat and waited.  I could feel that the Gods, or whomever, were testing my  Zen to see if I would be able to maintain my calm. 

Ten minutes late, not bad for Indonesia, the office re-opened after prayers. I filled out my Western Union forms and handed them back to the clerk.  When she asked for my money, I handed her my dollars, just as I had been instructed before I went to the first office, the previous day.

"Dollars?  I'm sorry we only take Rupiah here," was what I was told.  I have had enough experience in Indonesian banks to know that I would not have the time to get to a bank and make another currency exchange, return to this fourth Western Union, wait in line, get the wire sent, and get back to my office in time for my scheduled 2:00 meeting, so I gave up and called a taxi to take me back to work.

Luckily there was an air-conditioned coffee house next to this fourth branch, so I sat there sipping a iced lychee tea waiting for my taxi.  After five minutes, the trip was cancelled on the app.  Then the second taxi  I booked on the app was cancelled after a few minutes as well.  After 15 minutes of searching for another taxi, I finally got a third one.  According to the map on the app, my ride was 7 minutes away.

Ten minutes later the third taxi hadn't shown and when I looked at the map, the small icon of the taxi on my map was heading in the opposite direction and was suddenly 14 minutes away.  Then the little taxi icon started spinning in circles like a roulette wheel, and it stopped heading in any direction.

Perplexed, I didn't know exactly what to do.  But, the answer soon presented itself.  The third taxi got cancelled too.  I guess the driver was dizzy from spinning in circles and couldn't continue (if the map app was accurately depicting what his car was doing).

By this time, it was apparent that I wouldn't make my 2:00 meeting.  What extreme issue of importance was this meeting for?  I was scheduled to chat with someone from my apartment building's finance office. They said I hadn't paid the last four months of utilities, even though I had.  They said they had no records of any transactions. So, that's why I had to spend two hours of my Wednesday at my local bank, to have them print proof of my payments to show the finance office, so I could keep my water and electricity. That's the meeting I was missing.

The fourth taxi was 7 minutes away, according to the map app and, thankfully, headed in the proper direction and not spinning in circles.  But, then that taxi too, turned off in the wrong direction and I could feel my Zen about to collapse.  

That's when something wonderful usually happens in Indonesia.  It's a country of wonderful contrasts. And something wonderful did.

When I ordered my iced tea, I told the barista my taxi would be arriving soon (insert your laughter here). But almost an hour later he noticed me fiddling with my phone and walking outside every five minutes scanning the streets in vain.  He then said, "if your taxi isn't coming, I can get my cousin to drive you home on the back of his scooter."

Now a scooter ride through the streets of Jakarta in the midst of chaotic Friday afternoon Jakarta traffic, is as appealing to me as being a soldier on an active battlefield, but the kindness of the offer was touching and typical of people everywhere I have been in this country.  This kindness is the source of how you can keep your Zen around here if you decide you really want to.

Just as I was mulling how to gently decline this magnificent offer from a stranger, the taxi on the app suddenly flew across the map in an instant and landed two blocks distance from the coffee shop, only one minute away, the app said.  And soon the taxi arrived at its proper location to bring me back to my office.

After my taxi dropped me off, I simply returned to my apartment and called it a week and skipped my office altogether, since my meeting about utility payment was now moved to Monday.  Now you know why I laugh to myself when people try to console me when I find myself in isolation quarantine.  I accept their sympathy gladly and pretend as though isolation is a painful struggle, though compared to living out in the world, I find that it can be like a vacation and is a place where Zen can be renewed.

Ahhhh.  Back in my apartment, I was sipping a cold diet Coke with ice cubes and considering what pleasure I might engage in over the weekend when Friday came to a dramatic close.

The Gods decided to give my Zen one final test for the week, as well as everyone else in Jakarta.  As I sat back in my soft, cushioned chair we all got to experience a 6.6 magnitude earthquake!  The L'Avenue North Tower was shaking and swaying in a most disturbing way and I could hear the walls creaking ominously. But luckily it was over in 30 seconds and no apparently serious damage was done.  I looked down from my 17th Floor apartment and saw residents and office workers scurry around the main courtyard below like ants escaping their anthill when it's disturbed by a petulant child.

As I examined the cracks that formed in the walls of my apartment from the earthquake, I was grateful the quake wasn't stronger. I realize that if we get the big one here in Jakarta, my apartment building will collapse just like after the decisive piece is pulled from the wooden tower in a game of Jenga. But because my Zen was tested and I passed, at least for today, I decided there was nothing that could be done except to simply continue drinking my diet Coke and resuming my plans for the next day.