Jacque in Jakarta: The appliances in my apartment

 It's been nearly a month since Alex and I arrived in Jakarta. We're slowly getting through our shock and sliding into the initial adjustment of our culture shock. One of the things that is taking us a while to adjust to is our appliances.

I've grown accustomed to not having a tumble dryer whenever I go abroad. Most places I've lived outside of the U.S. are much more environmentally conscious and therefore don't want to waste the energy that a tumble dryer uses. However, I've always had the luxury of a washing machine that is hooked into the plumbing. Here, it's a bit different.

In order to use the washing machine correctly, there are two hoses that need to be used. The green hose is for the ingoing water, and the white hose is for the outgoing water. The green hose is attatched to the bathroom faucet on one end and the back of the machine on the other. The white hose is attached to the bottom of the machine where the waste water is dispelled on one end, and on the other end it is in the shower drain. The tricky part is using the machine without having water go all over the place.

The first step is to correctly attatch the hoses. One time the white hose wasn't firmly attatched to the bottom of the machine and the waste water went all over our apartment. The next step is to turn on the water to fill the machine through the green hose. If the water isn't turned off on time, the pressure of the water causes the hose to fly off the machine and then water goes everywhere. The water from the green hose is used to fill the machine and then used to rinse the clothes, so it's used twice. Lastly, there is a pot under the green hose because it usually leaks. The first time we did laundry, we didn't realize it would leak and, once again, water went everywhere.

Not only is the washing machine a bit wonky, our air conditioner usually leaks if it's been on too long. So, when we go to bed we turn it on and as soon as we wake up we usually have to turn it off so it won't leak. Also, there is no hot water, so we've been taking cold showers for a month.

However, I can't complain too much. Next week we'll be moving to a new apartment with hot water and an a/c in the living room. Also, I should be happy to at least have a washing machine and running water. Afterall,  I'd hate to be accused of suffering from FWP.