So yesterday we decided to take Christiaan to get his blood tested as he hadn’t been feeling well at all and was still covered in little spots and complaining of a very sore head. The idea was that the lab would check for dengue fever. Instead they did a host of other tests including checking for typhoid fever, but did not check for dengue. The nurse from the kid’s school called the lab and asked them about it and they said that they check all the pertinent blood information and if the numbers are not within normal range then they go ahead and check for dengue. But as Christiaan’s numbers were okay they said that that meant he didn’t have dengue. So even though we specifically asked for a dengue check, they still did things there own way. The reality is that even if the blood seems normal, he could still have dengue. Anyways, it’s an expensive test, for here anyways, and we already paid a lot for the other tests, so we won’t bother going again unless he really doesn’t improve. The reality is that there is no special medicine that you give for dengue, you just need lots of rest and fluids. So that’s what we’re going with right now. So far only Hugo and Aidan have avoided this thing, whatever it is. According to the nurse from the school, it could also be a strain of rubella. Even though we’ve been vaccinated against it, there could be a deviant strain here. We know that it is recoverable as Marc has completely recovered from it. We had his stool checked about 2 weeks ago and he was all good (thankfully!). He has been much happier lately than before. Brynnie’s big spots are now drying up into little ones although she still has some of the little tiny spots like Christiaan. But she’s still quite happy and very active. This is all simply part of the fun of living in a tropical climate in a country like Indonesia.
At church there is a couple that quite obviously enjoy eachother’s company. He looks to be in his early thirties, she a bit younger. I asked our friends about them, like do they plan to get married? David said, ”Well, they do love each other… but she’s Chinese and he’s from a different Indonesian ethnic group (I can’t remember the name he said, it’s one of the smaller ones.).” So I’m thinking, what’s the big deal? Well, Indonesians don’t really like Chinese and Chinese would rather their children married with fellow Chinese descendants. A couple generations ago a lot of Chinese people escaped China to come to Indonesia in the hopes of a better life. And life is generally better here as there are more freedoms than in China. However, the Indonesian government isn’t a big fan of them and gives them a special designation on their identification card, even if they are born here and their parents are born here. They also have to pay a lot more tax and are refrained from working in Academia, public service and other governmental occupations. The thing is that a lot of the Chinese who came here worked very hard and opened businesses, especially textile shops and factories. So a lot of them are wealthy and they also employ a lot of Indonesian workers. Although there are many who are not wealthy as well, the general Indonesian population views them with suspicion. Back in 1998 there was a bit of an uprising due to the fall of the rupiah and basic economic problems. Some students in Jakarta started demonstrating against the president at the time, Suharto. Four students were shot and rioting followed the funeral. For some reason people started looting businesses and shops owned by Chinese. Also a lot of Chinese women were raped. This of course led to an exodus of Chinese people. There was a fact finding mission into these events and it was determined that there were a number of groups of people made up of men who “were well-built with short-cropped hair (they refrained from saying the word soldier.). But when the Chinese left, a lot of Indonesians lost their jobs. Even my pembantu’s speak negatively about them. I think a part of it is jealousy and a part of it is the fact that the Chinese still maintain a lot of their cultural traditions. Also a lot of them are Christian, Buddhist or Fung Shway (not sure I spelled that right). They are also the one group that likes their helpers to wear special white uniforms with checkered trim so everyone can see that this person with them is a helper. (Not a big fan of that whole practice) So anyways, this poor couple from church, who although love each other, may never be able to marry as long as their parents do not approve. Kind of sad, one would think that being Christian would superscede all that, but I guess that isn't the case here.