I ate pork.

Yes, that’s this week’s update. Lame as it might seem to you, it was an event for me.

As Indonesia is a Muslim-majority (88 percent) country, pork, considered hram (forbidden) by those who practice Islam, is hard to come by and expensive here.

But on Saturday, did I dine on the Other White Meat. It was everything I thought it might be.

Really, the pork itself – however wonderfully fantastical it was – and believe me, it WAS – was secondary to the rest of the event, which was to meet two fabulous RPCV couples here in Jakarta.

Both husbands – as well as another RPCV I’ve yet to meet – work at USAid, and therefore, they live in US-issued housing.

Man. The housing. As the couple from Morocco had an adorable 4-year-old, they lived in the family housing. This was quite far from my neighborhood, which puts them even farther from the embassy, which is where the USAid office is. I can’t imagine how long the commute is, but he’s able to take a US-provided shuttle that’s available to staff. (Not just him – for all who live in this complex.)

The complex is in a gated community, which isn’t surprising because practically everything here is behind some kind of a gate, but their community is within another gated community, and they mean business. Only Americans live behind the green gate.

When I turned the corner looking for No. 68 on this particular road, a sign pointed me to what appeared to be a dead end, fenced off with a green gate. But as I approached, the doors opened and another set of guards checked to make sure I was everything I said I was, which was looking for No. 68.

The house, which is really more of a condo as it’s attached, has a garage and everything. Servants’ quarters, a nice patio, washer and dryer and things I forgot existed. My entire apartment, all 30 square meters, could have fit into their dining room area.

Sparsely furnished, but that was because the couple's (also from Morocco) personal effects hadn’t arrived yet. The furniture there – and we’re talking all of it; what lacked was personal touches – as well as the glasses, towels and everything else – also had been furnished by the State Department.

The complex pool, set in a garden-like area, was absolutely fabulous, too. Now, I like my pool A LOT, but this one had sunlight and was bigger. My pool is built under the two buildings, so it only gets a tiny slice of sunlight briefly during the day. Some other kids were playing on a life-sized inflatable dolphin. That was very cool.

They also had mosquitoes, though, so with all that lush greenery, they do have to put up a downside that I don’t have.

Both couples recently arrived to Jakarta and were settling into work. It was fun to hear about USAid, as that’s a place I would like to work, though not necessarily in Indonesia.

I got to discuss Morocco and the differences in Ramadan with the Morocco couple and heard some cool South Africa stories from the second couple. Very nice people.

And the food. I believe I mentioned the food. Mmmm….some kind of veggies, a chicken tagine and PORK.

I’d also brought some bakery rolls, but one of my choices didn’t work out very well. I took home the leftovers (I brought WAY too many) and noticed that this “chicken roll” I’d gotten two of only had a half broken off. (The halves were full meals in some countries. They were huge. I don’t know what I was thinking getting too many.)

Well, the next day I took those in for dinner and can you just say “disgusting”? Like the Scooby Snacks, it had some kind of sweet taste to it. I don’t associate “chicken” and “sweet” very favorably. I am completely embarrassed I took those things to a party. Blech.

But the pork. I hadn’t even seen it in so long, I’d forgotten about the Other White Meat. I checked it out on the grill but assumed it was beef. What a fabulous surprise.

I held back at first, opting for a Taste of Morocco with the tagine, and scarfed down the veggies. But I made sure to save room, downing three hefty slices. It was so fantastic.

And would you believe I had room for dessert? We had leftover birthday cake AND *chocolate chip* cookies.

Both brown sugar and chocolate chips are hard to come by. I think the cookie baker said she’d gotten one at the US Embassy commissary and I know she said the chips were $6. Or maybe it was the baking soda she’d gotten at the commissary. Basically, beyond the obstacle of not having my own oven, I’m not able to make chocolate chip cookies on my own.

So I thoroughly enjoyed the half-dozen or so I had – and I only stopped from grazing when I moved the container out of my reach, next to the pork.

So that was just a glorious day off for me. My first social event not centering around work and getting out to another part of the city.

And there was pork.