Wet Market photos

This won't be much of an info blog because I just want to share my newest photos with you. These are pictures that I've wanted to take since I got here. Our friend Henny was kind enough to take me to the wet market again early this morning. There are so many colours and smells and people and it's a great place to visit! Most of these photos will be self-explanatory but I'll try and fill you in if need be. One of my favourites is of the dead, plucked chicken that has his neck folded under his wing and his head poking out the other side. Another is a posed shot of a good sport; he's got his cleaver ready to cut off the head of a chicken. I think that my favourite is the first one, which shows a variety of spicy sauces and peppers and some veggies, too. It gives the best shot of the overall 'feeling' of the market. In case you are wondering, the long, skinny hairy thing in the beef stall is a tail. Not sure how you'd cook it, but it's probably the main ingredient of 'oxtail soup,' which I've read about over the years in various novels. Maybe I'll get the recipe for when one of you comes to visit. When in Rome!

This is a variety of tofu. Not sure how you cook or eat it, but it sure looks neat! Not sure what the green/white stuff is either, but I know it's something mixed with soy beans and then wrapped in banana leaves. I may have even eaten it at some point but i'm not sure:) The fellow below was "pssst'ing me, wanting me to take his picture. He's a coconut juicer (you can see the machine near him). Unfortunately, they use the water out of the tap and at this point our stomachs are still a little unprepared for that, otherwise we could have bought some and tried it.

Thanks for reading!

Here are a few photos of my day today. I spent it at the local university watching some Teachers' College students perform dances/songs/games from the area that they come from. It was very well done and I really enjoyed my time there.

This is Mrs. Mel (first names are used with 'Mrs'). She's one of the 4th grade teachers I went along with, is our neighbour 2 doors down, and is married to Abby's teacher (guru) Mr. Jonathon.
The lineup of young women is a dance from North Sumatra and below are dances from South Sumatra and West Sumatra. The young men with horses is a dance from Java (central).

You might recognize this pose; it's from Bali. Mom and dad will get to watch this kind of dancing first-hand when they come this Christmas. The tickets are booked!!This game, which I would call the 'bamboo game' but have really no idea what it's called, is from Nusatengara. Music is played and the bamboo is 'beaten' on the ground just like if you were playing a little child's clapping game. The players have to jump between the bamboo; I tried it and I think they were just being polite by not kicking me 'out' sooner.

I love the name of this place: Kalimantan. Kalimantan is a part of the island of Borneo. The independent sultanate of Brunei is just above. This couple is singing a worship song to a god (not sure which one...if it's my God or another). Her traditional costume is beautiful. For those of you who are not aware (I know there's a few of you), if you double click on a photo you can see it close up.

This is a very colourful dance from South Sulawesi, which is the island north of Java. One of the young women danced on the drum while it was being drummed. She had great balance.

The dancers in plaid come from Ambon and are dancing a Portuguese-influenced dance. I could see a bit of square dancing as well as spanish dancing in their movements. It was really interesting just how different all of the regions were from each other. Represented here were the incorporation of 4 (?) major religions into pre-existing beliefs; different parts of the islands definately represent different religions (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism). By the way, Ambon is the name of the area that the kids at the orphanage I went to on Monday are from.

The final dance was from Papua and it was a hit because of the costumes. Pretty scary looking, heh? It was a very lively dance and the dancers were a bit tired at the end. I would have been exhausted! At the very end of the morning a bunch of guys from Java were showing me a foot game/dance so I took a photo of how they intertwined their feet. I think that they were supposed to jump on one foot and remain attached with the other.

That was how I spent my morning today. Days are quite long because we get up at 5 and are out of the house by 6:30 (at least the other 3 are...I am if I have plans). Even if events last for 3 hours I am still home by 10 am! In Canada I would have been just finishing my housework by then and starting something new, or just preparing to go out.

Thanks for reading!

Home on a weekday

Today is a Wednesday, it's 1 pm, and my whole family is home. Every Wednesday Matthew and Abby get off at 12:30 and the teachers stay on. However, Tris has come home not feeling (or looking) so good, so he's up in bed. The three of us are going to hunker down and watch an episode of Little House on the Prairie, a "comfort show" that we own courtesy of 20/20 girls and Candace. Thank you!

Abby's post for you:
I like Indonesia. It's fun. I'm being as basic as I can so I can drive my mom nuts (paraphrased by my mom). `My school is differant. It has a big pool, which the classes take swimming in. My class is 5B. In each grade, there is a pod area, where all of that grade do activities. Then there are the seperate classrooms. My teacher's names are Mr. Jonathan and Ibu Yuni. In each class there is one national teacher (Ibu Yuni) and one expat teacher (mr. Jonathan). Good bye.

That's Abby's post for you.

Thanks for reading.

Our weekend

Hello friends and family! This has been a busy couple of days/nights and for that I am truly thankful. I definately don't want to get into the habit of being too busy but it sure is nice to have things scheduled and goals to work towards. Sometimes quiet is nice but at other times it can really get to your head :) Obviously if you asked Tris or the kids they would probably have a different perspective because they're at the school 5 days a week (Tris is there almost 10 hours a day).

this is Ethan, Terrence and Henny's youngest

On Saturday we spent the day with Terrence and Henny and their three kids. Terrence is from Canada and Henny is a national. It's great hanging with her because she speaks the language...takes the pressure off of us. We had originally planned on going to mini golf but after lunch, as we were driving there, the black clouds rolled in huge and low. Although it never did rain we decided to explore a bit instead. They took us a market area that sold dogs, fish and plants.

Koi sucking Matt's finger (shocking that it's him, isn't it??)
There was probably more in the market but we didn't go too far from the koi once the kids discovered them. The vicious little monkey that tried to gouge my sons eyes out was a main attraction for them as well. You'll be happy to know that the monkey was on a chain and that Matthew is doing just fine; there have been no reports of nightmares of tiny monkeys flying at his head.

I am so excited...I found seeds! This is the first time that I've ever seen them. Lavender, mint, cilantro, nasturtiums, parsley, basil, lettuce, yellow zuccini, chives...the list goes on. I am going to try to grow some lavender, mint, and nasturtiums. Although few people have been very successful, I am going to try my hand at it. This is a case of 'don't give up until you try it.' Henny has tried a variety of things and she's got some beautiful pepper plants. Tomatoes grow here but the plant goes scraggly and doesn't produce much fruit. I was thinking that maybe I could try them and keep pinching of the ends. Not sure the humidity will be very good for them.

On Sunday we went to a wedding shower...yes, my whole family attended. There was a great turnout of SPH staff (the couple got married July 5 and teach at SPH) and unfortunately we didn't have our camera, or we could have shared some of them with you. We started the 20 minute walk there but someone from our taman was kind enough to pick us up. We declined her later invitation to drive us home because we felt we could walk. About 5 minutes after she left there was a huge downpour (probably saved up from the previous day) and so we had to get Bruce Comrie to drive us home. The Comries have been very generous and patient in getting us places.

Last night (Monday night) I had the opportunity to begin a 13 week class taught by Judy Comrie called "Understanding Christian Education: a workshop series for educators". I haven't subbed yet but we figure I might as well go for the class and participate in it. It was very interesting and I even get homework...that's a thrill for me! After class I drove 1 1/2 hours with a woman named Coral to an orphanage. It's a different kind of orphanage in that the kids have all been there for the same amount of time, the youngest is in grade 6, and they don't leave until after university. The story of the orphanage is awesome and I'll save it for a little later, when I have more space and time to write. However, ultimately what I experienced last night is that I went prepared to be washed over with compassion for some poor, undernourished kids. Not a chance. They have full lives, are well loved, educated, well fed and are treated as a big family. They get family devotions, most love Jesus, and get opportunity to worship on a regular basis. As usually happens in situations where dozens of children are being raised by 2 parents, there is a need for funding for all of their needs. However, they have amazing stories of how God has provided for them. One day if I can get permission I will post some photos of this beautiful huge family.

I'm encouraging the rest of my family to post a blog for you so that you don't always get my perspective...however, they're all a little busier with school so you might be stuck with me for a while.

Thanks for reading.

Recycling with the Green Project

For those of you who know me well, you will know how excited I am to be part of a new recycling program that my friend Diane is trying to start up in our area. If she can get 20 households to commit to recycling their plastics, carboard, paper and glass, as well as electronics and old household items/clothes, then a truck from the Green Project will come out to our area and collect our recycling. How exciting is that???!!! We went into Jakarta Friday with her Toyota Avanza stuffed with peoples' recycling. The most exciting thing about our trip was where we had to take it. It was to a compound that is home to a large group of street kids who have been given the chance at a new life. Let me tell you about this place in a nutshell.

There is a group of adults and children who go out and recruit street kids who have no one and no where to go, and they bring them to this compound. Here they receive food and clothes and begin a long process of adaptation and going beyond survival. There are various specific stages of development that they are introduced to, the first being the obvious: basic communication, awareness of others around them, basic hygiene. Once they get used to living with others they are introduced to basic education and greater hygiene and ultimately they are just loved on. If they choose to stay and haven't run away at this point (and I think that the staying success rate is about 80%) they have the opportunity to get an education, learn how to take care of themselves, their clothes and their living space. They are no longer able to stay once they turn 18, but the goal of the organization is to have given each child training in some area/vocation, such as retail sales, mechanics, computer repairs, cooking, recycling, etc.

Our part in this grand scheme is to provide the recycling for the children to sort, which then gets sold for a price, and the money earned goes towards the cost of keeping the children fed, clothed, educated and given the opportunity for outings and small trips. When I toured the area I was very impressed by the gardens they've started (nutritional deposits supplied by a small cache of rabbits in cages nearby), the mushroom "farm" they tend, the recycling sorting depot, the variety of plants they have grown to sell and a whole bunch of entrepreneurial ideas. It is all very well organized, and there are classes going on all over the place in the surrounding buildings.

There is so much more to this organization than I have explained to you. Maybe as I become more involved in the recycling end I will learn more about what goes on with the street kid ministry and how it all started. In turn, I will pass the information on to you. Just knowing that by recycling my garbage I am not just keeping stuff out of the landfill, but that I am helping kids who could have been on the streets makes it that much more satisfying when I clean out my dirty tin cans in the kitchen sink. I've always supported recycling but I'm totally sold now:)

Thanks for reading.

Raffles...a visit just for Aunt Sam!

Because we've been experiencing technical difficulties lately (the entire district of Tangerang was completely cut off from internet yesterday) I thought that I'd cram a few blog ideas in on one quiet Saturday morning. These are the photos taken at Raffles Hotel, at the long bar, and later, with our friends in an outdoor restuarant just after visiting Raffles.

I think you'll see a lot of our family with the Weeda family...especially at tables with food in front of us. We like to eat together:)

Thanks for reading.

Weight Loss Plan...visit us!

I was just recently reading Pastor Scott's blog and how he uses his blog as an accountability tool in the transformation of the "chubby little hunchback (a description cheekily used of him by his daughter)." My recommendation for a great weight-loss plan to him was to come and visit us in Indonesia. Yes, Tris is standing straight and tall and is tightening his stomach muscles a bit, but even if he was completely letting loose, those shorts still hang saggy baggy around his hips. This is a result of a complete change in lifestyle, one that we appreciate but have not necessarily "pursued:" change of diet, less food intake (not as willing to eat big meals in the heat), walking/bussing everywhere we go, attending a school with many floors and only stairs/ramps, a more active lifestyle between 6 am-6 pm (after which we morph into slug-bellies and lay around the house until bedtime: 8:30 pm). However, I must admit...we have recently discovered a donut place that I think is called JCo. and it is equivalent to Crispy Creme (according to US ex-pats)...and ALMOST equivalent to Cumberland Bakery (aka Auchterlonie's). In one week we've had 24 donuts pass through the mouths of only 4 people...that is kind of scary!!

As for Pastor Scott, we're proud of the committment to exercise and lose weight he's had, because we witnessed it prior to our leaving the country. Way to go!

Thanks for reading.

Singapore July 16-17, 2008

These photos are taken on our stopover in Singapore. We thought that we'd share a bit of our past with you thru these photos...couldn't do it earlier because we hadn't downloaded our small digital camera until today. The cloudy photo is of an early Singapore city morning, taken through Abby's and my hotel window. The second on the right is of the Singapore Flyer, the largest observation "whatever" in the world. Each little capsule is actually a large glass room through which you can see all over the city, just like in the photo to the right.

Sharing this experience with us are our new friends, the Weeda family as well as Stephen Poindexter (USA) and Hannah Paten (Australia). Hannah's in the back beside Tris and Janet is front and centre. Stephen P. is at the back on the right and Steve Weeda is next, with Neil, Eric and Hope on the bench in front of him. We are thankful for each one of the new people in this photo. They're just what the doctor ordered!

To the left is a photo taken at the highest point of the lookout. This is way, way up!

Next, after the Flyer, we headed to Raffles to get our photo taken at the historical Raffles Long Bar...just for Aunt Sam! Unfortunately we weren't able to have a Singapore Sling there (Tris and I shared one later in honour of Aunt Sam; it was great). It looks as though that photo is going to have to wait, however. Once again I have had to compromise with the computer in order to get photos to the 'outside' world.

As for my last post, for those of you who are concerned, please don't be. I think that if you don't mourn, you don't get on with the next stage that is there for you, and that is what I have to do. I'm excited about what is in store for me, even if I'm not quite sure yet what it is. Thank you for your prayers, because we are very aware of them!

Thanks for reading.

An Bit of Honesty

(Kim here) This is going to be a rather personal blog rather than a family one. Now that my first month is over I would like to be honest about how it has gone for me. Many people ask and for those who know me, I don't always want to be totally honest so that others won't worry about me. I confess, I've been evading the answer to "how is it going for you?" quite successfully. For the most part I have done well: my body has adjusted to the heat much quicker than I had expected (I even wear jeans now and then!); I haven't had too much problem with the food, although I definately don't eat as much as I did at home; the ex-pats I've met have been very gracious to us; we've settled in and made our house a home as much as transportation and our budget has allowed; I've learned of various jobs that I may be able to participate in over time. Tris loves his job and is enjoying it more than I have seen him enjoy it in years; Matthew and Abby are settling in and are already experiencing the typical scenarios that would happen in any school setting, and they still look great in their uniforms!! Although all seems good, as I told a woman today, there is a thin veneer that I have had to put up in order to make it this far. This brings me to last week...

Up until last week I have been bored and kind of lonely, but it hit me around week four: I am in a foreign country, I don't really know anybody (that is a lie, but it was my emotion at the time...God has already blessed me with good friends), my family is far away, my nieces and nephews are going to grow up without me being a significant part of their lives, my girlfriends get to go for walks and coffee without me (and I don't even drink coffee), and somebody else lives in my house and is enjoying my backyard in the summer time. They may even be changing things in the house, things that WE built or painted or at least fixed up. On Tuesday I had a lunch cancellation and normally something like that wouldn't bother me too much...people have lives outside of mine and I'm okay with that. However, it triggered that feeling of loneliness that says I'm here but I don't want to be. This is the day that I went and did some shopping therapy. I walked a few kms to the mall and found a few things, like the Third Day cd for $4. At one point I had to stand up for myself at a post office where the guy was trying to rip me off. Don't try and rip off a lonely-feeling buleh (white/foreign) woman...you won't win. I had to cross a street that has brought fear and trembling to me...I will now admit weeks later that when I first came here I almost got hit by an Ojeg...a motorbike with 2 people on it. My fault, and I promise I won't do it again. Anyways, I crossed the street and once I got home, I felt that life was okay again.

The very next Thursday I had another cancellation, and this time I cried. I cried over the list of things I've just written, and I cried because I know I can't go home. I don't really want to go home, but to know that I am here and I cannot leave for 2 years, cannot see many of the ones I love for 2 years, is really difficult. I'm actually starting to get tears writing this, and at this point I am doing okay. What I think has happened is that I held it together pretty darn good, maybe too good, while in Canada and now, as I had predicted, I need to "mourn" my losses even as I gain in this new life that God has obviously brought us to. After I cried, I prayed, and God always hears me. He showed me a picture of me laying on my bed (made up nice and tidy by my helper...) and while I was crying, He was just sitting there beside me with his hand on my back. This may sound weird to some of you, but I believe God gives us pictures sometimes to comfort us, and Jesus was comforting me when I really needed it.

Today is a new day, and it has been a good one. A woman named Esther has started a study based on a book called "After the Boxes are Unpacked...Moving on after Moving in" by Susan Miller and the first day was today. Esther lived in Korea for 5 years and then moved here last year, and this study helped her through her 2nd year in Korea. There are about 8 ladies who will be working together on this, and when I looked at the group attending today, each lady there was one that I have said to myself at some point "I'd like to get to know her better." As wise Candace said to me tonight "it's funny how God does that, isn't it?" I was able to spend a good afternoon with a young mom (who reminds both Abby & I of Naomi) and I feel blessed. Today was a great day. I can do this, and I have a great husband who is in this with me, as well as two kids who think that being here is such an opportunity for them...very wise children I have.

God has a plan and a purpose for my life, plans to prosper me and not to harm me. That's his promise.

Thanks for reading.

Night out with the Canadians

This is the gang that we went out for dinner with...not sure I can properly name them all so I'm not going to try. The fellow in the white is the guest speaker Marv Penner (from Kelowna, not Alberta) that I've mentioned and his wife, Lois. He had some great insights on raising teenagers and I'd listen to him speak again for sure.

That's all this site will let me post for now. This may be a photo by photo event!

It worked! It worked!

There is something to be said for second tries (or sixth, or seventh..). Here are a few photos that we took this weekend. To the right is Matthew with a fellow we met in Singapore (who was also on the same plane as us the whole time...but we didn't meet him until the end of the trip) named Steven Poindexter.






To the left...our family is sitting at our desk (haha) at 11:30 pm our time, watching the 9 am Northgate service. What a treat! Jason, if you are reading this, you did a great job. Sheila, the same goes for you. I wanted to reach out and give you a big hug.

No photos today

Okay, so I am struggling with the photo section of this blog today and so we will be "photoless" until further notice. It's kind of like eating a DQ buster bar without the chocolate coating and the peanuts/fudge at the bottom, but the ice cream is still tasty! I have a few things I would like to share with you and so I'll just post a photo album blog in the near future (the near future being when my husband comes home from work and can tell me how to adjust my browser settings...). I forgot to add a few photos in my last blog, one of Matt and Steven Poindexter and the other of our anniversary meal out with a bunch of Canadians (including the food that we ate...very colourful and delicious). Again, they will be included in the next "photo" blog.

Our weekend was as near normal as we've had yet here. After our dinner out on Friday night (our kids hung with Bruce & Judy Comrie's kids at their house...pizza and tv) we spent the day alone Saturday. If I have ever doubted my husband's love for me, I no longer do (not like I did before but this goes to prove...). Together we took a taxi to the nearby district of Serpong to go shopping at the Summeracon mall (mal Serpong). This was an adventure in itself because Saturdays are super busy in malls and even busier in traffic...and our taxi driver didn't speak English OR know where the mall was. Eventually we found it, and Tris spent the next few hours helping me try on clothes. Just for the record, if you come to visit and expect that you are going to find clothes to bring home, think again. Clothes here are made for teeny, tiny Asian bodies. Most of my shirts that I found are large or extra large, and these were hard to come by because most arms on the shirts are super tight. The mall itself is quite North American and has a very pleasant atmosphere about it...I think that Tris might have even enjoyed himself. The best part was when we bought 2 sets of rackets...one tennis and one badminton. Since then we've been going out with the kids and pretending that we know what we're doing on the courts. Saturday night we played on the courts and then the 3 others went for a swim until dark (6:30); I called them out when an electrical storm starting blowing in our way.

I mentioned our Sunday in my last blog...it was a great day in that we got to know our neighbours better and had Steven over to our house. Of course the highlight of Sunday for me personally was to watch (LIVE!) Northgate's 9 am church service on Skype. Eugene G was kind enough to set it up for us and although we couldn't see everyone's faces (kind of blurry) we were able to make most people out. There were comments like "O look, that's Mrs. Gaglardi! She always claps with her hands in the air!" or "I think that that is ____'s bald spot!" or "Hey, that's Ted on drums" "I see Mrs. Sparkles (Rebecca M)". Needless to say, although we went to bed late, we were happy to see a bit of home. Thanks Gene!

Yesterday, Monday, was an official holiday for SPH so I went (again) to a mall with Janet Weeda. We shopped (hunted) and were able to get our hands on a few more items that made us feel like we are getting more settled. I've found various items around but they've been either poor quality or too expensive...yesterday I hit the jackpot. In Canada I'd been looking everywhere for a 24 minimuffin tin...found one here for $4 (40 000 rph); also found a rolling pin for $4, which I've found here for usually for $12-20. I'm still looking for a welcome mat, but when I find the right one, I'll be a very happy renter. How can I invite people into my home without a welcome mat at the front door???

Last night while Janet & I were resting in our own homes, the guys took 4 of the 5 kids to the go-carts and then we all met for dinner at DJ's steak house...not anything like the Keg...more like DQ...but it was fun. I did take some photos which, as I said, I will post later. We are very thankful for the Weeda's and their friendship.

So, that was our weekend. It was definately a weekend of discovery and new-found freedom (we went beyond Lippo on our own...with very little Bahasa-Indonesia); we relaxed and we shopped; we ate out and hung with friends. Does life get any better than that?

As an aside, I'll post how my last week went a little later, and it will be obvious why this weekend was such a good one for me.

We are really starting to miss our family and friends, our (old) house, our Willie, fresh water lakes, fresh air off the ocean and even our van!

Thanks for reading.

Indonesian Independence Day

So it's a quiet Sunday for us but it's a busy one for nationals. It's Indonesia's Independence Day today. Not sure on the story of their history, but during my quiet times I've been reading up on Indonesian history so when I get to that chapter maybe I'll fill you all in...or as our guest Steven Poindexter from Louisville, Texas says...I'll fill y'all in. We spent our morning at Living Faith church here in Lippo and then went to our neighbours' house for lunch. Chris and Val live kitty corner to us and they were kind enough to take us to church and feed us as well. Steven was at their house and we'd previously invited him to have dinner with us, so he's been well-fed today. Steven is one of the people that we met in Singapore and who we've established a great friendship with. Matthew loves hanging with him and I've posted a photo to prove it.

We haven't been very good at taking photos of our whole family together at the same time, so we're posting one of those as well. What I've discovered, for those of you who may want a photo off of our blog, is that you can click on the photo (for some of you it may be a right click) and print it off. This photo was taken at the end of the day and so we're kind of "shiny"...you sort of forget how much you sweat until you see a photo of yourself:)

Not sure what's on the agenda for tomorrow, but it's a national holiday and we're going to just relax. Our hope is to go and buy a chicken (from a supermarket...already dead and plucked and gutted) and some baby potatoes if they're in stock and make a nice Canadian style dinner. We're eating well here but it's nice to have the odd meal that we're used to eating. I am so glad that I took the time to make up a book of favourite recipes before I came, because it has come in handy when we need a little pick-me-up (ie/ wacky cake or Chris Patterson's lemon loaf. Sunny's wheat germ loaf has been a hit as well with some ladies here). The photos in the book have been great too, when I want to show someone a photo of my family or friends...or Willy.

On Friday, our anniversary, we went out to dinner with a bunch of Candadian teachers from SPH to a chinese food place called "Eastern." I'll include a few photos of the event...the food is so colourful that I had to take a photo. The hit item is a plateful of peppered crab, which is so drippy and saucy that usually whoever is eating it has to run to the sinks provided at the front of the restaurant mid-crab just to rinse off in order to be able to grip the next crab leg. I had earlier mentioned that the Canadian speaker who is at SPH is from Albert...I was wrong. He and his wife Lois have just recently moved to Kelowna and are working through Briercrest. Great speaker; I went to a talk on parenting teens and it was very good.

I've got to head now.

Thanks for reading!

Indonesian Currency

These coins aren't worth very much...the 500 rp is about $.05. The 10 000 rp bill is worth about $1.00.

5000 rp which is worth about $.50

This is your first official lesson on Indonesian currency. Unfortunately we do not have a red one (100 000 rp) but we do have the rest that we can show to you. The 100 000 rp is worth approximately $10 US. There is more to it than that, but we just use the approximate and it is a lot easier for us.

20 000 rp = $2.00

1 000 rp = $0.10

50 000 rp = $5.00

If you plan on visiting us, take a long look at these bills and get used to them now. Because the largest denomination is a 100 000 rp bill, you can end up with a lot of paper money in your wallet and it is overwhelming the first couple of times that you go shopping.

As disorganized as it is, we hope you enjoyed your lesson and that we'll see you soon!

Thanks for reading.