Sports Days at SPH

What a good looking man...

Yesterday and today our family has been outside on the school fields, selling sate and garage sale stuff (that was me), running, jumping, throwing, timing and of course eating and drinking. It has been hot and dry which is a great thing, because if it rains it pours (see our video on facebook?) and there would have been about 600 kids plus staff outside in it. So...I am thinking that you are probably curious as to why there's a sweaty shirt on this blog. It's so that you get the gist of just how hot it can be and how we look half of the time. Actually, we don't spend hours and hours on end outside, so we rarely get this bad. However, today I was getting some funny looks from indonesians and when I got home I realized that I looked like a foreigner, all sweaty and gross. I'm not sure how some of the women I was helping sell sate with looked so clean and cool. I guess it comes from living here. Had to share it with you, because so often so many of you ask "are you sweaty all the time?" and "is it really hot there?" Our answer ultimately would be yes and yes. As I write this, my family is still at the school; Abby's sports day was yesterday and Tris and Matthew (senior school) have the whole afternoon off to do theirs. I am going to return for when Matt runs but I needed to come home and cool off. I am so glad that we live in the taman next to the school!

I will post this blog as if it's dedicated to Abby's sports day and then do another for Matthew, when I get some good photos of him. Yesterday Abby won 2 ribbons that we know of (2 of her events we don't know who won yet): a 2nd in 60 m hurdles for grade 5 and 3rd in long jump for grade 5. Unfortunately I went to get my camera while she was doing the long jump and I barely saw her do the hurdles; we did get a great shot of her running sprints, though. Abby did an excellent job and tried so hard...I was exhausted just watching her run/jump/throw in the heat!

This is Bruce Comrie, Tris' friend from highschool/UBC, who heads up the PE department at our school. He's our connection to SPH and the reason we are now living here. We find that our lives are connected with various families here, and the Comries are one of them. We're headed to Bali with them during the next school holidays, along with their friend, and my new friend, Alexis. She looks like fun, doesn't she? She's be a great 20/20 girl! In the photo with Bruce is Abby and 2 other grade 5 girls; they're receiving their hurdles ribbons. Matthew hung out after school with a few of his friends. This is Eric Weeda, his first friend in Indonesia. I am curious to see how Matthew is going to do today. Regardless of how he runs, I think that he needs an award for most enthusiastic...if they ran a cheering team here or had a mascot he'd be the perfect guy for the job!

Our family's "team" is green (can't remember the name...will have to ask) and so we're supposed to wear green. Matthew probably would have painted his nails green if he'd been allowed.

One last photo, and that is of the gardening ladies or "ibu"s who are constantly picking up leaves, picking weeds and doing a variety of work. Each time I see one of them I say "Selamat pagi, ibu" (ibu is singular and plural). They always return the greeting with a big smile, especially the ibu on the far right. After I took this photo they kept speaking to me in Bahasa-Indonesia, and finally I (brokenly) told them that I don't understand them, and i don't speak Bahasa-Indonesia. They laughed at me, but I remember them saying something to me about "pulang" and when I asked Sri, our helper, she said the word means "to take to my home." So, I have just printed out this photo and when I return to school will give each ibu one. Off I go to watch Matthew run!

Thanks for reading.