We are Safe!

For those of you who heard on the news that Indonesia has had an

earthquake, you heard correctly. However, it was not on our island or anywhere near us. What we have learned is that it was a 5.1 quake on/near the island of Flores, a small island to the east of Java (which we are on). It's funny that we cannot easily get news about Canada, and it definately would not be on our national newscast if Canada experienced a quake, yet you get our news quite quickly. I did feel a quake about 2 weeks ago, on a Tuesday morning, and I thought that when I was standing in my dining room that I was just a little dizzy for a moment. Nothing swayed and nothing creaked; however, a friend was in a tall apartment building and felt it sway a bit. Nothing like a little excitement to stir up the air. I didn't even know it was a quake until the following Saturday! Needless to say, please do not worry or fret if you hear news of any kind of natural phenomenon in our area. We do, however, appreciate it when you tell us of what you have heard, because we often don't even get this news ourselves!

On that note, a friend of mine described her parents' reactions to news coming out of Jakarta of great demonstrations by a large group of people. They were worried about her, and so when they later came to visit, she and her husband took her parents to witness these types of demonstrations. What they saw was about 100 people shouting and holding placards, but the angle that the media often takes is that it is a much greater event, and they use different photographic angles to show the world just what is going on. If you take a photo at the right perspective, you can show a picture of something that isn't exactly true. Soooo...if you see or hear news on the tv and it disturbs you, please remember that media isn't always telling it like it is. Give us a ring or get in touch with us and we'll fill you in on the news from our end. I saw a demonstration by students outside of Jakarta's parliament buildings today. There were a few students on a jeep yelling through a bullhorn and they were being followed, on foot, by about 50 students. It was non-threatening and nobody seemed to pay much attention.


Our family has been the proud recipients of a package from home!! Tanya mailed it to our school address and it got to us within a few weeks. Aside from some important papers, it held some real treasures, and i've included a few photos of the necklaces that cousin Lucy made for Matthew and Abby. Thank you, Lucy and Elijah! We miss you!

Thank you for your continued Skype calls, emails and Facebook contacts. We love to hear from you and though we may not be able to answer immediately, we hope to get back in touch with you over time. Once school's out, our 2 computers are both turned on until dinner, then after until bed, and homework is the main focus by all three SPH people. I, of course, spend my time sending my new friends messages (they're called sms' here. What are they called at home?) on my hand phone (cell) and reading my book on Indonesia. It's taken 6 weeks but I'm almost through. It's the first time I've read a textbook from cover to cover...please don't ask me to repeat anything I've read because I'm sure it's in my brain somewhere but I'm not sure it'll come back out:)

I am still working on Tris doing a post for this blog, but now that he's started his Masters back up again he may never do it...

Thanks for reading!