One More Day of School & Baby Update

Tomorrow is the end of the 2009 school year and parents (and grandparents!) are invited to watch the All School Assembly tomorrow. Tris, Matt and Abby each will participate in the program; last year I sang in the choir but this year passed on the opportunity. Tris is singing in the teacher choir, Matt is dancing hip hop, and Abby is in the Junior School choir. Once they're home, they get almost 3 1/2 weeks of holidays off of school.

Our little baby boy update is a good one. He is still in the hospital and has to stay there until he gains weight; he has to reach 3 kilos before heading home. Once home his parents will have to create as sterile an environment as possible when changing him and tending to his medical needs. Over the next year he'll have to have 2 more surgeries, each one dependent again on his weight gain. Please continue to pray for him. His parents are aware that many people are praying for their son.

Tris and Sunny have been here 6 days now and have been having a healthy blend of "busy and rest." We've gone to some slums and met some beautiful women and children, they've had massages (only once...gotta get them back soon!), and shopped for Christmas at both a local outdoor market and at the local mall. Sunny joined me and the ladies at our Wednesday bible study today, and tonight all of the family went to our favourite local Chinese food restaurant ("Eastern").We've toured the school and although it's big, they've got a pretty good grasp of where to go to at least get to the pools. We have some travel plans in the future and I am PRAYING that my camera will be fixed very, very soon. Yesterday we literally had a day of rest, where mostly we just stayed home and relaxed during the day. Sometimes that's very necessary, and it was a good thing.

Nothing much else to report. I hope that those at home are taking advantage of the snow, enjoying the cool, fresh crispness that you just don't get here, and are gearing up for a joy-packed, if not relaxing, Christmas season.

Thanks for reading.

Baby Boy Update

A quick update on the little baby boy I wrote about earlier. So far he's had the surgery and that went well. Now he is supposed to stay at the hospital and recuperate. His mom and dad will be able to visit during regular visiting hours but are not allowed to spend the night. Please pray that he heals well and that he gains some weight. My friend said that when she held him, it was like holding an empty blanket he's so small. My biggest prayer is that this new family will see the hope and love that Christmas season is all about. Christmas means very little here in Indonesia, but I pray that they see the hand of God in the lives of their son, and that they realize the truth.

Ultimate frisbee and swimming are over today, the family is settling into homework and computer work, possibly even a movie, for the night. It's interesting that no matter who has come to stay here, one of the first things our company does is turn on their computer and even during visiting times, emails friends. What was life like before computers?

Thanks for reading.

Please Pray

Yesterday we received some troubling news about a young woman we were in relationship with within the first ten months of our arrival to Indonesia. Last week she had a baby boy who was born without an anus. Because she and her husband were unable to pay the 4.5 million rupiah (approx $450 Cdn dollars) for the first necessary surgery, the hospital discharged her and her baby with the expectation that the baby boy would go home and die. Because of a combination of lack of communication due to language barriers, and of how stories sometimes grow in drama from the initial truth, a friend of mine who is in contact with this young woman wanted to get the correct diagnosis of the baby's health before anybody stepped in to help. She met the woman, her husband and the tiny baby (1.3 kg only) at our local hospital and took them to an appointment with a reputable doctor.

The news we received last night is that the baby was to stay overnight in the hospital and if he makes it through the night, they will operate today. This will be the first of many necessary operations to correct the defect as this little guy grows.

The good news on the financial front is that the Karawaci Ladies have been approached and have agreed to pay the hospital costs for the surgery. However, I know the women that I hang out with and I know that if no one else was to step forward, we would have found the money somehow. Today there is a concert at the university (UPH) and Karawaci Ladies have been baking to raise money for our hospital fund. It's this very fund that will pay for the surgery of this little baby, so it's nice to know that all the fund raising over the year pays off in this way. It's nice to know it's helping someone local, and someone we've all at least met once during our time here.

Please pray for this precious little baby and his mom and dad. I'll keep you updated as to what happens in the lives of their little one as I hear it.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying.

Sunny and Tris Arrive Safely

They're here, safe, happy and right now, resting. Tris and Matthew went to the airport last night and pickup went without a glitch. It's funny how when you finally get to see someone (it's been 1 1/2 years since we've seen Tris and Sunny) it seems like a bit of a dream for a while, and then it's like you've not been away from each other at all. We're looking forward to showing them our 'bubble' of a village in the next few days, possibly introducing them to the 'life of spa' and also a bit of Jakarta tomorrow after a run into church. They've come from wintery cold Germany with one bag each, so we have to go clothes shopping tomorrow to get them outfitted for the next 5 weeks. Thank goodness for reasonably cheap outlet shopping!

I received a gift from Germany, and as basic as it is, it's one of the best presents ever. "What is it?" you might ask. It's a pine bough, stuffed into a suitcase and as green and fragrant as ever. Every few minutes after receiving it (thanks Jennifer!) I would go and smell the branch, and I plan to do so until the needles drop off and the branch dries out. I might just save all the dried needles and put them into a sachet, smelling them until I've sniffed out all the fragrance molecules. Sunny also brought a bag of lavendar from her garden, which I plan on spreading throughout the house in order to ward off mosquitoes. Again, it smells beautiful.

Today is Saturday, a great day for the first day in Indonesia. We'll eat, sleep, drive around, shop a little, and then probably eat and sleep some more.

Thanks for reading!

Another Orphanage

I went to an orphanage today. There's not a lot to say about this one, except that it made me really, really sad. As a community outreach the local charity group I belong to raised money at a bbq for this particular orphanage and then made up some little baggies of toiletries. Mostly they were bags of toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, wash cloth, soap, shampoo, etc, but each also had a bag of gummy worms and of crackers in it, too. These children were quite young--I'd say that the oldest one was maybe 10 years old--and so the toiletries were passed over for the treats. After the bags were all opened the caregivers collected all of the toiletries and set them aside, so any intention of each child having their own baggy was sacked. However, I think that going in as foreigners, we tend to look at distribution a little differently. The workers were putting aside the goods until they were needed, and I think we were hoping that each child could hang onto their own and use it as needed. I guess in the big picture this doesn't make sense, because eventually all those toiletries will get lost and mixed up anyways.

There were children from one month old to probably 10, mostly boys. There was one girl in particular, Nadia, who came to me as I sat on the floor and just leaned into me and eventually over my lap. Who can say no to a snuggle with someone who takes the initiative? I didn't do much as my camera is broken and there wasn't much to do except chat with the kids, so I sat there and watched. What caught my attention was how the young children were helping the younger children. I saw a three year old holding a juice box for a one year old, and a five year old opening the gummy worms for a three year old. The children were a little dirty and some had open, oozing sores, but overall they looked reasonably healthy.

What made me sad is the rumours that are told about this place, how the man who started it isn't necessarily accountable for what comes in, and it's thought that donations have been sold (ie/ toys, etc) for whatever reason. From the outside looking in, this doesn't look good. Who knows what's true and what's not. Maybe they are selling toy donations so that the kids can eat and for diapers and formula for the babies. Maybe they're making money off the donations and using the profits for themselves. Who knows. All I know is that there is an orphanage that is raising about 40 kids, most of whom are under the teen years, and that this is just a small representation of probably hundreds of other orphanages just like it here in Indonesia.

Out of curiosity, when we first moved here I spent a few hours googling adoption in Indonesia. What I remember is that you can foster a child for 2 years while living in Indonesia, during which you have a home check done and someone checks the child periodically. After the two years an authority (can't remember which, gov't or the orphanage head or both) says whether or not you can adopt that child. If it's yes, then the paper work starts. If it's no, then you have to give up the child at some point. This seems like a pretty heart-wrenching way of setting up an adoption.

Thanks for reading.

He's Here!!!

Fisher Hayes Saxby, 7 lbs, 4 oz, arrived December 7, at around 6:30 pm. Hello Fisher! Mommy Tanya called my little brother (her husband) around 4 pm to say she was pretty sure she was in labour, and in a few short hours later (short for me...I wasn't there and didn't find out until it was over!) Fisher arrived. I've seen photos and I'm not sure it was Tanya who gave birth....she doesn't look like she'd just had a baby. Lucy and Elijah are over the moon, and now Eli thinks it's time for a dog. He's a little confused as well, because the baby came home today and Elijah wasn't sure why his parents weren't putting baby Fisher in the high chair to eat. This is gonna be good!

Last year I had only lived here for 5 months before Christmas arrived, and it was our first Christmas away from home. Although my parents were here, we weren't here on Christmas Day, and things were chopped up. This year I am feeling more settled and as much as I love and miss Canada, I can now call this place home, at least while we are here. It was so much easier to "create" the holiday season and today was the best day yet. I had our bible study girls over and when they arrived, the Christmas tree lights were on, the yule tide log was on the tv (gotta have a fire at Christmas time!!) and the smell of mulled apple cider was wafting through our house. Poinsettias scream Christmas, and so the one I have on the side table pulled "the look" together for me. Our place is small and we don't need many decorations; if I was to buy many more it would be too stuffed in here. The very best part of this party for me was singing Christmas carols. Music pierces the heart, and when you sing songs that you've sung with loved ones over the years, or at least listened to them on cds, tapes and even records years back, it hits hard. Not painfully, but emotionally. I admit that my own tears accompanied a few other ladies' tears as well. Not loud ones, just Silent Ones.

I am thankful. I am healthy, I am where I am supposed to be living in this point of my life, my family is strong and content, my in-laws are on their way over, and baby Fisher has arrived safely. God is good!

Thanks for reading.

Countdown for the Whites' Arrival!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Tris, who we will be seeing in only 4 more days! Our family is excited, anticipating the arrival of both Tris' parents and of Christmas. Christmas is just so much better with family. We're off to Bali while they're here and are looking forward to relaxing in the sun.

We are also patiently awaiting the news of the arrival of our new niece or nephew. As before, we are wondering if this one will be a redhead like his/her pretty mom. Tanya, my baby brother's wife, was due December 2nd and is still waiting on this little one. Elijah and Lucy are eagerly awaiting baby's arrival as well, although it's a toss up between the dog ("Muddy") that Elijah seems to think he's getting next summer, and the new baby. Being the talker that he is, I'm looking forward to hearing Elijah's stories of baby's first few days home. Six year old Lucy will be good for filling in the gaps that four year old Elijah leaves out.

Christmas here is definitely different. Although it's becoming more so in North America, here Jesus is not typically see as the reason for the season. There are trees, carols in the malls, tinsel and decorations, but very few "Merry Christmas's" and those only from foreigners. I did see Santa tonight, sitting in a horse-drawn sleigh, making his rounds of each gated neighbourhood. Mostly he was authentic, but rather "brown" to North American standards. I think he was a little overdressed for the heat as well, but he had the nice round belly all Santas need to jiggle while they laugh. As of yet there have been no nativity scenes on front lawns. I am looking forward to the grade 6 Christmas concert this Friday afternoon, and then another all-school one next week. My Moms' bible study will meet here this Wednesday and we'll have some mulled cider, exchange cookies and even sing some carols around the piano. Now THAT'S celebrating Christmas:)

If I have ever had need of prayer, it's now. My camera died and is in the shop, and everyday I see things I NEED to photograph, like the naturally-occuring heart shape in a tree on main street, or the old bicycle leaning on a palm tree. We have no idea when it'll get fixed and I am feeling desperate to have it for when Tris and Sunny are here.

As for celebrating, I also want to wish my mom and dad a happy 44th anniversary (again, I am so bad at math! Please forgive me if I'm wrong) for last Friday, 4th of December. Thanks for being the example of a good, strong Christian marriage.

Thanks for reading, and
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas has made its way into our home

We have successfully produced a feeling of Christmas in our home. The plastic tree is up, complete with sometimes blinking, sometimes solid white Christmas lights, some favourite Christmas decorations brought from home, and new decorations to fill in the gaps. This year's purchase: teal balls. I noticed that our tree has a rather "red" theme and so the teal really breaks it up. Very pretty. Very small. In fact, I can look our beautiful German Angel right in the eyes. As for baking, the smell of "Nonnie's Almond Tarts" is filling the air, and the sugar cookie and gingerbread doughs are cooling and hardening in the fridge as I type. Earlier Bing was singing about bells ringing and it was quite the treat. The banister is green with, well, greenery, and I have even been able to squeeze some more cinnamon scent out of the pine cones mom and dad brought over last year. Last June, thinking in advance, I bought some cinnamon sticks which I have now spread throughout the pine cones. Looks woodsy, if not Christmasy.

With the decorations, as expected, come the emotions of the season. Today is my nana's birthday and each year a tear or two squeezes out as I go about my day, remembering her. I think of her sitting on her green couch, under her lamp, crocheting while watching tv, usually with a really fat poodle-type dog either at her feet or at her side. Either that, or Nana standing in her kitchen, either over the sink or next to the oven. I remember things like Alphaghettis, vanilla pudding pops, home made raisin pie, or even better, home made bread. In honour of Nana on her birthday, I am baking in one of the aprons mom brought me from home. I'm not sure if she made it, but it was Nana's at one time. It's amazing how much you can miss someone even when they've been gone for over a decade. I often wonder if I ask God, if He'd pass on a message to her and tell her I love her and miss her? No harm in trying.

***Those first two paragraphs were written a few hours ago. Since then I joined a friend and headed to the plant store on the side of the road. I bought one hanging plant and two varigated bush type plants that will go in some wall pots (one side of the pot is flat so you can hang it on the wall). I am covered in sweat from drilling holes for screws into a cement wall. It took me about 45 minutes to hang the potted plant, which isn't unusual with cement walls. Seems to be about the average! I am going to go to the school for a swim and then when I return, I'll turn on the Christmas tree, put on some Bing (or maybe Ella Fitzgerald for tonight) and try and recreate the ambiance I had earlier when the smell of Christmas baking was floating through our home.

More Christmas to come...

Thanks for reading.

So many things to say...

I guess it's time. Looking back, I realize I've neglected my blog quite significantly, and so I need to sit down and organize my thoughts. There's so much to update and oodles of photos that I'd love to share. Let's see what I come up with:

This weekend, beginning on Thursday and ending on Monday night, is a holiday. It's Idul Adha here in Indonesia (muslim holiday somehow based on the story of Abraham--or Ibrahim in Islam--and Isaac, or so I believe. I wrote about it a year ago, where hundreds of thousands of goats, sheep and cattle are sold on the side of the road, purchased by wealthier families, and slaughtered/sacrificed in the mosques. The meat, once cut into pieces, is distributed in the not-so-wealthy villages) and it so happens to coincide with American Thanksgiving. As well as Idul Adha, our school has given staff and students extra days off, and I'm not complaining! As a result, a few of us got together and organized an "International Thanksgiving Family Potluck." It was held in a room at the university and 105 people attended, with each one contributing money towards the turkey, as well as a dish or drink. There wasn't much of an agenda, except that we sang a song of thanks around the piano just before grace. We've had positive feedback and although I missed having Thanksgiving...AGAIN...with family, it was really nice just to chat with people who we see around but are always too busy to talk with for too long. It was also nice to eat turkey:)

Yesterday (day after Thanksgiving dinner) a bunch of families headed to the beach! Although we live quite close to the ocean, the areas we COULD swim are not particularly pleasant, so we drove an hour and half southwest and ended up at Anyur Beach. It's my first beach experience on the island of Java, and it was quite nice. The roads on the way there are a bit of a laugh. Janet Weeda had me take a photo of the holes dug right next to our lane; they went on for kilometers. I had a good chuckle at how Worker's Compensation would feel about how close the traffic was to these holes.

Once there, we hung out, ate and swam. Oh, and fended off the vendors. Once they figured out that we weren't interested they backed off, but only to the perimeters. This hasn't been unusual in Indonesia, and I think it's similar all over the world. I'm sure each one of us has the same stories from various beaches around the globe.

Unfortunately, just before we left for the beach Matt suffered a bout of stomach illness, and decided to stay home. Of course, he felt fine after we left and regretted having to stay all alone, just he and the tv...for hours...and hours. He would have played Wii but he'd left part of it at the dinner the night before. He did have company, though. Our driver Haris stayed behind to deal with the construction guys who came and built a roof over our back garage area. For those of you who have stayed with us, you'll be happy to know that Ami and Haris now have a covered area during the rainy days. Ami also has her room, but the extra dry space is necessary and I think will be appreciated. When we returned home that evening, Haris had washed all of our dishes I'd brought to Thanksgiving and also lent out. There was a whole counter full and I sure was happy to come home to a clean kitchen. Weird, but Matt says he never heard a thing the whole time!

The photo is of Sophie and Abby. Tris brought his body boards for the kids to ride the waves close to shore, but I'm pretty sure they've been retired and will be soon replaced by a set of golf clubs. As for his rehab, he swam a kilometer today using both front crawl and breast stroke. That's wonderful, especially knowing he can do a full rotation of his right arm now.

As for me and my blogs, I think I've been putting it off because of lack of energy. I haven't said too much but since last April I've been quite nauseous in the mornings (no pregnancy here!!!) but because it lasted only a while I would forget to see the doctor later in the day. In the past 2 months it has gotten worse and has lasted throughout the day, with me always needing at least an hour nap during the day. We were concerned and local doctors didn't have much to say on the matter (except...'are you depressed?' because of my being tired. My answer "No...but I'm homesick. Does that count?"). Last week Tris took me to a hospital in Jakarta and we had a variety of tests done, and then last Thursday the diagnosis came in as a high content of e.coli. Not pathogenic, so all is well. I'm not going to take any antibiotics because they'll just kill all my good bacteria, and we'll fight it with vitamins, lots of water and acidophilus. I had started taking all those items last week and I think my immune system has kicked in or something. I'm not nearly as tired and I was even able to play ultimate frisbee today. I'd missed it for 3 weeks! I've had bouts of nausea but not nearly like it was before last week. So there you have it. E coli (which we all have in our systems, beginning at about 40 hours after our birth), and that's it. Some have asked if it is related to the dengue fever I had in January, but there's apparently no co-relation.

Well, that's it for just this weekend. Life has been busy. Lots of celebrations here lately, and Christmas holidays are fast approaching. Tris and Sunny arrive in less than 2 weeks and we're very, very excited. I do have to end this posting now because the main lights have been turned off, the new plastic Christmas tree is up (never thought I'd appreciate a plastic tree!!!), and the Christmas music is cranked. Time to decorate!!

Man, it's hot here. Christmas music seems funny, especially Frosty the Snowman.

Thanks for reading.

Panti Pintu Elok Orphanage

Today, Monday, I had the privilege of joining Abby and about 12 other grade six students, along with my friend and grade 6 teacher, Johanna, on a trip to an orphanage. The grade sixes are studying social justice issues for this unit, and so the entire grade has divided up into 5 groups and headed out of Lippo. At this point I'm not sure what the other four groups did, but we went to a Christian orphanage that has been running on faith for 20 years. The purpose of the grade six visit was not to see the children (which was good because most were in school) but to find out how the structure of the orphanage works.

Pintu Elok orphanage was started in 1989 by 5 founding members. Originally there were 15 children, and that has grown to 65 in 2009. What they (and I) learned was that this is a totally faith-run orphanage, and they have run this way for 20 years. They do not advertise or promote their organization; when they have a need they just pray for it. They have testimony after testimony of someone showing up at their door at just the right time with rice and veggies, or noodles, and sometimes someone donating anonymously just the right amount of rupiah. None of the staff, even the founders, receive any kind of wage. Talk about sacrifice.

Children are not just brought into the orphanage randomly. First research has to be done, as much as can be, into the child's family situation or lack of, the financial situation of the child's parent(s), as well as whether the child really needs to be raised in an orphanage. Many of the children come from broken homes where the mother is unable to raise her child due to financial difficulties. As a result, none of these children are adoptable. That's ok, according to the woman who we spoke with, because many of these children grow up and move away, yet they return just like our own children would, during special holidays and events. The orphanage loves them into maturity and they often come back and reciprocate, by volunteering with the newer or younger children.

One of the things that impressed me about the way that the children are raised is that when food donations come in, it is given to the children directly, not the volunteers. This ensures 1) that the children get the food and it is evenly distributed to them; the volunteers have no access to this distribution: 2) the children learn responsibility, independence and also how to share as a community, rather than learning self-survival. They learn at an early age how to give to those around them and how to work together as a family rather than individual units.

The photo above is of two of the children who live at Pintu Elok. They are Charlie and Estherina. Charlie is 1 1/2 and shy, and Estherina is 2 1/2 and quite willing to say hello. Each of the children that we met throughout the morning, whether they were coming or going, were all very well-socialized and would shake your hand in greeting.

When asked what kinds of things they need at this time, they said hygiene products, like soap and shampoo, dish soap and bleach. Obviously, they'll always need food donations as well.

It was neat to see the response of some of the children from SPH. Many of them are talking of returning to bring supplies or to just play with the children. It's a treat to know that we can go and play with the kids, because many orphanages here do not want that. The average person is denied entrance in order to protect the children, I guess. At Pintu Elok, we have been told that we are welcome anytime. That's great, because it not only gives the kids at the home some extra attention, it gives our kids an opportunity to give beyond themselves. Even here in Indonesia, it's sometimes hard to find ways to teach our kids to look beyond their own comforts and their own desires and to meet the needs of someone else. To me, that's more important even than excellent grades in school.

Thanks for reading.

My drive into Jakarta with my Camera and my Driver

When Candace was here in August, she and I headed out to what is considered a slum area of North Jakarta. This is the same place mom and dad visited and that I have mentioned a few times in the blog. While we were there last time the ladies showed me a quilt that they had made, with the intention of selling it at a later pasar. It was the first quilt that they had ever made and I was very impressed with it. I asked if they would like to learn a new technique on how to finish a quilt edge, and they were very interested. In the time between now and then I made a 10x10 inch sampler square quilt, and I brought this in on Friday. With the extra material and stuffing, the ladies copied my sample and made their own samples. This is a time when I wish I had access to a proper quilting cutting board and an Olfa rotary cutter for each of these women! These ladies are incredible, and they soak up anything you teach them so quickly; I wouldn't be surprised to find that they take what I showed them and improved on it by the next time that I visit.

On the way in to North Jakarta you have to drive over a really skanky river and on that river there are various types of homes. In the foreground is a recycling community, where people live amongst the garbage that they collect, sort and hopefully later, sell. If you look the background, there are some really nice looking, cookie-cutter cement homes, and further behind that are the fancier malls. I've been casually observing the growth of the recycle spot along the river over the last year, and I've noticed that it has grown quite a bit.

In order to see the ladies from the slums my driver has to take a road that is sandwiched by another filthy river and some mass-inhabited home fronts. There's not a whole lot of room for our vehicle, small as it is, and we have to share the road with motorcycles, pedestrians, very small, half-naked children, and sometimes another oncoming car. When I go into the home area, Haris our driver sits by the river and smokes, watching our car. We've been told not to leave it unattended. I feel a little guilty, kind of like I slink in, do my thing, and then climb into my new car with a driver and cold a/c, and drive off to my safe home where mosquitoes are relatively controlled, there are satpams protecting me and my family, and I have a refrigerator full of food. I guess I could allow my guilt to overcome me and avoid such situations, or keep looking for opportunities to experience the lives of others, regardless of their situation, while I learn from them. I've got so much to learn.

This is a rather long blog but there were so many photo opportunities and I want to share some of them with you. As Haris and I headed home, my hands cleansed by my ever-handy hand sanitizer, my belly full of bottled water, imported pretzels and a peanut butter sandwich, we came upon a street light where many street beggars take advantage of cars having to stop and sit for a few minutes. Again, it's hard not to react to a situation where you have an onslaught of people banging on your window, either wanting to sell you a bobble head, a blow-up life child-sized life jacket (hmm? Who chooses the items to sell? Is it marketing or the result of a box that happened to 'fall of the truck' when merchandise was being unloaded in a warehouse somewhere?), or just to wanting you to hand them some coins. Just before we started moving, this little guy came around. When you watch him over time, you can see he has the knack; he's got the look figured out. My response was to leave the windows rolled up, but it inspires me to continue to seek out ways to help within my own community.

The latest email from Karawaci Ladies (I have been using their old name in my postings) informs me that we're collecting money to supply items to 'cardboard kid' schools. These schools have been set up by local individuals (nationals, I think) to provide an education for the kids who, like this little guy in the photo, work the streets during the day. They cannot afford an education. There are local national teachers who volunteer their time and energy (beyond their regular work) each week to come and teach these children, and they have asked that Karawaci Ladies supply them with a plastic bin full of learning supplies (paper, pencils, books, etc). I can't help this little guy (there's probably a big guy who takes most of his money from him and his mom anyways) from my vehicle but thankfully, Karawaci Ladies is a great way to help him, practically, from my home.

One more thing the ladies' charity group is doing is raising money for goodies to be distributed to these children at Christmas time. Each student will receive a plastic cup with a toothbrush, toothpaste, face cloth, a bottle of water, a comb and some other sundries.

Thanks for reading.

Rain!

Okay, rainy season is upon us with a vengeance. Thunder, lightening, pouring rain, and then bright sunshine a little later. It's quite exciting, actually.

The other day was very unique. Usually when a thunder storm is brewing the clouds boil and brew and eventually roll in, blocking the sun and turning the inside of my bright home dark and dreary. You can actually feel the electricity built and crackle in the air and on your skin. What made last Monday unique is that this didn't happen when the lightening came.

I was just standing up from the kitchen table to bring my plate into the kitchen when I saw a bright flash outside, brighter than the sunny day it was, and there was a HUGE boom. I jumped in my skin so hard that I almost dropped my plate. My helper, Ami, was outside hanging clothes on our metal clothes dryer and she said she jumped right off of the ground.

A few hours later, Ami came and told me that a tree 4 houses down from ours had been hit by lightening, and when I looked you could see branches and leaves everywhere. The next day I drove by and, from a different angle, saw the tree like it is in the photo. That's the closest I've ever been to a tree being hit by lightening. Apparently they heard it at the school and some of the kids screamed and dropped to the ground; others said it was no big deal. I guess it depends on where you were at the time.

Today as Ami and I were driving the usual 6 minutes home from the local mall, we ran into a flood. It had been raining the usual noontime deluge and I figured we'd spend a bit of time running errands in the mall and then return home quickly. Not a chance. It was like a water main had broken or something, although I tend to think that the something is more like inadequate sewage drains. We had to merge into 6 lanes of traffic (seriously) that bottlenecks into 2 lanes (but traffic here remains at about 4 lanes still, with motorcycles weaving in and out). My concern was that the water would get into our engine and we'd stall, but after carefully weaving in and out, avoiding the biggest muddy lakes, we made it onto our main strip to go home. Surprisingly, that part of the road was flooded as well, and what is usually a one way road became two.

It could have been a stressful time, but I had no where to go, we didn't have ice cream or frozen veggies melting in the car, and I had Third Day on the cd player. We sat, inched forward, sat, moved our side mirror in so that we could squeeze a little further into the bottleneck (that's whatcha gotta do here), and people-watched. A little boy in an angkot, a station wagon-mini bus type people carrier, contributed to the water flow with his own yellow flow; students from the university were taking off their shoes, rolling up their pant legs and still getting their pants wet when trying to maneuvre in between all of the cars to get to the 'other side'; motorcycles were SOMEHOW squeezing between cars to get ahead; policemen were knee-deep in water directing traffic; umbrella boys and girls were not getting much work because there was a greater chance of getting wet feet than a wet head. I wish I had my camera.

Thanks for reading.

Recent Photos

Here are a few photos of our last month. Unfortunately,when Sam and I went to Bali I didn't have my nice camera, so most of the good photos are on her digital one. I only have 2 photos of Sam and I together on mine, and one of those didn't even turn out. The one of us here is probably before 6 am, taken on the day she flew back home.

One thing that we enjoy here is having a driver; his name is Haris. Here is a photo of Sam and Haris in our driveway.

The one of Sam and Tris was taken at a school pep rally in the gym. Normally my camera doesn't take good photos in that gym, so this is a unique thing, to have a photo that looks normal from there.

This photo of Abby in her school uniform is of her holding her gold medal in English, on stage at a special awards ceremony. Don't know about her gold medal? See 'older posts.'













We really haven't taken that many pictures, so I guess we'll have to get back on the ball.

Thanks for reading.

Rainy Season

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATHANIEL!
Just a few posts ago I mentioned our niece, Lucy (BC) and our nephew, Tristian (Germany) and said that it was their birthdays. What makes me sad is I don't have very many updated photos (obviously, if I'm not there!) of all of the cousins who are growing so quickly. I do, however, have a very recent photo of my nephew Nathaniel (Germany), who turns 6 today. (Let me do the math this time...if he was born in 2003, he's turning 6). I am starting to feel a little old in that I can't remember all the birthdates of my relatives.

It sounds, literally, like we're in the middle of rainy season now. The thunderstorms are loud, window-shaking and incredible. It's not so fun if you live in a little plywood or tin shack, but when you live secure and comfortable in a cement home it is quite the thrill. We had one today while the kids were in school and I was at home working on a project.

Abby's waiting for the computer now (story of my life) and our rule is that homework takes priority. I do want to mention that the exciting news for me, and Tris, is that Tris is now able to do the front crawl and is almost up to a kilometer. That's pretty exciting news considering he was barely moving his arm 6 weeks ago.

Thanks for reading.

Water, Air and Popcorn

Not sure what to write about except that we're all doing well and are staying healthy. Aunt Sam left last Monday morning and we're slowly getting back to our routines (not like we swayed too far out of them while she was here, though). Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to a huge shopping area (cheap prices, cheap items) in Jakarta and bought a Christmas tree. We have absolutely no storage for a fake tree, but you can't have Christmas without a tree, and it was high on the kids' priority list of things we needed this year. Last year we borrowed, but that opportunity hasn't surfaced yet. Now that we have it, we're all ready to decorate it...but we realize we should probably wait until at least after our "International Thanksgiving Family Potluck" on Nov 27. After that it's officially allowed.

While I was in this shopping area, I kept thinking "Sam would love that shirt" or "Sam would have loved this ...[whatever it was]..." and thinking she should have stayed a little longer. That thought changed when this morning, at 5:30, the power went out and stayed off until approximately 4:30 pm. I kept thinking all day "I'm so glad Sam's not here to experience this!" Thankfully outside it wasn't as hot as it can sometimes be, AND we were able to spend the day in the mall. We ate lunch, ate frozen yogourt, watched "This Is It!", the Micheal Jackson movie about his "This Is It!" tour rehearsals. I don't particularly like Micheal Jackson, but I was quite impressed by the movie and what an incredible performer he was. It would have been some concert.

Tris spent the day in Jakarta and we all returned home at around the same time. I went out again to a second mall in search of a bigger air bed for our next set of guests, Tris and Sunny, to sleep on. It's our dream to one day have a regular bed, but an air bed it'll have to be in the meantime. After much searching, a bed was found, and my friend Amy and I also found a Dairy Queen/Orange Julius! Needless to say, date night at Orange Julius is on the dating roster. How romantic!

Last night was interesting. Tris and I got into the pool around 5 pm, with some dark clouds looming. Storms here come in fast sometimes, and after just a few laps I popped my head out just as lightening flashed and within only a few short seconds, thunder followed. Tris was waving to me " get OUT of the pool!" and we were out before the next flash. We had originally planned on walking home, but the lightening and thunder were on top of each other and so we didn't want to become roasting sticks. A very kind staff member took pity on us and drove us home. The storms here are awesome, there's no other word for it. I think next time I see dark clouds like that I'll just choose the gym, or even better, a movie and popcorn at home.

Thanks for reading.

Abby's Award

Blogs are for the blogger to do whatever they want to with, right? Well, as a mom, I am using this opportunity to praise my daughter's achievements. As I wrote in the last posting, today the family was to head to Jakarta to an award ceremony for a Math/English competition, in which Abby received a gold medal. Unfortunately for me, some little bug came back from Bali with me and so I have remained at home with lots of remorse at missing the event and a little guilt that it's the 2nd time I've missed something of Abby's due to illness. It's good Sam is here to stand in as the female figure and to cheer Abby on. Matt was lured to the three hour event by the promise of a Marriott lunch afterwards:)

It has been through word of mouth only that I have heard of Abby's achievements, and it wasn't until last night when I read a letter sent home with Abby of what exactly the University of New South Wales International Mathematics and English competition is. Here is a quote from the newsletter:

SPH {our school, Sekolah Pelita Harapan} results are comparable not only within Indonesian but also across the region. Several of our students will receive recognition...and will be awarded Gold or Silver medals as the highest achievers in Indonesian and the region.


...Please sit down with your child and affirm their efforts as this was not a basic assessment but a world standard competition.

I thought that was pretty exciting, and then when I looked at her results, she's placed in the top 1% (it was a rumour we'd heard but not yet confirmed until last night).

Thanks for letting me share this bit of news with you.

Thanks for reading.

Home Again

Sam and I have returned from our two night stay in Bali. I think I should write a book on what to do and what not to do when traveling to and through that place, because I'm getting enough positive and negative experiences to share with others, that's for sure. It was a great trip overall but we didn't come home very rested. Our driver, Haris, who is constantly concerned for our well-being, says that two white women in Bali is an excuse for Balinese people to raise their prices and their expectations. He didn't say that in so much words, but between he and I using pidgin English-Indonesian that's the gist. On our trip we ran into a variety of taxis drivers, like the one who was great during the time that we had him but failed to appear for the next agreed upon jaunt, and another who said he'd wait for us while we had breakfast at a rather isolated McDonalds but who took off once we paid him (we didn't really enjoy his company anyways). Our final driver was a turkey who tried to lie about the price and got very loud and angry when I paid him what the meter said...I gave him a little extra just to get him to be quiet, which I think in the long run was his intent in the first place. Those were the rotten ones, who, when coupled with the Air Asia guy who wouldn't let us catch our plane because he though we wouldn't make it, made our trip less restful.

HOWEVER, regardless of these men, we met some other really neat people who made the trip worthwhile. One was a taxi driver who spoke English really well and had only a primary school education. Over the years he has taught himself through English travel dictionaries and by talking to tourists on the beach. When he gave us the final meter total it didn't matter that it came to $10 (expensive for the distance we'd traveled), because he was just a nice, polite guy who made pleasant conversation and who welcomed us to Bali. Another was a sweet little lady (stood no taller than my armpit!) who has owned a tailor shop for 29 years and who makes the clothes within in, alongside her husband...at least I think that's what she told me. My language skills are still needing a lot of work. Aunt Sam bought me a dress from there and as we gathered our stuff to leave, this little lady warned us of all the potential dangers in the area. She was concerned that we may not lock our hotel door properly at night, or that someone might try to steal our back pack purses while we were wearing them.

One man I am really thankful for, and I know Sam is too, is Pak Yaya. Pak Yaya is an Indonesian principal of an international school in East Kalimantan (Borneo) who saw us wandering around after we were denied entrance to our flight. He helped us find the ticket agent office that the Air Asia man so vaguely pointed out to me and he kindly shared his chocolate-banana bun with us for breakfast after I paid an exhorbitant price for the next flight out (we were offered a chocolate cheese bun but neither of us were daring enough to try it...we faked being stuffed). In return we bought him a cup of tea and some donuts. One cultural thing we noticed that was interesting is that Pak Yaya had a young man with him who was an employee of his. At one point our 'host' wanted to get something out of his suitcase so he just pointed and said something to his employee, who lifted it off the cart and unlocked it for his boss. I laughed later because when our driver came to get us from Jakarta airport, I hauled the bags into the back of our car before he had time to do it. I guess I need to ask him if I'm embarrasing him by being what Tris' sister Laura calls a "Strong, Northern Woman." Saving face here is important and I need to remember that.

Sam heads out next Monday and we're wrapping up her holiday with some family fun. Tonight she's going with the kids to the bookstore so they can pick out books for their birthdays (hooray for books!). Tomorrow we head to Jakarta early to attend the ceremony where Abby will receive her gold medal for english and then we'll head to the Marriott for lunch. I imagine Sunday will be a day of packing and relaxing and then we'll head to the airport in the wee hours of Monday morning.

Photos to follow...we haven't taken many this trip!

Thanks for reading.

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged! Aunt Sam arrived 8 days ago and although we haven't gone too far from home we have kept busy. Matt's 14th birthday was on Thursday but he and Abby were at retreat, and so Matt, Abby and Sam all arrived at our house within one hour of each other. Within 5 hours of her arrival, we took Sam to Eastern restaurant, one of our favourite local Chinese food places, and we celebrated Matt's birthday there. The pretty box he's holding is my sad attempt at wrapping his birthday gift. There was actually nothing in it but a note, which said "this is an invisible wii key." We had his Wii game rekeyed for Indonesian Wii games so now he has even more playing options.

The same afternoon that we got here there was an earthquake which registered 6.5 on the scale. I don't think that there was any damage (I think the epicenter was between two Indonesian islands) but we felt the shaking.

Because of the last 2 earthquakes we've had some cracks grow in two corners of our cement home. Thankfully the school sent a repairman and our home is safe once again. I had expected him to just fill the holes with cement and was pleased when he took apart the crack, made a hole, filled it with the appropriate materials and repainted right away. I took this photo to show you how our home is made...rebar, bricks and cement, with tile floors and ceramic roof tiles. If you look carefully you can see the workman's fingers poking through from the crack on the front of the house through to the crack on the side of the house.

Mostly what we've been doing together with Sam is seeing the local sights...very local, as in Lippo Village local with a few trips into Jakarta...and getting Sam pampered. So far she's had a mani, pedi, cream bath and massages. I think she's enjoying it! One day we spent floating and tanning in our friend's backyard pool and it was just like being on holidays somewhere in our own private pool. Speaking of holidays, Sam and I head to Bali for 2 nights this Tuesday.

I mentioned that it was our nephew Tristian's birthday on October 18, but I wasn't able to put up a photo because I didn't have a recent one. Since then Jen has sent me one and this is what he looks like as a 9 year old, and this is the weather they're experiencing in Bavaria, Germany right now!

Tris' update is that he is working hard at strengthen his shoulder muscles and although they don't look like he'd like, the muscles are improving and it looks like the surgery was a success.

Thanks for reading.

Sports Day, Health Day, Retreat, Birthday Day

Happy 6th Birthday to our niece Lucy who lives in Canada, and Happy 8th Birthday to our nephew Tristian who lives in Germany! We love and miss you both!!!

We've had a great week and the 'great' extends back into last week. Last Friday was the Senior School Athletics Day and Matt participated in running long distances and in long jump. I love the photo where he's running because he has such a good looking stride. In the 400 m he ran a good race, sprinted to the finish with gusto, yet the guy beside him was just that much closer to the finish line and he missed 3rd place by a hair. Like I said, he looked good doing it. He loves to support his house team (named Merapi after an Indonesian volcano and represented by green) and so had and overall 'green-ness' about him.

Saturday saw Abby and I volunteering at another Rotary sponsored Health Day in the village just beyond the walls of our school. It's a village that I can hear but I can't see, so it was great to get a new perspective on it as we drove through and later, took photos from the rooftop of the school. Little did Abby know that when she volunteered to come along with me she was going to be the 'dental demo' for our friend & hygienist, Dalenea. She was a good sport, especially since by 10 am she'd had her teeth brushed 7 times. I have to admit, I did nothing except move a few things and wipe up a few spills. I had my camera and had a prime opportunity to take photos of the village and the school children within the school. Needless to say, I took a few hundred. I invited a friend, Amy Sanders, along for the experience and she's just bought herself a new camera as well, so we had quite a time running around the school, from top to bottom. Of course, we respected the Saturday classes going on, and the villagers/staff in the school, but we were able to take photos we'd not feel comfortable enough to take if we were to just enter the village on our own.

Janet Weeda is a lecturer at the University Pelita Harapan (UPH) and her nursing students were asked to join Rotary Club for a day of information and demonstration of health and dental care for grade ones in the village school. Abby, myself and Amy (pink) invited ourselves along, and Dalenea (brown) was asked to do the dental care station. The kids were so attentive and loved it! I think my favourite photos were the ones of the kids close up, either laughing or watching intently.

These kids are practising brushing their teeth in the sink. Mostly they had a cup of water and a bin to spit in.

Biggest news this week? It's a toss up! Matthew and Abby are at their Spiritual Retreat for 2 nights, 3 days, and Matthew will celebrate his 14th birthday with his friends during this time. When they return they'll both get quite a treat...Aunt Sam arrives the same afternoon that they do! If we time it right, all three should be walking through our front door this Friday within an hour of each other. I've got an Angel Food Cake (purchased by mom, delivered by Dale) waiting to be baked especially for the occassion and we'll have a nice birthday dinner Friday night.

We've had a blessed week. Hope you are enjoying yours!


Thanks for reading.

Power Outages

Six days until Aunt Sam!

For the last week or so we've been dealing with power outages. At first they were short, only 4 hours. The last one lasted about 8. Thankfully we've been given a schedule and can adjust our lives accordingly.

What's happened is that one of the large power plants in Jakarta has lost a generator due to a fire. As a result a new part has been ordered for the generator, and there isn't enough electricity to go around while we wait for the part to come in and to get installed. The city turns off power in a grid system, and typically our area loses power during the day.

I really can't complain. We had the power out last week from 6-10 pm and it was HOT. There was the option of going to the mall but we chose to stay home and eat popcorn made on the gas stove instead (hooray for gas stoves...now that I know how to light one without it exploding in my face!). Honestly, when we were moving here my expectations were so low as to what our house and neighbourhood were going to be like, at least until friends emailed us a photo of our house, that I didn't know if a/c was going to be a part of our lives. Now that it is, I am just spoiled. Mostly we have a/c, and I have a car with a/c, and we have nearby areas we can go with a/c. Thankfully the school has a generator and it has a/c during the day, too.

I guess the most irritating thing is that sometimes the power gets cut off a little earlier than planned, and so I get caught unawares, and any computer work I am doing gets cut off right in the midd

I love National Geographic

We received our National Geographic in the mail today (thanks mom and dad!). Every month our family, especially Matthew, waits for the newest publication. If it doesn't arrive by the 24th of the month, the promised arrival date, then each day when he comes home from school, Matt asks "has the magazine come yet?" This month's is especially interesting to me in that it includes articles on the West Coast Redwoods in California and Oregon (not quite north as home but cedars nonetheless), Indonesia, and Mexico's Baja (that's where Tris and I met and later got engaged). Why not grab your copy of NG and let's examine it together:)

Title Page: Do you know what a thrill it is to see a picture of a giant cedar tree on NG? With the arrival of the rainy season, the air has become extremely humid here, and I usually end up changing my clothes at least twice a day (at least my shirt). It was physically cooling to me (SERIOUSLY!!) when I picked up the magazine. Immediately I imagined walking through a place like Cathedral Grove, where even on a hot day there always seems to be a little bit of earthy cool. It also reminded me of my dad, the tree-hugging faller, who I miss very much.

Editor's Note: If you have not yet experienced lying on the forest floor, looking up through the treetops into the blue sky beyond, you need to wait for a sunny day--preferably not immediately after a rainy day--and to find a cool spot in an empty forest. It's solitude like you've never experienced before.

p 38 pull-out. I think that one needs to be taken out of the book and hung in our home here somewhere. What a beautiful forest!

p. 52 The bear has the same eyes as our Corgie, Willie. He likes to chew wood (like Sunny's wooden blinds that blocked his view of the horse next door) just like this bear, and wreaks havoc doing it, too!

p. 78 The scooter that the woman is gassing up ('bensin' it's called here) is similar to the one that our driver bought last night.

p 80 "The National Mosque in Jakarta can hold 120,000 souls for Friday prayers." And THAT is why we dread going into Jakarta on Fridays. Friday night traffic is the worst ever.

p 82 "Last year some 200,000 Indonesians made the hajj..." which is why, when I was curious about possibly finding a ticket to go to my brother's wedding in September, there were absolutely NO affordable seats going in or out of Indonesia.

p 86 Take a look at the map of Indonesia. We live on Java, which seems like it should be a big island because of the political power that comes out of it, but it's a smaller island. We live in the province of Banten, 45 minutes from Jakarta. I've travelled to Yogyakarta (Jogja) with Dale and our family travelled there with the Weedas. See how Bali is pink (indicating Hindu)? One of the pleasures of going there is that there are no calls to prayer every day. The island to the left of Java, Sumatra, is where the tsunami occurred (Aceh) about 5 years ago. In the area of West Sumatra (marked 98%) is where the devastating eartquake occurred last week. Papua, to the far right, is where I'd really like to visit.

That's as far as I've read, and as soon as Matt comes home, eats, and does his homework, I'll lose the magazine for a while.

Thanks for reading with me.
*ps. My family has since told me that Redwoods are NOT cedar trees, so I stand corrected. However, it's my blog and I think that the bark looks like cedar, so that's how it's gonna be for this post:)

What the heck is "lite rain?"

When it rains, it pours, so the saying goes, and it's pretty literal here. Yesterday was the official beginning of rainy season, I'd say. We were playing ultimate frisbee when off in the distance these huge dark "sinisterly foreboding" rain clouds gathered. Using wisdom gained from past experience, most of the players took off their running shoes and played barefoot. Good idea, because those clouds moved incredibly fast. We were drenched within minutes. It was actually a great way to play because you could run and sweat and the sweat would just wash off. It definitely confirmed for me that sometimes my inability to play (my desire to get OFF the field) has a lot to do with the humidity and heat. One thing to remember in the next 6 months, or those months with an 'r' in it, is to always carry an umbrella. I often think I should get someone to bring me a pair of those funky multi-coloured rainboots in the shoe shop on Fifth. I already get stared at, and I'm pretty convinced that the locals think I'm a little "special" if you get my drift. Buleh gila (crazy foreigner) would be an appropriate label sometimes.

We just got an email from Abby's teacher congratulating her on the gold medal in English that she just received (on paper so far). She wrote in an English competition that was written across Indonesia (not sure if it's just international schools or not) and got top marks. Tris thinks it's top 1%. I would have written that first but I don't want to seem too proud, so I eased in with discussing the weather. We are very proud of Abby and the work she does.

The last week has been interesting. Apparently there is a fire in one of the electric stations in Jakarta and so every day or two the authorities turns the power off in specific grid areas, to save power. Ours was off for 7 hours today, which is the longest yet. Usually it's just 3 or 4 hours, and it gets pretty hot without the a/c. Thankfully today we had another rainfall and it cooled the air down.

That's all folks.

Thanks for reading.

I don't have a lot to say but my aunt sent me this via email and I thought it was a good one. It made me think, although my thoughts wandered from the content of this email to the school that we're involved with. It's interesting being part of a Christian school community in a predominantly (read 90%) Muslim country. I love how the focus is very Christ-centered, and it's more than just praying with the kids in the morning or having devotions. The teachers are encouraged to incorporate biblical worldview into all classes. This isn't always easy to do, especially in classes like PE and Food Tech, but it's still encouraged. There are some muslim, buddhist and hindu students in our school, and they're expected to participate in devotions and discussions as much as the Christian kids. I like it that the kids are challenged to think about the information they're given, and to think about their own spirituality, about whether or not it's important to them, regardless of whether it's important to their parents. They're challenged to make their spiritual growth their own.
One thing that is interesting about our school (and the public domain in general) is that although we have wheelchair access to most rooms, there is not one obviously physically handicapped student in our midst. Curious. Anyways, I digress. Here's the email. . .

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:
'Let me see if I've got this right.
'You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.
'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.
'You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.
'You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.
'You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.
'You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.
'You want me to do all this and then you tell me. . . I CAN'T PRAY?

Let's Discuss Good Stuff for a Bit

Happy Birthday to Dale for September 30!

Things we are looking forward to in the near future:
*Aunt Sam (Tris' aunt) is coming to Indo and arriving on Matt's 14th birthday (October 15th). We're getting excited!
*Tris and Sunny (Tris' parents) are coming for 5 weeks beginning December 11. We're not doing the countdown yet because it's too hard. I don't let myself begin anticipating someone's arrival until just weeks before, or else the wait is too long...BUT we are still getting excited to see them, too.
*I am going to be Auntie Kimmie for the 3rd time for Tyler and Tanya sometime around the beginning of December. That means Abby and Matt get another 'sepupu' and mom and dad one more 'cucu'. This is very, very hard for me to not be there or see the baby, or see Lucy and Elijah's response to the baby, or TJ with his newest, or Tan after she does one more great job of making an incredible baby, OR see my kids with the little one. Wow, hard to type that without tears. I miss family.

Speaking of new ones, these are the newest editions to our family:

This is a photo of Darren, my big brother, and his wife, Chrystal. They were married September 12 of this year. Congratulations, Darren and Chrystal. We are looking forward to meeting Chrystal and her 2 girls next summer. Welcome to the family!

Tris' cousin Jain was married to Peter on the same date as Darren and Chrystal. Although we wouldn't have been able to go to both weddings even if we lived in Canada (one on the island, one in Alberta), we are sorry to have missed either one. Congratulations to Jain and Peter!


Our Australian friends, Jonny and Mel, that I've written about over our time here, aren't blood family but we love and miss them since they've moved back to Adelaide, Australia. They've just had a baby girl, Zoey Sheree, and we're hoping one day to meet her.

On our end, as much as Abby wants to adopt, there are no babies in our home and no weddings yet. Matt's learning how to flirt but hey, that's all for now. Abby's not interested in boys, and in fact, they're "horrid," to quote Ab.
Junior school had an Athletics Day yesterday and Abby ran in 7 of the 8 events. She came home a very tired young lady yesterday, but had a good time. She placed first in a relay and 2nd in long jump. I ran a relay for parents at the end but I didn't place. I just ran.


Totally aside, but something exciting to me...I went to a gardening area along a main road in Jakarta, where you walk along the road, dicker and sweat in the hot sun until you have a car full of plants. I bought a hydrangea plant and it sits outside my kitchen, across from my rosemary plant (which one day will be a bush). In my front yard is a basket of petunias that I have to admit are getting a bit faded in the sun...they need a new location. The hydrangea plant at home would be about $25. I bought it for rp 30 000 ($3).

Thanks for reading.

No Earthquake Here

I received a call from a concerned relative last night, wondering if we'd experienced the .8 earthquake that has been reported in Indonesia. So far I haven't heard much locally (I'd have to leave the house for that) but another Canadian relative has told me that 2 hospitals collapsed as well as many other buildings. The earthquake shook the island of Sumatra, not our island of Java, and my hope is that the buildings that were destroyed were smaller. Jakarta is the biggest city in Indonesia and has the biggest hospital buildings. In a smaller, less populated location, chances are that the hospitals are much smaller and so are the buildings. That's my hope, anyways.

I just want you all to know we're okay and that we are safe.

Thanks for reading.

Street Boys in the City

I am a very visual person, which may seem ironic considering how blind I am/feel without my glasses. I cannot even answer the phone and hear the other person on the line properly until I put my glasses on. Lame, I know, but ask Tris, it's true. However, if I remember an event or a situation, I remember it as a positive or a negative experience by the 'colour' of my memory. For example, if it's a grey memory, even about a sunny summer day, it wasn't a happy event for me. I remember one very bright, sunny day when I answered the phone and had someone tell me of the suicide death of a family friend. The memory of me standing at the desk, holding our phone, looking out onto the summer flowers on our back deck, isn't bright and sunny. The colours of that day are muted and shadowed. Sometimes it's the memories of the stormy, grey, west coast autumn nights at home that are bright with the colours that surrounded us, like the warm quilts my kids wrapped themselves in on the couch, or the flames in our glass-fronted woodstove. What I see really influences me, and how I pull from that memory later sometimes surprises me.

If you've read my blogs recently, you'll note that we've been on holidays, and the holidays have been wonderful, relaxing and full of fun. We've spent time together as a family alone, together with other families, and although I haven't yet mentioned it, I even got to spend 2 days at a local hotel with Abby, just a girls time together. We headed to the mall where we dug in bargain bins for 'random' t-shirts (with weird sayings like "Help, I'm talking and I can't shut up!"), ate frozen yogourt and watched sappy dvds while we stuffed our faced with theatre popcorn, Junior Mints (found some here...what a treat!!) and some jelly bears. THAT is definitely going to be a bright memory.

It's funny, though, that as I look over the past 2 weeks, there's one scene that sticks in my mind, one fleeting memory that is dark not only because it was past 6 pm, but because of the scene itself. When I think of it I get that lump in my throat and it makes me really start to think of what it is I am doing here. It's one of those 'kick in my pants' moments that I hope spurs me on to keep holding on to the dreams God gave me years ago, and to allow the new dreams I have to grow and drive me forward. On Saturday night we were leaving one of our favourite 'Saturday night' restaurants and we headed into extremely busy traffic. The road we entered is a 6 lane road, with a cement divider between the two traffic directions. Walking across the street in this area is sometimes next to impossible and very dangerous for an adult, let alone a kid. To my right was this cement divide, and on it were two young boys. One of the boys was sitting there, playing with a piece of string or a stick, and he was facing the other boy, who was laying there. The boy laying down looked as though he was sleeping, and actually looked rather peaceful doing it. This isn't a terrible scene, with blood or pain involved, none evident on the surface at least. However, this scene shouldn't be occurring in the middle of 6 lanes of Saturday night city traffic. It looked like a scene that could have been lifted from one of the kampungs: two grubby little boys in torn clothes settling down together for the night. Neither of them looked too worried. In fact, the awake boy seemed oblivious to the dangers around him. It's not like I haven't seen scenes like this before. In fact, I've seen ones that could be considered far more traumatic, but this one has stuck with me like a pin stucking a live beetle to a cork board.

I'm not too sure how this scene will influence my decisions, but I do know that as I contemplate my Masters and whether or not I'll be able to get a job after I spend oodles of time and money on it, I am hoping and praying that I can become a part of the solution for boys like these. I'm not sure how, but as I continue to live here I'm praying God will give me the direction and the peace about the decisions I am making, and will open doors to do the things that burn within me.

Thanks for reading.

Holidays are almost over

I've lost count of how many days into holidays we did what, and now the holidays are rolling to a close in a few days. However, although they're coming to an end, we've had a great run of things. We still haven't done anything terribly exciting but we've had some great times spent with friends. Someone will put the word out that an event is going to happen and then a bunch of people show up at the meeting place. This week, after our swim-in theatre night, we went to a waterslide park called Waterbom (we don't say the word 'bomb' here, so it's pronounced 'boom'). I went on some pretty scary-drop rides and still lived to tell about it. Everyone came home a bit on the red side, but other than that we had a great time in the sun and water.

Yesterday a large group of us (including at least 10 kids under the age of 5) went skating at the only ice arena that I'm aware of. It's on the third floor of an incredibly decadent mall, where when I was there last December there was fake snow falling the length of 6 floors from the ceiling. After 2 hours of skating the gang all went to Pizza Hut for lunch, except I must admit, a friend and I (we both have older kids) snuck out to a great Thai restaurant for the lunch hour. I don't get much opportunity to try out new restaurants because usually when I'm with someone they have a favourite they want to go to, so this was fun. The food was awesome and the price was right, so if you plan on coming for a visit this is a place I'd love to show you.

Today we did housework for the first few hours. I still haven't touched a toilet in a year because I've now delegated that to the kid during the holidays:) It takes hours to do laundry, especially for it to dry, and then we usually have to iron it afterwards. The weather has been incredible and hot, so we don't have to worry about drying out the clothes with the iron at this point. When there's ironing to be done, Abby loves the chore so it's hers. Me, I like floors and all the kitchen related stuff.

Because most people head home to their villages during the holidays, the traffic has been very light. You plan to get somewhere in an hour and it actually happens. Incredible! I am wondering if the lack of vehicles in the city has contributed to a lack of pollution and that's why the sky has been blue everyday of the entire holiday. Sounds like a great theory but I'm not sure of its accuracy.

Thanks for reading.