Idul Adha 2011

This year we celebrated our 4th Idul Adha weekend by staying at home and truly experiencing Indonesian life.  Of course, we threw in a bit of our regular routines and passions, all of which made for an excellent 5 day holiday of some work, some play, some challenges and lots of fun.  On my part, I spent the 1st day of my holiday painting our living room, in response to a challenge by a friend who wants to see blue walls by the time she returns to Indo from the US.  Blue walls are done!  Tris spent the day golfing, and the kids with friends.

 On Saturday we headed to the beach (all except Matthew:  he stayed behind and slept, recuperating from last week's 3 day Spiritual Retreat) where it was windy and wavy.  The force of the wind blew all our cares away and we just laid there, ignoring the fact that back at home were a few chores to finish up and some school work to tackle.  It was early to bed Saturday night as we had to get up early the next morning.  We were to meet with an Indonesian family in their village, and they were going to take us a few doors down to their local mosque to witness the Idul Adha sacrificing of a few cattle and goats.

It has taken some time for us to gather up "family courage," but we did so, and watched the animals being led to their death, killed (I didn't look), and finally, prepped for further distribution to the poorer members of surrounding villages.  This happens every year to thousands of cattle/goats/sheep in Indonesia in commemoration of the Muslim story of Ibrahim preparing to sacrifice Ishmael (in biblical view it's Abraham and Isaac).  I don't think I ever need to see this again, but it gave me a greater understanding of what goes on around me in the country that I live in.  It was also a great experience to walk around the village with someone who lives there, and to share a light meal with them.  Later on we headed in 2 cars to the primate zoo (in Ragunan) where the friendliest primates I've ever seen live.  If I could have, I'd have stuffed the little orange orangutan ("forest person") into my bag and brought it home, it was so incredibly adorable.  Unrealistic, yes, but it's every little child's dream to own a cute primate of some kind, and the little girl in me just sneaked out for a bit.

On Monday Tris headed to the golf course early to practice a bit for today's golf tournament, Matt slept until mid-morning, and Abby and I headed to one of our favourite shopping areas everyone calls Mangga Dua (Two Mangoes).  It's really a shopping district full of 6-story malls, but the area in that district is also referred to as the same.  Usually traffic there and back is quite packed, but we whisked there in less than an hour and thankfully, after an unusual 5 hours of shopping (usually we give ourselves 3) we flew home even faster in under 30 minutes.  That's quite unheard of in normal traffic, so we were feeling pretty blessed.  While there I bought cheap watches (yes, mine broke already and Tris' is too big for his wrist) and Abby found soul-satisfaction in her patchwork pants (think "I Dream of Jeannie" crossed with a Thai & batik'd quilt), Korean purse and other treasures her heart didn't know she desired until she saw them.  I didn't buy much but it was fun to show the 2 friends we brought along all of the neat shops and stops, and to discover new ones as well.

Today was a golf tournament (which donated almost $500 to the Karawaci Ladies medical fund!) that Tris participated in and I sold raffles at.  The kids were busy practicing their dances for Bulan Bahasa (Matthew) and Spiritual Retreat competition (Abby).

The highlight of our weekend?  Hanging with Indonesian friends and colleagues.  We saw a lot and got a lot done, but it was time spent learning more about this country and the people who live in it with us that made it a really enjoyable holiday.

Thanks for reading.

Canadian Thanksgiving 2011

 Over 3 weeks ago now, we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with a few other families, complete with turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, veggies, salads, and lots of wonderful desserts.  The newest family arrived in their Canadian t-shirts (red and white of course) and our family had a chuckle, because that's what we did our first year here as well.  Although I really (really) miss family during this time, it was a great dinner just getting to hang with people that ironically, in such a small community, we don't get to see that often.  It's the same everywhere you live...life gets busy, you get into your regular routine, and you miss opportunities to get together with other families.  What's really strange for me is that at this particular event, Tris and I were the 'older couple'.  It's hard to get out of my head (where I'm 34 and always will be!!) that although I used to be a member of the younger crowd, those days are p ast, and my kids are closer to that stage than I am!!  Children at this dinner ranged from a few months old, to old-times Matthew and Abby (Matt hadn't turned 16 yet).

Living in this international community brings us another opportunity for turkey, gravy and fellowship once again in late November.  This next one will be a lot larger, with way more food to choose from, and even more people to catch up with.

Can't get any cozier!

the men just wouldn't snuggle into a cozy group photo!

Matt & Abby