Apparently I have an accent! Unbelievable, eh? When I took the "do you have an accent?" test on Facebook, I was told that I didn't, but even other Canadians say I have a strong Canadian accent. What exactly is that? Near the end of my language class last night the guru (teacher) was telling us that the word 'bukan' (meaning 'no,' 'not so' or 'not') can be shortened to 'kan at the end of a sentence for confirmation of a statement. For example, "You are Canadian, 'kan?" (mixed translation there). It was then that I explained about the Canadian need for confirmation by using 'eh?' It was very cute when my guru, with her Javanese accent, said to another student "your name is Catarina, eh?" It's nice to know that my presence in Indonesia is improving the lives of others.

Speaking of improving, Tris went to the doctor finally last Monday and got some antibiotics to fight his stomach ailments. Five days later he seems to be just fine, and hopefully he'll gain a bit of the weight he lost over the last 2-3 weeks. Last week he went on a Spiritual Retreat with SPH grade 11s, even though he was a bit under the weather. I didn't explain much about him then because I can't see the wisdom in announcing over the net that my husband is gone and I am alone in the house with my two children. I know, I know, people are not perusing my blog just to find out these kinds of details, but I just want to use caution. The retreat went really well and he said that when he spoke (was one of the speakers on the opening night) it went well also. He doesn't use many descriptives to describe his life sometimes. That's okay, because his life is going well.

Yesterday my friend Diane and I went along with Matthew's homeroom teacher and about 40 grade 7s to Bintaro, the slums we visited while mom and dad were here. It was the same routine as last time, where we got organized and then our students interacted with the local kids. They ate together, played games and sang songs. I am glad that I went for both trips, because I could see a difference in Matthew. As much as we'd tried to expose our children to a variety of economic levels of living in Canada, it is still a stretch for Matthew (his own admission) to try and interact with these lesser-off children who don't speak his language. This particular trip I saw him attempt to make small talk with his appointed group of girls (as were his two other SPH student partners) but it was the girls who rejected him, not the other way around. He'd point to a tree that one little grade 2 (ish) girl was colouring, ask her in Indonesian what colour that was, and she kind of glared at him. Earlier he had tried to tell her "nama saya Matthew" (my name is Matthew) and she looked at him like "drop dead." Needless to say, I was proud of him for trying. I must mention that all three boys tried throughout the whole session to connect with these 4 little girls and although they weren't that successful, they get a gold sticker for trying.

While on the subject of Matthew, he didn't make the basketball team, but I don't think that there was ever a time that he thought he would. Again, I give him a gold star for sticking it out, even when he really, really didn't want to.

Around 10 this morning I had a group of women come over to watch the movie Denias that I wrote about earlier. It is about a Papuan boy who lives in a village away from any cities. He is introduced to a basic education and is told that he is very intelligent. The movie is based on a true story about how he goes about getting the education he dreamed of. When searching for this movie I was told by four different people that I could not get it in English, so I had my friend Ibu Loana come to translate for us. We were thrilled to find out the edition that we had had english subtitles. If you ever have a chance to watch, it's a good story, especially knowing it is true, and the cinematography is absolutely beautiful. For those unfamiliar with Papua, it is in east Indonesia.

I've received numerous emails about the prophecy given at Klesis regarding Northgate Foursquare being a sending station. It seems there's an excitement that has grown from this word...I am very excited to see where the Lord takes the church family. Keep me posted!

Thanks for reading.

Indonesian Food

Today was a very international day. Our bible study had a 'fun day' and usually with such a day we choose a theme. Our host, Glenys, had us watch "Super Nanny" so we went for a British food theme. Needless to say, I am glad that Glenys had such a colourful table runner and set of dishes because it was a very, very beige spread. Some of the things we made were: fish in batter & chips (some women had never had vinegar on their chips before), tea biscuits, cornish pasties, various beige cookies (tasty but beige), and cucumber & cream cheese sandwiches with the crusts cut off. I am describing this meal to you mostly because I want you to appreciate what I did next.

At 1:30 this afternoon Janet & I set off to the university (UPH) where we were part of a panel of 6 Indonesian food "testers" (we labelled ourselves guinea pigs). It was a very interesting experience, and I must say that the food was in no way beige. We were given 3 different plates or bowls of what would be food for a meal. The 2nd round was the 'snack' round. I cannot remember all of the ingredients of all of the meals, but as you will see, some of them stood out in my mind because of my lack of "experience" in eating them ever before.

We ate:
*Coto Makassar (soup)
This was a slightly spicy soup that had lemongrass, citrus leaves, coriander (very nice taste); I wasn't too sure about the ingredient "beef innards." I think I had something like kidney or liver.

* Gudeg Jogja (variety of items on a plate)
This was a bunch of brown items on a plate and they included (well, white rice AND...) tofu, a boiled egg (kind of pickled and very chewy...brown stained skin), sweet beans moulded into something that looked a bit like an artichoke (I quite enjoyed this), marinated & cooked tofu, and a mixture of (brown...) jack fruit, beans, beef hide, coconut. This was the favourite when the panel was asked to choose the favourite "meal food."

*Papeda (fish ball soup)
Words that were used to describe this soup were: horrible, scary, gelatinous, "No way I could attempt a bite." It consisted of spicy (so say the brave ones) gelatinous ping-pong ball sized clear balls floating in a fish-based soup. The garnishes consisted of a leafy green (like spinach), garlic, onion (i think) and some other items I couldn't identify. This was the least favourite of all six dishes.

I forgot to mention that the panel was made up of ex-patriots and consisted of one of each: American, Canadian, Malaysian, Australian, Korean and Chinese. We ranged in age from probably 16 to 45.

Once these three dishes were tasted we moved on to what were labelled "snacks." Janet and I had to confess, we were confused as to how to differentiate a snack from a meal food, especially when the snack was in a fishy liquid.

*Batagor Bandung
This is one dish I quite enjoyed, and I'm glad because I wanted to leave with at least one dish that I would dare make at home or at least try in a restaurant. It was (probably) deep fried tofu wrapped in something like a spring roll skin. It was crunchy and had a spicy peanut sauce on it.

*Pempek Palembung
This was, I think, fish and sago (sort of like a tapioca...it may actually be the same thing in a variety of forms) mixed together with spices and deep fried, and these chunks were placed in a fishy brown soup base. Two different kinds of noodles were added to it. Not a favourite of mine.

*Kue Putu Mayang
This was a very colourful easter-pink and green (and some had greyish-white) noodles of sago and coconut, and probably more ingredients I am unfamiliar with. It looked gelatinous and it was, but I quite liked it. It had a sauce that looked like a brown sugar sauce poured over it. I've seen this kind of dish quite regularly in malls and in Indonesian eating areas. I liked it.

As always, when put in stretching situations, it is an opportunity to learn more about yourself. Today I learned a few things. I learned:
*that I do not like fish in any liquid form; I prefer it in a lovely chunk, preferably warm.
*texture is huge for me when I eat; although I enjoy tapioca and cream of wheat, I could not see myself ever learning to enjoy gelatinous fish balls. I didn't really enjoy the innards, either. Too grainy.
*I am more adventurous that I sometimes give myself credit for.

I was really glad for this opportunity to try Indonesian food, and I have to say that there have been other times throughout our stay here that I have tried other kinds of Indonesian and really enjoyed it. I think that if I was to live here and try these things on and off I would learn to appreciate some of the textures (not fish balls though) and flavours. What I am curious about is what Canadian foods would I put in front of an international panel and what their reaction would be.

Thanks for reading.

Matthew's Aquarium

oil on canvas 30"x40"

This incredible painting is by Amelia Alcock-White, Tris' younger cousin. She saw the photo on one of our earliest posts about our overnight stay through Singapore on the way to Indonesia. When she told Matthew that she would like to paint it, he was so thrilled. Needless to say, it is now our screensaver and his Facebook profile photo.

Amelia has created some amazing works and if you would like to check our her site, go to http://www.ameliawhite.net/

My favourite (other than Matthew's Aquarium!!!) is 'the talking blanket', which is of a man and a woman chatting on a red couch.

Thanks for reading.

Dead stuff

I should have seen the signs: the sparking sound coming from the microwave and then the microwave dying for a short while; the ongoing strong cheesy smell that I could not rid my microwave of, even by boiling vinegar and water inside; the constant ant train that I could not remove from my kitchen, even with bug spray and forever washing the counters and walls. I finally got up the guts yesterday to unplug the microwave, unscrew the casing and peer inside (it's quite an incredible electronic wonderland...I didn't understand any of it). It didn't take long to discover the quite dead, quite ant-eaten cicak carcass stuck under a box full of wires and things. The trail of ants that lead me to it was incredible...there were hundreds of tiny ants, no exaggeration. In my microwave. For over a week now we've been nuking our food and in doing so, probably releasing microscopic bits of lizard into our meals. O gross. Thankfully, once the carcass was removed (what a stench) and the interior of the "engine room" of the microwave was cleaned out, the ants took off and the smell evaporated. My kitchen feels so much cleaner.


This morning as Matthew and I were heading to the pool to get some much needed exercise, he spotted a dead cat in our front yard. I have to admit to you, I was not sad one bit. Not even a little. I believe this is the cat that made our house it's territory, and so it has been from our driveway and our fence that he has called all of his friends together each night. I can't describe the sounds he would make, except to say that each night it sounded like the cat was being tortured and calling his mother at the same time. Why is it wonderful living in a taman in Lippo? Because Matt and I told the satpams (guards) at the front gate that there was a dead cat in our yard, and when we returned it was gone. I didn't have to deal with it, thankfully.

As you may know, Matthew is a lover of nature. How he sees things that the rest of us are staring at and just don't see is beyond me. On the way home from our swim he spotted a leaf (at least it looked like a leaf to me!), and picked it up with a stick. Turns out it was a dying butterfly, and it was huge! Unfortunately it had lost a lot of its wing powder and had been injured, so it has since died. I was amazed at the way the gold on its wings glowed, how big its wings were, and at the fuzzy antennae. Check it out!

Thanks for reading.

A Very Full Week

As I sit here on our bed, laptop on my lap (hence the name???), 106.5 Praise FM on the internet and Matt reading next to me, I feel a sense of peace and joy. We have had a full week and we are all getting healthier. God has answered various prayers for us this week, including the fact that nobody in the family seems to be coughing up a lung this week. The big answer for Tris and I has been that we were praying for direction in a certain area of Tris' employment, and the Holy Spirit confirmed within each of us, separately, what he is to do. I love it when things are confirmed individually and then for us as a couple.

Big news for me this week is that the Bahasa Indonesia language course I had hoped to register for in March started this week. I am now a student of BI at the local university! This is pretty exciting because I've been studying on my own for the last 7 months, with a weekly one hour conversation and lesson with a wonderful national lady named Loana. Now I ojek to the university every Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours each day. So far I've attended 2 classes and although they're supposed to be basic beginner classes, I have learned a bunch so far. I do well enough in reading the language, I can speak it enough to get my basic needs across, but I feel like I don't have very good listening/comprehension skills. Hope this isn't a reflection of my character.

Matthew is still playing basketball. Tomorrow the boys play a game with a Jakartan international school and then they find out if they've made the team. Matt's not too confident that he'll make it and he's given me permission to say so on here. We're just proud that he's gone to all the practices over the last 2 weeks. We'll fill you in. Abby has made the team; there are no try-outs in grade 5. Today was her first day in choir and she says it was pretty fun. It's nice to see our kids getting involved.

Tris is feeling much healthier. I'll fill you in on his week later.

More good news. Last Sunday Abby and I took a bunch of pink heart Valentine sugar cookies to the house behind us. We met the house mom, Fia, and had a good chat. Of the nine children that live there, we met 5 of the boys. I believe the other 4 are girls. All are from Papua, an island in east Indonesia. There's a movie that Fia suggested that we watch in order to get an idea of what these children have gone through; it's called "Denias." Unfortunately the copies we've found are only in Indonesian with no english sub-titles. Nobody knows if there are copies with english subtitles either, so I am either going to have to watch with a very patient native speaker who would be willing to pause every 2 minutes, or I'm going to have to work my bottom off trying to excel in language class:). The kids have been singing familiar (older) Christian songs, and these carry into our bedroom early in the morning and at night. We have been invited to join in their worship time soon. They start at 9:30 pm each night so usually we're all in bed, but we'd love to on a Friday night.

We had a potential driver lined up this week but he didn't work out, so we're still looking. This is unfortunate because Matthew's class is heading to the Bintaro slums again. That's the place that I wrote about while mom and dad were here; it's where families work together recycling other peoples' garbage. I showed a few photos of the visit. Hopefully we'll be able to find someone to drive our car and I can join the fieldtrip. I have some photos that, if our hard drive repairs work out, I would like to print off and give to some of the Bintaro locals.

I am a card-holding (well, not really, but I've paid my dues) member of Lippo Ladies...except we're not too sure what to call ourselves since the name of our village has changed...we may be called Lippo Village Ladies soon...anyways: a small group of us has banded together to try and plan a charity event where we can have fun and raise money for a good cause all at the same time. One of the places we are looking at is a school in a nearby kampung (village). I was privileged to go along and take photos. The school is about as big as our old house's footprint, and it holds over 80 students during the day. Each classroom has desks for up to 12 students, and with kindergarten to grade 6, it's a tight squeeze! I thoroughly enjoyed myself, taking photos and checking the place out. I have a feeling that the women I was with did as well.

Look how close the walls of this classroom are to each other. This is one of the teachers at her desk.

This has been a busy week for me...the rest of my lovely fam just keeps plugging along. I had a small breakthrough...I can now listen to 106.5 FM (my 'car radio station' in Canada) without feeling melancholy. Instead, I am at a point where I can listen and just enjoy. The commercials tug at my heart a little, weird, I know, but they do.

I haven't blogged regularly so now I feel like there's a well of words bubbling up inside of me, but due to space and the possibility of boring any readers we may have off of their seats, I'll end for now.

Thanks for reading.

The Facts

My last two posts have been rather "thoughtful" and I figure some people read this blog to get the facts about our life here. Here are a few things happening around here:
Tris: Tris has been home sick Thursday and Friday. We'll head into the doctor this weekend to see if this illness is related to the one he had in Lombock. He's over the bathroom stints but is very tired. Please pray.
Matthew: Basketball try outs started this week. Matt's not too sure he's got the skills to make the team but we're proud of him that he's gone and toughed it out regardless. He's working hard at school and especially loves his art class.
Abby: She's in basketball as well, but all kids make the team. She's studying for a piano theory exam next month.
Both kids are learning to cook, Matt at school and Abby at home on the weekends. So far Abby and I have made Apple Crisp and French Toast. Not sure what's next on the list, but maybe she can work alongside Matthew, who learned how to make an incredibly good spaghetti sauce last week at school.
Myself: I'm feeling great, and am not napping anymore (at least not more than I would normally). I find I am spending a lot of time in my kitchen each day. I am back to volunteering at school on Tuesdays and have been going to Lippo Ladies meetings. These ladies are looking at fundraising and where to invest the profits, and I have signed on to be a part of that. This gets me out into the community more, outside of SPH community, which I think it healthy. I'm excited about this opportunity to be a part of this ladies' group, because they're not into a lot of 'hoopla' and just want to raise money, have fun raising it, and finding places to invest. My kind of ladies.

Our school is putting on the play "The Wizard of Oz" this weekend and we're heading off to see it. It's had great reviews from other parents so far!

Thanks for reading.

Don't put my friends in a box!

My kids make me laugh. One of the things they're constantly asking me is "who is your best friend?" When I tell them their dad, they don't think that's a good enough answer. Their response is always "but who's your best GIRL friend?" That's a hard one to answer. How do I answer that when God has blessed me with so many different types of friendships? I admit, I think that I have a lot of acquaintances, but I have some really good, really deep, I'd be crushed if it ended kind of friendships.

Another thing the kids like to do is to "replace" my old friends with new ones. They'll say "so Mrs. Dalenea is like Mrs. O, right?" or "Mrs. Janet is like Mrs. Best." No, Mrs. Dalenea is Mrs. Dalenea and Mrs. O is Mrs. O., Mrs. Janet is herself and Mrs. Best is her ownself as well. Sometimes I meet someone who reminds me of someone, but no friend is ever replaceable by another. I miss my Canadian girlfriends dearly, even the ones like Kari and Steph who live on the mainland and I see maybe once or twice a year, and it's been the regular amount of time that we normally go without seeing each other but I still miss them. I think it's because I know I can't just take a ferry to pop over for a day or more.

I am thankful for the girlfriends God's given me here. Each one fills a need and I think I do the same for them. I've mentioned it before, but the friendships here seem to gel faster, without the circling and wariness that sometimes women tend to do before deciding someone else is safe enough to befriend. I think that still happens, but when you find someone you can relate to here, I think one tends to jump into the relationship with less caution. It must have something to do with the fact that we're all new or at least have all been new at some point, and that we all know what it's like to feel like you're all alone in a really strange, foreign (literally) place.

I hope that my children are learning through my friendships that life is not static, yet you can still maintain old friendships and make new ones. There's no need to put my friends in a box (then they can't breathe!) or to put a limit on how many friends one can have. You can have a party with 2 or 3 people, but it's so much livelier with many more!

Thanks for reading.

Somethings never change. Somethings are constantly changing. Here in Indo you can try to stay on top of it but it'll probably stress you out. I'm learning that how I respond to things is going to make or break my own experience here. When we moved here we had no idea what to expect. My personal expectation is that we'd be living along a dirt road where vendors plied their trades and traffic was always passing by, stirring up dust and making it rather unsafe to walk alongside the road. I'd pictured our house (before we received a photo of it) as a one-storied cement building surrouned by a cement fence. That was partially correct. Although our home is two-storied it is made of cement, and so is our 'white picket fence' that surrounds it. Needless to say, if you've read any of our past postings that describe our home and neighbourhood, our expectations were blown out of the water when we saw our home and the furniture it came with. The moral of this reference to expectations: lower them, lose them, at least reduce them to bare minimum when you have no basic reference point, and you will ultimately not be disappointed.



What are some of the things that are a constant for us here? The daily calls (sometimes 'wails') to prayer, mosquitoes, heat & humidity, Tris still loves me (that's his input on this post), there is almost always a man who pops out of nowhere when you are backing up and 'helps' you park, and there is always some form of noise in the air. Our family still loves to watch American Idol. Another constant is the fact that God brought us here and is constantly providing some form of challenge to us individually and as a family, and at the same time is directing us through these challenges. It's my hope and prayer that one day, when we move back to Canada, people will say "you've changed" and mean it for the better. I wonder if I will be more patient? They say miracles do happen.



The changes? Well, each day brings a new surprise for us. Some of the foremost for Tris and I are that the heat is relatively the same yet it seems to have cooled down a bit in our own minds...who ever would have thought we'd think that 27 degrees is cool? Our kids don't look like little ones anymore, and they don't act like it either. Our surroundings seem to change constantly. Tris never thought he'd be as interested in Christian Education as he is now. I actually like cicak, the squishy little lizards that run throughout our house, and I never thought I'd like any squishy creature. Weekly I waffle on whether I'd like to stay here longer than our planned contract; yesterday was a prime example of an "I want to go home" day. At 6 am I went to have a shower and we had no water, and when I went to go eat breakfast instead, I discovered we had no power. Although both came back within a few hours, I was already ticked off that our new computer hard drive had died for the 4th time, and my microwave had burned out the previous day. Add this to the fact that I have been wanting to challenge myself and drive outside of what I would call the "protective area" of Lippo Village, and the entire route has been changed through fencing and barricades and therefore made it even more challenging, and you've got a less-than-patient Canadian woman wanting to go home. However, today is a new day and a change in attitude (it was a little better when my microwave decided to come back to life, too).



I don't think that the challenge is in just the constant or in the change; I think it's in both. If our family woke up everyday and was as frustrated by situations and circumstance like I was yesterday, we'd be in big trouble. However, we're constantly being given new chances, new days. Some things we just have to get used to, like the call to prayer and the constant overall noise in the air. Other things we can at least be proactive about, like keeping mosquitoes at bay with sprays and bed-netting. Some other things take care of themselves, like the electricity and water supplies (actually, I think that somebody must take care of that...). It's how we look at what life hands us and how we respond that will make or break us. It's our prayer that these things will strengthen Tris and I as individuals, and that they will provide our children with the skills and tools that they need to live as joyful, thankful Christian adults one day.

By the way, I did end up driving to the mall yesterday, with Dalenea's help. It wasn't that bad; trying to merge from the far right to the far left across 5 lanes in a window opportunity of about 100 feet was the biggest challenge, but my co-pilot directed me.

Thanks for reading.

Umbrellas in the Pool

Posts are fewer and further apart, not because we have forgotten, but because life has evened out at this point. This weekend is when the first of the car races has begun. It's not the Grand Prix; that's been postponed until November 2009. I think they are the same caliber of racers that bomb around the course at Saratoga. We could hear the cars/motorbikes racing from our house, and I remember now that I actually love the sound of cars racing, and I love the thrill of watching the race. We never did get to see the President of Indonesia; apparently he cancelled late last week. That was a little disappointing, but that seems to be the way the cookie crumbles around here.

We went to the school pool today, and a bunch of other families showed up as well. This is something I love about the community we are surrounded by. If you put the word out, you can pull some kind of gathering or party together in a matter of hours. What was funny about today (and I wish I had had my camera there) is that although it rained, everybody kept swimming. There was no thunder or lightening, so regardless of the rain, the fun still went on. I had chosen not to swim and so was in shorts and a top, sitting on a chair in the shallow end. It wasn't hot today, so I didn't need to cool down. I was just trying to avoid some nasty black and white ants that kept biting my feet! When it started raining I didn't want to get wet so we put up our umbrella. It was a funny photo-op, some of us sitting in the water with an umbrella. Or, maybe you just had to be there.

If there's anything you'd like to know about this place, our lives, the lives around us, please let us know.

Thanks for reading.

Sama setiap hari

Again, no photos. No exciting news. Computer is dead and life is continuing around here as it does every week. Up at 5:30, everyone off to school while I get ready for my day. Everyone home from their various activities around 5, delicious dinner made by Sri on the table by 5:30. American Idol has become an attraction once again around our house and we try to invite someone to watch it with us. This inspires me to bake a little, too. Kind of like lifegroup without the commitment, study, discussion and worship. Hmmm, I guess it's really a tv night with friends and baking.

I've often commented on the beauty of our village that we live in. It's quite a classy looking place and it's quite pleasant to drive within central Lippo. Unfortunately, that is not quite the case anymore. A few months ago the heads of the village put into action a plan that was rumoured around for a while; they began building a car race course out of Lippo's main roads. New roads have been cleared and paved, main roads have been barricaded off with big cement barricades and traffic has been detoured from the main road. Today my friend and I were in a 2 lane strip, merging into a 3 lane strip, heading towards and area that bottlenecked into one lane...traffic lately has been quite frustrating. The big race was supposed to be this weekend but due to various events has been postponed until late this year. There will still be racing between now and then, and the first race is this Saturday. The exciting buzz around is that on Sunday the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will be in Lippo. Students from SPH are invited with their parents. Not sure if we're going but it would be a neat experience. Rumour has it that because of all the races, the barricades are here to stay. Our main question, one that will be answered within the week, is how will we get anywhere while the races are on? They race right past the front of each taman. It'll kind of be like getting caught in the snow...if you have enough food, water and propane it should all be fine. That and friends to hang with.

Thanks for reading.

Abigail's Turn!

Considering that the one who usually writes this blog has been relatively cooped up in the house for the last few weeks, we've assigned a temporary new writer. This time Abby's gonna give it a go, and the lovely attitude that she's displaying as we force her to do this is absolutely incredible. Right, Abby? Anyways, here goes:

I am being FORCED to write this. Sadly.
I started basketball last Tuesday. A lot of my friends also joined, so it's really fun, plus we have miss Hannah as a coach. Mom an I just made apple crisp. We just discovered that apples and brown sugar taste DELISH! That's all... Bye!