Hiawatha Rail-Trails in Montana/Idaho

 So much has happened on our road trip, and there's a lot of interesting things to write about.  However, today was a pretty cool day and I'd like to share it with you.  We're here in Couer D'Alene, Idaho, staying with our friends Sheldon and Jamie Nord.  They're friends we met in Indonesia, who moved away last year, and who, honestly, I thought I may never see again.  Thankfully I was wrong, and they are the last visit on our 2 province, 3 state road trip.

This morning all 6 of us woke up early, ate breakfast, and piled into a bike-laden GMC truck.  We drove 1.5 hours up into the mountains, right along the Montana-Idaho border, and rented 3 more bikes so that we could ride the Hiawatha Rail Trails.  We knew a few things to expect, such as we needed to bring a jacket, and that we'd be riding through old railway tunnels.  There were a few things we weren't aware of and, if you're planning on heading to these trails, should really know.  They are:

#1.  The first tunnel is very cold and dark (ie/  you cannot see).  You are given bikes lamps with the rentals but make sure that you bring your own if you're riding your own bike.  Also, a headlamp is a great idea.  One guy we saw had a spot light tied to his bike and we were all jealous.

ready to go through the first tunnel:  1.7 miles long

#2.  Bring warm clothes for the first tunnel.  The temperature was an even 35 degrees F (2.5 degrees C) throughout, and apparently that temperature doesn't change throughout the seasons.  I'd suggest thigh covering shorts.

#3.  Bring a small pack to carry the extra gloves you may want for the first tunnel, and a good amount of water and snacks.  You will want to stop and snack because it's at least 2 hours down the mountain (yes, down...wonderful for the knees!).  Once you're at the bottom you have the option to wait for a shuttle ($9 per adult and must prepay), and if you're hungry it's a bit of a bummer if the shuttle line up is long.  Fortunately our wait was minimal today.

a deer drinking from dripping water

#4.  I cannot wear contacts and so I had to stop at each dark tunnel and change from rx sunglasses to regular glasses.  If you wear glasses and have either flip-up sunglasses or magnetic ones, I suggest you wear them.  It'll be less frustrating for the rest of the gang.

The ride itself was about 2-2.5 hours if you keep a steady pace.  We stopped a lot for photo opportunities, snacks, breaks for our sore bottoms and wrists (rather bumpy sometimes).  I was very impressed with the range of ages that were there.  We saw some grandparents and some really little guys, too.

Apparently today was a record day for bikers, yet we still enjoyed a peaceful ride.  Unfortunately our first ride through the 1.7 mile tunnel was rather disturbing because just behind us rode a group of screaming teenagers.  They screamed the whole 1.7 miles.  On the way back you get dropped off just outside of this tunnel by the shuttle bus, and you return to your vehicle after one last tunnel ride.  The second time through was peaceful and it even seemed a lot warmer, although it is said, like I mentioned before, the temperature doesn't change inside the tunnels.

 We saw a lot of wild animals on this trip, and Matt and Sheldon actually saw a mother moose with her brand new calf walk right in front of them.  She was about 30 meters away and by the time Matt whipped out his camera they were gone.  On the shuttle ride home we saw one in a marsh but it was too far away for photos.  We also saw a deer, a chipmunk, some beaver dams, and a few waterfalls.  If you look at the chipmunk photo, we crossed the trestle in the distant background.

We did it!!

The ride was 15 miles long, with 10 tunnels (some only a few hundred feet and a few others you need a light on to see in) and 7 trestles.  It pretty much took us the whole day to get to the rental shop (at the Look Out Pass ski resort), rent bikes, get to the Hiawatha trail, ride the trail, eat lunch, return the bikes and head home.  We did stop over in the small historic town of Wallace (an interesting history if you'd like to google it) and had a look around and an ice cream.  Apparently, it's the center of the universe.

What a perfect day!

Thanks for reading.

Alberta Bound

Candace and Nathan cutting their Mario cake

It's been two weeks since we arrived in Canada, and we've done a good job of vacationing.  The weather hasn't been too bad, not nearly as cold as last year but still not super sunny either.  I usually walk around with a light jacket on each day, so that's a bit of a treat after spending the last year trying to wear as little as possible while still being acceptable in public.  So far on our trip we've seen both sets of parents and we've been able to get a few dinners/coffee dates with a few friends.

lovely Dale

The highlight of our quick, 4 day return to Vancouver Island, other than reuniting with family and watching the Canucks lose to Boston, was watching a good friend Candace get married to a guy who seems just perfect for her.  They're quite two peas in a pod, and it's a delight to see her happily skipping off into the sunset with the man she loves, and didn't even know existed this time last year.  Sadly, although I was able to visit with my dear friend Dale (Candace's Aunty Dale) at the wedding, our paths won't cross again this trip home and that makes me sad.  On a happy note, I was able to meet and quiz my friend Rebes' new husband Wayne, giving him the friend-5th-degree, which he passed with flying colours.  Again, sadly, I will not see Rebes again for a long time as she's moved from the Island as well.  Thankfully, all three of the above mentioned women have spent some time in Indonesia and we have some wonderful memories and photos for me to look at whenever I miss them.

Last year I had fun camping with some girlfriends for my 40th, but with time and circumstance being the way that they are, we settled this year for a girlie, reminiscent-of-7th grade, sleeping-on-foamies-on-the-cement-floor-of-the-basement sleepover.  Times have changed since the 7th grade, and after a delicious steak dinner, a cooler or two, and some intense catch-up chatting, we were all fast asleep before midnight.  My goal is to one day all meet in Bali and we can chat non-stop for a week!

the cousins after a long walk

hanging in the hot tub

The last week has been spent in Cloverdale, visiting my husband's family and mostly just hanging out.  This year our intent is to just be with others, rather than always going, and overall we've done that quite nicely.  We've gone on long forest walks, explored the birthplace of British Columbia (Fort Langley--gotta get some Canadian history in my kids while I still can!!), gone for coffee and just hung out in the back yard.  I have to admit, I've gone shopping a few times, much more than last year, and it's been difficult to say no to all the good things that jump out at me ALL over the place.  Did Value Village twice and a few bookstores as well...very successful but not sure how we'll get it all home.

cousins panning for gold in Fort Langley

Today we're all sleeping in on the day we should be running around getting packed up.  In 2 hours we're expected to be at the Rod and Gun Club for a special events day, and after 2 hours of shooting fun our family of 4 will head off down the highway, take a left towards Alberta, a few zigs and zags and we'll be at the foot of the Rocky Mountains before we know it.  Tomorrow we explore the mountains, Banff and whatever else comes our way.  After that we'll head to my brother's house in Red Deer (I'm so excited!), down to cousins in Calgary and then further south to Idaho to visit friends we met in Indonesia.  This is a trip I'd never thought we'd take and so I am very excited about it, and about seeing all the people we'll get to visit.

Once we head back to Canada we'll keep on driving and will start the 3rd leg of our journey in Campbell river with my family. At this point the thought of returning to Indonesia overwhelms me, not because it's a negative thing, but because there's still so much to see and do before we pulang (head home).  Instead of stressing, I'm going to sit in the passenger seat of our van, watch the beautiful scenery whiz by, enjoy time with family and friends, and keep up the constant eating that I've done since I arrived.

Thanks for reading!

Tomahon, North Sulawesi

Ok, one month later, life gets going fast, it's almost time for summer break and I still haven't written anything about the second leg of our North Sulawesi journey into the mountains.  It was a 2 night stay, cooler than on the island, and the landscape, outside of 'overall tropical', was completely different.  My favourite landscape photo was of a volcano we stayed near.  In the early morning the moon was slowly sinking down the blue sky while the sun worked its way upwards, and I attempted to get a nice, clean shot of it all.  In doing so, I intentionally kept out a plume of yucky brown smoke that just made the photo a little 'dirtier.'  Later, as I looked at our friend Jeff's photos of the same mountain on that same morning, I realized I had missed out on an opportunity to photograph the volcano smoking...I thought the smoke was from a nearby village.  Duh.

Our transfer from Bunaken to Manado's port was quite uneventful, which is always good when you're on water, but we did see a unique sight at the port itself.  Yellowfin tunas were being transported from a boat to a small truck, and it was quite something to see young guys haul 100 kg frozen tuna onto their shoulders, skirt up a skinny, worn wooden plank and plop the frozen fish into the truck.  I've seen big salmon and West Coat fish, but these were BIG.

Once in the mountains, we took advantage of the terrain and went white water rafting.  That, by far, was my favourite part of this trip.  I think I grinned the whole way down the river and then some.  That was a first for me, as was peering over the edge of a volcano into the crater below.  That didn't thrill me nearly as much as the hike up the volcano, with the fields of varying crops on all sides, in various shades of greens and browns.  Absolutely lovely!

Of course, how can you get the full feeling of a place unless you go shopping?  Just before our trip up the volcano, we needed to find 3 year old Caleb a pair of shoes, as he lost the only ones he had.  As his parents and the rest of the gang dug through shoes, chose the perfect pair, and dickered for a good price, Matthew and I wandered around and took a bunch of photos.  My favourite 'person' photo was this one of an older woman in the market.  She was quite willing to pose for me, although it's the candid shot of her than I like the best.  If ever I had to take a survey, I think that Sulawesi is by far the most friendly place to visit in Indonesia (with Jogjakarta a close 2nd), and this woman epitomizes that for me.

There was more to our trip in the mountains, with a hike into a waterfall, free massages for each cabin, dinner with friends and even a movie channel in the villa!
It was a super "Spring" break for our family, and traveling with other families was a great way to go.  Indonesia is such a huge country and we'd like to experience a bit of every part of it, so who knows if we'll ever go back to Sulawesi.  I hope that sometime in the future we'll have another opportunity, and if you're thinking of visiting, I highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading.

Bunaken Beach Resort

Note:  This post was started on Monday, finished on Tuesday...
Today is the last day of "Spring Break" here in Lippo Village, and kids all over are scrambling to finish their homework.  In my home there's a lot of printing off the internet, cutting and gluing as posters are assembled to be handed in tomorrow.  The hot season seems to have descended upon us and so it's actually nice to be indoors, with all the doors closed and the a/c on, listening to the kids work hard.  Tris has just returned from a golf game and he and I are simply savouring the last few hours of idleness.  We did go on a trip for the holidays, but returned with 4 days of freedom remaining.  Lots of time to continue the relaxing we started in North Sulawesi.

Our trip began on my mom's birthday, April 16th (unfortunately mom was still in Canada though).  We flew out with the Weedas and the Mercers (the latter would head to the same destinations, only mirrored dates) and landed in Manado in the evening.  Although it was dark and I was a bit apprehensive of boating at night, our ride to Bunaken Island was a dream.  It was a clear, starry night with a full moon and puffy white clouds.  As we sat on the roof of the wooden vessel, we all chatted and laughed and reminded each other that this was truly a night to glue into our memory banks.

On the other side, we were welcomed by Bunaken Beach Resort staff who were running about preparing for their boss' wedding, to be held the next day.  At one point we spoke with the bride-to-be about my unique dietary needs and she seemed as calm as the ocean we'd just rode in on.  After a long travel day, the Whites and Weedas all headed to their rooms (Lehmans had arrived earlier and were already asleep) and under a single sheet each, feel asleep to silence.

The next day, sitting in front of Tris' and my cement hut, overlooking the ocean and the mountains beyond (for any West Coast Canadians reading, it was very much like being in the Quatsino Sound area), I called my mom to wish her a happy birthday.   I described where I was sitting as a little piece of "primitive paradise," not only because of the beauty but because of the quiet.  That was all to change for a little while.

At around 7 am the wedding sound system was set up, and the man in charge of the 12-speaker sound system began to adjust for the 2 pm wedding.  After a few hours of what sounded like "serenitY, serenitY, serenitY" (how ironic) coming through the speakers, the volume was increased and they began to play pop songs. Not bad, except that when the actual wedding occurred, our entire group was so overwhelmed with the noise (the volume was increased even more during the wedding, we're sure of it) that instead of participating as originally intended, we headed off to the nearby village for some quiet.  So much for our anticipated first day of laying on the beach, listening to people chatting, babies crying (little Aliya just turned one and we anticipated some baby noises on this trip) and watching the tide go out.  We were able to snorkel a little, though it was awkward walking through the guests in our bathing suits and gear to get to the ocean. I admit that I was a little disappointed, because had the volume been lower, we all agreed later that it would have been fun to head into the wedding crowd, chat with the guests, and to eat some of the buffet (but not the dog-rat stew!). Thankfully, true to the resort host's word, the party ended at 6:30 and we were able to eat wedding buffet leftovers in quiet.

Aside from the unanticipated wedding, we enjoyed the resort. The adults (except the Lehmans with their little ones) had their 'love huts' along the ocean, complete with a/c, fans, a hammock and further out, an area with a table & deck chairs to call their own, the boys their own room, and Abby and Hope had theirs (ok, a little scary for mom to have Abby in a room on her own but everyone else was fine with it so I went with the flow.  All went just fine, just like all the other adults said it would).  The snorkeling was outstanding.  As you swam out from the beach the water was incredibly warm, then it cooled a bit and coral appeared. Further out the coral dropped off into nothingness.  Mysteriously freaky.  I missed the sea turtles but others said that they saw them hanging around the drop off.

There was one time that was a bit scary, and that was when Janet, while snorkeling alongside me, said she had tingling all down her right leg and arm.  After a few moments of indecision, we headed back just in case it was something medical (we hate to admit it but we're all getting to the age where we have to consider that tingling may be more than just a result of sitting on your feet too long!).  Once on land, she found she had swollen patches along her arm and leg.  Turns out that she had swum through a cloud of little electric-blue plankton and had a reaction to their stings.  We all had our own turns swimming through them but there were no further reactions.  Regrettably, although they were beautiful, I never stuck around long enough to inspect them.

Bunaken is a small island with very little to do but relax.  The options are snorkeling, boating, taking a glass bottomed boat out to the reefs (which we did), scuba diving, walking or riding a motorcycle to either end of the village, and reading.  If you need anything to eat, there aren't any warungs (small roadside stands) or hotel restaurants or anything.  Very much a camping atmosphere so if you don't like roughing it a bit, this isn't a good place to go.  However, if you are like our family of four and you like to experience life quite simply, this resort was perfect.  The food was simple, served on time, and there were always cold drinks on hand.  The rooms were clean enough with very basic plumbing and no hot water.  The staff were helpful--especially when our three teenage boys got lost (a different post to come)--and although I think I freaked them out with my Celiac diet, they tried to accommodate our needs whenever we brought any up.

Our stay lasted 3 days and 3 nights, and by the time it was time to go, we were looking forward to our next stop:  the cool mountains and Highlands Resort, Kinilow (or Tomohon)..  We packed up by 9 am, loaded up the wooden boat and headed back to Manado.

Singapore

I'm standing at a computer in the Singapore airport, with 6:36 minutes remaining until I time out.  This is one of the few times I've traveled completely alone and it's a bit of an adventure, but mostly it's just a lot of waiting.  I look around and really appreciate the people around me.  If I ever thought Vancouver was a melting pot, Singapore is a huge stew.  There are more nations represented here than I've ever seen elsewhere, except maybe Expo '86, but back then I wasn't really as aware of the people around me as I was of the people I was with (boys).  I'm standing here and the languages I recognize are (very general) Indian, Chinese, English, Singaporean (it's a wonderful sing-song English that deserves a classification of it's own-lah).  Throughout the day I've heard some European languages and some Asian ones I haven't been able to identify.
Three minutes left and so it's time to close.  I have reports on my 5 day excursion to Singapore, not terribly exciting because it was medically-based, but I did meet some wonderful people along the way.
Thanks for reading.

Christmas in Germany

How do you describe a 3 week trip in one blog post? Even two? My shortest description of our Christmas trip this year is: cold, white, and full. This December, after months of anticipation, we packed our bags and headed to Germany. Hauzenberg, Germany, to be exact. That's the little village where Tris' sister, Jen, her husband Christian, and their two boys, Tristian and Nathaniel live. Our goal wasn't to see Europe, but to visit with our family, to get to know our nephews better, and to see how our European branch of the family lives. It had been years since we saw each other, but as it goes with ones you love, as soon as we got there it felt like time just melted away. Of course the boys had grown, and to Jen, my own children had been stolen away and replaced by a tall, lanky, young man and a thin, curly-haired thirteen year old with a contagious laugh.

Our journey began and, thankfully, ended uneventfully. The potential for closed airports,

lost luggage and uncooperative weather bypassed us, although when we arrived we heard that many others weren't so lucky. Mostly we stayed around the village, shopped around and drove to outlying shops and areas of interest. One of our local favourites was the museum, which is in a castle overlooking Passau (the nearest city) and 3 rivers, with the main one being the Danube. Another was the main Catholic Church in Passau, where we saw the kinds of ceilings and windows that people from Canada don't actually see without stepping onto an airplane and flying for hours.

We did spend a day in Salzburg, Austria where we went to Mozart's cafe (next to his birthplace) and to a Christkindlmarkt, or an outdoor Christmas market. One other afternoon we drove inside the Czech Republic, where we went to an outdoor market and then went to lunch. It was very interesting to compare the differences between these two places with Germany, although all three were similar in that they were COLD.

One of our favourite family days was when all 8 of us piled onto the train and headed to Munich. This is where Tris was born and it was kind of fun to go and take photos in front of the hospital where it all started for him.

We visited a huge palace (too big to be called a castle) as well, and went into old Munich (Marianplatz). Because of the weather so many things were closed, so our hope is to return in the summertime. However, what other time of the year can you slide on a frozen canal than in the dead of winter??

I think that the best thing that we did, though, was to just hang out in the living room and kitchen, staring out the window at the snowy, white world outside, usually drinking something (tea, coffee or beer were the main choices). At one point all four kids were on the floor in the kitchen, cuddled up in the corner. Not sure why THAT spot, but maybe that's where the sun was shining at the time:) For our family, it was fun to have younger kids around; we'd forgotten how much life 7 and 9 year olds have. Matthew was quite the hero...some mornings the boys would run out of their room and say "where's Matthew??" before even a good morning. They love Abby but unfortunately, she's the "girl cousin" and you know what they say..."birds of a feather..."

Coming back to Indonesia was a sad time for us, because we know that with school and work schedules in the 3 different countries (Germany, Indonesia and Canada) our paths may not

cross in person for a long time. We feel really blessed that we were able to go and stay with Jen and Christian and the boys, and to experience an authentic German Christmas Eve (and we had a Canadian Christmas morning, too!), lots and lots of delicious Bavarian food and drink, and to spend time with our family.

Thanks for reading.

ps. we're unable to post a lot of photos on blogspot, but if you'd like to see more, there's a bunch in my facebook albums.

Happy warm, lazy, sunny Saturday morning! It's 8:24 am, everyone here seems to be asleep (Tris is at the gym) and I am enjoying a little quiet time. Great time to finish up the last of a few books and to check out what's going on in the lives of my friends/family via blogs and Facebook. I love updates and finding out what's going on in the lives of those I love, whether it's good or bad.

Rebecca arrived safely on Tuesday, a little tired but ready to enjoy her Indo experience. Two days earlier I arrived safely home from Jambi and am so very thankful that I went. I enjoyed meeting a variety of women from the Jakarta area, all speakers at the seminar held in Jambi by an incredibly brave Australian woman named Jenny. People keep asking why I went, and really, I just wanted to see the area and to

be able to say I've been t

o Sumatra. During the semina

r on Saturday I was blessed with a hospital car and driver, and although

there is very little to see in Jambi, according to the locals, just shopping in the traditional market and driving alongside one of the largest rivers in Indonesia was a treat. I was able to haggle down the price of a great wicker

picnic basket (long search finally ends here) in the market, and to practice my language skills because NO ONE spoke English during my excursion. I love the pressure of having to speak Indonesian. The photo is of an incredibly ancient charcoal-heated iron being used to iron newly made pants. This was a bit of an assembly line held in a very dark, dingy little alley. "Sweatshop" is not an inappropriate name by any means.

During one ironic moment at the end of my trip, Jenny, our hostess, commented on my time away from the rest of the girls and told me how "brave" I was for going out alone (yeah, alone with the driver along by my side). I shook my head, because here is a woman who has moved alone (kids have moved back to Australia) to a city where very few people speak English and even fewer are foreigners. She's taken on the task of heading up the hospital and all of the changes, physical and intellectual, some even cultural, that need to take place. SHE called me brave! There were so many heartbreaking stories of people choosing not to get medical help simply because of a lack of money, lack of knowledge or poor choices made by families regarding an ailing family member. To do all that she does and also have to face the realities of human beings in pain and sometime dying is incredible, and I think she deserves a medal. A really big one.

I would return to visit Jambi in a heartbeat, but there are so many other wonderful, in

triguing places in Indonesia that I also want to experience. Right now, while Rebecca is here, I'll try and show her all of my nearby favourites. We have no plans to travel anywhere via airplane or train, but I do hope to stick her in a bajai (a little tin can on wheels) in Jakarta, maybe a becak in a nearby village, and at least one trip to the local salon on an ojek, the motorcycle-taxi that everyone needs to take at least once.

Thanks for reading.

photo: Janet and I leaving Jambi with our new friends Rose (pink) and Erin (black)

Five weeks came and went, and Tris and Sunny are now in wintery Germany visiting Christian, Jen (Tris' sister) and their boys. Within a 48 hour period Tris and Sunny went from a low of 26 degrees to minus whatever. We came to the conclusion here that minus ANYTHING is cold. They've gone from swimming in the school pool to sledding with Jen's boys. Word on the street is that the 23 degrees experienced here a few mornings ago was one of the coldest mornings ever experienced by one of our longer-term teachers here. A mere 23 degrees!!!

It's hard to know what to pack into little posting about this last month.

We had an incredible visit, and I've posted a few photos on Facebook to

give an idea of what we did with the

"other" Mr. & Mrs. White. Tris and Sunny left us with a few more photos before they left. One Sunday we met with our driver and his family, and had an ice cream at the mall. That's everybody but Tris (at home) and I (photographer) in the photo. I think Tris and Sunny, like all visitors to our home previously, have decided that they'd like to get a driver of their own when they return home. The ice cream was one way they showed Haris their appreciation, and it was another way to connect with the culture a little bit more, even if the mall is still inside the Lippo Bubble. Abby, Haris and I all took turns translating in what you could call "Englonesian" and we got along ok

ay.

In the waterfall photo, the one with a half-naked Tris is us standing before the waterfall I mentioned previously. I was in my glory. When I played all the photos as a slide show, I used the Rebecca St. James song "God of Wonders," and the chorus, God of wonders, came along just as this photo did. Good timing. Something as powerful and beautiful is truly a witness to the creativity of God. When you haven't seen or experienced anything like it for 2 years it becomes even more beautiful.

One more shot before I head to bed (to be continued in the near future) there's one more photo I like. It's Haris (here's the driver again...a very appreciated part of our new lifestyle) washing our car before we head

home from Puncak. In Lippo we live in what is pretty much a plain, and there are very few mountains to view, and those only in the far distance on a very clear day. Here we are right in the mountains, and this is the view from the breakfast table. It's refreshing and I think it's quite breathtaking. The air that flows into the room is incredibly clean, even if a bit of smoke wafts in as well. I love the mountains and all that they're about. It looks warm in this photo because of the palm trees, but it was really quite cold. Sock-wearing, long sleeves at night and maybe even jeans cold. We soaked it into our bones and used the cool later on in the day when we drove in the oven that is Jakarta.

Thanks for reading.

Happy New Year 2010

Wow, life just keeps on going even when you don't blog:) Since my last posting we've crammed a lot of "holiday" into our days, starting with Christmas events around town and school, on to Bali and the little island of Lembongan, home again and then a few nights in the mountains at Puncak. Tris and I head into Jakarta for a one night's stay tonight (it's his birthday on Sunday) and school starts on Monday. This is our last week with Tris and Sunny and so we will be slowly easing ourselves into routine once again.

It was Abby's 12th birthday on December 18 and as you can see, she's no baby girl anymore. We're thoroughly enjoying both Matt and Abby as they grow and mature. It

is hard to see my babies grow up but such a joy to see them making their own decisions and

choosing their own style (even if it's not skirts for Abby like I'd like), and watching them test out their personal style of humour and of communication. What is weird is when we see a little of Tris and I in them. I watch Matthew gesticulate (that was the word of the day yesterday on igoogle...) and think...that's my mom...that's ME! Watching Grandpa Tris and (my) Tris walk side by side, each with their hands in their beige short pockets, kind of leaning forward into the nonexistent wind, inspires me to have Matthew walk over to them to ask them a question. In him I see the same walk, the same posture, and it makes me grin.

Abby looks so much like her dad (so much so that my automatic face recognition program in my mac confuses Abby and Tris when Abby's hair is pulled back), and has a sharp, witty sense of humour that is her own, but we can see it 'tainted' with both Tris and my sarcasm and perspective on life. Like I said, we're enjoying watching them mature, whatever the pace may be.

I'll give the highlights of our last

month. Tris and Sunny arrived Dec 11th and in our first week we visited a slum area with Kara

waci Ladies, watched my husband and kids perform at the school Christmas concert (and yes, it was called a Christmas concert...no harvest celebrations here), shopped in a local market, had cookies and tea--lots of tea--and rested. On the following Saturday we headed to Bali, where, on

the first day, we met the Comrie family at Waterbom (waterslides).

After sliding and sleeping all day we headed to Laguna Spa and Resort. Very, very nice. We stayed there over Christmas and although we didn't officially celebrate Christmas there (that was Jan 30th for us) we did invite the Comries and Carla (Judy's sister)

to join us for an incredible Christmas breakfast buffet at our hotel. The photo of Matthew feeding a squirrel shows what our location at this hotel was like. We could choose from 8 different swimming pools, or we could wander down to the beach and swim or sleep. The hut in the left hand corner is a massage hut, which was really tempting, but after our $5 massages here in Lippo, we couldn't bring ourselves to pay the asking $70. After six days of eating, sleeping, reading, swimming and chatting over tea (always tea), we headed to Lembongan Island, one I've mentioned before in July's postings.

Our stay at Lembongan was very different from Laguna Resort, but wonderful just the same. One day the kids and I walked 20 minutes into the interior village and bought some water at a small outdoor, family-owned shop. Instead of drinking down the water and walking on, we got to chatting with one of the sons of the shop owner and in turn met his two children. They didn't know much English so we were able to practice our Indonesian. Eventually a small group of village boys came along with a few English instruction books and a child's dictionary, so we went over the words with them and had an impromptu English-Indonesian language class.

Definitely a highlight for me.

The next day all six of us walked down to the lower, seaside part of the village. Here a bunch of local kids were swimming in the rising tide, splashing and laughing right up to the moment four white (some whiter than others) foreigners jumped into the ocean with them. It was then that the laughing stopped, for a moment, while the kids stared at my family (minus me, the photographer) and my mom in law (Tris Sr. watched, too). Once

the kids got over the shock, they went back to what they were doing, and some even warmed up to Abby and Sunny enough to chat with them. After most of the gang climbed out, Tris sat

down among a bunch of boys lined up along the ledge of a house and began to chat with them, again using his Indonesian. Just prior to him sitting down, I took a photo of these boys,

but didn't pay much attention. Check out the greeting the middle kid is giving me (middle finger salute). It was actually this same "friendly" kid who did most of the talking to Tris once he sat down. Again, another highlight. This time, I didn't do any talking, but it was neat to watch the interaction between my family members and the local kids. It was neat to hear Tris

speaking Indonesian as well.

After four days on Lembongan we took a small boat to Bali, got picked up by a transport van and then flied home. I have to admit that arriving home to a decorated house when Christmas has come and gone definitely sinks the emotions

for a bit. However, I determined to celebrate Christmas as typically as possible. Once next morning's breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sweet potato and eggs was on the table, presents were unwrapped and stacked in various corners, and Bruce Cockburn's Christmas cd was playing a Huron Christmas Carol (as well as other Christmassy tunes), it felt like Christmas, if only for a few hours. I must admit, once the dishes were finished, courtesy of our helper Ami....hallelujah for Ami and not having to wash up the Christmas morning dishes ourselves...I tackled the decorations and had the place back to normal by 3 in the afternoon.

It was Sunny's (mom in law) birthday on the 4th and we celebrated by taking her and Tris Sr. to the Marriott international buffet. The food was incredible and we had a lot of fun. Sunny thoroughly enjoyed celebrating her birthday this way. On her actual birthday we went and watched Avatar in 3d. Interesting movie.

Since then, we've had some quiet days, lots of reading and eating again, and then we headed to Puncak. We spent 2 nights in the mountain villa, accompanied by our neighbours (and fellow SPH teachers) the Mercer family. It's the first time we've spent 2 nights up there and so it was nice to have one full day to explore, and explore we did. We found a 200 ft waterfall that we had to hike in to see, and it was so refreshing and breezy and cold! Minus the palm trees and huge vegetation, it was a little taste of home.

That brings us up to date, with the exception of the news that I'm officially a university student (after 17 years) again. A very scary but

thoroughly exciting thought. Talk about procrastination...I thought, prayed, cried (seriously), almost threw up from anxiety a couple of times I'm sure, and finally decided that it was time to stop mulling it over and just do it. Now it's paid and I'm enrolled and there's no turning back. Along with this decision came a wonderful Macbook Pro laptop that I'm

typing on right now and LOVING it. There are a few quirks to figure out, but time and other people's knowledge (DALE!) will get me by.

This posting will have taken some time to get through, but I have time and the means to write so I thought I'd get in as much as possible. Now I'm off to Jakarta on a golf club hunting date with my husband (surfing is a thing of the past...). To be left-handed in Indonesia is very unique (it's the 'dirty' hand in this culture) and so Tris, a lefty, is having difficulty buying clubs. We'll check out a few stores and then spend the night in the city.

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.

Lazy Sunday Morning

It's a lazy Sunday morning here at the White house. Tris went back to work Friday after being off for 9 work days, and the kids had their usual heavy weekly work load for school. Sundays in Canada always involved church in the morning and usually something social or at least outdoors later, so our Sundays here are so much longer. Now we head to church in Jakarta on Saturday nights, and Sundays we mostly just rest, rest and rest some more, except for ultimate frisbee at 4.

For the past two weekends we've had speakers from the Ravi Zacharias ministries (North America) come and speak at church, and they've been really challenging. I've been challenged in the area of forgiveness (last week) and simply looking to God's word on a daily basis for wisdom and strength (this Saturday night). These are reoccuring themes that come from the pulpit, but typically what comes from the pulpit usually coincides with what's going on in our personal lives...ever find that? I don't believe in coincidence. I do believe that God loves to talk to us and wants us to just listen to what He has to say. It's sometimes through the bible, sometimes through circumstance and sometimes in ways that He knows will register with us.

Our update on Tris is a good one. He went to physio on Thursday for the first time since the surgery, and although there are a few things he has to work on, the prognosis seems good. This morning he went to the pool to allow his right arm to float on the water's surface; he's just working now at strengthening (read: gaining some basic muscle strength) his arm muscles. He still has pain but it's more because the atrophied muscles are tired, so as he strengthens his entire body he should find more relief.

We are now in the middle of Ramadhan. I don't find that the calls to prayer are nearly as loud this year as they were last year. It is difficult to remember not to eat or drink in public, but we're in the 2nd half of the month and I believe the fasting ends around the 21st of September. After that every muslim it seems goes back to their village of origin. Not a time to be travelling. Originally we'd booked a homestay in the city of Jogja (where I went with Dale) during the holidays for a language school, but we've since cancelled because of Tris' shoulder. Friends who have lived here for years have reassured us that we REALLY didn't want to be in Jogja at this time. Apparently it's a major muslim area and it gets incredibly crowded during this time. Matt's opinion on going to language school during the holidays was not the most positive; we've come to the conclusion that he'd probably rather stick a hot needle in his eye. Needless to say, although we haven't yet broken the news to him, he'll be glad to stay put.

Thanks for reading!

Tris is Home

Tris about 5 hours after surgery.

What is normal? The Oxford Canadian Dictionary say it's "1. regular, typical, usual. 2. physically or mentally sound. 3. average." Great definition of what was NOT my day. It wasn't full of adventure, but it was full of new experiences. I woke up in a Singapore hotel, alone in my room, an experience I have never had in my 39 years. I, a grown woman of 39 years, had never stayed completely alone in a hotel and then eaten breakfast on my own. What did I learn? I learned that I don't mind the sleeping part, but it's not fun searching for a good breakfast in a foreign country, to be eaten alone. At least they spoke English in Singapore.

After breakfast I went to pick up Tris from the hospital. It took a while to be discharged (a peak at the bill...$16 000 Singapore dollars for the medical bill...better suck up the whining about insurance not covering our travel/accommodation costs) but we were speeding down a spotless Singapore highway by 8:30 am. After one attempt to drop us off at the wrong terminal, our taxi driver got us to the correct one ($25 Singapore later versus the approximately $4 it would have cost us to take the subway if all had been normal).

A little bit of comedy always occurs during travels, and ours was that our airline ticket counter agent took quite a long time to book us the 'perfect' seat for Tris so that he wouldn't have his arm/shoulder banged. We ended up in the very back row, no complaint on our part, with an empty seat between us as a buffer. The funny bit? Of the potential 186 seats in our plane, probably 40 were taken up, and all at the front. Life is always good for a chuckle.



Tris in the terminal...looks much nicer with a colourful shirt on and no tubes sticking out of him. Funny that.

The plane ride itself was mostly uneventful, except for two rather bumpy sessions of turbulence. Maybe it was just a practice session of the later earthquake we were to experience once we got home. I was reading on the couch and I saw Candace's foot touching same couch. When the sofa started jiggling of course the first thought to pop into my head was "she can sure move the couch with her foot!" Then I realized her leg wasn't moving. We conferenced and decided we'd best get into a safe position (which here is probably outside rather than in a cement house). It probably lasted just over a minute, long enough to discuss and analyze, and then it was gone. I've seen on FB that it was a 7.4 but I don't know where the epicenter was. No worries though. Most of you who are reading this live on a similar kind of fault line, so don't fret about us way over here.

We spent the rest of our afternoon just hanging. Wednesdays the kids get out early and so we read and played some games. Not a typical Wednesday but we wanted to keep it low key for Tris for at least a day. He's doing well and any pain he's experiencing is a "hopeful, healing" pain rather than the dull, hopeless ache he's experienced for the last 7 weeks. That's good news!

Thanks for reading.

Surgery's Over and all is well

Well, Tris had his surgery this morning. It lasted an hour and a half at least, and he was pretty out of it when I arrived on the scene. He's got this huge wrap around sling on, and bandages everywhere under it. Once the anesthesia wore off he was in great spirits, especially once he was able to make his right hand and fingers move. That concerned him a bit, but the nurses said he was unable to move them because of all the drugs and painkillers in him. IF he was able to feel them right away that wouldn't have been good. Prognosis of recovery is good. Thanks for your prayers. It's been a very peaceful time.

The surgeon came for a visit in the afternoon and showed Tris a video of the surgery. Needless to say, although I am better able to take blood, a video of someone cutting and stitching my husband was a little too much for me. I was burying my head in a book, just peeking over the top now and then to see what was going on. Tris is excited to show it to his physics kids when they do 'physics medicine' or something like that. At least it's not as weird as my brother Darren's biology teacher in the 1980s, who kept his first child's placenta in a jar of fermaldahyde in the classroom. To tell you the truth, what I saw looked very similar to National Geographic photos of the planet Mars. Bizarre.

I love Singapore. The stores in this area are quite expensive, except for one little 'local' mall right in the middle of the famous shopping haven "Orchard Road." This country is definitely east meets west. Sometimes it seels like Asia and sometimes home. I love to just listen to the Singaporean accent...it's very singsong and beautiful.

We had a chuckle last night when I opened a bar of the hotel soap. It actually had an expiry date and had a line "fat content 89%" on it. Like I'm gonna eat the thing!

Anyways, all is well and we head home tomorrow. Tris and I had a great conversation today about God, his will, destiny, pain and God's discipline. Maybe when I get it all sorted out in my head I'll blog it. I am just thankful, ultimately, that no matter what is going on, my strength and peace comes from God as I trust him. Sometimes I don't want to, but I know it's the only way to go.

Thanks for reading.