Welcome weekend

Congratulation boards are outlined in flowers
and carried to the spot on motorcycles.

Thursday, August 28

I thought I'd record a few blessings, a few updates, and some random pictures today. Enjoy.

W is teaching online so it's great to have internet again. The wi-fi guy came by two days this week. First the phone wasn't working. Then the connection was poor. But W is happy now; all is well because we are online again. That means our Seattle phone works, too. (It's offline during our night, so call if you like.)

Our UK-Singpore-Bandung friends have been a great blessing. It's really fun to be in class and hang out with like-minded people. They make us laugh and share the delights of food and culture with us. They've been here a few months so have a better grasp of how locals function than we do.

Rice fields beside the tracks: the view
from our train last weekend

Someone connected with the seminary gave us a factory-new queen-sized bed. We don't know the people who gave us the gift. Today two men delivered a headboard, box spring and mattress, new pillows and bolsters - and set it up for us. Wow! What a blessing! We've been sleeping on the bed that came with the house. The mattress was worn, but vacuumed and cleaned. We are light sleepers and kept waking up during the night: the whole bed moved when we turned. Hopefully the new bed is sturdier.

Our original bed moves to the guest room. The landlord brought 3 single bed frames and new mattresses over last week. Altogether, we can sleep 10 people (3 couples plus 4 singles in 5 bedrooms and 2 offices). Reminds me of our Montana cabin, which sleeps 19. Somehow hospitality finds us. The rooms in the house are small but interesting.

Our helper comes 3X a week, starting Saturday. She's a little Sundanese lady about my age, who doesn't speak English. W and I speak very little Indonesian. Should be fun. (?!)

A bowlful of goodness at the local food court

Our priority is language school. This week was brutal inside my head. W is amazed that I can't remember names. If words have the same first 2 letters, they look alike to me. And I don't have much of a memory even for unique words or names. (I've even forgotten some of the 10 women I studied for my dissertation.) You can imagine that I may have a hard time learning Indonesian; many words start with me-, men-, mem-, or pe-, pen, or pem... yikes.

Eventually Bahasa Indonesia will make sense, but one of our instructors pours words on words, takes rabbit trails from basic questions, and explains things in complex Indonesian. W and I have begun to "check out" when she strays from the original topic. That helps us focus on what we're learning. W remembers lots of phrases and vocabulary, regardless. I'm swimming in a deep blue sea of kata-kata ("words" - hey, I remembered!)

We're pretty active physically. We average 4-6 miles a day of walking (plus riding 2-4 mini-vans.) Gradually the house floors are emerging under hard scrubbing, the laundry is clean(-er) and tidy(-er), the house fans are whirling (since we dusted them), and the bug population seems less. We moved the dining table to a different spot temporarily because so many black "crumbs" kept dropping on it from the ceiling. W pulled out the stove and lower cabinets for cleaning. (They were loose and just wedged into place.)

We'll probably get the house fogged a few times to take care of co-inhabitants. W caught a baby lizard today and disposed of it after I nuked it with bug spray. We seem to have enough lizards in the house so I am limiting the number who get to share space with us. I continue to get bitten by mosquitos, usually adding 2-3 bites a day. I'm getting used to an itch here and there.

Inside the train, wide comfortable seats

W got some weird rash on his torso this week in Jakarta. We didn't know if it was a badly rinsed shirt, an allergic reaction, or if he was sick. He didn't have a fever and hardly slowed down. He insisted that he preferred not to think about it, so would I quit asking how he was? He's always been a bad (impatient) patient. Lucky me that he hates being fussed over?

The rain is pounding on the clay tiles of the roof as we prepare to sleep (- in a new bed at that; hurrah.) It's the first good rain in a week, and rainy season is apparently coming. So far we haven't seen any leaks.

We get to sleep in tomorrow morning. Usually we're out of the house by 6:45am and don't come back until 3pm or later. I'll be happy to have time to study this weekend. Maybe the mems and pems will start to settle into meanings. Sure hope so!

What's up in your neck of the woods?

Read more:
*Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. Isaiah 65:24 ESV

*Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he
has sent.” John 6:29 ESV

*Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV

Moravian Prayer: Listening Lord, hear us as we pour out the deepest concerns of our hearts before you in prayer. Then, by your grace and mercy, help us to hear and accept your answers. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.