Fresh Perspective

Penny and I were lagging behind....making our way to the bridge. View was breath taking. They are always ahead of me!  The falls from up above Penny and kids The whole family lives for the weekend now.  When we don't have to fight traffic, don't have to sit in class for hours,when we can sleep in until 6 or 6:30, eat pancakes on Sunday with "toppings" (strawberry, blueberry, Carmel or chocolate) and Skype with friends and family (been having poor connections lately).  This Saturday after church we took off for another hike into the mountains.  This time we headed to the base of the water fall.  The children waded in the water....though it is very cold because at night the temperatures are in the 50's. Then Darron saw movement near the top of the water fall.  Ever ready with binoculars in hand he spotted 3 monkeys.  They were eating a fruit in the bushes.  After a while they started scaling down the cliff.  The monkeys b...

Nurses station, Darron is getting his vital's taken to the middle and right. School let out at noon and after eating our tomato, cucumber sandwiches (we have stopped eating at the local eatery) we caught 2 angkots for the Advent Hospital.  Inside we were pleasantly surprised by how clean and lovely everything appeared.  Darron was seen promptly.  The Dr wanted to admit him.  However, I asked if we could see the lab results first.  2 hours later we had the results in hand.....revealing that more than likely the cause is viral.  His labs did not show that he was out of balance with electrolytes.  So we felt comfortable going home.  The Dr gave him 5 different prescriptions to help deal with all the symptoms.  Glad to have the diagnosis.  So the total cost to see the Dr, have lab work done and fill prescriptions was under $50 US dollars. The rooms were impressive. Bored boys = exploring.  View of the hospital street from th...

I'm stepping aside, my house helper has arrived!  Monday I accompanied Darron to the office to clarify that it truly was "me" looking for a house helper.  That must have satisfied the language barriers and cultural differences, because Tuesday I was called to the office to meet "Hensley".  Today, Wednesday, Hensley came and cleaned until the floors glistened.  Can you hear the audible sigh of relief?! I do believe in no time she will have this home whipped into shape.  This has already freed me to do some organizing in other rooms, etc.  In time when Hensley knows the foods we like to eat and different expectations it will be even more freeing.  This is all so new and ALMOST uncomfortable to me.  I am not used to delegating my own families "dirt".  I reliaze that it will be key to my long term survival here in this culture.  Also, it is expected that I as a foreignor will hire someone to help me. Hensley is in her last year of colleg...

We are ninty percent recovered from our "welcome to Indonesia" bug.  Many people have asked "What kind of medicines did you use?"  Charcoal tablets.  They are sold locally.  Called "Norit".  I will not leave home without them from now on.  For those of you who work at Siskin, I am curious what Dr Bowers thinks of charcoal?! : )  Charcoal is  known for its ability to absorb toxins and many other uses.........  more on that later. My dear husband came home from the market on Sunday with not only fruit and Norit, but also fresh roses!  Now it is not like he walked up to a check out stand at some known store but had to bargain in another language for those flowers.  He paid 15,000 rupiah.  I'll let you do the math!  (8,200 Rp per $1)  They are beautiful and have refreshed my spirit. In order for us to be gone from the house 7 hours a day in realtionship to school and then if we have homework, or errands, cleaning/cookin...

5 weeks have passed since our feet hit Indonesian soil.  I have marvelled that we have stayed so well.  Until Thursday mid morning.  I felt so nauseated by our break during school that I laid down during the break.....but Mom's can't get sick , so I pulled myself together and back to class we went.  My favorite teacher kept making me repeat words and picking on me. She was quickly loosing "favorite" status.   Clearly I was not focusing and doing well. Uggggh..... By the time class was out and we were trying to wave down and barter with a taxi (which we can now do in basic Indonesian) Darron was complaining.  I had already bargained with him for the front seat because even on a normal day one can feel nauseated sitting in the back seat . : )  So home we went. By the time we arrived home Darron was clearly quite ill.  Within a few hours Aubrey was bundled up in hoodie and blankets joining the shivering Dad.  So still on the verge of not doin...

Whooo hoooo a kitchen with a double gas burner and some cabinets! Andrew making "French Bread" in our dining room. Simple kitchen.  Note the water filter on right.....we must filter all our water here. Living room with master bedroom off main area. Upstairs, 2 bedrooms with sitting area. Upper floor deck with incredible view.  Picture does no justice. Funny that the only time I really reflect on my own personal comfort zones is when it being stretched.  Normally when I am comfortable with home, food, people, shopping, work, etc. I don't even think about how good it all feels.  However, when pushed out of that environment....wow whee.....then "comfort zone" becomes a hightened focus in my life.  I am sure you can think of situations to which you can relate feeling stretched.  So for the next few minutes I thought I would write about our first month of Indonesian comfort zone stretch. Language:  We are thrilled with our l...

                 There are many green houses filled with flowers near to where we live.  They are simply delightful! Home made bread in a rice cooker!  A loaf a day..... One of the flower green houses. Our home, for the next four months. Sleeping in until 6 a.m. was a true treat today!  At church I think I understood at least 5% of the words spoken in Bahasa.  All the songs are sung in English.  Truly the Indonesians' are very talented when it comes to music and have beautiful voices.  At one point the power point was not working and they simply began to sing the hymn in Bahasa, which seemed much more heart felt.  Though we enjoy singing in English, I often wonder if they are missing out much of the heart meaning and worship by not singing in their mother tongue.  Everybody wants to learn English.  One university student told us, "English is the language of money".  A thought to ...

What a whirl wind week.  School is interactive, intense, challenging, and going well with our whole family being taught privately.  Not everyday that you can go to school with your children and all learn together. We chose to move this week into a villa home near the university.  It was the open door.  All other doors were just not swinging open quite right.  Today Darron and I unpacked our suitcases.  The first time since the end of June.  Wow.....it sure feels good!  We have been so incredibly busy attending school, doing homework, cleaning to our standard, shopping, etc.  At last we have internet, because Darron purchased a wi-fi hot spot.  Hopefully over the weekend I can post pictures of our new home and give more details.  For now it is 8:30 and past my bed time for we arise at 4 to get the day going around here.  Also, hope to hire a house helper....because with us in language school it is like working a full time job. ...

At 4 a.m. this morning Darron and I arose to prepare for a much anticipate extremely full day.  By 5:15 we had the boys up and were swallowing our rice, gravy and pineapple....whether tummies were ready or not.  5:45 we left our little dorm rooms and walked to the angkots.  We knew the journey could take up to two hours to get to the language school.  This morning we sped right along, arriving at the school a whole hour early.  Now to entertain boys for an hour before class! : ) A nice angkot. Inside an angkot with just our family,  add 13 more people..... Angkots are great for some extra snuggle time. If you are an hour early to class you could join Aubrey in an upper body strengthen  workout. 8:00 a.m. quickly arrived (after worshiping together outside and playing hide the tiny object "hot or cold").  And so began our learning to speak Bahasa Indonesian.  In only minutes our heads were spinning with new word...

This afternoon Darron and Andrew took off to Bandung to purchase a rice cooker, for we learned that with certain models we can bake bread, cakes, scalloped potatoes, soups, etc.  So hungry for some home made bread and to keep a woman happy they were motivated.... In the meantime the Gallant children and my remaining three and I headed for a walk.  Then we decided to take our soccer ball to the field.  There is a cemented enclosed soccer area that is quite popular yet nobody was on it.    Eagerly we began our humble game of "football" (what the Indonesian's call soccer) in the enclosed area.  I do believe that a majority of boys here start young learning how to manage a ball, for even the young boys run circles around all of mine.  Perhaps after 10 minutes a young man came into the enclosed area and watched us, within minutes 3 more came.  Then several more.  One guy was brave and joined in.  However the American teens quickly became ve...

Car wash.....or is it a water fight?  The Gallant's older children, along with a university girl who they claim as a daughter and Aubrey + Andrew. Nothing like a balloon sword....Noah, Nathaniel and Jacob. Ice Cream Treat! We love watching the monkey's.  Note his little scooter the man is carrying. All of the Gallant family and our's fit in their vehicle (the one being washed) for a day out.  That is what missionaries do!   No buckles, except for the driver.  Kids on laps.  We appreciate them taking us in under their wings.