Entering In

If you haven't been able to tell from the posts and pictures already, we are living a pretty privileged life in a pretty privileged place over here.  We are living with the elite in the exclusive, secluded, 1% (or so) lifestyle of the rich Indonesian.  Others have called it a bubble, and that is truly what it feels like.  I alternate between being consumed with the daily tasks that come with taking care of small children, and feeling frustrated that it is so difficult to really enter in to the culture here.  There are few surprises, few of those gift-moments of being invited in to the home of an Indonesian, of really learning who they are, and experiencing their lives. To be honest, there are few interactions with the locals besides those who work for us, and between us there is a large power distance that I don't know if I am either allowed or able to bridge.  (Reverse the scale of privilege and power distance, and I imagine many of our refugee friends in the US feel exactly this same way.)  

Any chance I have to get out of the bubble, I embrace.  Maybe that's why something that would be frustrating in the states is an adventure here (at least, on the good days!), and having twists and turns in the day is actually exciting.   My most recent opportunity to get out of the bubble was this past Friday when I took Elias to the hospital to get his four month immunizations. I knew where the hospital was located, but everything else--parking, finding the doctor inside, payment--all of that was unknown.  My first accomplishment was actually making it to the hospital.  I am becoming more confident on the pot-hole riddled roads here, with the swerving cars and motorbikes flooding around me as I drive.  I walked in holding Elias, and must've looked bewildered.  A nice woman came up to me and asked, "Pediatrics?" in English. My baby gave me away.  "Insurance or no insurance?" "Insurance," I answered.  And thus began a morning of wandering up to counters and hoping that the person behind them would understand me and know where to direct me next.

All along the way, nice people, who could speak enough English to let me know what was going on, guided me through the process of signing up for the correct doctor, waiting in line to see her, and payment.  I felt a LOT of empathy with the many refugees I worked with at World Relief who must've experienced the exact same feelings, and yet many of them without the benefit of someone explaining the process to them in their own language.  The experience left me both grateful and motivated to learn Indonesian.  At the end of the morning, we emerged from the hospital, Elias sleeping after his traumatic experience of receiving two shots, and me with the smiling face of Elias' new pediatrician in my memory.

Elias survived his shots and is still smiling!

There are other ways I am trying to enter in, here.  One very life-giving highlight to my week is studying Indonesian with two of Jeff's Indonesian students from the ITC (International Teacher College).  I pick Rachel and Grace up at the bus stop outside of campus every Tuesday and Thursday at 1 PM, and they patiently help me labor through Indonesian until 2:30 when I bring them back to campus.  Being on this side of language learning reminds me just how difficult it is, and just how much repetition it takes, and how much effort on the part of the learner to apply it to daily life.  Until I can use what they teach me without looking at my cheat sheets when I'm out and about, I don't truly know the new vocabulary and phrases.  I was so excited when I was able to communicate with the butcher at the grocery store what kind of meat I wanted, how many packs, and that I could tell him "enough" when he asked if I wanted any more.  Today, I was able to tell my helper what food to buy at the market, and what to cook tonight. Another time, we were able to have a conversation about foods we liked, and foods she knew how to cook.  Progress!  Of course, following the progress, there are moments when I can't even remember the word for "I," and hopelessly reach for my phone and the google translate app.

Rachel, Grace, and I at one of our quieter afternoon study sessions.

We tried to do a candid study shot but we are all smiling! 

Indonesian is a very forgiving language, and it is not grammatically challenging.  Actually, pronouns are some of the more challenging parts of this language.  When I talk about not remembering the word for I, that's because there are multiple words for "I"--formal, informal, and for using when talking with someone older than you.  Addressing someone is all about relationship and age.  With my Indonesian teachers, Jeff's students, I use the informal I/you pronouns--"Aku/Kamu".  But if Lydia were talking with them, she would call them the word for older sister, "Kakak." If I were to meet someone for the first time, I would use "Saya/Anda" for I and you.

While pronouns take some navigation because they are so cultural, the alphabet is romanized, so it is even easier to learn to read than Lao.  Learning a new language always brings an old language to the forefront of your memory, so I think my Lao has probably improved a lot over the past two months, ha!  I am constantly trying to filter out the Lao from the Indonesian, and occasionally am mixing up languages when I communicate.  For some reason, when I can't think of or don't know the correct Indonesian word, I use the Lao word.  It makes me miss Laos more, and there's part of me that worries I'm going to lose my Lao as Indonesian gradually becomes the more familiar foreign language to me.

Another way we've tried to enter in is by attending Indonesian language classes at the campus church for the past 3 Sundays.  A married Indonesian couple from the church graciously gave of their time to plan and lead the lessons for us.  The woman is a teacher at Lydia's school, and the man is a professor of music at the Conservatory.  After the Sunday service we'd eat lunch together and then have some time for the lesson, with childcare provided!  They taught us how to introduce ourselves, talk about our jobs, and say what we want to buy at the market.

Today after Lydia's class, we met our Sunday Indonesian teacher in the hallway.  She invited us to try some Indonesian snacks being sold by one of the school workers.  This simple invitation to eat some snacks together, the opportunity to try to choose food using the Indonesian language, all of this was a small gift to us.  We tried a snack of sticky rice and chicken wrapped in a palm leaf, small cream puffs, and a few fried spring rolls and biscuits with veggies in the middle.

Lydia at school today enjoying her snack before we tried the Indonesian snacks.

I am praying that God would give us more ways to enter in, and that God would give us opportunities to invite people in who we can learn from.  For now, the best thing I know how to do is to keep plugging forward with language learning, and to take advantage of any opportunities for experiencing this culture that come our way--even if it means missing a grocery shopping trip, loading two children up in a stroller and packing up the diaper bag--it's all worth it!

Entering in through snacks.

The Wheels on the Bus

Here come the kids out to meet their parents! Lydia is the only blonde girl in the class.

A frequent request from Lydia is to sing, "The Wheels on the Bus." This is a request that is easy to grant, and so I have sung the Wheels on the Bus more times than I can count.  Lydia's class sings this song as they come walking out to meet the parents.  Does anyone know what the Daddy's on the bus say? I make it up every time!

When Lydia first started attending the class, it was challenging for her and me.  She would cry, cling to me, and basically have to be peeled from my arms.  We entered her in the class because we thought it would be a fun way for her to make friends, and it's only twice a week for two hours each time.  She enjoyed the Early Childhood Program she attended in the states, so we thought this would be a good continuation.  Although it's taken a few weeks, I am happy to report that this is the first week that she eagerly walked into class, didn't request, "I go home," and showed her teacher a stick she picked up in the playground.  She didn't even look back at me!

Lydia is attending an international school called Sekolah Pelita Harapan (SPH) that is only about half a mile down the road from us.  It has pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, and is a very rigorous school with a beautiful campus.  Every Tuesday and Thursday, in an attempt to get some exercise, I load the kids up in the stroller at 7:30 AM and make the trek down the road to the campus for the 8 AM start time.  It's a nice walk, and the humidity isn't too bad at that time of day.  Of course, I arrive sweaty and red-faced, even on the days I decide to walk to campus and save the jogging for the trip home.

Getting ready to head out.

Here we go! Elias looks a little worried.

Through the gate out of our taman.

Down the main road that leads to the school.

The lobby of the school.

Walking towards Lydia's part of campus.

Down the hall to the classroom.  Elias is a little blinded.

There's a wonderful playground and pool on campus.  The playground is probably the best one I've seen for kids Lydia's age, and the pool is beautiful.  We take advantage of both, especially on the weekend, since there aren't many parks around here.  After we arrive at school, Lydia plays on the playground for a few minutes, and then we go inside, hang up her backpack, get out her snack and water bottle, and say goodbye.

The path to the pool.

Lydia driving the car on the playground.

Elias and I jog home, and I have a little bit of time to myself if he decides to fall asleep in the stroller.  Pick-up is at 10 AM, so we load up the car and head back to school to get her at around 9:45.  It's so fun to see those kids' beaming faces when they walk down the hallway and see their parents.

There are three wonderful teachers in Lydia's class; a Filipino man and two Indonesian women. The class is taught in English. There are about 12 two and three year olds in the class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  They have time to play, they learn about a letter and the sound it makes, read books, eat snack, and sing songs.

Today we had a special treat and got to see daddy at lunch time.  He was at the school with his students who were doing observations, so we met up with him.

Daddy and Lydie walking through the Sr. High Canteen (Cafeteria). 

This is Elias' usual look (and Daddy's).

We had to tempt Lydia to look at the camera with the water bottle.  

And here they all are!

We're thankful for the opportunity for Lydia to attend this school, and we're thankful for a play area so close to home!

Welcome to Our Home

A first look at our new city the morning after we arrived.

Before we came to Indonesia, we tried to prepare Lydia by reading a story about going on an airplane, and talking about our new house.  “New house!” was a phrase we heard from her frequently during our first few weeks here.  Here are some pictures and thoughts on our new house and surrounding area. 

Our new house.

The area where we live is called a “Taman”—comparable to a subdivision in the states.  Our taman is quiet, beautifully landscaped, and filled with other expats (people who are originally from other countries but have relocated here) who also work at Jeff’s school, or at the international school down the road.  This has made it easy to ask questions and get to know people.  There’s a playground in our Taman that Lydia has enjoyed exploring, and has been the genesis of some of her many mosquito bites. We frequently hear the request, "I play playground." Lydia says, "smell good" when I rub the citronella oil on her to keep away the mosquitos before we go outside.  It is a staple at most grocery stores here, and can be found in the space that by the checkout where you'd find mints, gum, and candy in the states.  

Lydia playing in the playground across from our house.

All year round, the sunlight is from about 6 AM – 6 PM, and sometimes in the evening I like to go on walks when Jeff gets back before it gets completely dark.  Here are some of the sights from our Taman.

A field at the edge of our taman.

The view down our street.

Houses in our neighborhood are grand and ornate.  The house the school prepared for us is very beautiful and spacious, although not homey. We’ve been encouraged as we’ve visited the homes of those who’ve been here longer, that it’s possible to make this feel like home, it just takes time.  The floors here are made from a beautiful stone tile that is probably much cleaner than carpet but incredibly HARD.  When Jeff and I walked in and saw the tall staircase of stone tile stretching to the second floor, we had immediate visions of falls and cracked heads.  But it turns out this is the norm here, every house we’ve seen has a staircase like ours and hard stone floors.  Lydia already had one tumble, and has added the phrase, "fall down stairs," "careful," and "sippippy" (slippery) to her vocabulary.  We must say these to her a lot! We were also surprised that there isn’t a bathtub in the house, so Lydia has had to adapt to taking a bath in a tub I found at our local “Wal-Mart.”

Lydia had mixed feelings about this bathtub at first, but she's adjusting now! (Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to get this picture to turn).

Our living room is large and has very high ceilings which makes it feel even bigger.  It’s perfect for a sitting area for adults, and a play space for the kids.  I also like the set up of the kitchen which has a nice eating area and an island that looks into the kitchen with lots of counter space. 

Lydia in the living room.

Mommy's "helper" in the kitchen.

The eating area looking into the play area.

There's a door in the kitchen that leads to the laundry area, storage, a helper’s quarters (more on that later) and a random room that we could use, but we don’t currently since it’s through the helper’s quarters. 

Upstairs there are 3 spacious bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  Each bedroom has a closet with an area for hanging clothes as well as shelves.  Most people don’t have dressers here, and keep all the clothing in the closet.  Most of the furniture you see in the house came with it, although we purchased some from Ikea.

I love this view out our bedroom window (the picture doesn't do it justice).  Can you find Elias?

We occasionally share our home with unwelcome guests—some winged bugs found their way under the door and were flying around our ceiling lights.  Ants are a constant reality here, and we have a few friendly geckos living on our walls that help keep away the bugs.  Last night I had to deal with my first huge cockroach!

We are blessed to have a beautiful home, and we had our first guests over for dinner this past weekend—I had to go buy some extra settings of silverware to prepare, and we realized that we only had 4 chairs in the house, so had to ask our guests to bring one along with them!

Slowly but surely its becoming ours, but it still has a long way to go! We look forward to opportunities to welcome some of you in person in the future!

Lydia standing on our front porch.

Mommy and Lydie.

We're Here!

Standing in our driveway with our car behind us, on our way to Singapore to get visas.