Visitors

Christmas 2017

Christmas 2017

Last night, we sat down to our first meal as a nuclear family in five and a half weeks.  That's right, all the way here on the other side of the world, we have had more (and longer) family visits than we ever had in Chicago! Jeff's parents (known as Grammy and Papa), his brother Jason, and my sister Sarah all came to visit us at various points.  There is so much I could say about the stretch of time from December 1-January 9, so I think I can best summarize with some lists.

Best Things about having visitors (not in order of importance):
1. It forced us to get out of our bubble and explore Indonesia. We went into Jakarta to see several new museums and malls, and visited two cities: Bandung and Jogjakarta.
2. It stretched my driving ability and helped me gain confidence in driving around Jakarta. I drove 6 new routes into Jakarta (or farther) while we had visitors.  Both Jeff and I learned how to drive to the airport (so keep coming, visitors!) and we are starting to feel familiar with some of the highways.  It's no longer terrifying to contemplate getting lost while trying to get to a new place.
3. We learned how to use new forms of transportation.  I learned how to order a taxi at a specific time, use the train system, and even got a short introduction on using the TransJakarta bus line.

Waiting for the train at the Jakarta train station, Gambir.

4.  Company and Conversation.  Nothing beats having company and adult conversation while watching kids, playing with kids, and feeding kids.
5. Lots of playmates for kids willing to take them outside even when it's super hot and the middle of the day, color with them, paint with them, attend their tea parties, and read to them.

Baking Christmas cookies!

We love Aunt Sarah!

Feeding Koi fish (or: trying to keep Elias from eating Koi fish food).

6. They got to meet some of the people that we love; our students, neighbors, friends, and church family.
7. They got to share in some of the challenges of living in Indonesia, and experience some of our frustrations.  They better know how to pray!
8. They saw problems that we'd become blind to, and fixed them! We no longer have squeeky hinges anywhere in our house, our windshield wipers finally actually improve the water situation on the windshield, and the handles are glued back on Lydia's play kitchen.
9.  So much yummy comfort food from America! Jeff's parents brought a whole suitcase full of bagels! We were eating bagels for weeks!  Not to mention Trader Joe's Candy Cane joe-joes, coffee, and candy cane green tea.  The delights coming out of those suitcases from America were endless!
10.  It made us feel like we didn't live on the other side of the world.  Even though we get to go back to the states once a year for about a month, that time is so quickly eaten up between two families that live in two different states.  Having people willing to make the long trip here to see us helped ease the distance.

Things we learned during our travels:
1. Elias is becoming Indonesian.  He loves Indonesian snacks, does not particularly like cheese, eats on the go, and even is picking up the Asian squat.  He can still sleep anywhere, as long as he's tired enough.

Elias owned that train.

2. We will never escape cheek-pinching and pictures as long as we have two blue eyed blonde haired bule' (foreign) children.  We were practically followed by papparazzi whenever we went to a major tourist attraction.

Sometimes I didn't have the heart to say no to photo requests.

3. Hold everything loosely when traveling with children.  Yes, we know that, but yes, it's true.  Hold agendas, plans, and activities loosely. You will not accomplish or see as much as you hope, and that's ok.  Embrace the pace of life right now.

Two tired travelers.

4. Having a personal connection to the place where we travel makes it more meaningful.  When we traveled to Bandung, we attended the church of two of Jeff's students.  During our time in Jogjakarta, we got to spend extended time with good friends from our church and their extended family.  Both of these experiences were highlights for us.

A special dinner with family friends in Jogjakarta.

5. Always hire a driver from the very beginning.  Although I'm sure this concept sounds strange to most Americans, having a driver take us around in a vehicle that we have for the entire day saves so much time, energy and stress when traveling with young children.  It becomes a home on wheels so that the youngest can nap on the go, and so that we can leave all of our STUFF (because we have SO much of it) in the car as we visit different places.  You might say, why don't they just rent a car and drive themselves?  Well, remember, it's taken me a year and a half to build up the confidence to drive to the airport in Jakarta.  It will probably take a few more years before we have the confidence to drive in a completely new city!
6. Food, food, food.  I realized this time around how most of the time when traveling, I am thinking about food.  Where are we going to get our next meal, what is something that the kids will eat, do I need to bring food with us on this activity.  There must be a plan for food before we all get in some seriously bad moods.

And if you find a playground AND food in the same place, even better!

7. Lydia is a homebody.  Poor girl had some health issues on our trip to Jogjakarta, and I am learning that she thrives on a familiar routine.  It is hard for her to be stretched out of her comfort zone.  Our first night in Bandung she asked to go home and sleep in her bed.  She ended up sleeping between Jeff and I for a not very restful night of sleep.

3 ingredients for a successful travel experience: Lamby, blankie, and sunglasses.

8. When traveling in "real" Indonesia (vs. living in our expat bubble), it is best to prepare for some early mornings.  On the first morning of our trip to Bandung, we were woken up at 5:30 in the morning to the sound of "Baby Shark" blasting from the loudspeakers outside.  Blasting as though it were 8 at night and party time for an entire elementary school.  When we looked out the window of our 12th floor apartment, we saw that indeed, there was a whole field of elementary school students doing exercises as they prepared for day one of their English camp, which just so happened to last the same four days we were staying at the hotel.

Activity highlights during our visits (again, not listed in order):
1. Riding the train to Bandung.  The train was spacious, and Elias was able to walk up and down the aisles and befriend other passengers.  He ate the best of all of us.  Wherever he walked, someone offered him a snack, which he quickly snatched before it could be withdrawn.  Getting to see the rice fields and hills outside of Jakarta as we rode through the countryside also made the train ride well worth it.

How Lydia really felt about traveling that morning.

Getting comfy on the train.

Some of the views on our train ride.

2. Going to Taman Safari.  Taman Safari is a zoo/amusement park/safari/waterpark all rolled into one.  We went last year with my brother, and took Jeff's parents and brother this year.  It was still impressive to see so many wild animals at such close range.  And again, Lydia loved the amusement park rides, and Elias loved running around like a crazy person.

Family pic in front of the Taman Safari sign.  Safe arrival at about 7:30 AM to beat Jakarta city traffic, now to wait until the park opened at 8:30.

There's even a carousel!

Lydia loves rides.

These monkeys were not impressed.

Posing near the penguin exhibit.

3. The kite museum in Jakarta.  It is quiet, shady, and kid-oriented.  The museum campus is small but mostly shaded and outdoor, so there are no cars, and Elias loved (again) running around.  There was no shortage of his three favorite things: grates to run across, ramps to run up and down, and brooms to grab.  Lydia got to color and fly her own kite.

Elias' usual state of being: motion.

Another favorite past-time: finding and carrying around brooms.

4. Strawberry picking in Bandung.  Lydia came alive at the strawberry farm called, "Rumah Stroberi."  All of her favorite things were involved; holding a small basket for the strawberries, cutting the strawberries off the bush with her own pair of scissors, and of course, the strawberries themselves.  She even got strawberry juice at the end.  She was in heaven!

Heaven: cutting off (very small) strawberries with your very own scissors and putting them in your very own small basket.

5. Eating at an outdoor restaurant in the mountains of Bandung called, Kampung Daun.  The food was tasty, the scenery was beautiful, and the kids had fun throwing sticks and leaves into the waterfall that ran through the restaurant.

Anything is bearable as long as there is pink juice in hand.

6. Visiting Borobudur (an ancient buddhist temple) outside of Jogjakarta.  From the top we could look out and see the mountains, including Mount Merapi, a volcano that is still active.

A view from the top of Borobudur.

Elias wanted to climb the temple walls.

 
7. Visiting a museum in Jogjakarta called, Ulen Sentalu.  Not only was the museum itself beautiful, but each group of visitors goes with a guide through the museum.  The guides are extremely knowledgeable and we learned a lot about the Javanese kingdoms in that part of Indonesia.  It was fascinating!

Aunt Sarah and Elias at the museum.

8. Feeding monkeys in Jogjakarta.  I've never seen so many monkeys so close-up! Lydia and Elias couldn't have been more thrilled to have the monkeys take peanuts right out of their hands.  I think Elias thought they were cats that he could pet.

So thrilled to discover we could feed the monkeys!

Elias would pet the monkeys if he could.

The monkeys would grab the peanuts out of our hands.

8. Our Air BnB in Jogjakarta.  It was spacious, in the mountains, and had a beautiful yard complete with two koi ponds and two gazebos.

Standing by the Koi pond at our Air BnB on a rainy afternoon.

9. Sarah and I went on a tour through Jakarta with two Indonesian students from ITC.  They showed us a hole-in-the wall coffeeshop where the coffee is so well known that the president goes there on Fridays, brought us to Chinatown, showed us around the old Dutch settlement part of the city, and we ended our day walking around Monas, a monument in downtown Jakarta.

With our two guides, Sarah and Elva, at a famous coffee shop in Jakarta.

Chinatown, Jakarta.

So fun to have a girl's day out!

Besides the special activities that we did, there were lots of good everyday moments.  Lydia said her favorite thing about having Grammy, Papa, Uncle Jason, and Aunt Sarah was that she played with them a lot and she checked the mailbox for cards.

Lots of playing!

It wasn't all positive.  Here are the top lowlights:
1. Sarah got food poisoning one of the days we were in Jogjakarta.  I had a slight case as well, but nothing compared with her!
2. Lydia's eyes.  She complained about light sensitivity most of the time we were in Jogjakarta, and most of Sarah's visit with us.  We finally figured out what was going on, but I'll save that for another post (nothing serious).  Most days of our trip, starting around Christmas, she wore her sunglasses all day every day, was low energy, and napped more than usual.
3. Screaming children.  Sometimes in the car, sometimes at dinner, sometimes at bath or bedtime.  There was screaming everyday, usually in chorus, sometimes alternating children.  Of course, this happens with or without visitors!

Of course, you can read between the lines for some other challenges, but all-in-all, it was a Christmas break to remember! Thanks to our family who made the long trip to visit!