First Indonesian Road Trip

I think I've mentioned before, in Indonesia we drive on the right side of the car on the left side of the road.  For the first several weeks we were driving here (and sometimes even now) this led to turning on the windshield wipers multiple times instead of the blinkers, going to the wrong side of the car to get into the driver's seat, and reaching to shift into gear with the right hand instead of the left.  However, despite all of this (not to mention the rules of the road here, which are very different from those in the states) we had the audacity to attempt our first road trip without a hired driver.  The occasion for our journey was my brother's visit to see us.  It was his first trip outside of the US and he came all the way to the other side of the world!

Our destination: Taman Safari, about a 1.5-2 hour drive from our home, as long as you can avoid the Jakarta traffic.  On the weekends, when everyone attempts to escape hot and flat Jakarta, it can take up to 7 hours to get there.  We left at 4:45 AM on Monday morning, which ended up being the perfect time. We woke the kids in the dark of the early morning, loaded them and (way too much) stuff into the car, and made our get away.  Philip was the trusty navigator in the front seat, Jeff the courageous driver, and I was squished between the kids in the back.  We flew on the toll roads through downtown Jakarta faster than we ever have before. (Thanks, Jeff!)

As we drove south from Jakarta, coconut and palm tree covered mountains rose to greet us.  The sky started turning pink, purple, and orange as the sun began it's ascent.  Rice fields greeted us.  As we turned off the highway, we made our way up a twisty curvy road through a sleepy town that was already waking up at six in the morning.  Shops lined the streets, signs pointed that Taman Safari wasn't far away.  The views were beautiful.  I could see why people left Jakarta to come here.  We were climbing the mountains, crossing rushing creeks and looking down into valleys dotted with homes and shops.

Driving up and down the winding mountain roads.

When we got to the turn off for Taman Safari, we were almost the only car on the road.  We passed empty stands where hawkers normally sold snacks, and saw tons of carrots.  We wondered why carrots were so popular.  We arrived at the gate to the park at about 6:30, the park didn't open till 9.  We wandered around in the resort area next door as we waited, and thankfully there were swings, monkeys, and geese, so we had a great time.  The first thing we noticed when we got out of the car (besides how HOT the engine had made the floor of the car from our ascent!) was the cool mountain air.  We all had to put on sweatshirts! It was really wonderful.  Elias wore a fleece for the first time in his life.

Pre-Safari fun as we waited for the park to open. 

Yay for Uncle Philip!

Elias had fun on the playground, too.

Looking studly in their sweatshirts! Getting some tea and coffee to drink as we waited for the park to open.

I was a little doubtful that Taman Safari would be comparable to zoos in the states and thought it might be a little cheesy or what we call, "Asia-tastic" but I was pleasantly surprised.  Already the views and the weather made the trip worth it, but the park itself was a lot of fun, too! We drove into the park and started the safari drive, which was basically an hour plus drive right through the middle of more exotic animals than we'd ever seen! First we drove by the elephants and were impressed by the number of baby elephants.  In the states, zoos get excited if there is even one baby, here there were at least 5!

Lydia was a little unsure about the animals, sometimes. 

Zebras, antelope and cows with big horns (not sure the name of that animal) blocked our car from moving multiple times.  We also discovered why there were so many carrots for sale on the way up the mountain.  Other cars around us rolled down their windows and offered carrots to the animals to get them to come up to the car.  The animals came up to our car windows, too, but sadly we had nothing to feed them.

Poor zebra was probably hoping for a carrot!

We even drove through a section where there were lions, tigers, and bears wondering around our cars.  We drove by signs warning firmly, "please do not get out of the car, and don't roll down your windows to take pictures." To complete the safari feel, parts of the road were covered by rushing creeks, although we weren't sure if the creeks were supposed to be rushing that hard and that fast, or if it was a result of the rain.

Once we finished driving through, we parked and visited the baby zoo where you could seriously get your picture taken with almost any exotic baby animal you wanted to.  Lydia had a great time on her first pony ride.

Love this self-conscious face! So pleased and trying not to show it.

A little nervous to feed this elephant a carrot.

We were surprised to discover that Lydia loves rides.  We were a little nervous when some of the rides did not allow adults on, but she eagerly got on by herself and had a big smile the entire time.  I guess we shouldn't have been surprised since she's always enjoyed being thrown around by Jeff since the time she was a baby.

Thrilled!

I felt dizzy, but Lydia had a great time!

A little unsure about this one.

With our 4:45 AM wake up time for the kids, we couldn't make it past 2:30 PM, so with Elias asleep in his carrier and Lydia melting down, we decided to load back into the car and start the trek to our Air BnB for the night.

Thus started our next adventure.  What we didn't realize when we booked our BnB was how far it was from Taman Safari.  On the map it looked close by.  In reality, it took about an hour to get there as we drove around curvy mountainous roads, climbing to the top of a mountain and then making our way back down the other side.  Again, the views were fantastic, although I felt bad for Jeff who had to use every ounce of his concentration to do what he called Mario Cart driving. Basically, you constantly are gauging whether or not you can make it around the person in front of you on the two lane road while avoiding the motorbikes coming in the other direction and before the truck you see lumbering behind them hits you.  Our drive was around the time school lets out, so we saw lots of muslim school girls and boys waiting for oncots (a small van that provides public transportation) to take them home.  We drove past a soccer game taking place in the front yard of a mosque on a small muddy field.  Sporadically during our drive we drove in and out of rainclouds and wind as we reached the top of the mountain.  I enjoyed seeing everything from the back seat.

Using google maps and some tips from our Air bnb host, we found the turn off to our place, but once we got into the neighborhood, due to a miscommunication, we drove around for almost another hour trying to find the house! Finally we identified it by matching the picture from the air bnb website--should've thought of that earlier!

Our bnb

The house was in a quiet neighborhood surrounded by mountains and gardens with a great view.  It was nothing fancy, but comfortable for us, and we were only there for one night.  Once we found the house and got the key from the landlady, we trekked out on foot to look for some food.  We were definitely the only bule' (white foreigners) in the neighborhood as the stares and smiles and English practicing testified.  As we walked by, the kids would yell, "Hello, what's your name?" We walked down the narrow streets through the neighborhood and came back onto the busy main highway (think two lane road about 40 km/hour) where we saw some street vendors selling food.

Not so sure about the street food, Lydia?

The great thing about Indonesia is that people are so friendly and helpful.  Obviously we looked out of place and probably confused, so a well dressed man also waiting for food at the street vendors struck up a conversation with us in English, asking where we were from and what we were doing.  He then proceeded to help us to order our dinner, counseling us which food was "safe" (aka, well cooked or boiling hot) and translating between us and the vendors.  Although I can pretty much ask and understand prices in Indonesian, my language skills are still pretty limited--I didn't know the words for "take-away" or "cook this extra hot," etc.

Food in hand, we went back to our bnb to enjoy sate (grilled chicken on a stick with peanut sauce), some grilled chicken and rice, and some kind of sweet bean in a sweet sauce.  It was all delicious, especially since we were so hungry! Night was falling so we put the kids to bed and went to bed soon after.

Sunrise from the bedroom window.  Can you see the mountains?

I woke with Elias to a beautiful sunrise at around 5 AM, and we enjoyed some walks around the neighborhood before starting the trek back towards Jakarta.

Walking around the neighborhood.

There was more traffic this time around, and Jeff did a stellar job of navigating through some stop and go highway traffic.  We arrived at home in one piece on Tuesday afternoon.

We stopped at a chocolaterie on the way back.  At the very end of the hall, you can see some burka clad women.  We were surprised at the large presence of Arabic speakers in the Taman Safari area.  

We are feeling more confident of our Indonesian exploration skills now, and hope that we can return to Taman Safari and explore other corners of Indonesia soon!

(*photography credit for almost all of these great photos goes to Philip!!)

Lessons Learned in 6 months

These two have done the most growing and changing in the past 6 months!

We've reached the 6 month mark.  Really, I'm not counting up the months we've been here, or counting down the months till we go visit the US this summer, but it's easy to remember how long we've been here when people ask us frequently.  Impressions/accomplishments/feelings at the 6 month mark:

Heather:

• I can now drive to an area of town called, "Gading Serpong." This brings me a lot of freedom as it means I can now visit the pasar (traditional market), health food store (yes they have one of those here!) and the Serpong mall on my own! This feels like a big accomplishment as it takes about 30 minutes through some pretty heavy traffic at times.  
• My bahasa Indonesia is SLOWLY improving.  I was trying to ask my house help if she wanted me to buy anything for her but all I could manage was, "Do you want me to buy...." and then I trailed off and she looked at me in confusion.  Now I can add the word, "something" at the end of that sentence! ("sesuatu" in bahasa).
• I have now made 3 trips to the hospital, and finally on this third trip I realized that I needed to take a number and wait my turn to pay my bill, rather than barging up to the front and cutting of all the people waiting in their seats to pay.  
• We got a really nice Yamaha keyboard, and my parents brought my guitar from the states! 
  

Jeff:

• There are a lot of ants here.  A lot of ants.  And Jeff is on the ant rampage.  There are tiny sugar ants that magically materialize when there is even a tiny bit of food on the kitchen counter.  Or get into the sugar jar.  Or sadly swarm into the granola.  There are large red ants that march like soldiers along our fence. There are large black ants that come out of the ground and have pinchers.  There are small black ants that look like "normal" ants in the states but still manage to bite, it turns out.  This morning I found out there are flying ants, as I watched them pour through invisible cracks around our windows and doors and swarm around our lights.  And I'm sure there are other ants.  We knew there were ants before, but they start to get to you at the 6 month mark...
• He is learning to teach 2 new education classes.  And a small plug here: if anyone with their masters in education is interested in teaching some pretty awesome international students in Indonesia how to teach, let us know!
• The PhD dissertation & defense are DONE, praise God! (More on that later).

Lydia:

• We have a sweet tooth on our hand
• She likes people to come visit her at her house.  "Uncle Philip is coming to my house." Has been repeated often in the last week.

Lydia waiting for Uncle Philip to come

• She recognizes when we are going by Jeff's workplace. "There's Daddy's work!"
• She requests to shop at Hypermart instead of WalMart or Target.
• She loves cooking spaghetti and meatballs with her play kitchen set (thanks, Daniel Tiger).  

Busily cooking some food for Elias who is a happy recipient.

• She still loves tiny treasures.  You might find a chapstick, tiny plastic connector, small toy kitten, shell, or half of a mirror in her "wallet."
• We are learning that we can't pet all the kitties and doggies that we see.
• She knows that when she gets cards in the mail from Grammy and Papa, there will be stickers inside! 

Lydie and Lamby eating granola together for breakfast.

• She has become quite the mommy to her precious lamby.  Lamby gets it's diaper changed, temperature taken, gets fed baby food, and is put to sleep with the song, "Jesus Loves Me."

Elias at work

Elias:

• He can sit up
• He's got the army crawl down 

Elias off-roading, so much for the blanket!

• He's starting to vocalize more
• He's not a big fan of solid food yet, but this past week he has happily chewed on some cooked broccoli and watermelon. 

Ready to eat!

• People will comment on his big blue eyes wherever we go.
• He is much more willing to be passed around (which also frequently happens wherever we go) than before.  

Team work: We'll figure out this bike pump, yet! 

Christmas on Gili Air

To celebrate the completion of Jeff's dissertation, and because my parents decided to come visit us for Christmas, we decided to do our first traveling adventure in Indonesia and explore Gili Air, a small island off of Lombok.  (Let's be honest, we would not have attempted this journey with two small children without my parent's help!).   I'd done some research on places to visit in Indonesia, and everywhere I read that Gili Air was the place to go.  It was quiet, family friendly, and beautiful.  I booked us a place at Manta Dive based on some friends' recommendations, got us fairly cheap airline tickets on Batik Air and Garuda, and waited eagerly for the adventure.

The first question you have to sort through when traveling in Indonesia is which airline to choose from. There are a myriad of options, and you can't help but wonder why some of them are so cheap.   In the end, we made the leap of faith and purchased the tickets on Batik Air for the trip there, and Garuda for the return.

Dr. Spanogle has to bring his Elmo back pack with him wherever he goes

Lydia was so excited to ride the airplane!

My parents arrived and early the next morning at 7 AM we left for the airport.  Everything went as planned, and we arrived in Lombok at about 1:30 PM Lombok time, eager to explore our new destination.  Lombok is beautiful.  It is mountainous, surrounded by beautiful ocean, covered in palm trees, and basically is a place where I could live, if given the choice.  We had arranged for a driver, one of the few Christians on Lombok, to pick us up at the airport.  We and our stuff piled into his van, and we began the drive up the coast to Gili.  It is about a 2 hour drive through some beautiful scenery.  Clouds were gathering as we went, and it wasn't long before the rain started.  The first part of the drive was through a small city called Mataram.  It reminded me of Laos, and I could imagine living there, getting to know the small shops and vendors, and feeling like I was really in Indonesia.  Maybe ITC could relocate?  But alas, only daydreaming!

After we made it through Mataram, we began what felt at times a perilous journey along a winding rode through pouring rain, with a steep cliff dropping off on one side and the mountain on the other.  Our driver safely conveyed us along the mountainous road. We could see the ocean crashing on the shore below us.  When we arrived at the port, the rain had slowed down, but the water was choppy and we were all feeling a little bit of apprehension about a boat ride in this weather.  They loaded us up into a small speedboat with our suitcases, and we began the bumpy ride to Gili Air.

Calm on the surface, before Elias starts to cry.

Lydia's face is how we all felt about the speed boat ride.

It was probably only a 15 minute boat ride, tops, but it felt a lot longer as we bumped up and down along the swells of water.  Lydia and Elias both started crying, and Jeff and I both couldn't help thinking about what we would do if the boat flipped over.  Lydia loves the story of Jesus calming the storm and requests that we read it almost every night, along with the song, "With Jesus In the Boat You Can Smile in the Storm." So we tried singing that to her and reminding her that Jesus was with us as we went.  Our drivers did not seem at all worried about the weather, and calmly had us flying over the swelling water.  But at last we could see the dock nearing, and our next adventure was getting out of the boat onto the dock as both were rocking up and down.  We made it onto the dock and were finally on solid ground again.  It was still raining and we had no idea where our resort was.

Getting ready for an oxcart ride

Gili Air has no motorized traffic, so the way to get around is by foot, bicycle, or oxcart.  Oxcart sounded like a fun adventure and really the only option for us since we didn't know where we were going, it was raining, and we had so many things to bring with us.  So we found one and paid a fairly expensive price (I tried to bargain but to no avail--they had us because of the rain and the kids) to take us to Manta Dive.  An oxcart is pulled by one horse and the cart itself has only 2 wheels.  So needless to say it was a bumpy ride, and we felt like we might get tossed out on the journey.

Things started calming down as we made it to our nice little bungalows and dropped off our things. I'm happy to report that the most adventurous part of our adventure was getting to our destination.  Our time there was wonderful and the journey back wasn't as harrowing.

Lydia loved her swimming buddies! Grandma & Grandpa helped her adjust to using her new floaty in the "deep wa-wa" as she calls it.

We were at Manta Dive for 3 full days and 4 nights, and most of our time was spent with Lydia happily playing in the pool with Grandma and Grandpa, playing on the sand, or one child or the other napping back at the bungalow with an adult on guard.  I got to read A LOT during nap times, which was fun, and enjoyed swimming in the pool and the ocean.

We started each morning early thanks to the kids, with breakfast on the beach, provided through the resort.  Across the bay we could see the mountains of Lombok rising into the sky, a beautiful way to start the day.  Our favorite breakfast was the baguette, eggs, and bacon option with a plate of fruit, and a cup of tea.  Bacon was such a treat! After breakfast, we'd usually get ready for the pool, and Lydia would swim while Elias took his first nap of the day.

This is the harbor of Gili Air looking across to Lombok, on our first stormy afternoon.

We'd transition to the beach later in the morning, and come back to our resort for lunch.  They had delicious Thai food and freshly made juices.  The kids would take an afternoon nap and several of us adults would go out and explore.  The first day in the afternoon we decided to take an oxcart ride around the island.  It was truly amazing to glimpse the beauty of the beaches and the mountains together in one place!  In the evenings we ate grilled fish and kabobs at restaurants along the beach.

Not the best picture because of the lighting, but this is us on Christmas morning at our beach front breakfast spot.

It was funny being on a tropical island for Christmas.  There was no church, no dignified choral Christmas music, no dressing up in our Christmas best.  All over the island, they were getting ready for a party.  They advertised all night discos and fireworks on Christmas eve, and each beach side restaurant was decked out in reds and greens, lights, and servers wearing special Christmas uniforms.

The 4 of us shared a room, so we were in bed early each night, and Christmas Eve all night we heard the fireworks going off (fireworks are my new least favorite thing with young children!). I've never associated fireworks with Christmas before!  We brought along stockings for the kids and so Lydia opened her stocking on Christmas morning before our breakfast on the beach.  That night after our day in the sand, we read the Christmas story, sang songs, and ate ice cream.  Definitely not your typical Christmas, but a Christmas to remember!

Another Christmas picture, Elias & Lydia are both happy and looking at the camera!  

I felt that 3 full days was the perfect amount of time to spend there with young kids.  We were able to relax and enjoy everything, but at the end of the time, we were all tired of sleeping in the same room (aka, not sleeping) and the kids were ready for a normal routine.  I think that Gili Air would be a great place to go if you have kids a little older than ours--there's snorkeling, and biking to do on the island that would be a lot of fun.  But for what we are able to do at this stage of life, 3 days was perfect.  We enjoyed the views, enjoyed the sand and water, enjoyed the conversation, and enjoyed not having to cook!

The beautiful views from Gili Air looking over to Lombok.

I'm glad my parents were brave enough to come on the adventure to Gili Air with us, and hope that we will have a chance to return to Lombok in the future.  For now, we are enjoying sand-free beds, firework-free nights, and missing grandparents and swimming pools!

My and Doofus

I am sitting in my living room, writing to the glow of Christmas lights strung from our windows, the bamboo Christmas tree in the corner, a Merry Christmas banner strung across our doorway.  The air conditioning is set at 25 degrees Celsius, and I remember that I am not in Wheaton, currently experiencing it’s first snow of the season.  I am in Jakarta, Indonesia, the other side of the world.  I am writing to the tune of crickets chirping and the torrential rains of rainy season.  I am writing in a tank top and shorts, and I have sweated multiple times today.  I had my hired helper prepare our meal tonight, and she’s actually going to prepare food every day this week, since Jeff is away.  Yes, I am certainly not in America! This is extra poignant as Jeff is on his way to our old home, getting ready for his dissertation defense later this week.  I am sad not to go, happy not to have to endure the long flight with two small children. 

But, let me save reflecting on our week apart and ending this dissertation journey later.  First, the start of the holiday season.  For a while now, I’ve been pureeing pumpkin and turning it into pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin shakes, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin lattes—seasonal foods die hard, and somehow eating something that is made from pumpkin made it feel more like Thanksgiving was here.  Thanksgiving is just a normal day here, so Lydia went to school, Jeff went to work, and it really wasn’t sad since it all feels so different.  Thanksgiving week was also exam week for the International Teacher’s College (ITC) where Jeff works, so students were busy cramming in what they’d learned over the semester, and writing last minute papers. 

A recent display of sibling love to keep your attention. 

Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, several other faculty wives and I decided to bring the girls at ITC treats at their apartments.  We had fun each making 72 cookies, one for each student, and going room to room with cookie deliveries.  The girls live in a tall apartment building that makes me slightly terrified when I look out the window and see the traffic lights far far below.  I am a long way from learning all of their names, but since many of them go to the church where we attend, I am getting to know some of them.

I also have the opportunity to lead a conversation circle of 9 students, most of whom are freshman.  The conversation circle is a support group for newly arrived students as well as those second year students who need additional help with their English.  Don’t get me wrong—all of these students speak excellent English, and we have a fun time talking together.  Our final conversation circle of the semester was on Thanksgiving day, so I made an apple pie (thank you Diane Brown from World Relief ESL for the recipe and experiential learning that made this possible!!) for us to eat as we talked.

Thanksgiving night we had over Jeff’s care group—a different group of 9 students that he is in charge of supporting and mentoring.  They wanted American food, so I made the easiest food I could think of—spaghetti with salad, bread, and apple crisp for dessert.  I still have some learning on how to get everything to be ready at the same time for a larger group of people, but the students were gracious and helpful!  I was aiming to eat at 5, and we ate at 5:30, so I’ll call it a success.  We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal with several other American families that Friday night. 

Our season of parties ended last Friday with a Christmas party for my conversation circle.  They decorated cookies and created ornaments.  I was so impressed with their creativity, and I think we were the main beneficiaries.  When they left our house, it smelled like cinnamon, and our once bare bamboo tree was covered in beautiful ornaments that they’d created. 

Students decorating cookies

Creating gingerbread ornaments

Lydia feeding Jeff some of her orange at the Christmas party

Elias was a happy guy at the party.

Lydia, thrilled at all the ornaments on our tree.

Impromptu family picture after church with students jumping in.

Family Christmas picture on the campus of the ITC after church.

To end this post on the start of the holiday season, you may be wondering about the title, May and Doofus.  Every night for a long time now, and at nap time, Lydia has been requesting that we sing “Happy Birthday.” I’m not sure where the obsession with this song started, but I think we feed into it by allowing her to name those that she wants to sing happy birthday to. The list gets longer and stranger each night.  We now regularly fill in the names of not only Auntie Jojo, Uncle Adam, her animals, baby Lias, Mommy, Daddy, and other friends, but now we sing happy birthday to the wall, the windows, the door, the lights, basically anything she sees or remembers from her day.  She has also been asking that we sing happy birthday to Doofus.  For the longest time I’ve been wondering, who in the world is doofus?  I've never used the word doofus at home, has she heard it at school or on TV?   I finally figured it out when today after school she was talking about “My and Doofus,” and it suddenly clicked.  The season, the manger, the Christmas story…

Do you know who My and Doofus are? Leave your guess and I’ll tell you if you’re correct…

Lydia lined up all the characters of the nativity scene, including "My" and "Doofus" and then asked to take their picture.