Daybook - November 17

 Some days I find myself really wanting to update my blog but not knowing where to start. Maybe the daybook idea will help. :)

Outside my window...it's a cloudy day, thankfully cooler than it's been the past few days. It rained for a bit earlier, but now it's just cloudy.

I am thinking...about plans for Thanksgiving. School is in session on Thanksgiving Day, but we have Friday off. We've invited several teachers to celebrate the day with us, and now I need to plan the menu and figure out how we're going to fit everyone around our little table.

I am thankful...for the kids' afternoon naptime. And hazelnut coffee from the States. :) 

In the kitchen...my dishes are washed, tortilla dough is made and resting, and I'll start the green chile stew after my computer time. The head computer tech and his wife are coming for supper, and since they are fellow green-chile-lovers we are breaking out our green chile stash for them. :)

I am wearing...red T-shirt and khaki skirt, some of my feel-good clothes

I am creating...baby booties for my sister Maribeth's baby girl. Baby is scheduled to arrive on Monday, and the booties are heading to the States with one of our colleagues on Sunday. Unfortunately, while I was taking pictures of the finished product, I realized that I accidentally made one of the booties bigger than the other. Guess what I'll be working frantically on tonight??

I am going...nowhere (as usual).

I am wondering...how much longer I dare let the kids sleep.

I am reading...Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck. Jonathan and I have formed our own little reading club to keep our literary minds sharp and give us something to talk about besides the amusing antics of our kids. :)

I am hoping...that our pretty tablecloth dries in time for dinner tonight.

I am looking forward to...visiting with our company tonight. We really like these people. :)

I am hearing...Enya playing on the computer and blessed silence from the kids' room.

Around the house...are scattered toys, various pots and dishes from Toby's new game of "cooking eggs and tortillas," and Abbie's too-small clothes that need to be put into storage.

I am pondering...ways to make my kids feel loved. Toby has been acting out lately (in very normal ways for a 2-year-old), and I want to pour love into him as we deal with the bad behavior.

One of my favorite things...watching my kids on the rare occasions when they play nicely together. It's starting to happen more often now. So sweet.

A few plans for the rest of the week: hot dogs at the Friday night game, shopping for Abbie's birthday present on Saturday, a pie social Sunday evening

Kids' corner...Abbie has just learned to pat her head and clap her hands. Toby thinks it's great fun, and she loves the attention. They do this little routine: Abbie pats her head, and Toby says, "Head, shoulders, knees, toes..." while doing the appropriate motions. Alternately, Abbie claps her hands, and Toby says, "Happy...know it...clap hands." This occurs during almost every evening meal. :) 

We've been teaching Toby to say "thank you" for quite a while now. This morning I told him I would peel his hard-boiled egg for him, and he said happily, "Dat-jew [thank you], Mama!" First time he's said it without prompting. :)

I made mac 'n' cheese for lunch today with only local ingredients. Not my favorite, but Toby's reaction when he saw it was priceless: his eyes got big, and he said, "Oh! Toby eat dat!" Then he started twirling around the kitchen in excitement.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Want to join in the fun? Check out The Simple Woman's Daybook. 

The Great Outdoors

We have settled into our house now and are getting into a routine of sorts. There's still LOTS to do to make this house pretty and comfortable. Someone who's lived here for many years advised me this morning to give myself 2 years to get our house fixed up the way I like it. 2 years!! Apparently, it's a challenge to find things you like around here. : ) I think I would be wise to adjust my expectations to match her experience; I've already learned that when the "veterans" tell you something, they're usually right on.

One of the things we absolutely love about our house is the enclosed yard. Toby loves to play outside, and I enjoy caring for plants. Abbie is old enough now to come out with us and crawl around a bit. She gets fearfully dirty and I have to keep a close eye on her, but it's worth it! So let me take you on a quick tour of our yard.

This is the view from across the street. Most properties here are gated for security reasons. The huge tree to the left is a mango tree, and we've been informed that it produces lots of mangoes. Yay!

This is one corner of our yard. You can't see them well, but there are 2 pineapple bushes, a chile plant, a bougainvillea bush, and a young papaya tree just in this corner.

 

 This is still the front of the house. The little shed houses our generator, a necessity here since the electricity is unreliable and goes off for several hours several times a week (at least). The strange thing is, I've already gotten kinda used to it so I don't bother using the generator unless the electric goes off at night.

  

This is the back of the house with our handy-dandy large clothesline.

 

Toby loves to play with water (and dirt) out back. He was pretty excited about sitting up in one of our papaya trees too. : )

This is the side of our house, looking toward the street. To the right you can see part of our enclosed patio/potential garage.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! Give me a few more weeks, and maybe I'll be ready to show you around the inside. : )

Toby's World

Our little boy is a creature of habit. He loves his routines! Bedtime goes like this: supper, pick up toys, bath (if he hasn't already had one that day), read stories, pray with Papa and Mama, go to bed. It's pretty important to him that the three of us have prayer time together. If I'm in the kitchen doing dishes, he will often come find me to tell me it's time to pray.

When we pray, I always give him a chance to say what he wants to thank Jesus for. His list starts with Mama, Papa, Baby (that would be Abbie), and Kakak (Toby's name for himself, meaning "older brother" in Indonesian). It used to end there, but he has started to include such things as Pooh, books, cake, pizza, car rides, and the big slide at the school playground.
 

Like father, like son

Toby's "thankful" list makes me think. Right now, for such a short time, his family is almost his whole world. Our extended family is far, far away. He remembers them, likes to look at pictures of them, and sometimes asks to pray for them. But our little family is here, living life together every day. He likes to play with the neighbor kids, but we are the core of his social life. In a few years, his happiness will not revolve so completely around us. He will have friends, schoolmates, teachers, sweethearts. But for now, we shape his days.

For now.

Sad Day

Last night we learned that one of our colleages was killed in an airplane crash. Paul Westlund had been a pilot here for 25 years. Obviously, it is a great shock to his family and the community here.

Here's a great YouTube video about mission aviation that he helped to produce.

Since we're so new here, we don't know the family well. It's clear though that Paul's death has deeply impacted the community. It has reminded me of the dangers our pilots face as they fly in this region. It reminds me that tragedy can touch us too. It has prompted me to hug my husband and kids more tightly, to be thankful for the time I have with them.

Your prayers for the family and community are appreciated.

Tidbits

Last week Toby and I picked our first pineapple from our very own yard. I put it on our table, and all afternoon Toby would point to it and say, "Papa uh mome." Sure enough, we dug into it after Jonathan came home from school. It was yummy!

Abbie's first tooth made its appearance yesterday. Thankfully, she wasn't excessively cranky, so maybe she'll have as easy a time with teething as Toby did. Here's hoping!

Both kids think it's great fun when Toby pushes Abbie around in the high chair.

I've been working on giving Toby an idea about sequence and progression. He likes to know what's coming next, so after lunch I'll tell him, "#1 wash hands; #2 use the bathroom, #3 go to sleep." (I really think naptime might be his favorite time of day based on how excited he gets about it.) He really gets into the numbers, repeating the steps, and moving along toward the final activity. Now this morning before he was even out of bed, he told me, "Na, mall. Doo, pizza!" Interpretation: First we go to the mall, then we get pizza. Sorry, buddy, it doesn't quite work that way. Nice try though. :)

Pigeons

Those are trained messenger pigeons in that cage. The guy releases them just above "our" rice paddy.

Strange Passenger

You never know what you might see on a motorcycle around here.

Warung

One of the little "warungs" (shops) that line our street. You never know what treats might be lurking in there.

Ikan Asin - Salty Fish

Today's "Celebrating the Seasonings" culinary post is not a recipe, but instead a unique experience in snacking, namely, "Ikan Asin" or "Salty Fish."

The fish undergoes a special process of drying so that it becomes salty and completely dried out. The fish is crispy like chips. The bones are brittle to the point that the entire fish can be eaten--even the head and fins.

This all must sound disgusting, but actually I found it very tasty. I will miss these back in the States if I can't find them at some import store. They end up being similar to jerky. There is a fish flavor, but the processing makes it milder than canned tuna.

Indonesians like to eat these with sambal (chili sauce) very similar to chips and salsa in the States.

Below are pictures Stephanie took as proof that I ate the head. Actually, I ate the whole fish, though the fins are probably my favorite.

A Mommy Moment

Last night I had one of those precious "Mommy moments," the kind I imagined back when I was a single girl dreaming of being married and having children. Jonathan had read Toby his bedtime stories and tucked him into bed for the night. I was doing dishes when I heard a sweet little voice from the bedroom, "Mama." Now, let's be real here. A bit of dread filled my heart at that moment. Oh, no, what is it now? Is he not sleepy enough to sleep? Are we gonna have an awake-and-looking-for-any-excuse-to-get-out-of-bed little boy tonight? I wondered.

 

 

Toby peeking under our little table

I dutifully entered the room, and when I saw him lying there, something compelled me to lie down beside my little boy and gently ask what he wanted. Grinning his big, happy grin, he put his hands together in his sign for "pray." Oh, yes, I had forgotten to come in and pray with him. We went through our little routine. I asked who he wanted to pray for. He said, "Mama. Papa." Then he pointed to Abbie's room and to himself. I prayed for each of us by name and gave him a chance to say something to Jesus.

After we had finished praying, I looked at him lying there so happily and couldn't bear to leave yet. So I kissed him and cuddled him, then asked him for a hug. He smiled real big and sweetly reached over to put his arm around my neck. My heart just melted. After cuddling a bit longer, I kissed him again, told him I loved him, and bid him good-night.

Such a sweet, sweet time.

And I almost missed it.

I was almost too busy, too anxious to finish up my evening tasks and get on with my quiet, kid-free evening.

Almost too selfish.

I am so glad for the something that compelled me to slow down and enjoy those moments with my son. Back when I was dreaming of motherhood, I had no idea how complicated it would be. How easy it would be to miss those sweet Mommy moments I had dreamed of. But today I know. Today, I am grateful for the reminder to enjoy what I have, to revel in being Mama to my little ones. Today, I purpose to seek out those moments.

Standing up is one of Abbie's favorite things right now

(And, in order to do that, I need to get off this computer. Bye for now.)

Market Adventure

Our lives have fallen into a fairly predictable routine. Jonathan goes to class 5 mornings a week, and I go to class 3 afternoons a week. On our afternoons off, we have to make hard choices about how to spend our time. :-) Sometimes Jonathan goes out to do errands and practice language. Sometimes we both stay home and try to get some work done here. Sometimes we pack up the family and run errands together.

Thursday afternoon was a run-errands-together day. Ever since we arrived in the big city, we've been hearing about Pasar Baru (New Market). Many of our neighbors and national friends like to shop there. Our foreign colleagues aren't as enthusiastic about it. So, of course, I wanted to see this place for myself. Jonathan agreed with the idea in principle, but he mainly agreed to go to make me happy. (Isn't he wonderful?) We decided this would be primarily a scouting trip, not a shopping trip, so we wouldn't feel defeated if we didn't make any purchases. Good thing, too.

We gathered our children and backpacks and set off after lunch. As usual, we walked 20 minutes and made small talk with several neighbors before we got to the main road. As we crossed the street, we witnessed a collision between a city "bus" (more like a VW van) and a motorcycle. Scary! This is the first accident we've seen, and, thankfully, the motorcycle driver walked away without serious injuries. We hopped on our bus and rode for about 40 minutes to our destination. As we rode, Toby kept himself entertained by looking out the window, and Abbie charmed the other passengers with her smiles.

When we got off the bus, we walked 2 blocks on a sidewalk crowded with people. There were shops on one side and street vendors selling toys, clothes, hair accessories, fruit, and purses on the other. And by "crowded" I mean people were pressing in on us on all sides. We joined the constant stream of people squeezing by other people. I gave up on trying not to bump into anyone almost immediately; that was too much to expect. Upon reaching Pasar Baru, we only half-jokingly agreed that now we were tired out and ready to head home. :-)

If I had to choose one word to describe this place, it would be "overwhelming". The building is at least 7 stories high, and it's designed so that if you're standing in the middle of the building, you can see all the floors looming overhead. The place is a maze of little shops selling all sorts of goods. One floor is completely devoted to fabrics of all kinds. Other floors offer shoes, clothing, luggage, jewelry, and more. The top floor is a massive food court. We looked over the first few floors with interest, which soon dwindled into grim determination to complete our mission of scouting out the place. Jonathan purchased a nice dress shirt for cheap, and I looked wistfully through racks of women's shirts without finding something that was both my size and style. Toby, as usual, was just happy to be out and about, so he walked blithely through the aisles, only complaining when he grew tired of holding onto someone's hand. Abbie was content to observe from the baby carrier, but all the sights were much too exciting to allow for a nap. She fell asleep as soon as we sat down in the food court for a snack.

After our snack, we made our way down the elevator, out of the building, through the crowds of people lining the sidewalks, onto the city bus, and up the road to our house. Whew! The trip left us exhausted but glad we had experienced Pasar Baru.

Mosquitoes Beware!

I didn't see this guy at first glance. Glad he's around to do his job, and glad he's outside instead of in my house!

Vendor

There are lots of vendors wandering around with things for sale, but this guy has a particularly impressive load.

Banana Tree

This is a common sight around here. Did you know that each stalk can produce only 1 bunch of bananas before it dies?

Mama and Me

I think Abbie looks a lot like me. What do you think?

Me at 3 months

Abbie at 3 months

Me at 6 months

Abbie at 5 months

I love how the poses are so similar in these last two pictures! I didn't even pose Abbie that way on purpose; it wasn't until I was looking through her pictures that I remembered seeing a similar one of me.

Since I last wrote, my language classes have been going much better! The main reason for this change is that Abigail is now firmly on a regular 4-hour eating schedule, which means that she can stay home and get her afternoon nap instead of going with me to class. Woohoo! She is a much happier baby when she gets her sleep, and I am a much happier mama when I have some concentrated study time. 

Toby had some trouble when I first started going to class. He wasn't used to being away from me so frequently. I really wouldn't have picked up on his feelings except that his favorite book for several weeks was "Llama Llama Misses Mama." Jonathan said he had to read that book several times in a row one afternoon! He's gotten used to the routine now and sometimes likes to pretend that he's going off to school.

All set for class, just like Mama

He's got my school bag, my sandals, and my umbrella. I love it that he already knows outings here must include an umbrella in case of rain. (His mis-matched outfit? I have no idea. Maybe he picked out his clothes that day.)

He still loves to arrange things in creative and interesting shapes. One afternoon we discovered him happily creating this piece of artwork. Yes, he really did arrange those letters all by himself! I have no idea what made him think of that.

So proud of his artwork!

Our next-door neighbors have a little boy in elementary school. He loves to play with Toby, and Toby thinks this little guy is the coolest! The boys go back and forth to each other's houses, and R watches out for Toby as most older kids do with the younger ones. Toby thinks it's great fun to watch R play and sing with his drum.

 Abbie is a little sweetheart. She's full of smiles and giggles. She adores her papa and older brother and has a hard time concentrating on eating if they are doing fun things nearby. She has started to notice music and gets a big grin on her face when I sing to her. She's also a very wiggly baby! I have a hard time changing her diaper because she twists and turns so much.

Thank you, Dr. Suess!

The past few weeks have been rough for me. I've been taking language classes several afternoons a week, but it hasn't been working out for me to leave Abbie at home while I'm in class. (I've been working on tweaking her schedule to make sure that she won't get hungry while I'm gone, so hopefully I'll be able to leave her home soon.) As you might imagine, a 5-month-old baby does not make it easier to concentrate in class, especially since Abigail is a social butterfly and very skilled already at getting people's attention. :-)

As it turned out, Jonathan and I finished up our units at the same time even though we're in different classes. Since we get a few days off after a test, it was really exciting to think that we might have time to take the kids to a nearby zoo or work on some projects that we don't usually have time for. Alas, Jonathan and I both got sick the very first day of our mini-vacation (also the only day we could go to the zoo). What a bummer! I'm so glad that we could spend our day resting instead of trying to study though.

In other news, I have acquired a baby sling the local women use. Abbie and I both like it, but I haven't figured out how to put it on by myself.

That thumb makes a great toy!

Toby loves his "Dr. Seuss' ABC's" book. One of his favorite pages is the "P" page, which says, "Papa's in the pail." Since we call Jonathan "Papa," Toby thinks that is so fun! One day he randomly decided it was his turn to get in the pail.

Toby's in the pail!

Abbie wasn't sure what to think of that idea.

Family Picture

This is our family in May 2011. Toby is 2 years old, and Abbie is 5 months old. We took this picture at a beautiful little park just about 10 minutes walk from our house.

A Glimpse of Life Here

Here are some of the sights we see nearly every day. Enjoy!

This is the hill we climb to go pretty much anywhere. It gives us good exercise. :-) It is also one of the reasons we don't use our stroller unless absolutely necessary. Toby is quite comfortable on this hill now; he walks up and down like a pro! (And, yes, people do ride mototcycles up and down this hill--quite regularly, in fact.)

The neighbor children are very friendly. This little girl is the one who, upon seeing Toby's nicely rounded belly, asked if he was pregnant. :-) A neighbor lady kindly explained that no, he wasn't pregnant, just healthy.

This street vendor sells yummy produce near our language school. He stocks a good supply of vegetables, but fruit isn't quite so common. It's great food though!

The building on the right is our language school. As you can see, hills are pretty common around here. To the left is a nice grassy area with a bench swing.

It really is beautiful here. The weather isn't too hot, but it does rain nearly every afternoon or evening. We're entering the hot or "dry" season, "dry" meaning that it rains in the afternoon instead of all day long. :-) It is a rain forest after all....

No Bananas

Toby loves, loves, loves bananas. He's in the right country to indulge in them too: we've enjoyed eating at least 4 different kinds so far. This morning as we were fixing breakfast and getting ready for the day, Jonathan turned on some children's music, starting as always with the Veggie Tales version of "This Little Light of Mine." (Toby likes to dance around the room doing the motions to that song.)

A few minutes later, I heard Toby crying as though his heart were breaking. I ran to the kitchen to see what was wrong. Between sobs, he was saying, "Na-na, na-na" ("banana, banana"). It registered with Jonathan first that the current song was a jazz tune entitled, "Yes, We Have No Bananas." Poor Toby has heard this song lots of times, but this was the first time he understood what it was saying. Guess he just couldn't bear the thought of having no bananas....

Lessons from a Water Jug

Living in a new culture is a little like being on a treasure hunt except that you don't know what the treasure is or how to recognize your clues. I'm still mulling over the latest cultural "treasure" and its implications. The tap water here is not safe to drink, so everyone buys big jugs of water for drinking. Whenever we run out of water, we call or text the water store, and someone delivers a new jug straight to our door on a motorcycle. It's a pretty nifty system.

Well, the first few times we texted for water, it was promptly delivered. But then the delivery guys really started slacking. One day it took about 4 hours and multiple texts/calls before we finally got our water! I kept thinking about it and wondering if there was some reason behind the delay. Suddenly, it dawned on me: I wonder if we should be tipping them? And sure enough, that was it. As we talked with people, we learned that tipping is expected for delivery service. A few days later, Jonathan met up with one of our water delivery guys, gave him a belated tip, and explained that we hadn't known we were expected to tip them. And this morning our water was delivered within 45 minutes of our call. :-)

You may wonder why the delivery guys didn't simply ask for a tip. I don't understand all the "why's" myself, but I am learning that this culture values relationship and good manners. Instead of rudely demanding a tip, the delivery guys gave us poor service, expecting that this would clue us in to our mistake. This way they don't have to confront us directly or witness our embarrassment at making such an obvious (to them) blunder. It makes sense...and scares me a bit because I tend to rush along in life, not taking time to notice subtle signs of problems. Guess I'd better start paying more attention....


Here are some (unrelated) pictures for your enjoyment.

Abbie has started laughing now. She's got the dearest little ticklish spot up near her neck. I love hearing her bursts of explosive giggles.

Yes, that's a Lego in his mouth. He got great amusement out of doing that one day.

Abbie loves to have her blanket nearby when she sleeps.

Toby still loves to line things up. I often find Abbie watching him these days; he is good entertainment for her.

Toby's Belated Birthday

This year Toby's birthday came at a bad time. We had been in-country for a month and were just days away from getting on a plane and moving across the country to begin language school. Fortunately, he's young enough that it doesn't matter. So we had a small celebration on the day itself but saved the real thing--complete with guests, presents, and cake--for a time when we could host the party in our new home.

Some new friends came to help celebrate

We have a wonderful group of people living nearby who also attend language school. They graciously joined us for Toby's party even though we had met only a few weeks before. We had lots of fun with them. (Names are withheld for sensitivity issues.)

Opening his first gift

So busy playing he couldn't even take time for cake (and it's chocolate-y goodness was well worth eating)

Toby has missed his Legos since we left them behind. I was thrilled to find something similar here; in fact, these are even easier for him to manipulate because they don't hold together quite so firmly. As you can see, they were a big hit.

Toby ate his piece of cake after the excitement had died down.

I think Toby looks so much like my brother Tim in this picture!

Chocolate mustache

We can't leave Abbie out of this post completely. She's so much fun these days! She's a happy, smiley little girl who loves to chew on anything she can get into her mouth.

Abbie's favorite activity: eating her hands

Isn't that headband darling?