Busy week . . . slow on the blog posting

I've been busy trying to keep my head above water during these intensives. I hope to be a bit more routine in posting pictures and updates once my classes are over. Here a few pictures from the past week or so.

Ethan getting into baths and lookin pretty cute.

Laney's B-Day #4

One of the privileges I have in these classes is getting to know other educators in Indonesia. Next to me here is Ibu Cindy who is the principal of a local Indonesian elementary school. In fact, they are the ones partnering with us to set up the P-town learning center.

Back to School

For the past year and a half, I've been working through a diploma program for teaching English as a foreign language. It's one of several programs that has been developed by a "like minded" lady from the US who has her doctorate in teaching English to speakers of other languages.

This week I started a two week intensive program . . . Two classes in two weeks. My morning class is "Assessment and Evaluation" and in the afternoon I have "First and Second Language and Literacy Development."

Not exactly the best schedule for Kim; just after returning from 3 months out of the country. She's doing an amazing job at holding down the fort, though.

Under Attack!

Just an FYI - in case you're trying to get in touch with us via email.

The server that hosts our email address has been under attack over the past couple of days. We have not been able to send or receive messages. I'm hearing from friends in our town that email they have sent me is getting bounced back to them.

So if you're trying to email us and can't, this is the reason why. We do have an alternative email address, but I haven't been able to get that one to send.

Ethan loves traveling . . . and now we're home

We're back. Our fantastic journey is now complete. As you can see, Ethan enjoyed himself. We arrived in Jakarta at 9:00pm and the contrast was noticeable. Perth: cool, clean air, crisp blue skies, orderly traffic. Jakarta: muggy, hot, hazy, crazy traffic. But it felt sooo good to be back.

After we spent the night in Jakarta (no flooding to delay us, just traffic), we checked in for our flight to Surabaya, turned the corner at the terminal to find . . .

Today we're unpacking, getting our water working again, shopping, and meeting up with friends. It's a cultural tradition to bring "oleh-oleh" (souvenirs) back from long journeys for our Indonesian friends. We got some cool Aussie bags, caps, and boomerangs to give out.

So long Perth!

Well, we're busy scurrying around the house and stuffing last minute items deep into the recesses of whatever space we can find in our luggage. We don't have a scale, so we're going by feeling for whether or not we're overweight. The luggage that is!

We also spent a good part of yesterday and today saying goodbye to many of the new friends we've made over the past three months. The kids especially are having a hard time saying goodbye to friends. And as I write, Ethan's in tears . . . but I think he's hungry.

We managed to get some fun things in this week . . . a trip to the aquarium . . . then on the way home, we happened by street signs of all of our names (well, we had to plan it a little bit more than that, but it's true, everyone one in our family has a street sign in Perth).

Passport and visa in hand

Yesterday, we went to the Indonesian Consulate in Perth and picked up Ethan's passport with his visa stamped on the very first page. After that, we headed over to the travel agent to pick up our tickets. So we're all set. Well, at least for those two major steps. Now we just have to get ourselves packed, return all the stuff we've borrowed, say goodbye to many new friends, make one last run to Target . . .

We leave on Monday night (June 9) at 5:00pm bound for Jakarta. After overnighting downtown (and all appears clear - no flooding that we know of), we'll fly to Surabaya at 11:00am on Tuesday, June 10. Then, hopefully we'll have a short and uneventful drive to Malang, arriving just in time for dinner.

Pictures of the Week

Going for a ride at Volcano Park

Startin to smile

Brienzi and Aidan getting in on the kids leading the adults in worship at Subi Church.

Out driving around on Monday (Foundation Day in Western Australia), we ran into a horse show in progress. The kids begged to go and watch.