Games with the staff

During the school break, we’re trying to do some fun things with the P-town learning center staff. They came over on Tuesday for snacks and games. We were going to teach them Pit, but they all wanted to play on the Wii.

 The kids had fun outside.

Trying their hand at the shooting gallery.

  Kim with Santi and Novita.

The P-town staff minus Bambang and Wenny. We have really missed having them around as Wenny continues to battle cancer. Anyone who knows her would tell you that she is a fighter. And she is proving that true as she defies what doctors and everyone thought over the past couple of months. We appreciate all of your prayers on their behalf.

School's Out!

. . . and the kids survived their year at Charis National Academy! June 16 was 6^th Grade Graduation, which marked the official end of the year. Most Indonesian schools only get a month off before they begin again on July 18. Our kids, though, have to go with us to meetings the first two weeks, so they get a bit longer. And Kim will most likely return to a more normal schedule of homeschool with electives at Charis and Indonesian tutoring. Although, that probably won’t be a normal schedule either. What is normal, by the way?

  Delaney her her teacher, Dede, on the right, and the teacher's assistant, Leney, on the left.

Aidan and teacher Do'an.

Brienzi and teacher Elok.

Delaney and one of her classmates dressed up for a drama on the last day of school.

Gettin' around on a motorbike

After years of protesting, Kim finally relented to me riding around on a motorcycle here in Indonesia. Well, actually, I’ve never really wanted to get out and risk my life on one of these either, so she hasn’t had to protest very hard. But for the past year, as Kim and the kids have had a crazy challenging schedule with schooling, my getting around to the learning center, training meetings, and other events have become more and more difficult. So throughout the year, I’ve been hinting . . . at the possibility . . . that I may need . . . to get a motorcycle.

My good friend Mike O has been touting the “freedom” that comes from having one of these. Both in terms of getting unchained from the kids school schedule and also being able to weave through traffic and get to the head of the line (something all car drivers wish they could do as they curse the motorcycles that are moving ahead of them like ants swarming the opening out of their lair). So with Mike O in the US during the school break, I’m borrowing his bike to see if I can figure out how to do this and how easy or scary it is to get around on. And to my amazement, as well as to Kim’s, it’s been very easy to learn to get around.

I started out with just taking the kids around the neighborhood. Within three weeks, I’ve graduate to getting across town. I’m still taking it very slowly, as my friend Bambang can attest. I followed him to the bird market this past week, but I could see him chomping at the bit to speed ahead of his inchworm partner. At any rate, it’s a start. Now I have to figure out what I’m going to do when Mike gets back in August. I could be hooked!

Wedding season

Last week, Novita, one of the teachers at the learning center got married. So the girls and I made it a father-daughter date, since Ethan was sick and Kim stayed home with him (and of course Aidan had no interest in going, though he missed out on the good food).

I’m very proud of my girls getting into the culture and enjoying great Indonesian food. Of course, they were born here, so this is more natural for them than it is for me. But Indo food can be quite appetizing.

Dessert was our favorite, es kelapa muda – iced young coconut juice. We always joke that most Americans would hate this stuff because it looks so unappetizing with all the stuff floating in it. But it is soooo good and refreshing on a hot day.

Off to the waterfall

The Coban Rondo waterfall is one of our favorite places to go for a few hours of hiking and enjoying Indonesia. Well, it’s actually been years since we’ve been back there, even though it only takes us about an hour to drive up there. But over the spring break, we took the day off and hauled ourselves up the mountain (driving first, then hiking).

 The view of our city down below is beautiful.

 There are even wild monkeys along the way that love to come out for food . . . or steal it from you.

 Get in close to the fall and you definitely get soaked from the mist.

And one of our favorite Indonesian treats, especially to help warm you up after getting all wet, is grilled corn on the cob.

School Days

It’s been a while since we’ve posted anything about the learning center. Since Wenny has been battling cancer, we’ve had to re-arrange our daily routine. Instead of the super creative themes that the teachers have been developing each semester, we shifted to just English classes and tutoring in Math and Indonesian. Though, we’re still able to get some creative stuff in there.

 Patrick teaching the staff English and also various methods for teaching English to the kids.

This month, we had a mother-daughter team from the USA come and lead the kids through a couple of art projects . . . and teach them the Hawaiian Hula.

Tree Tops

At the end of last year, we traveled with a group of friends to do a ropes course. They had five levels of difficulty. All the kids did great, but Brienzi was impressive getting up to level three – VERY high up in the trees.

Laney getting started on the beginner course. She went up to the next level with dad, but that was all she wrote for this first grader.

Aidan was tearing up the course on the zip line, or also known as the flying fox on this side of the planet.

Brienzi and her friends getting started on their first trek around the forest tree tops.

Life in Indonesia: Out Bound with Madurese kids

Over the weekend, my friend Curtis and I spent some time with with 100 junior high kids from the island of Madura. They came to experience what they call an "out-bound" which consists of team related activities in a remote setting. A local university was hosting it, and invited us to do a little English lesson.

The out bound was held at a camp about 30 minutes up the mountain from our town. The road narrows the higher up you go, and turns into more of a village setting.

Eventually, we had to park the car and walk a couple kilometers down a cobble stone path.

 . . . that turned into a mud path . . . 

Until the path opened up to reveal a valley filled with orange groves, pine trees, and a cool mountain stream running through it. All the kids were gathered along the side involved in various activities.

We recruited a couple of the staff who could speak in English to help us tell the English story. We were doing a drama of the Fall of Man, so we ran through it a couple of times.

Then they gathered all the students around . . .

We introduced ourselves using the megaphones (it was amazing how loud the little stream was).

Taught them "Lean On Me."

The kids love getting their picture taken with  "Native Speaker." They crowd around practically on top of each other, all getting their cell phones out to get a picture with the guest speakers.

This guy put his camera up to take a picture of me, so I playfully put mine up to take a picture of him. Embarrassed, he started to run away. They have brilliant smiles and are so much fun to be with. 

Spinning

When we got back from the US, the kids were delighted to see that a little park had been built just down the street from our house. Indonesians don't have the luxury (if you can call it that) of having a company that makes playground equipment. They can, however, call up the local metal worker and get him to form equipment. One of the kids' favorites is this spinning cup. You just get in, whirl yourself around until your head bursts.

How is it that the older you get, even the thought of this makes you sick? When I was a kid, I used to love this. Now, I can't even watch them. One spin and I'm turning green.

Life in Indonesia: Lumba-Lumba Show

Last week we went to the traveling Lumba-Lumba Show with Bambang and Wenny and their girls. It just happened to be Yella's birthday - their oldest.

Lumba-Lumba is Indonesian for dolphin. Much like the traveling circus in the US, this group travels with a bunch of animals - sea otters, cockatoo, bear - the dolphins being the main attraction, and sets up a large tent with a swimming pool in the middle and bleachers around the sides.

Wenny, and in front of her, their three daughters, Yella, Rene, and Karen.

Here's the bear, with the dolphins trying to steal his show.

But then they got into the show!

Life in Indonesia

Yes, it's hot and humid here, but the rain feels sooo good!

Life in Indonesia

Last Friday, Kim and I had the rare privilege of going out on a date. After a fantastic Rosti meal (a Swiss dish of hash browns with various kinds of savory toppings) at our favorite local restaurant, Bunga Bali, we went shopping. Yeah, I know, not always the best date activity. But around here, it can be humorous depending on where you go. Here's a sampling of things we can get:

Isn't this a case of onomatopoeia? Whoever thought of this name for peanut butter was genius.

This, however, was not genius. Pink pringles? I guess grilled shrimp could be good. But pink? It's the girly chip for sure.

And to top it of, does anybody "want-want" some crackers?