Friday, June 19, 2009

A few pictures just for fun

Self Explanatory! We just thought this was funny!

A welcome sight...the taste is almost the same, one of the closest of the US restaurants

Lunch at 'Bu Rini's, in a rice field, it's absolutely beautiful


Delicious fried fish and veggies in sweet and sour sauce, some of the best I've had.


A beautiful setting with the volcano in the background, kids found crabs in the water!

Evaluasi? Bagus! Naik Unit Dua!


Evaluation? Good! As of today Barry and I are promoted to Unit 2!! After our separate oral evaluations we received our books for Unit 2 and were told that we have made good progress, considering we knew only three words when we started. It was a little more intense than I had expected (not sure why I expected less, but I did). We were required to pr@y and then answer a series of questions by two Pelatihs (trainers). My "out of control t's" were back but I think it was because I was so focused on hearing and answering in the language, that some of my pronunciation went out the window, that is never really good to do!

I have included this picture from my class yesterday. There is A LOT of repeating words, but in many ways it is like four hours a day of Charades and Pictionary. After the first week they speak very little English and use motions and pictures for you to guess the meaning of the words! I noticed that the book for Unit 2 is entirely written in "Machiatto".......no English at all......YIKES!!

Oh, and just to let you know, since confession is good for the soul, they commented on how they liked our good attitude and enthusiasm towards language learning. But I have to admit, there are times when I want to say..."Oh, ya? Well you try to say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, and I'll "koreksi" you"!! So there you have it, the bad attitude confession, I don't feel that way often but it can creep up sometimes! :) Thank you for taking the time to bring us before the CEO, we feel it and He is answering!!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Something's wrong, it's too quiet!


Barry spoke those words as he and I walked out of the grocery store/mall yesterday. As we begin to process what is different, we notice there are no cars moving, not even motorcycles, which trying to stop them is like trying to stop a river with your hands!! There was a large crowd gathered in the street and everyone and everything was silent. There are untold numbers of policemen and soldiers standing around. It was a bit eerie. You already feel like you don't understand all that is happening around you in a normal day, something like this is a bit disconcerting.

All of the sudden out of the crowd comes our policeman friend,"D". He smiles and waves for us to come over to him and tells us that the President of "Machiatto" (our country's code name) is coming to our town and will be here any minute! Well, that may not be exactly what he said, but with our limited vocabulary that is was we decided he was saying! :)

So there we stood, waiting with half of the city, on one side of the road, as we listened to "D's" walkie talkie. Oh, and I might add people were pulling out their phones to take pictures of the president....and us! Then "D" had to leave and within minutes the motorcade came into view. It was pretty impressive. Just another day in paradise! :) I am not sure how we keep "falling" into these crazy circumstances but they sure keep things interesting!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Remembering Leon


A long time ago in a land that is now far way lived a little girl who had moved to a new state, she was eight years old. While she lived happily with her two older sisters, she wanted a big brother of her own. In this land also lived a teenage boy who still had a lot of love to give to his little sister, but she was taken from him by a drunk driver, she was sixteen.

The families of these two children met and became great friends and while the little girl didn't replace the boy's sister, she gladly accepted the role of "little sister" that he bestowed upon her. She now had a brother of her own and it was official because the boy's mother was a notary public and she notarized the "adoption" papers they drew up!

As time went on great memories were made and good times were a constant in their lives. On the girl's sixteenth birthday she had a party in which the boy brought a date, a princess named Katrina. To the delight of the young girl, Leon married Katrina and the princess accepted her as family and became a sister in the process. Every holiday was filled with laughter and games, riding four wheelers and dune buggy's, or motorcycles and boats. The boy became a man but never gave up the boy in him. He was kind, loving, giving and would do anything he could do for you. He was a follower of the CEO and he was faithful to his faith family, always serving others.

The little girl also grew up and became a woman who married her prince and had a family of her own. The boy and his wife loved the girls' children with all their hearts and made them feel special and began creating wonderful fun memories for them. It was just like they had done for their mother when she was little. All children loved the boy, he was just like them only he had a job and money!

Thirty two years later there was a tragic accident which took the life of the boy. There was shock and disbelief, how could all that energy, love and light be gone? His princess was left, but not all alone. She was surrounded by family and friends and a CEO who loves her and promised to not only see her through, but also gave her hope of seeing the boy again one day.

There is no end to this story as I believe all is still being worked out for the good of all those involved.

G-- is too wise to be mistaken, G--is to good to be unkind, so when you don't understand and you can't trace His hand.......trust His heart. I am thankful to be the little girl in this story, my life and the lives of my husband and children have been made richer by knowing the boy and his princess.