Monday, November 30, 2009

Pics from Thanksgiving @ "J" Dorm

Haddon won the coloring Contest and got to go first in line at Thanksgiving!
The dorm dinning room decorated for Thanksgiving!

Enjoying a "home cooked" American meal!! :)

Proof that even in a dorm.....there's a kid's table!! :)

The guys working on a Thanksgiving Word Search before dinner!

Yum!! Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole and an apple pie!


Very random pictures I know, but I was busy talking and eating!! :) Our Thanksgiving was really nice for it being our first one away. We celebrated at the International School dorm which is owned by our company (for the kids whose families work with the company) and two other colleagues families that live here. We all felt a little homesick but at least we were not alone, we had new friends and great food. Then later that night I got sick and was in bed for five days.......I guess you can't win them all!! :) Thanks for the prayers for us they were felt!!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Happy Memories...Just one of the things we are thankful for!

One of my all time favorite Thanksgivings, pretty sure we couldn't have had more fun!

Just one of the tables and just a few of the seats occupied by family and friends at our home!


Every year we four-wheel up to this area between our home and the lake and take a picture of all the grand kids (those old enough to ride) on this fallen tree! So great to compare pictures from year to year!

"Mayflower hats" We always do Thanksgiving crafts, what kind of mom makes the children wear such crazy hats? :)

More hats which we also make the cousins wear!

These hats were a fav! Backwards ball caps made into turkey hats!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING...................from a couple of turkeys!!!

(These were the eyes we used for the hats in the photo above! Did you know if you stretch your eyes wide and then set the plastic eye on your eyes then relax...they just stay there! Who knew? Just a little tip! :)

May your day be filled with lots of love, laughter, family and friends. And may you stop to remember how truly blessed you are by the CEO! We love you!!

While we miss celebrating the CEO's goodness with our families and friends back home, we are thankful for modern ways to stay in touch and for bringing us to this place and how He has provided everything we need, every step of the way!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

A Wedding on the Road

When Barry and I noticed the tent going up we knew it meant something..wedding? Funeral? As we were marveling as the ingenuity of people making do with the space they have (e.g. the road) our friend "V" walked up and told us there would be a wedding for a neighbor and we were invited. Yay! Then she offered to take us to see the preparations being made by the women in the kampung (actual translation is "ghetto"* :). It is basically a close-knit neighborhood.

*As a side note: Since we live in a 'ghetto' I guess that explains why the other day at the pool we heard Campbell say, "Where yo' ball go?" We all cracked up, it was an accident since she was talking fast but still.....hilarious!! Maybe the 'ghetto' is rubbing off on her! LOL

Anyway, as we leave the street, to walk between the first row of houses, it is as if you are somehow transported into village life. The stone and dirt path between the homes is narrow and winding, each home connected to the other by a wall. With each step I am walking further from modern civilization, it's as if you can watch yourself go back in time. Not sure how else to describe it. When we arrive at an opening, there is a covered area with a fire pit for cooking and ver few modern convenience being used. The sky is close to bursting into a torrential rainfall and no one is fazed, they just sit on the porch with the food splayed out and continue working. I wish you could see it, it was beautiful to watch. They worked together with ease, each women young and old, taking a role in helping. They showed us what they were cooking and how they did each step, it was amzing! We congratulated the Bride and she told us to be sure to come at 10am.

The next morning we hurried to finish our translations so we would be free to attend for as long as we could before our class began at 1pm. The loud (and rather irritating :) music started around 6 in the morning and yesterdays music had only ended just a few hours before! At 9 we heard a man on the microphone (they LOVE microphones, and they like them LOUD) We waited until ten and walked outside where it was standing room only. Unsure whether to go on or wait, we were encouraged to go on ahead. They greeted us with a small tray of goodies and a drink as several people scurried to get us a seat. Since most of the service was in 'Macchiato' and Ar*bic we didn't know exactly what was going on and just followed the crowd. The people are very warm and will motion you to help you know what to do. We had a great time. Enjoyed great food and conversations which can be held a little longer now with a greater understanding of the language.

I have found that I cannot be around these "cousins" with their warm hospitality or watch them pr*y without starting to cry! It's embarrassing, but I just hurt for them and want them to know the Truth.

So as I prepared this slide show I had trouble deciding on a song. Love songs somehow seemed wrong and so I settled on "Go Light Your World" by Chris Rice. Not sure it is the perfect fit but it is always a good reminder, be sure to listen to the words! Enjoy!

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Sundays in Our Town

This is our new 'faith family", underneath the building shown here is where they have the kids S.S.
After w*rship the musicians and Praise Team have pr*yer together. By the way, the P.T. clothes always match! :)

Our pew is typically the middle bench in the balcony. We have a great view of the power point and we don't disturb anyone when we look up words! :)

Before the kids head to S.S. they gather at the front so the "family" can lift them up!

This is the front of the building, the shepherds family lives in a home built underneath it where the kids S.S. is held.

And last but not least, a sample of singing in "Macchiato"!


Just to give you a little taste of what our Sunday service looks like. I think you'll recognize "I Surrender All". We really enjoy attending and have made friends with some college students there who are studying English. The language barrier causes makes it a little harder to converse with some of the older members. The Shepherd is fairly young but his wife does speak some English so we have been able to talk some with her. It's different and you really have to be a "self-feeder" because you aren't going to understand like you would a message back home. The kids have done very well although I know it can seem really long for them since they have less language than we do!

Just wanted you to see some of the people you'll be sharing eternity with if you are a believer!! Can you imagine what singing around the throne will be like? :)


Monday, November 16, 2009

I'm No Kin to the Monkey...No,No, No


Okay the title was the name of a song sung by Jerry Wayne Bernard and his two daughters Crystal and Robin, they would come for revivals to my home "business" when I was a little girl!! Man, that was a long time ago! Here is the story: Hudson went on a field trip to a museum at the location where "J*v* Man was found (although it is a bit of a stretch to call a partial skull, some teeth, and a femur bone found 50 yards away a "man", but they didn't ask me!) Of course they have other fossils they have dug up on display and his class was going to see those. Thankfully his teacher is a follower of the CEO who teaches them, and affirms what we have already taught, about the origin of man! We are not animals but men created in the image of the CEO for His purpose!


When Hudson got home, he was all excited about the trip, but not the museum. The scenes totally freaked him out! He was describing some things he saw on display and so I went online and found this photo, taken at the museum! No wonder he was creeped out! Those things are hideously ugly!! It is amazing how they come up with all this from a few bones!! I was really thankful for the trip we took earlier this year to the Creation Science museum in Kentucky, he was able to see for himself the drastic difference between the two teachings on the origin of man!


But like I said he was very excited because they were able to shop at some small stalls outside the museum! He was a bargaining fool! He was so proud of the prices he got! Isn't that funny? He came back with something for everyone, rings for all the girls, and a hippopotamus tooth for Barry!! Can't say I ever saw this trip in his future but so glad that the CEO used it to confirm his truth in Hudson's heart!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!!

Marshall never went anywhere with out "Puffy" the snowman!!:) Seriously, we went through 7 of these snowmen!!



We enjoyed Marshall so much, we couldn't wait for him to be a big brother!





He is fun loving and a great son. When we left he was 4 verses away from earning the Timothy Award in Awanas! He has hidden the Word in his heart! This is he and Campbell in a friends wedding.


He's played football, baseball, basketball, soccer and karate! He loves sports!

Marshall earned a purple belt in Karate right before we moved overseas!



They really are best friends.....and tease each other like only brothers can do!


Happy 13th Birthday Marshall, you are a blessing of untold measure, we thank the CEO for you!


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Where, Oh Where, Oh Where, is Shadow?

"Wayang Kulit", leather shadow puppets used to retell H*ndu epics. Cute, huh?

There is a narrator, singer, and musicians all behind a screen so the puppets cast large shadows. These can last for as long as nine hours and they start around 9pm!


Today in class we had to retell a telling of a H*ndu epic that we had translated as our homework the night before. With well over 100 new words it was insane and difficult to find the words that we knew to retell the story. The story within the story is that this "show" is taking place at a boy circumcision party......uh, 'nuf said! Not blogging on that one! :)

The only shadow puppets I have seen, other than the ones we made ourselves as kids, (ya know, the "dog barking", the "butterfly", the "snake" and all the other crazy ways you distort your hands and call it some type of animal like a swan!) was the shadow puppet on "Bear in the Big Blue House", hence the title of the post. Marshall watched the show as a toddler and even "Shadow" with her ponytail on that show would creep me out a little, but these puppets are over the top in the whole creep factor!!

Anyway, this got me thinking, in English (sorry Pelatihs!), that this could be a fun way to share the stories from the "Manual" with children (or maybe even adults)! By making our own puppets that would look like characters from the Manual, more realistic but cartoon-ish like out of a children's "Manual" (not creepy, pointy, distorted features), it would be distinguished from the other puppets. It just might be a way to take something from their culture and use if for sharing HIStory!! Just a random thought but this could be a great way to use our home for a "kids club" outreach activity! Be praying about this, I will run it by those who have been here longer to see if it would have any negative drawbacks, but I am always looking for creative ways that I can be used over here!!

Thanks for the encouragement you guys give, it means SO much!!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Persistance Pays Off....Too Hard to Resist

Pak? Pak.....Pak? (Mister? Mister......Mister?) She followed us for quite a while with her sites set directly on Barry. We usually do not give to children begging with their parents for a number of reasons, but sometimes.......they overcome you!! She was so cute and tiny!

A busy street but apparently not so busy for the becak drivers!


Those are shells with hermit crabs in them that he is selling! My close up did not turn out but they were painted not only in beautiful colors but with pretty writings and designs!
Persistance didn't work for him! :)

When we came back that way, little "relentless" was asleep on her mother's lap as the mother continued begging.

Just a snapshot from the photo album I call my life. It's times like these I go,"Now what was it that I was worried about or was complaining about?" These scenes tend to put things in perspective. Things could always be much worse!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Masuk Angin........or Maybe Not!!


Me and "M" with her weapon!


So there was a tutor, a lady, and her husband and they walk in this....... Oh, sorry almost forgot what I was going to write about! :)

Here we were sitting on the couch discussing the questions we were given in class about today's topic: obat (medicine). We discuss who does or does not go to the doctor and why they do or do not go. We discuss what a tukang obat is (a person skilled in medicine, otherwise known to us as a tukang bohon=skilled liar), one who is more of a schister(sic?). You know, kind of like the man in that episode of Little House on the Prairie where Mary and Laura buy that medicine kit from him which supposedly has these cure all medicines, because they want to raise money to buy Rev. Alden a new "Manual"? But it was all a big hoax because the medicine didn't really work but they had already spent their money on the medicine and then couldn't buy a "Manual", remember that one?

Well.....anywho, we were discussing all of this when the topic turned to "kerokan". Literally translated this one word means, "to have one's back rubbed with a coin." Who knew right? So much meaning for such a small word! :) Kerokan is something in the Macchiato culture that they do to determine why you are sick, and I think it it suppose to help you in the process. What happens is they take some type of oil, often eucalyptus oil, rub it on your back, then take a coin and rub (read SCRAPE) your back with it!! If you turn red from the coin (and who wouldn't?)you have Masuk Angin, which literally translated means "enter air" from what I can tell it's like a cold or flu with fever. Which by they way brings us to a side topic. Masuk Angin is the reason that they all wear jackets (often coats) when they ride their motorcycles. Like it can be 95 degrees and these people are wearing heavy leather coats zipping around town!! But they don't want Masuk Angin so heat or no heat those jackets are on!! :)


"M" decides to show me exactly what it is and so Campbell brings in some lotion (no oil here!) and "M" proceeds to scrape the tar out of my neck!! I'm saying, "This hurts, of course it's going to be red, you are breaking blood vessels here!!" She just smiles, secretly, or not so secretly, enjoying my discomfort and laughing at my comments!! :) So by this time Barry, with a mischievous smile, is going, "Justine, do you feel okay? It got so red so fast! You must be sick" and I'm like, "Of course I'm fine, she is just scraping me to death!". We all have a good laugh then she tries my arm which of course does not turn as red as fast, probably because of the hangy down arm fat! :) Don't laugh at me....you know exactly what I am talking about! Hahahaa
As you can see it was quite the adventure! Barry says, he thinks it's like "snipe hunting" .LOL

So since I apparently have Masuk Angin, I think that means I can stay home from class and not give my presentation tomorrow! Right? "Cough...cough...sniffle....sniffle...I'm SO sick!!" Quick, somebody find me a tukang obat.........just wait until after class time tomorrow!! :)

Monday, November 2, 2009

They Say It's Your Birthday....

The pool and spa area
Kayu Arum: Restaurant, Resort (7 rooms) and Spa

Our lunch date, celebrating Barry's birthday!

A beautiful setting with our favorite drink, a Lime Squash (like a limeade), they bring out a little shot glass cup full of liquid sugar that you add to taste. YUMMY!

The view from the terrace where we ate.......gorgeous!

I know...another toilet pic! But I thought you would find it interesting that it has one side completely open! Crazy!!

So even though his birthday was Friday and we enjoyed getting a coffee, we decided to celebrate by going to a restaurant that we like but the kids aren't that crazy about, Kayu Arum. This place is also our favorite place to go swimming. It is an amazing little oasis on the outskirts of our city.

Barry got a fish dish (surprise, surprise) called the ying yang fish. It has salmon wrapped around a white fish and I had a tropical Madagascar sirloin medallion (sirloin, pineapple, cheese with a tomato sauce) it was good but I'd skip the sauce! :) Not that anyone asked.....I'm just saying. This is a pricey restaurant so our meals cost $6.50!! :) That is really expensive here! We don't eat here often because the budget doesn't allow for it, but it was a nice relaxing lunch for us to just enjoy some time together.

But also note that the homework is out on the table.......we can never seem to fully get away from it!! :P

Did I tell you that we, and the kids, have class on Thanksgiving Day? Sniff-sniff.....but the kids only have a half day and after Barry and I get out we are going to have a Thanksgiving Feast with the dorm parent's and kids at our company dorm that is at the international school. So that will be nice. Since we always have a houseful on Thanksgiving, it will be nice to share it with them and not just by ourselves! Still thinking about how to do Christmas........