Two Teas till Tuesday

A find: where to enjoy Indian food

We discover a good Indian restaurant with our friends from India. So Sunday, our post-church lunch is excellent. The debate is where to eat that is not too warm. Ah, a breeze is blowing through the patio. Snag a seat, enjoy a banana leaf plate, and eat with your (newly washed) fingers. Totally yummy. So what if your thumb gets stained yellow by the curries.

Monday, October 7

After class, we run some errands. The bank reminds us that we need our original passports and visas for banking transactions. So our bank business must wait until tomorrow. One more stop before we head home: the water bill has to be paid each month in person,  downtown. (Apparently our bank doesn't do money transfers to pay online. Oh well.)

We're home in time to take a short nap. W's not 100% well yet and I'm tired from a short night. Crash.

The strange juxtaposition that is Bandung: palm trees,
Dutch heritage (a windmill on a bakery), planes overhead,
and the chaos of unregulated buildings

Dr. W crosses the street at 5, from her house to ours. She exclaims over the new arrangement. We've moved furniture, making the rooms more livable with the same stuff we inherited. We haven't added art or made it our own yet.

We share a late tea of homemade apple pancakes, cut papaya and lime, and a few local baked goods. The pancakes are fresh and hot. We've begun a neighborly tradition of taking food home. We always have goodies after visiting Dr. W's house so she happily takes some pancakes for tomorrow's breakfast with her. We talk about how God loves us and how grateful we are for his care.

In the evening, I try to review some of our language studies. A few things are starting to stick in my brain. Acquisition is slow but W insists that we'll reach a critical mass when lots of words will sort themselves out. We're glad to be learning grammar as well as vocabulary. Having a TV helps SO much. We've begun to piece together patterns of how the language is used.

Tuesday, October 8

Watch your feet. A typical
sidewalk ... when there is one.

Today's class focus is review - just the two of us and a tutor, without Augustine and Sumathi. They've flown off for a week, conducting business in India. I miss my friends already. During the half-hour class break, W heads to the bank with our passports. He comes back with the mission accomplished.

We are welcomed home by the usual savory smells of Bu A's cooking. Today she's cut up a fresh mango and baked a casserole of rice, broccoli, cauliflower, and sausage. It's another winner - she has a flair for seasoning! Both W and I have seconds. One of us has thirds. I ask her if she will cook this - (and the gourami fish and the wilted green veges) when we have company. They'll love it!

She and her husband Pak E are living in the house while we're gone next week. He and another fellow will open the ceilings to clean out the insect damage. Theoretically that will clear out most of the mess we live in. I don't really want to be here while that's done! Ibu A will clear out what falls down. I'm hoping to come back to a clean house, but she warns me that the men might not finish the whole place before we get back.

W heads out for a haircut while I wrap my blanket over my head and nap for an hour. It was another short night last night. I woke a few minutes after falling asleep and then couldn't get back to resting until almost midnight. The morning arrived too soon: on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we're up at 5:30am.

Dr. H is a wonderful hostess.

At 4, we get lost on our way to tea at Dr H's place. She's the medical doctor we met on the way to church Sunday. Luckily, we have a phone number. We turn around and go the opposite way. There she is! waiting on the street for us. Her husband cannot speak English and we're not yet fluent in bahasa Indonesia. Soon, we tell ourselves. Soon.

Dr. H speaks excellent English, among other languages. Before she retired, she studied or worked in public health in Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, and around Indonesia. Her house is lovely. She's collected ethic art throughout SE Asia. The territorial views from the upper floor - on three sides of the house - are stunning. The rooms wrap around a plant-filled, two-storey atrium that makes us feel like we've stowed away in a secluded greenbelt. The wind rustles the palm fronds reaching for the sky beside us as we sip tea and eat.

Oh my - she has prepared a lot for her high school reunion which ended before we arrived, and also for us. We sample the banana-leaf wrapped rice and Dutch Croquettes. Both delicious. (Regrets because we ate so much of Ibu A's good home-cooking? Ah ... nope. Never.)

Before: the windowsill looks a little worn but not bad

After: simply lift the sill off for evidence: happy termites indeed

The sun has set by the time we get home. House repairs are ongoing. W packs for Seattle and Springfield and is asleep by 8pm. Meanwhile, I write, read, and send out a New Normal photo to subscribers.

Email us at rosemee@hotmail.com, subject line: New Normal, if you'd enjoy a photo every week or two = something that is normal here but not seen in Seattle. There's no obligation and it's one click to unsubscribe if you change your mind.

Read more:
*If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. Genesis 4:7 NIV

*Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. Joel 2:23-24 NIV

*Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV*See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.

But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3 NIV

Moravian Prayer: Great conqueror of sin and death, thank you for the strength and courage that your Spirit provides. Keep us firm in our faith and grounded in truth. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the destruction of sin. In the name of Jesus. Amen.