Cure for a headache - keep moving

A headache of a week has gone by. Today my head feels pressure but no pain, for the first time since Saturday. What a relief.

Last week, our friend filled up his truck with BIC donations for the eastern islands hard-hit by cyclone flooding earlier in the month. A non-profit ships it to the NTT where people have lost their homes and necessities. We pass along more used clothing to another charity working in the northern village.

Friday

After some meetings, I write a few newsletters and send them off. Updates keep people involved with our work and their partnerships.

We have to pick up some things in town and while W runs an errand, I pop into a shop called "Akuarium". Turns out to be a specialty store for discus fish. WOW - all colors and sizes, up to 8" tall.

It's often cheaper to eat out than cook, and our helpers are not eating so the food they cook isn't always spot-on during the fasting month. We stop at a favorite restaurant, empty except for us and the employees: Ramadan means that Muslims (90% of Bandung residents) won't eat or drink during daylight hours. Lots of restaurants have life-sized foam or plastic camels.

We marvel at the grounds - ponds and pools with 2' koi and enormous water lilies. You wouldn't have the upkeep in Western countries. I count 5 employees sweeping or weeding nearby, while 10 others languish out of the heat, chatting and drawing wages. At $5-8/day per person, it's possible. Paying someone $20/hour (Seattle), you couldn't afford it.

The appetizer Bitterballen - a relic of Dutch colonialism - comes in a rice noodle bowl. Yummy.

Long stems boost the 6" waterlily blossoms out of the water.

When we get home, W runs city water through an RV filter to get the leaves and dirt out so I can have a sitting bath. The water is clear when I get in  but this is what it looks like 2 hours later when I finish reading my book and relaxing. Whaaaat? a green mess. Someone drain that tub quick.

Saturday

It's Yara's first birthday! The official invitation is for 10:30 and W feels like that's the time to show up. Most Indonesian events are at jam karet (flex-time) but he likes the idea of punctuality to the clock. So we wait for a while for others to arrive. It's wonderful to see all the parents and young kids when they do.

She and her mom are beauties - 

The rest of the kids enjoy the KFC magician and games.

In the afternoon, the groomers make our poodles look pretty again. White doesn't last long on a dog but is Bailey ever fluffy. Cocoa has the best hair - thick and full-bodied, but Bailey feels like a soft lamb.

The "sit" doesn't last long: they say hi when Bailey walks over the check out his friend's "do."

Sunday

This is what Sunday morning online gatherings look like. I cherish my quiet spot on the porch to interact - but we both miss people!

A few branches from the yard and the vase is ready for display in our entry. I love the geometric stems that zig-zag upward.

It's our privilege to attend R's baptism downtown in the evening. What a special celebration of his decision to live for Christ.

Monday

I have a few meetings in the morning and write the talk for the next weekend. It's a full week. We head to a friend's at 4:30 to film some footage for her historical video. I take cookies for tea and improvise a bit on her piano. As night falls, the silvery spines of the dragon fruit glow in the back courtyard. See the 5" red fruit on the lower right?

We enjoy a supper of traditional Indonesian dishes after the fast is broken. The Muslim videographers can't eat until after sundown. The fast is typically broken with rice flour shapes and fruit mixtures.

By the time we are done and out the door, our stomaches are full of soups, chicken sate and peanut sauce, rice dishes, macaroni ... so tasty.  I eat way too much.

It's a short walk in the dark at 8:30pm, back to our house. The village path is lined with open doorways. Families sit together, eating or resting.

Wednesday

I work for 6 hours and give up and go home. Bailey relaxes beside me as I nap in the afternoon. My head hurts so badly - all-over pressure and pain. I cancel an afternoon meeting and lie as still as I can.

Thursday

The meeting online is 11pm (yesterday) to 12:30 am (today). I'm asleep by 1:30am. My alarm is set for 5:30 ... except the calendar has messed up the dates between USA and Indonesian time zones. The second meeting isn't until 6am tomorrow. Oh well. Get up.

My head still hurts but today's our day to walk. I need to hike off the meetings and too much sitting at a desk this week. It's a steep drive to the jungle starting point. Veronica hands me some Panadol meds that help with migraines. They take the edge off the pain.

The grasses are gorgeous along the trail.

The dogs go wild, running their legs off as soon as they are let off leash. We walk along this side of the pine forest and around to the distant side of the valley below.

We start the walk as a party of 6. In the pine forest, there are swings (can you see the wire holding up that hanging rattan swing?) and platforms where you can snap selfies, hanging over the side of the mountain. The condition of the supports for such platforms depends on how long ago they were made. These sway but are relatively safe.

Today we're walking a loop from this side of the mountain to the mountain slope on the far side. We plan a twist off our usual trail to avoid a steep skid (20 meters? of slippery and dangerous concrete) on the path.

The trails have been improved: a ticket costs 70c to access the area. It's worth it for the steps on steep slopes and the logs tossed across what used to be a hazardous river crossing. During rainy season, we used to have to wade through the fast-flowing water below the waterfall to get to the other side. (Enlarge your pic to see the fancy bamboo handrails. Nope, they're not very sturdy but they do provide context as you step across the log "bridge.") W carries the smallest dog across and we start up the steep trail through the forest on other rim of our walk.

There's an elaborate set of steps (not even of course, but still...) and two bridges crossing the stream.

At some breaks in the trees, we see the tall pines where we started, far above us across the river. Oh - luxury! There are 4 new squatty toilet stalls along the path, too - we skip them for obvious reasons.

The back three walkers lag behind, chatting. We've given W instructions. Another walker sets off the other way at the fork so he follows. The rule is that we need 4 people together in the wild: two to go for help, one to stay with someone injured. This time, we're 3 and 3.

We three at the front wait up the path for about 10 minutes. When they don't show up, I backtrack with the 3 dogs and take the other fork almost down to the river in the valley below.

There's no sign of them and we don't have cell service. That means I have to hike back up the hill to get the others. We decide to go all the way down to the river valley - beautiful. There's no sign of the laggards. The dogs enjoy a cool dip: it's been a steep descent to the water.

Last time we were here, the bridges were almost washed out and hazardous. One of the hikers had to carried our big poodle across the worst one: she almost slipped off twice due to missing slats and slippery bamboo. We can't risk it - back up the hill we go after the first two bamboo bridges. W tells us later that the most dangerous ones have been replaced, though the handrails are still more a guideline than a secure grip.

The waterfalls are beautiful.

Much of the trail is rocky and follows the irrigation systems (PVC pipes that bring water to the fields below the mountains.)

Once we're back on the main path, we three stop for a selfie by an old Dutch waterworks building (from the 1940s).

The steps on the stairs a kilometer from the car are offset. You have to wander from side to side. Each concrete pad is 2-3' wide and deep.

Note the single metal handrail that marks the edge. It won't keep you from falling to the ground (about 4 meters/12' down) on one side. But if you get hurt here, it's your own fault.

It takes us an extra hour to get back to the car by 1:00 ... it's been a long detour while the others were already at the car. W backtracks from the car toward us: he sees the texts asking where they've wandered off, once we reach the cell zone again. He has the leashes; dogs have to be contained as we pass through a final village before we rejoin the others at the car. (Most people are terrified of dogs here.)

The final kilometer is through farmland, so the village sellers are packaging the broccoli harvested this morning. We buy a sack of 14 heads for $5 - and give most of them away to our helpers and friends.

A little boy and his mom buy firecrackers outside the restaurant where the walkers stop for lunch. During the night, you might hear fireworks at any time, along with periodic chants from the mosque speakers. At 2:30, the women are woken to prepare food for their family before sunup.

The restaurant, like many others, has a screen in the entry so Muslims are not distracted by people eating during the day.

On the way home, we make one more stop: after a 20 minute drive. I watch the map (see the white line?) as our route takes us through the mountains, past a landslide (one lane partly missing and blocked off) on narrow and steep roads. The rain is hard on roads, many built on top of mud slopes rather than rock.

We're picking up 2 vases to showcase the abundance of flowers in our yard - an old 12" hand-painted one ($7) and a 30" blue and white Chinese-style one that we'll use as an umbrella stand ($14).

It feels good to put my feet up for a few hours when we get home. My headache is lessened - but my tracker says we did 8km - not that far, but the equivalent of 49 flights of stairs (counting one direction). 

In the evening, I make cashew-cream broccoli soup, which looks like mush and tastes delicious.

Friday

My headache has subsided: the walk worked! YAY. I'm in a 6-7am meeting before W and I walk the neighborhood. I have a few morning meetings, some in person, which is nice. W and I meet up again for a quick late lunch.

It's a beautiful setting. The tall trunks were shoved into the ground bare - 20' (6i.5 meters) high ... and leafed out nicely. Amazing. Everything grows here.

Read more:

*You are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Psalm 25:5

We know that he hears us. 1 John 5:15

Moravian Prayer: Omnipresent, omniscient God, Lord on high, hear us as we pray. May we feel your presence and see you in all whom we meet throughout the day. You are our strength; be ever near us. Amen.