Goodbye as the world turns

Sunday, April 24, 2022

The first BIC on-site Watch Party is a success. Green Gate loans us their round tables. The format is different for a Sunday morning. We allow time for discussion after each segment of a video talk. The lively conversation and treats are a pleasure. I fight to stay present.

We're at lunch when the dreaded call comes. It's an unknown number. When I hear, anging yang mati - (the dog who is dead), I hand the phone to an Indonesian friend. He listens and translates the message: our beautiful dog Cocoa has been found. She went missing Thursday on our hike in the mountains. The man sends pictures: he has pulled her out of an irrigation chute.

It is not the answer we were hoping for. What sadness - we miss her waving tail and happy disposition. Gypsy lies down on her spot on the porch every day. Yet we also feel relief that we know what happened - and that she was not snatched, neglected, or abused. Her death was likely very quick.

The world doesn't stop for anything. It keeps turning.

Monday

PakG meets the man who located Cocoa. He exchanges her collar for the reward we promised. We're grateful to the villagers who combed the mountain looking for her for 4 days. Our special thanks to dear walking friends who also hiked the hills for 2 extra days to see if she could be found. 

She is buried in the forest where she loved to run.

I meet online with friends in the early morning and talk to my mom between calls. That helps. I feel frozen inside = my usual protective mechanism. We truly miss Cocoa's bounce and her running up to us ...  every time we look through the open doors to where Gypsy waits.

Friends send "last pictures" and "favorites" - they make me smile. Good doggie.

Veronica sends a pic of the last time they hiked the volcano.

Other memories remind me that she was a lover not a fighter.

Language school starts online at 11:30. I can hardly hear the language teacher where I sit on the porch. Our birds chirp away with all their might and multiple speakers from the mosques on both hills broadcast the lunch-hour chants.

When the 2 dogs alert that a package has arrived at the gate (wholesale barking!), I give up and move inside for the second and third sets of vocabulary. I write down the words - thank God for phonetic spelling. They don't make sense until I'm alone and can focus.

I take the late afternoon off to read and reflect. We don't have to wonder any longer - but closure does not equate comfort. I'm indebted to Elizabeth Love of Bali #balipoodledoodle for the retirement years she let Cocoa spend at our house.

Tuesday

For our team meeting, most prefer to meet online. After, Kristi and I head down the mountains to language school. We learn about money.

In the evening, we have a buka Puasa (breaking the fast) dinner at the school. I understand much of going on, though we are junior learners to everyone else. I'm surprised that the student speak English to each other, not Indonesian. 

First, we hear the prayers. The meaning of Ramadan for Indonesian Muslims? They hope that God will forgive and transform their hearts.

The appointed hour is determined by religious leaders according the position of the sun and moon. We line up for appetizers: dates, a fresh-fruit drink, plus fried tofu and fritters. Yum.

Next we are handed a box full of chicken, rice, fruit, pickled vegetables, and more. There's homemade sambal (spicy sauce) of course! It's catered by one of the leader's moms. Wow, she knows how to cook!

Wednesday

On the teras, W spots a giant beetle on its back, legs kicking. He lets it climb onto the extra dog dish and releases it into the garden.

We walk around the long block before an early breakfast date at Nara. The noodles and pot of oolong tea are my go-tos.

The yard man is hard at work next door when we leave for the city. We are privileged to be invited to a pastors prayer meeting downtown. It's surprising how much we understand, with W doing Duolingo and me in language school the past month. W walks the city afterward. He rushes home when the LG technician arrives (without notice) with the par to repair our fridge.

Except that it's the wrong part (after 2 weeks). "We'll call you tomorrow," they say.

Wednesdays, Kristi assists at a children's school before classes, so we meet at IEP for our session. We are given a whole set of words that neither of us have context for - so we go over and over them, without much success. We can point to them when the teacher says them. Then we're supposed to say them but we have no idea of what they are. The teacher is patient and giggles when we randomly spew out syllables.

"Next time, let's ask our teacher to give us a bunch of words to study at home, without the pressure of class," we agree. Once we listen and think about things at home, the words make sense and become our own. Today was an ongoing tangle of syllables.

Example: memperbaikan - (= repair), which is pronounced mem per ba i kan ... Hmmm. I know that baik means "good (in conjunction to people)" - so that's a memory assist. The rest are more random.

Indonesians pronounce every letter. We have no trouble with the correct spelling because Bahasa Indonesia has fixed sounds (like German does). Ah, who knew those childhood Saturday morning German classes would be useful 50 years later?!

Kristi keeps track of the recordings and send them to me every day. This is about half of the day's work.

The screen protector on her IPhone 11 cracks, falling as she stumbles over an uneven surface. We check at two phone stores on the way home for a replacement. One has models "all the way up to IPhone 5." Another has none, period.

We also make a quick stop at Jogja Grocer for ceker (chicken feet). Those act like toothbrushes for the dogs. Their teeth are getting stinky since I ran out of raw chicken 3 weeks ago (and have forgotten to stock up.)

Whole broiler chickens are cheaper than ceker (@$2.20 each). The butcher hacks each chicken into 8 pieces and tosses them in bags. The dogs are delighted to "go search," when we toss a piece for each into the backyard. Only Cocoa is missing - she was ruthless in sniffing out every little piece of food.

We toss the remaining pieces on a cookie sheet to cool in the freezer overnight. We'll put the pieces in a bag once they're frozen and dole out one at a time.

Tomorrow we walk. The group has planned a special trek that Cocoa enjoyed. Friday we will have online class only, dealing with culture and customs. Maybe we will have time to breathe. God knows it is a welcome pause.

Next week is the "all-out holiday" across the country. People joke that it's the most hazardous week of the year = when car owners drive themselves around the cities. The drivers and helpers go mudik, making their annual trip home to family. It's similar to Christmas visits for Canadians and Thanksgiving holidays for Americans.

This year is the first permitted mudik in 3 years ... the last 2 were restricted/cancelled by order of the government, due to Covid. So everyone is going back to their villages - except for those whose employers refuse to let them go. Those will have to serve the guests who will come; perhaps they get time off another week.

Pray with us for protection on all who travel and those who remain home. And pray that the Presence of God would be among those who seek him.

Read more:

*Hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. Joshua 23:8

*Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord is king!” 1 Chronicles 16:31

*The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10

*Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:18-20

*Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God. 2 Corinthians 3:5

Moravian Prayer: Lord God, you have called us in faith to serve humanity by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today, we pledge to turn to you anew as the source of our being and the inspiration of our service.

Gracious Lord and God, keep your children sound in doctrine and holy in life. May everyone who serves the church be faithful, not only in great matters, but also in the smallest things … to our life’s end. Amen.