Pokes, prods, and walks

Friday, June 3, 2022

I'm still wonky, with the room spinning when I lay down or get up. On our walk, the landscape tilts badly enough that I have to pause a few times. 

I loved my spiritual direction meeting last night, with friend Alaine. We meditate together on this icon of the Trinity, the loving God who invites us into his circle of hospitality.

Closer to home this morning, friend Martin has arranged a booster appointment for the driver and me. I've told our helpers that once they have their vaccines and a booster, they no longer a need to mask inside the house. Outside, we are already mask-free. In the car, masks are still government-mandated.

We try to find parking downtown but after a few rounds, give up on the two huge parking lots. They're already double-parked. W and I hop out near the clinic while PakG parks along the street a few blocks away. This enormous banyan tree catches my eye - it goes in 3 directions from one root system.

Martin's not only found the clinic, but given up a morning to walk us through the paperwork (4 pages plus our initial documents). He directs me from one line to the other. He did this for W weeks ago, too.

We wait an hour outside. Then we're called inside a crowded waiting room. We wait. More paperwork. Wait. Paperwork confirmed at a desk. Wait. Called into a doc's office for blood pressure and sugar levels. Back to wait in the hall (below, after most have finished.)

We pay for mandatory government top-tier health insurance @$11/mo, so our appointment is free. A really funny cultural moment: they measure everyone's height, weight, and waist size, plus blood pressure and blood sugar as part of the free booster appointment. I'm healthy. Yay.

As they take measurements, the recorder calls them out to a woman with a clipboard who sits among everyone in the hallway. If anyone cares, they now have my stats and I have theirs. If you value HIPAA or your privacy, please stay home.

PakG's former employer Terry gave him a hat from Chilliwack, our mutual hometown. Pak G pairs it with a red Indonesia shirt. The blend of national colors and cultures are right here. The bookend of hat and shirt remind me of the many places we've lived and worked.

"A full dose, mister," says the nurse, jabbing the needle into my upper arm.

In 3 weeks, it will be 8 years since we arrived in Indonesia. We spend 4-6 weeks back in Canada and the USA each year. We missed our trip during the first pandemic year. It adds up to less than a year away so far. We've never had to close our house and put our things in storage, release and rehire helpers, or do other hard things for a year's sabbatical (typically taken every four years).

When we arrive back home to Bandung after trips abroad, we howdy with our house-minders and helpers. Then we pull the dust-sheet off our bed, unplug the dehumidifier, and unpack our suitcases. We fill up the laundry basket and fall into bed to sleep. In the morning, we can be back at work again - as far as jet lag permits.

We love this annual rotation of seeing family and partners without interrupting our workflow. It's ideal for people without school-aged children, cramming a year's worth of visits and fundraising into a month. We moved our rotation from northern hemisphere spring to autumn when we became pastors of BIC = so we wouldn't miss Easter planning.

Life as a global nomad is a privilege but it can also be a challenge. Every four years or so, our partner families take a year in the West to raise funds and reset their compass. Their children must quickly adapt to Western schools and adjust to Western culture. They treasure time to connect with extended family as a reminder of who they are, too. But when they return, it can take a few months to restart school, life, and households. We get to skip that hassle.

We've had our final language lessons from Ibu Fizah this week. We are given 2 new tutors, Ibu Maria and Ibu Rani for Unit 2.

Saturday

I have a quiet day with a mild ache in my arm. It's my first vacc symptom besides a day or two of low energy. Our baseline health is good so we shrug off what comes, whether spicy food, colds, or a shot. Our driver is sick with fever for a few days.

W takes Kristi and another walker on the afternoon Hash, a run on slippery pavement and knee-high mud. I'm glad to stay home.

Bailey gets groomed and preens near me. He's a good boy!

Pentecost Sunday

We celebrate God's gift of the Holy Spirit with the community of faith at BIC. I pick plain flowers from the garden and pop them into a crate of 9 bottles, representing ordinary people beautifully empowered by God's Spirit. BIC serves English-speakers from everywhere, local and global. Everyone is welcome and most feel at home right away due to the warm reception by regular attendees.

It's the first Sunday of the month, a day off for most volunteers. Families stay together so the Gathering is noisy and wonderful.

The kids and teens sprawl on beanbags on the old stage until Kristi calls them forward for an object lesson. She pulls out long balloons for each child and tells them to find her after so she can make shapes for them. She's got their attention right away!

She starts her illustration with a deflated round balloon. She blows it up between explanations. "The Spirit is the Breath of God that empowers each follower of Jesus. You can't live as a believer unless you have the Spirit of God breathing life into you." Children and adults lean in to listen and I think about that all week.

After the Community Table, we celebrate the anniversary of Martin and Sayaka at Nara Park. We spot Kevin nearby so he drops in to say hi.

Monday to Wednesday

We have class online between appointments at the house while I'm trying to move around as little as possible. The porch is open most days with guests coming and going. Our "grandson" Eki visits on Wednesday. He's playing traditional music as part of a mixed-media tour at various universities.

For supper, we get to hang out with baby Lukas and his wonderful family to celebrate his birth and his parents' anniversary.

On our walks, we admire the monstrous Norfolk Island Pines that tower above the houses in their ideal climate. I remember trying to keep those alive as they dropped needles and barely hung on in our Seattle conservatory.

All of nature seems worth a closer look, even when it's an old tree trunk like this one. The play of light and texture of the bark is ... more than one can capture in a photo.

Thursday

We stick close to home instead of driving into the hills for our hike. The group walks North Bandung, making a loop from the central mountain where we live across the river to the next ridge. (3 mountains shape North Bandung.)

 It's almost 9 km (5.5 miles) of hills and valleys, according to our tech-trackers; close to 13,000 steps to the starting place before we walk home.

Motorcycles squeeze past the city-water plumbing and us. Essentially, the means of moving water through neighborhoods is PVC hoses that are somewhat thicker than garden hoses.

These snacks, tied to a motorcycle, will be sold in neighborhoods and between cars on main streets. The deep-fried flour shapes are popular here.

We pass innovative recycling like these tires mounted on a wall along a jalan tikus (narrow lane, literally "mouse street").

We stop at a bakery to check out their goodies and buy a few samples to share. Look at the 3' (1 meter)-wide bromeliad in bloom. Takes my breath away.

The intricate flowers lean away from the trunk on long stems.

A bougainvillea is in full color along the street.

So is this 1' (30cm) flowered shrub.

This bamboo wall and gate are just being built. Whew - functional artwork: woven, stacked, and tied.

There are stairways to nowhere. This one has a board ceiling parallel to the top step.

We spot an antique rice trough.

Exquisite jumbles of flowers line the tall walls on either side.

Riverfront property is the least desirable. Fast-moving streams carry garbage and silt as people drop in waste and rain pushes everything loose downstream. People bathe in them if they have access. These homes are perched on concrete pillars and retaining walls. (Shudder. We live in an earthquake zone.)

The Sundanese value their culture and build structures to remind them of their heritage.

A few hours in, we are ready for lunch at Miss Bee.

I order mushroom parmesan linguini. Yum.

I take a pic once I finish the Mexican corn, so that I remember the ingredients. 1/2 cob, sliced into 6 wedges, sprinkled and roasted with oil, chili pepper flakes, and grated cheese.

Friday

After a walk and studying vocabulary on the hanging chairs in the back, I heat up the pizza buns we bought from Manna Bakery yesterday for an early lunch. I only manage a few cups of tea by the end of language class. It's conversation day with Kristi elsewhere. 

The teacher asks, what about family? What about parents? What about education and raising kids? We're all over the place in this review, a good reminder of how much IEP has taught me in just a few months. Though I can't remember all the words, enough of them have stuck to explain and understand the new info. 

We didn't intend to add new words but there are 13 to master this weekend. My best one today is penasaran (curious) - the story of my life.

Read more:

*If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it. Genesis 4:7 [Click the link for the story of the first murder.]

*He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

*For freedom Christ has set us free. Galatians 5:1

*The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Moravian Prayer: Reconciling God, through your death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, you have liberated humanity from sin’s destruction. May we forever walk in the liberty of Christ, recognizing that who the Son sets free is free indeed. Amen.