A fresh start

Sunday, April 23, 2023

The 20 roses Ruth sent yesterday answer the question: "What flowers will we use for Sunday morning's bouquet." I wire down several blocks of oasis and a frog in a 15" serving bowl.

The front side is pretty - the greens are repurposed from the last 2 weeks. They've lasted a long time.

I tuck some fake berries in the back with the last rose. Usually those serving on the platform get the back of a bouquet. I try to add something of interest that only they can see. After the Gathering, several people ask me for flowers. Not all the roses make it home.

Our guest speaker is staying at the Padma Hotel just up the hill. The view is spectacular over the valley.

Lunch at Nara is good as always. The servers are attentive and friendly. And the company is warm: Ps Yoel, Esther, their daughter, and several who are visitors to Bandung join us. We make some connections for them and enjoy the food.

I walk home, surprised as always by how many people are on the hill on weekends. The usual guys are helping park cars for a fee that ranges between 80c and $1.40.

Monday

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I'm at language school. I'm not sure I want to give up my free mornings; its a treat to have a week without scheduled events. I'm second-guessing the logic of learning Indonesian; I rarely use it. It is very nice to be able to understand conversations around me, though. Even W takes a rest, though he has to shop a bit so he gets an extra walk.

Walking walking. We take an angkot (little van that serves as public transportation) to a vegan restaurant for lunch. I skipped breakfast and am famished. We get off the bus early and walk down the street to the eatery. I order chicken-ish Katsu (Japanese style).

W order a burger-ish and we share grilled corn. Yummy.

On the way home, we pass a garbage dump, full to the rafters after Lebaran (end-of-Ramadan) feasting. People are hired to sort through the neighborhood garbage. Then the bags are loaded onto little pickups and collected at central locations - by hand.

Beside it, the food market, usually buzzing with vendors, is quiet. Most people are on holidays until mid-week.

Our driver tailgates, squeezes through narrow openings, and avoids hitting the motorcycles that pull between every vehicle.

About halfway home, the rain starts. The mighty downpour fogs our windows. From the front passenger seat, I can't see a thing. The driver swipes a cloth across a stripe of window above the steering wheel and hits the gas again.

Everyone has dismounted so except for W and me, the van is empty as we get close to our stop. "Do you think he'd take us to our place?" I ask W. It's raining hard enough that a few seconds outside will soak us to the skin.

W asks, the man agrees, and turns off the main route toward our neighborhood. He drives all the way to our house. He asks an exorbitant fee: $1.40 each (instead of the usual 40c). I urge W not to haggle. After the holidays, everyone is broke.

W hands over the money with a grumble and hops out to unlock our gate The man grins and drives off. "Silly foreigners!" He can probably quit for the day with his quota of income. I'm happy we didn't have to walk a half-mile home in the downpour - and we are thankful to bless someone.

In the afternoon, I make seitan (fake meat from wheat gluten). It takes over an hour but there's enough to stash one meal in the fridge and freeze 4 bags for later. I toss collected vegetable scraps into the leftover water and voila: vegetables broth, ready for the freezer.

A bit later, I watch an online class on creating an art journal. It starts with gluing scraps to a big sheet of paper.

Then we mark it up with black and white paint. I add gold paint circles (acrylic paint tapped onto the collage with the core of a cellophane tape roll.)

Once it's dry, it gets cut and folded before being glued together to make 8 pages. What on earth will I write in that busy journal?

"I take one of these with me wherever I go and just write what I'm thinking," says the teacher. Hmm. I have little dot notebooks for that. (front cover below)

Wednesday

We walk a few loops (2 miles), admiring a bougainvillea draped over a fence.

The neighbor has almost finished renovating her house. I'm eyeing this treasure. It would look great in the garden! with bright colors on the slats, don't you think?

It must be cold out - everyone's wearing coats and hats. We check: 20oC (68oF) - cold enough! We walk quickly to stay warm with our short sleeves.

Regular walkers wave as we pass each other.

It's usually date day but there are few vegan options nearby. I make breakfast instead. When PakG comes at 9:00, we're off to KB, a nearby city. At the first stop, W buys a dehumidifier ($25). Second, W is looking at second-hand tools. They're being shed by a repatriating expat. 

He's reluctantly parting with his collection: "Please give me first dibs if you are selling the tools when we get back, ok?" W finds what he expected and more. He now is equipped for a full workshop.

Next stop is wonderful: a lunch with Josh and Clau who are beloved friends and teammates. With Clau in a doctoral program and Josh's business exploding (growth! yay), we don't see each other as often as before. The setting, on the KB lagoon, is refreshing and beautiful. I find some Korean noodles that taste delicious. W has a burger, and the others order their favorites.

We make a quick stop at IKEA, where the post-Ramadan sales are going on. I find little things - a few toys for visitors, a garbage pail, a small vase, a few decorations.

PakG is off to see his in-laws this afternoon, planning to come back tomorrow. It will be a 3- to 10-hour motorcycle ride each way, depending on traffic. It's raining today when he drops us home.

Last weekend, his usual 3-hr motorcycle ride to his family home took 16 (or was it 18?) hours! "Even the sidewalks were crammed with motorcycles - we had nowhere to go: the cars were stopped on the streets." And they got caught in the rain.

Ibu Gati drops by with some goodies she's hauled from Seattle, where she was visiting her sister. After a week, she's still jet-lagged. (Yes, it's a pain to re-acclimate.) I like the batik she's chosen - a peach and blue pattern on white. She shows me how to tie a skirt, though I wonder if I have to lose weight to wrap it twice around my waist and tie a knot, too. (Long gone are the years when I had a 27" waist.)

Thursday

We skip the mountain hike to take it easy. We have no driver. It's too complicated to get the dogs in and out of someone else's car, though V kindly offers. We walk 3 loops plus an extended neighborhood stroll to make up the same number of steps and distance as a short hike. It takes just over an hour to do 3+ miles (5 km). The hikers take until lunchtime to finish their 5 km trek through the fields, overgrown trails, and forest.

I'm hungry but for what? I mix potatoes, fake ricotta (been wanting to try to make it - tasty), scrambled "eggs" (tofu, turmeric, spices), onions ... tastes ok. When there's no obligation to work, it's easier to experiment with chores. Soon, there's whole-wheat bread rising in the bread maker (thanks for that machine, Sam!) and the new recipe of banana-oat bars has come out of the oven.

After breakfast, W unloads the new-to-him tools from the car and starts to repair things. It makes me happy to see him work. hehe Can you spot him?

He sweeps and puffs dirt off the porch with his new compressor. We spray the ants making a home in our wicker porch furniture. I putter around the yard, feeding fish, giving birds fresh water and food, and enjoying the garden. The 3 white guppy fry, born a few weeks ago and popped into a glass bowl away from the voracious mouths of fish in the pond, are starting to grow.

And I write. (I always write.) Lunch is BBQ sauce with tomatoes and whole-wheat spaghetti. We check Sunday's talk about Matthew 11, which W wrote. He walks down the hill to book a reservation on a shuttle van to the Jakarta airport for an upcoming trip.

Poodle Bailey poses just before I pull shut the sliding doors against the cold afternoon wind. Looks like we have a rainstorm coming again. The weather bureau predicts tornados and hail in places. Many people are still coming back from the home visits that end Ramadan. Most are on motorcycles.

The hikers, stuck in traffic, have my sympathy - it's usually a 1-hr ride. Good thing they know shortcuts that get them past the traffic jams.

Read more:

*I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.

*I formed you, you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. Isaiah 44:21

*There shall once more be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, “Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” Jeremiah 33:10-11

*Has God rejected his people? By no means! Romans 11:1

*The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. Titus 2:11

Moravian Prayer: Lord, you extend love and mercy, and call and purpose to Israel—your ancient covenant people—and to all those who inherit your history of leading and guiding them. We give thanks that we, and every other human family, are never beyond the reach of your patient, persistent love. 

Steadfastly, without fail, you care for us in every time and place, through every joy, change, and hardship. Steadfastly, without consideration of class, race, nation, or species, you offer your love to every living creature. Faithful, steadfast God, how can we keep from singing our thanks and praise? Amen.

Color the world

Monday, April 15, 2023

The Monday routine of walks and meetings flies by. My usual Monday language class is rescheduled for Wednesday.

Saturday, I stroked acrylic color on a canvas with an old credit card. Today, I push more color onto the base straight from the tube, swirling some of it around with the head of the tube.

Later in the day, I smear on a few greens. The canvas leans on a ledge in my office to dry. I'll outline and highlight the vase and plants after I think about it some more.

I walk over to DrH for a quick visit after a trip into the garden for some blooms. She's a disciplined and focused person, recovering quickly from double knee surgeries.

A drive across town nets vegan staples: grains, nuts, spices, and beans. We make a quick stop at a pharmacy for probiotics so I can make vegan yogurt. One more parking lot: at the main grocer, we grab supplies a sick friend needs. I'm home in time for a late lunch.

My goal is to cook for a few hours and freeze some meals in advance. I like shopping the freezer when I'm tired. 

There's time to pray with unexpected callers, too. Some days, time becomes elastic, thank God.

I indulge in a 10-minute nap before the evening. We join PakD for a feast of Chinese food. The food was good last time with the restaurant's Malaysian chef. However, PakD tells us they have a new chef from Hong Kong. Wow - the cook outdoes himself on a steamed fish, meat appetizer, fish skins (amazing! to my surprise), sauced tofu, and vegetables. Tea flows! as we empty our little cups. 

For dessert, W orders a mango cream while I enjoy the Chinese-style bitter jelly. I had no idea we could find that jelly in our town. It's been years since I ate it in KL and Singapore.

PakD drives us home after 9:00. Our bedtime habit is to name 3 things we're thankful for. Tonight, we thank God for many blessings as we prepare for sleep.

Tuesday

Language school starts across town at 8:00. First, there's a walk, a couple of overseas calls to family, pulling fresh bedding from the cabinet, and writing up the chore list for the help. Before school, I also bake yams and make a vegan meal for my supper. There's no time for breakfast but I grab a banana and a thermos of tea ... and I'm off.

W and I eat vegan chili for lunch. After, I boost my Indonesian with kid-books-on-video from the teacher. Our team meeting is online. (One person caught Covid during a conference last week.) We love to see the beautiful faces of those who serve with us and hear their updates.

Before the helpers leave, I draw a blank schedule on the fridge. Next week is Lebaran, a holiday week that ends the Muslim month of Ramadan fasting. The women fill in the blanks with days they want to work. They get paid by the day but have already received the doubled wages mandated by the government. If a boss is amenable, locals take a week off to visit family. However, many workers must stay to serve families who have guests coming. It's a quiet week ahead for us so our helpers are off.

The house is blissfully quiet by mid-afternoon. W 'the restless one' heads down the hill on another walk. I stay behind to write; I'm happy with +3 miles on my tracker from this morning.

Meal delivery is cheap and easy - cheaper than buying ingredients much of the time. W regularly orders food that I'm not hungry for. Since he decides to join me today, I add lamb-ish rendang (spicy vegan stew) and vegetables to bulk up supper. The baked yam is sweet as honey.

At night, I meet with my spiritual director AlaineB. Each month, she challenges my walk with Jesus and my faith. When I read notes from our meetings, I am amazed by how God is present in her work. The rain patters on the trees as we say goodbye.

Wednesday

Mornings are peak energy and focus times for me. However, many mentors and our family live in opposite timezones. To connect, much of that productive time gets swallowed by calls. I might have to swap the time of day - my night for their mornings. They have one call with me while some mornings, I'm on one call after another ...

We take a closer look at the hedge beside the street, swathed in pink.

Each flower is a masterpiece.

W makes and posts his Wednesday theology video during our porch date. No walk to the restaurant yet: I have to figure out what fits my vegan diet before we have breakfasts out. Today' I enjoy overnight oats with blueberries and almonds, prepped yesterday. Totally yummy.

Much of the afternoon, I'm prepping food. I make oat and cashew milk and oat yogurt (1 c oats, blended with 4 c water, boiled, cooled, add probiotics, refrigerate.) Ha, let's see what it tastes like tomorrow!

Thursday

Since some of the drivers are already mudik, traveling to their ancestral homes at the end of Ramadan. The hikers meet at our place for a walk nearby. Within 1/2 km (1/3 mile), we are on a steep hillside in the forest. My shoes are slippery which means balancing carefully on slick green patches of concrete. There's no standard of building; the paths and stairways are unevenly poured in neighborhoods and on trails.

We quickstep past a woman burning garbage, the smoke of plastic covering the path. We dig in our walking sticks for the very steep descent to the river - oh so slippery! before we hike up the other side. The new pulse-counting app on my watch goes crazy: ding ding ding. Yeah, yeah. (Must set it higher than 150bpm next time.)

Anything left untrimmed is soon grown over, including this playground. Either one spends a lot of time in the garden or you hire someone to beat back the new growth (under $10/day).

A few wander down to Curug Dago, the waterfall.

These shallow steps are typical: on the side of a hill with no railing. They're quite even (for here) but overgrown and less than a meter (3') wide. Watch your feet - and your balance.

We recross the river on a pedestrian-motorcycle bridge.

There are many Islamic orphanages in bandung. This huge one is also a boarding school. The seasonal chants of the children are shouted from loudspeakers to ring across the hills and valleys. Children memorize parts of the Quran from an early age.

Another climb, this time up our hillside ... and then we decide on lunch at Ethnic, a few blocks from home.

Some who haven't been able to hike today join us for the meal. It's always good company - and a reward in case we lost some calories. hehe

I choose rice steamed in banana leaves plus veggies. Fried tempe and fried tofu are as close as I get to a healthy meal; this regimen avoids oil, sugar, and salt.

A few friends come by after for tea.

Roni brings over an orchid she found on a January hike. It hasn't bloomed. I hang it between ferns thriving on our green wall - let's see what kind of flower it has.

Later, I snap off a ripe jackfruit (.5 meters, 1.5 ft) for the helper to take home. No sense in it spoiling here since we don't have company for the next week or two.

One of the sweetest surprises when we come in the gate is this gift: PakG has washed and fluffed up Bailey while we were away this morning. He feels soft as a lamb.

The succulents spill over the sides of their trays. In the hot afternoon sun, shaded at noon, minimally watered - they're growing well.

The abundance of texture and leaves is a pleasure.

Friday

We walk, read, and relax. This is an intense weekend because the religious leaders have determined tomorrow will be the end of Ramadan. There will be 24-7 rounds of chanting (yes, night and day). People will go to the mosques and come home to feast with their families and friends. And there are fireworks all night. Those who participate are exhausted when it's over.

The trek across Indonesia is most intense in the past and next weeks, so we pray for safety. Traffic is unbelievable. It can take 12-18 hours on a motorcycle to do a 2-3hr trip. Sometimes cars take longer! We pray for God's presence to be apparent among those who seek him, too.

Read more:

*The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. Zephaniah 3:15

*Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

*So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God. Ephesians 2:19

*God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

Moravian Prayer: Our Lord, seeing the violent chaos of our human-making, you could justifiably wipe your hands of us and leave us cowering in fear. Instead, you offer us your powerful love. Give us wisdom to open our hearts to your Spirit and courage to follow where you lead.

Oh merciful God, you see the division, the fear, the self-loathing that threaten to exile us from one another and from you. Bring us out from our places of isolation. Gather us into the home of your heart. No longer strangers, join us together as members of your beloved family. Let us be those who bring your peace into our families and neighborhoods. Amen.

Easter week

EASTER MONDAY, April 10, 2023

I love this week of reflection and worship. Today is mostly quiet. We sort and put away things from the weekend celebrations. I have no language class but must study for tomorrow. My brain is tired. We have a lovely soup and salad lunch with Wolter and Fennelien, just around the corner. Of course, baby Falk is the cutest.

They've been redoing their yard and have unearthed some treasures. Look at those leaves!

Tuesday

With a leadership meeting at 2:00 a.m., I'm wide awake at 1:00 - which gives me time to listen to language tapes. The leadership meeting on Zoom is valuable, though it's scheduled for noon Pacific time. I sleep another 1.5 hours when it's over. I'm ready to go when the alarm rings for our morning walk.

Language school is enjoyable as usual. The teacher records our conversation to evaluate my progress. Who knows - I can make myself understood but the words slide out of my mind like mud on a hiking trail after a short night. We make sure all the holidays for the end of Ramadan are clearly marked on my calendar.

I'm back home before lunch. There are rhythms to the week. It's like managing a small business. There are days for clean bedding in various rooms, vegetable delivery, and days for trimming the hedges and flower beds. During Ramadan, much of that is disrupted. There's been no vegetable delivery from the organic farm, but I call. "Delivery tomorrow? Thank you!"

W spends most of the morning arranging a cardiologist appointment for me later this week: "Making an appointment is complicated," he sighs. I hope to find out why my heart rate escalates to +155 beats/min with uphill hiking or walking since I had COVID 3 years ago. I get breathless and have to pause. That's just annoying.

IbuS bakes bread, IbuA bakes banana bread, and I make yogurt. They wash the windows so the glass shines, and there's laundry to do after Sunday's baptism and potluck. W's out for lunch so I indulge in ramen (a favorite) and huge cups of tea throughout the day.

Our team meeting is cancelled. We all need the week off. Some on our team have colds or a flu. In late afternoon, the thunder rolls in again.

Wednesday

W records his weekly theology video in the yard before we walk to our breakfast date.

We spot an energetic tortoise from our table at #NaraPark. Will it make it all the way up the hill from the other end of the yard?

It does, happily munching on grass all the way.

One of the tables is set for evening, the post-fasting feast during Ramadan. Many people gain weight this month while fasting sunup to sundown = because of the amount of food consumed at night and in the morning.

It's class-make-up day (for Monday) with 2 hours of language school in the afternoon. Coming home, I'm back to reviewing books for various publishers. This one is excellent.

Check out the partial TOC below:

Anne drops by for a visit and goodbye. She planned to live here but those intentions have been interrupted for now. She's a sister of the heart. We have tea, chat, and pray together. She's shedding things from her apartment and brings a box of household items for us to use and share. "Thanks! Anne. I'll miss you."

She also gifts us with 4 bars of chocolates from New Zealand. W and I test a square of one in the evening. YUMMY.

I'm ready for a quiet evening as night falls.

Thursday

I step outside to a glorious morning. The houses behind ours used to have a clear view of our door. Trees are God's gift for relaxation, fruit ... and privacy. If you don't have a spot where you are out of sight? Plant a tree, even if it's in a pot. We've done that everywhere we've lived.

We go for a walk in the morning. Look at the size of this bug on the wall beside the street!

W leans over to take a photo as well.

2 ladies are taking selfies, posing with their cellphones. It's not an uncommon sight.

Sadly, there's no hiking for us today. We spend the day at the Adventist Hospital. DrP is one of the top cardiologists in Bandung; we see him 3X: "Hello,"" Take these tests," and "Here's what I think." I've fasted in case there's a blood test - but it's been too long since I've eaten to make an accurate assessment.

The doc tells me to eat since the afternoon tests may be strenuous. We pause for lunch at the hospital cafe. The food is good.

Everything checks out as normal: "You're very healthy for your age." (Why, thanks!) The EKG is normal and they do a treadmill stress test. I'm expecting a good workout so am surprised when, after 7 minutes, they decrease the slope and slow down the machine.

"Is there nothing steeper?" I ask the technician. "This isn't even as steep as our neighborhood walk, never mind our hikes." Apparently not. They don't let my heart rate go higher than 150. That's not helpful.

The doc requests a blood test and angiogram on Monday since nothing showed up today. I ask him if there's a healthier alternative than an invasive procedure like sticking stuff and ink inside me. He smiles and changes the subject.

We dutifully go to the pharmacy for the meds I'd have to take before the test. They include 5 days of blood thinners, aspirin, and a beta blocker ($20 for all). When I Google potential side effects, I back out. No way am I putting that stuff in my body "just in case" there's something wrong. (Who knows at this point?)

How about I change to a healthy diet first? I start 8 weeks of www.drmcdougall.com, a strict vegan diet that cured my depression in my 40s. I was vegan for 7 years and know lots of recipes so that's not a hardship.

I send some hymns to a friend who is looking for a specific genre. The creativity that goes into worship music is mindful and a blessing. I like historical songs a lot, whether they classical or church music.

Friday

A morning walk, complete with a wave from the guys in the garbage trucks.

That truck doesn't smell great, but the gardenia a little further up the street does.

It's a day of meetings, calls, and unexpected things. Nothing gets check off on my to-do list. DrHR tells us it was the cardiologist's birthday yesterday. The cakes baked yesterday? I can't eat them on a vegan diet (12 egg yolks each) so IbuS decorates one and puts the other in the fridge for the weekend.

I add a heart and a smile on top. On the way to language school, we drop off the cake for the cardiologist. "Happy Birthday, DrP."

PakG zips to Starbucks for used coffee grounds to add to the compost heap.

Saturday

I'm late to the gate for our walk and the dogs aren't happy about that.

Along the way, I snap a pic of this rooftop garden. I love red-stemmed palms and this one is thriving in the heat and rain.

The colors of a flowerbed are vibrant beside the street.

This unusual bulb is everywhere. The flowers glow like icicles at night. It grows up to a meter (3') tall.

The ponies have begun a busy weekend of trotting around the neighborhood with tourists.

I cook all morning. I leave the heat on the stove for W, who is wrapping up something in his office while I eat. "What's burning?" he asks a half-hour later. The pot is smoking, crusted with black charcoal that was vegan chili. I spend an hour cleaning up. He's on his own for lunch!

Maddie drops by - she's been accepted to a university in Montreal. We talk about housing, finances, and other challenges and opportunities. "Go forward," I urge her. God will shut the door if it's not for her. If she can survive the first year away from home, she'll have a wonderful time and get a great education.

In the afternoon someone sends me a video. There are many groups of Christians, just like the many groups in other religions. Most Baptist denominations don't allow women to "lead men." Many feel very uncomfortable letting a woman on the platform if there are males in the room. (They teach that only men have the right to hear from God and speak for him if there are males present.)

Horrors! In front of the host of men in the choir (and apparently hundreds more guys in the audience), I spot a woman on the platform. She is the music accompanist = the pianist. How did she sneak onto the stage? Perhaps she is considered merely a "helper" in this instance. I can tell you, as a piano accompanist for over 40 years, that musicians co-influence and co-lead with the conductor, determining what happens to a choir.

Watching this one makes me laugh aloud. "You go, girl!" Oh, the weird cultural stuff that gets dragged into religions. It fascinates me since my post-grad work was in intercultural studies.

Sunday

This must be one of the ugliest bouquets I've made. We take it to the hall anyway.

It has interesting pieces (roses, ferns, poppy-like flowers, etc.) Those don't come together. 

When it comes home, I tear it apart and start over. Before that, W and I meet a gaggle of friends at lunch. They're celebrating a birthday party for a son. Bandung's expat community is small so most of us know (or know of) the others. 

At home, some young people hang out on the Porch. One of them knows where everything is so they can make tea. I love how people feel at home in this house.

Read more:

*Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

*Extol the Lord our God; worship at his footstool. Holy is he! Psalm 99:5

*When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:31

Moravian Prayer: Drawing strength from one another, we wait for you, Lord. Let your powerful Spirit move among us. Make us bold, not only to tell your story with words, but to live your story by feeding the hungry, healing the sick, caring for the land, and welcoming the stranger. Amen.