Chaos included: flat tires, cooking for 70, and an amputated finger (not mine)

Saturday, September 7, 2024

It's been a staycation week for our anniversary. We have regular work and meetings while hanging out and eating at new places. Such are perks of being at home instead of traveling to celebrate.

This morning, we walk by a new group of eateries a few blocks away. Dozens of flower-boards from friends, suppliers, and businesses acknowledge the startup. We receive an invitation to the grand opening, so we plan supper there later.

 

The leftovers from last week's bouquet are lovely snapdragons and purple filler flowers.

I'm responsible for hall flowers tomorrow but the garden has been cleared. Nothing seems to be blooming. Go another direction, maybe?

I arrange clumps of fake greens and a stem of peonies in a huge vase.  PakG takes it to the hall. In a tropical home, we use faux plants. Strange, isn't it? (Please don't bring real plants inside; ants, roaches, and other creatures move into the soil and from there, into kitchens and bedrooms. Ugh.)

A contractor comes by to assess a future project. After a few hours of poring over plans, both sides are clearer on what's worth investing in and what we can live without.

It's hard to communicate across cultures. Sometimes we hear one thing when another has been said. And we assume people know what we've explained, but they walk away with another idea. Oh well - we do our best listening and speaking. Prayers for clarity and progress are appreciated.

"My delivery boy says you are moving soon," says a neighbor. Really? There are no secrets around here - but a move is far off in the future, if it happens.

As we walk to the final celebration of the week, the trees are up-lit by parking spotlights. The grey undersides of the leaves glow against the dark sky.

#Karnivor.02 is open for business. We order a few items to sample the supper menu. The poutine (fries with cheese and gravy, a Canadian invention) is particularly tasty.

When we get to the cashier, the manager won't let us pay. "My treat," he says. 

Thank you! Good thing we didn't order expensive items. The restaurant is known for good steak. They live up to their name with a beef salad and a beef tender (below).

The DJ gets the crowd moving while we stay in our seats. Indonesians love music so loud that it shakes your body as well as deafens your hearing. I put in earplugs and enjoy it my way.

Sunday

After the morning IES Bandung Gathering, the Hangout on the Porch is crowded. It's Laurel's last Hangout before she returns to the USA. It's fun to see new faces among the regulars. Laughter and conversations flow.

W orders #NaraPark mushroom pizza for lunch, which we spice up with Turkish leftovers from last week: hummus, baba ghanuuj, and muttabal.

Monday

It's nice to talk to our daughter and my mom after a few days away. We pray for those we know and those who know us. I write some proposals for soliciting volunteers to teach English. The plan is to recruit faculty and students through their deans at local universities.

We pick up a "jewel-beetle" exoskeleton and pop it onto a 1' (30cm) leaf. Can you spot it?

The "black-lipped orchid" (coelogyne pandurata) is blooming again in the yard. 

The shack on the side of the street where someone sold gas canisters and water? Gone. It's been dismantled by the property owner. Someone will set up a cart, then a shed, then a shack, then add a room to live in behind it. Those little places constrict traffic and but host the livelihood of a family that keeps growing - people have lots of kids.

In this case, the bank property gave notice that the many-years squatter has to move. The man takes his goods and sets up right across the street. He joins another pop-up that's a snack store, fruit stand, and teen hangout. (Looks like part of it is also a home.)

IbuS is baking chocolate banana bread. W sends out a movie night invitation for Wednesday. The responding texts start flying in.

Meanwhile PakG picks up a homemade teeter-totter that is being moved out of a schoolyard. I send an envelope with a bit of money in it - but 'hear' another number: "Give this amount," so I tuck in a bit more. Turns out, that's the exact amount the school needs to pay its bills today. God knows.

IT'S RAINING! The yard sorely needs the moisture but Gypsy-dog hates the thunder that rolls over the hills. He hides in a back room until it's over and then reluctantly goes for a walk with the other dogs.

Our friend Laurel is shedding a countertop oven as she wraps up her stay in Indonesia. I google how to clean an oven. The trick is to leave a 2:1 paste of baking soda and dishwashing soap on overnight? We give it a try. The helpers wipe it clean in the morning! Wow. That was easy. And no harsh chemicals.

Tuesday

I have my first university dean appointment at 9:00. When I finish, PakG and I go back to the car but the front tire is flat. I head upstairs from basement parking to find a bench. Nothing nothing. I read. I catch up on emails. Nothing nothing. At 11:15 I return to the car to see what's happening.

It's almost a comedy. Because our tires are oversize (from the last owner) and the jack is regular size, it takes PakG a while to find a stable base to raise up the car so he can change the tire. Then the spare is flat - from disuse? 

At 11:00, a student named Andrew walks by the car in the almost-empty parking garage. He asks PakG how he can help and offers his bicycle tire's electric pump to fill up the flat spare tire.

Andrew's pump does the job but is smoking hot when there's enough pressure in the tire. His pump is probably ruined. I invite him to tomorrow's movie night so I can ask for his name. We want to replace his pump.

"We're good," says PakG, looking at the spare. We make it a mile or so to the grocer before the spare gives up. We have another flat tire. Clunk Clunk.

The parking attendant at the grocer says there's a repairman close by, so PakG coasts to the far corner of the block. Ka-thunk ka-thunk. Sure enough, there's a little shed with equipment to fix tires.

While the men are busy, I hop out of the car and walk back up the hill to the grocer, We're short a few items for tomorrow. The helpers need eggs to bake cookies for movie night, too.

It takes another hour for the guys to be done. Turns out the regular tire had a spike in it the size of a little finger and the spare had a nail in it. PakG comes to the grocer for money (80.000/$5 for both tires) and tells me to wait. We'll load up when he brings the car.

Why does it take so long? The tukang (workman) is working very slowly. Pak G says the guy amputated his finger at the first joint 3 days ago when an unstable jack dropped a car on his hand. WHAT? He's already working today?! with bandages on. Bet it hurts!

We're home in time for a late lunch, having spent 4 hours for a half-hour appointment. PakG and I agree that God's been at work: he found a stand for the jack. Someone had the pump he needed in the empty parking lot. Andrew has a story to tell his friends. The tukang was at work in his spot. And we're safely home. Amazing.

The living room furniture moves into my office. Two long library shelves (cleared yesterday) go into the hallway to our room.

Oh oh. Someone has tossed a bunch of stuff across my workspace. I can't access my office chair or desk for our team meeting on Zoom. The laptop runs out of power during the Zoom meeting which means a switch to my phone. When we're done, I feel ready for a nap.

W and PakG drive to the wholesaler for meat and vegetables. Those wait for morning in freezer bags in a corner of the kitchen. What a day. 

Before bedtime, I pull serving bowls, trays, plates, cutlery, and other things from storage.

We alternate 3 different dessert plates in a stack. Otherwise the plates stick together and people grab several at a time. I already feel bad that we create so much garbage, never mind carelessly using doubles. The dinner plates are rattan, with disposable paper liners. We recycle cutlery, cups, and whatever else we can. Most extra food goes home with the helpers, though some is refrigerated for the days ahead.

Wednesday

Cooking starts at 5:00 a.m. W puts gallons of water in the biggest pot and turns on the gas burner. It takes ages to boil (3/4 hour, usually) before we toss in 2.5 kg (5 lb) of spaghetti noodles. After the noodles are cooked and drained, they are stirred with olive oil so they don't clump. I cover them so they stay warm. Next into the water are bakso meatballs. While they boil for 20 minutes, I start roasting sausages and make a curry sauce for them.

Meanwhile, W sets up the tech. He synchs a screen on the Porch with one in the living room. He also brings down the warming trays and hotplates from upstairs storage.

I glance at the list on the fridge every once in a while to make sure I'm on track. Every time a wooden spoon is used, I rinse it in the cooking water. Soon there's a rich broth. After the broth cools, it fills 5 bags for the helpers to enjoy with their families.

A few trays of baby potatoes roast in Laurel's oven before a tray of spicy chicken wings goes in. By this time, the other oven has done the sausages and all but one tray of wings. It's nice to cook everything at once.

Spaghetti sauce. (Check.) Spinach in cream sauce. (Check.) Reheat the Sundanese-style jackfruit. (Check.) Meatballs marinated in pepper sauce. (Check.)

More than 2 appliances plugged into the circuit? Bang. The whole house loses electricity. W unplugs the water heater for the kitchen sink. When the little ovens finish, I plug in the slow cooker for the meatballs.

I'm done by 9:30. We cover the food with towels to keep it warm until it's reheated at 5:00 pm. Company is coming at 6:30.

I wash or rinse as we go. There's a stack of "last things" when the helpers show up at 3:00. They cut fruit and salad, cook rice, and haul down the final serving items from upstairs. 

We remind ourselves, "By Friday, when all is packed away and the house is back in place, all this work will be a distant memory." But time with friends? It is precious and not forgotten.

Read more:

*We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness but on the ground of your great mercies. Daniel 9:18

*Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. 

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14: 23-27

*By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Moravian Prayers: Gracious Lord, we may fail sometimes, but we find comfort in your great mercy. Help us to live lives that are pleasing to you, for we are redeemed by your grace. We pray this in your holy name. Amen.