A trip across the world

Saturday, , September 28, 2024

Laurel arrives at the house at 11:00 and her helpers come shortly after. They set out food and arrange the Porch to suit their event. 

Meanwhile, W brings Townsends from Jakarta. "Come straight to the house," said no one ever in Bandung. This is the shortest route, once they leave the toll highway.

We take our guests to #NaraPark for lunch. No one is hungry for supper.

Laurel's party lasts all day. The last guests leave at 7:00. Bailey, freshly groomed, hangs out in our room before heading upstairs to sleep with Melvina.

Part of the group has left by the time I remember to take a picture. Each person influences others - Laurel leaves Wednesday and will be missed by many friends.

We walk to and from lunch at #WarungEthnic with Townsends. I admire the lacy leftovers after a birds nest fern dies off in the crook of a tree.

This 4" (9cm) millipede takes its time crossing the road.

Sunday

We have an early start at the hall on this Round Table Sunday. Arya set up the tables yesterday so he has everything ready to go. Titik has outdone herself with flowers.

Chandra has created an elegant solution for the too-short table legs, lifting the table to standard height. What practical blessings he and Titik provide!

One of the pleasures of an international community is having old friends drop by, like Ruth and her family. She gets a warm welcome.

Before the Gathering, we pray a blessing on Laurel for her last Sunday with us.

We pray over her in the service, too.

And once more in the leadership meeting after the Gathering.

Angie and Sayaka spent a lot of time choosing a batik outfit for her to take home to Florida.

Sayaka has played for worship before, but never at IES Bandung. We welcome her to the team.

Discussion around the tables is lively, as usual. The questions about mentoring are from Acts 18, where Barnabas, Paul, Aquila and Priscilla, and Apollos model generations of mentors.

Monday

After shopping for basics with Townsends, PakG drops me at home and returns to the shop to take them to another grocer. When they return, we have an early lunch. Then we take our suitcases to the car and I pull the dust sheet over the bed. W hooks up the dehumidifier so things don't mold in our absence.

W and I sit in the shuttle station to await a ride to the airport. We spot a lady on a deluxe motorcycle taxi, complete with a rain cover/sun shade. She waves to us from the stoplight.

The best thing to say about a trip is that it is "uneventful." That's true this time. Thank God. We are dropped at the airport and indulge in a burger and fries before heading into the overnight hotel.

Condiments? Hot sauce of course - you have to ask for ketchup (saus tomat).

Tuesday

We're up at 2:00am, in line at 2:30, and aboard the flight to Singapore by 5:30. It's a quick layover with enough time to drag our carryons to the shuttle train to the gate. We are among the last to board the 14.5 hour flight from Singapore to Seattle. I don't sleep well on planes and the flight is quite full. An Indian mom and I share the 3 middle seats and spread out alternately to nap in the empty seat between us.

This is "Singapore Carrot Cake," served for lunch: rice with egg and shrimp. Because Singapore is a demanding and exacting island, the food is good. The shrimp are fresh. We were shocked with a terrible experience last time we flew Singapore Air. The staff was feeling irritable, the food was tasteless, and the general feeling was indifference to passenger comfort. This trip, they're back to the top of their game as a first class airline.

We gain back the day, traveling back across 14 time zones. We leave Singapore before 10:00am. and arrive in Seattle before noon. Terry picks us up from the airport and drops us at our Kenmore house.

Wednesday

W and I head south to Renton. Seattle is a multicultural city. This sign has everything from pizza to pho to massage to shops from around the world. Typical.

Almost home, W drops me at a ParkNRide by the freeway. Melissa picks met up there for a quick Costco grocery run. We don't buy much because she already gleaned yogurt, milk, butter, eggs, and more this morning. 

I was in the first wave of gleaners a generation ago. We didn't buy many groceries while our kids were young. It's the same for M's family now. Gleaning = a morning per week of hard work. First someone picks up expired goods from stores. Those items are sorted, unusable items are discarded, and then they're distributed to families.

M finds flowers as well. I arrange them in the vase on the kitchen wall by the door.

At Costco, I pick up a bag of lemons for the glass bowl my grandpa bought for my grandma, 70 years ago. They scent the room: sweet and citrusy.

As evening falls, I peek out the door to the acres of forest behind the house. Fall is here and soon the trees will be bare.

It's another restless night. I'm awake 11:30pm-4:30am. W and I eat something - waffles for me, a chicken pot pie for him. Then we read and try to get more sleep. 

We got many wishes for a "restful and relaxing time away." Is that an ironic grin on the old wooden Chinese horse in the corner of our flat? (I bought it 30 years ago after spotting it in the doorway of an Asian furniture store. Long story, that one.) Our trips consist of a few weeks on the run.

Thursday

The kids and Melissa are out in the morning when I wake. W and Timo have left for a theology gathering on a boat with Terry. Without anyone around, I bang out songs at the old piano. That makes me reconsider giving it away. It's in reasonable tune and the ivories and hammers are in good shape.

After online catch-up, I take a 3 mile/5km walk around the neighborhood for air and exercise. Due to our mountain hikes, these hills at sea level - including our long driveway up to the street - seem small.

As usual, the streets are empty. Even the main thoroughfare has only occasional cars. I pass 5 people total, walking their dogs in the morning sunshine.

Here I know the names of plants and how to keep them alive. I thought I knew gardening, but I can't explain enough to keep the yardman from killing off most of what we plant in Bandung.

I pluck seeds from here and there. Let's see if they'll thrive.

The grass heads are white and red.

This fragrant wild rose grows beside the sidewalk.

When the petals fall, the rosehips emerge as fat pods.

These have a sweet smell, too.

The leaves are turning color.

The maples are shedding their leaves.

The ground is colored in gorgeous shades.

In time for Christmas, the holly trees will have red berries.

I enjoy every flower - the rhododendrons look amazing.

The flower heads are enormous.

I make myself waffles for breakfast and ravioli for lunch. The pre-made meals from Costco are wonderful. I open a 10-yr-old jar of quince jam. Still good. (I'm my mother's daughter. She says, "Who cares about the expiry label? Check if it smells and tastes fresh" and don't let an arbitrary date send good food into the garbage.)

The kids come downstairs after I do the lunch dishes. We kill ourselves laughing at their antics on old videos.

W and Timo return at 6:30pm, happy with the boat ride and progress made in their theological discussions.

Read more:

*What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. Ecclesiastes 3:9-14

*I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations and sing praises to your name. Psalm 18:49

Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. Revelation 15:4

Moravian Prayer: Lord, our strength, we walk among your creation, marveling at your power and grace. We praise you, this day, for you are the rock and foundation of all that is holy in this world. Amen.

Sharp spines and long vines

Thursday, September 26, 2024

There's no one working at the house today - only guests upstairs and the dogs in the yard. The helpers are at a family graduation and a sickbed. PakG is on election training: they have to take a day off to be given instructions for collecting and counting votes (Nov. election) and checked for medical fitness. 

Why medical fitness? Working an election is strenuous and many people have died on duty in the past. Election workers are on call for 24 hours - or longer if they don't get the count done and sent off. On election duty (8:00am-8:00 the next day), they are accompanied by a guard even when they use the restrooms. That helps prevent vote rigging or influencing; there's supposed to be no sharing of trends with incoming voters.

We set off on the city walk without the dogs. We walk down to the river with Daniel, a new hiker, meeting Veronica at the trail head. There's a stunning 7" (15cm) lotus blooming on the water.

W and Daniel talk theology most of the way. Look at this "bridge" made of 3 bamboo stalks over the runoff creek below!

And someone has found a parking spot for their motorcycle, a ledge with a 20' (6m) drop-off below, before the cliff down to the river). Um - it's accessible from the main thoroughfare via a steep ramp to their cliffside house. There's some skill required to get down and back.

This bus drive has serious skills as well. He makes a "3-point" turn into parking with 6'/2m behind him and 9'/3m in front of his bus. We give him a thumbs up and he grins back, turning his wheel back and forth.

We cross the busy street, past repairs to the main bridge, partly taken out by a landslide a few weeks ago. 

A new metal structure sits under the cables and wires - it should be interesting to see how those are elevated off the main roadway.

A tree has broken off and is being trimmed from the steep slope above the street.

A man with a bamboo pole pushes the trunk off the telephone wires and cables.

And finally, the tree is felled and ready to be hauled away. The workers pause traffic and quickly drag the foliage to the side.

We walk the university's Treetop Walk (1 km loop). It loops around and up and down. There are school kids, employees on a stroll, and many other walkers.

"Can we take a picture with you?" Of course.

There's abandoned art at the gallery below the trail.

There's a continual shedding of leaves and needles. They collect on rooftops, on the ground, and

and the intersections of branches and tree trunks. This deadly sharp-edged plant soars 8 meters (25') high beside the walkway.

The vines drape from nearby tees.

Some trees have exotic flowers.

Bamboo grows overhead as tall as trees.

It's a beautiful stroll in tunnels of green.

We stop for brunch on the way back at Dalaros, a Sundanese buffet. There's a lineup for people picking up catering orders.

We return along the riverside, but take a shortcut through the graveyard.

Then it's up the hill past UNPAR (university) and through their food courts. We wind up the gang in the neighborhoods. The narrow paths make 90o turns when houses are in the way. They are inaccessible by car and barely passable via motorcycle. Imagine taking those ladder steps to your house ... or negotiating your motorbike through the narrow and winding lanes - probably with your spouse, baby, toddler, and maybe another kid on it.

Can you can see the little minibus (city transportation) that has backed into the lane? I keep walking, squeezing by in the 50cm (25") clearance as it reverses into the gang. I plan to leap forward and out of harms way if the driver turns so the angkot touches me. By the time it gets to the sloped wall, there's no clearance so the guys wait for it to stop and ease around it.

All in all, it's 5 miles (8kms) and 21 storeys up - just about perfect in length with a climb down and up. = A home to home loop - with good company. I indulge in tea and chocolate banana bread after a shower. It's the perfect companion to grading.

Friday

We spot a flipping worm on the road on our walk. Oh wait, our clumsy Labradoodle has stepped on a lizard. The critter runs into the grass, sans tail. Can you spot the pale white creature?

A neighbor's house is making progress from a single-storey ruin to a huge structure.

The 3X-a-year lilies are blooming in roadside planters.

And this? I can only speculate - it no longer bites because I think they ran over a toad during paving.

There's a full day of meetings (a dean, a prayer group for SE Asia, and a book club discussion on the next hill). I make breakfast with leftovers and a scrambled egg thrown into the pan. Then I call Mom. She encourages me with her dream last night, listening to my grandmother's prayers.

A dissertation project comes in from a student. There's a sermon to write for Sunday. And tomorrow our guests come = a full weekend ahead.

Saturday

I stay in bed as long as I can. And I don't walk. I set things up for Laurel's farewell this afternoon, make treats for the party, and write some reviews. 

I'm hardly ever in charge of events. I'm' the backup who reminds the planner what s/he needs to make their event a success. WAs and emails fly back and forth as people ask for things for the event. 

• "Can I come early to set up?" (Of course. I may not be helping but I'll be on call.) 
• "May I cook in your kitchen?" (Sure, as long as you clean up.)
• "Do you have serving dishes? How about knives?" (Of course. How many do you need? - and they'll probably want a cutting board or two.)

W is off to Jakarta to pick up our month-long guests at their airport hotel. We're excited to hand over IES Bandung to them for October, while we work in the USA and Canada. 

"Have a nice holiday," some of our friends have said, thinking of our upcoming month. When they see the packed itinerary, they usually change their greeting. 

They may blink a few times and say, "Hope you have a profitable time and get back home safely so you can rest [in Indonesia.]" haha

Traffic is light so W is home early with the Townsends. Laurel's at the house before 11:00 while I'm sending off the grades for Gail and my recent class.

Read more: 

*Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.

Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens. You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God! Psalm 68:32-35

*For as the earth brings forth its shoots and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. Isaiah 61:11

*The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches. Luke 13:18-19

Moravian Prayer: God, we, like your gardens, constantly grow in our love and faith. Please continue to nurture us so that our small-seed faith may grow into a tree of love for the world. Amen.