Embassy paperwork, great views, and a plethora of decisions

Monday, July 28, 2025

We eat a quick breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express and walk 20 minutes (2 km) to the USA Embassy. It's easily recognizable with metal bars across all the windows of the high-rise. It's faster to renew our passports here than in the USA.

W has completed the paperwork so it takes less than an hour before we're walking through the Heritage Building on the embassy grounds. We learn that the USA helped Indonesia gain full independence after WWII. Indonesia declared its independence from Dutch colonialism on August 17, 1945. There were still battles; we sometimes hike up to the Dutch forts and can imagine the terror of the young men who were sent to fight each other.

The USA threatened to withhold funds to the Dutch government if the country did not relinquish their hold on Indonesia. It worked. In 1949, the Dutch signed away their claim on the islands.

W has read that we can't take electronics including phones, watches, etc. into the embassy. Most people check their electronics at the front desk but we have left ours in the hotel. I forget about the tracker in my purse and get #46 for pickup after we're done. It's strange not to use the GPS to get there, not to check our phone for facts, and to sit without clearing messages. Luckily there's a state-by-state video playing on multiple screens so we do a visual tour of the USA while we wait.

We head back to the hotel for our watches and phones. W researches locations for errands and meals. Dim sum is good at our favorite place. Someone said it turns into a den of iniquity at night. But during the day, families and business clients enjoy outstanding food and exceptional service.

We try the okra in oyster sauce, a hit with me but not so much with W.

During the afternoon, we run "big city" errands including some at a building supply mall. (Please take me there +20X for every time I have to go to Nordstroms!) There's so much potential: lights, tiles, and pylons. The translucent hoses are practically begging to be made into serpentine chandeliers with twinkle lights inside, don't you agree?

It pours twice during the "no rain forecast," each time as we are leaving a venue. We grab a taxi for $3-5 to the next place. The evening meeting is helpful for networking and setting our course for the future. We say a prayer together before it begins and another when it ends.

This motorcycle taxi driver describes our feelings on the way home. Ready for zzzz.

There's one last meeting at 9 PM, discussing a new crowdfunding platform for global projects. If you're want an easy way to help us promote it, PM or email me. It's going to have a big impact on worthy causes around the world.

Tuesday

We eat an indifferent but colorful breakfast in the hotel.

The Canadian embassy waiting area feels more "guest room" than institutional. The furniture is comfortably modern, the colors are warm, and the flag of Indonesia flies companionably beside the Canadian flag.

The staff is helpful and friendly. They offer options for getting our passports back. When we tell them we are hoping to catch the morning train, they hurry the process. We make it to the station 30 minutes early. Hurrah, O Canada!

The views from our train carriage are stunning. Modern life mixes with traditional farming on Java.

Burning dry rice stalks contributes to pollution.

We pass the train graveyard and consider what fun it would be to put an empty car in the yard. Wouldn't kids LOVE to play in it? For that matter, wouldn't adults love to create an office inside?

The flat plains of Western Java are flooded for rice fields.

Soon we have left the flatlands and are rattling along on tracks stretched across deep mountain valleys.

In the distance, the toll highway forms a backdrop to terraces where farmers work by hand.

Rivers flow between rice paddies.

Some of the harvest is in but the fields get replanted a few times a year. There will often be a shade hut where workers rest and eat out of the glare of the tropical sun.

At the railroad crossings, motorcycles stack up and pedestrians wait for the trains to pass. Footpaths, muddy trails, lanes, and roads crisscross the tracks where they disrupt normal village or city traffic. The train whistle is persistent and frequent.

Occasionally we see the towns that line the tracks. Red clay tiles are the most common roofing material.

The closer we get to Bandung, the more rubbish heaps are piled up. "Out of sight, out of mind," is a common attitude. Many Indonesians toss their garbage on empty land or along the roads if there's no reliable sanitation pickup.

We know we're almost home when the traffic increases: see the pillars overhead for a new "flyover" highway?

We are hungry by the time the train gets to Bandung. It's after 1 PM when we stop at a trendy restaurant we haven't been in for years. My Sunda curry is delicious. The rice comes with a festive hat.

The restaurant has amusing monkey lights in the bathroom stalls.

Our friend is having surgery and so we drop by the hospital to see how he's doing and pray for success and healing. His sisters and family are there - and afterward, he begins a good recovery, thank God!

Wednesday

We're up early to call our moms and walk. The dogs romp the property while we check in with the electrical contractor. To measure where the lights go, a young worker climbs up the stepladder, standing on the top platform, tiptoeing !yikes! to hook the end of his tape measure on the moldings. Aaaaaah (what balance)! We hold our breath and he easily scrambles back to earth.

We drive downtown to see if we can find matching tiles for a serving counter. Before the pandemic, we purchased 4-packs of tiles from the discard section at a building supplier. Two 2'X2' (60cm square) tiles have been used on the kitchen counter. When one broke, we placed the pieces behind artwork: see the "wave" on the wall? One is hidden in W's office.

Will we find 4 more tiles with the same non-glossy sand-colored finish ... after 5 years? We're told there are no more but we root through the sale section anyway, getting dusty and dirty. Hey hey! Look. One last box leans between other patterns in the discount clearance pileup. The chances of finding a match are so slim that we consider it a God-bonus for the day.

We come back up the hill to pick up DrW, our favorite neighbor. She's taking us to #WaroengEthnic's new restaurant downtown. They have renovated a 1926 heritage building that belonged to a friend's grandma. 1926? We wonder if they'll host historical theme parties. 100 years ... a long time.

The renovators stripped layers of stain off the original doors and knocked paint off the hinges. They saved as much as "history" as they could. The 99-yr-old Dutch floor tiles are in great condition, too.

My $8 tenderloin is delicious. W helps eat the steak and takes my fried potato rolls: he likes tater tots.

DrW orders fish and chips while W gets his usual rösti champignon (hash browns with chicken and mushroom gravy.) The plating is colorful and appetizing, while the wait staff is attentive and friendly.

The company at the table is wonderful of course. We predict that #EthnicAceh will be a hit, especially with #EthnicBandung's well-trained servers and excellent cooks.

After dropping off DrW, we make a last stop at the project to meet the contractor and drop off the tiles. He says he now has enough for the sink and surround. Yay.

Renovations and building projects require innovation. We've just begun making the 1001 tiny decisions. We can tell that we were 30 years younger when we designed and built our two houses (in the USA).

Back home, we fiddle with the DIY light in the corner. A fancy bulb from our Jakarta trip creates a circus tent effect in the corner. It's not bright enough to illuminate the dining room but might be cool as a night light.

We put back the regular LED bulb for now.

Thursday

Another "no hike" day but we walk the neighborhood loop with the dogs just after 6 AM. 

This 'bird' shape is from ? No idea, but it catches my eye on the pavement.

After two meetings, we go to buy groceries. I find a favorite cheesy snack, not always in stock. We're home by mid-morning with schedules synched for the weekend and coursework waiting on my desk.

Read more:

* The Lord gives strength to his people. Psalm 29:11

* We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:20-22

* [Jesus disciples asked him, ] Lord, teach us to pray. Luke 11:1

* 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: God, we are stronger together than we are on our own. Help us to be in harmonious community with one another, encouraging and supporting each other, so that we can do the work you have called us to do. In your name, we pray. Amen.

Wooh - hoo (for a train ride)

 Friday, July 25, 2025

Our friends join the morning walk with the dogs. The locals are astonished that 2 young girls can walk Gypsy and Juno, both big dogs. 

We refresh the fish that died when the big pond sprang leak. The mosquito-eating tropical fish got moved to the old bathtubs at the back of the yard, but didn't thrive. We take the girls and their mom to "fish street" and the bird market 2 km further. The sharp beaks of our lovebirds and budgies have worn out the old ladders and exercise toys.

We meet Jojo, their dad for lunch at Mike Pizza. He's attending an Allstate Insurance conference this weekend so he heads back to work after we eat.

I grade papers but it's not a focused day. My desk is cluttered with notes for the next teaching session. 

Saturday

We do a brisk walk at 6AM with the dogs. The kids miss us by a few minutes - we're already out the gate. I make crepes for breakfast - and we pray together over the day. The kids run around the yard - Anton is loving having them to roughhouse with him.

A 2-hour meeting with a mentor brings clarity and peace. "Compartmentalize," is my takeaway. With so many things in motion, it's healthier not to throw everything into one whirlpool. 

Sunday

We talk about holiness and love - most rule-keepers seem to get sourer and sourer in character, but God promises that being set apart to him (holiness) will make us more loving. Afterward, we open the house to a group that has come to meet and eat lunch on the Porch.

We finish packing and leave for the train station and have lunch kababs at our usual place. W offers to split a Magnum ice cream bar but gets to eat the whole thing when it looks like this...

The ride to Jakarta is smooth and uneventful.

Old trestles built by the Dutch still stand.

But the scenery ...

Here's what happens when you favor a cowboy hat but have to wear a hard hat to work. (The guy in the back is wearing a baseball cap under his hard hat.

Beside the old railway line, men are digging holes and building forms by hand for pouring cement.

I scroll my phone and see a statistic that's hard to believe, given the current noise in the press.

A Bluebird taxi ($4) gets us from the train station to the Holiday Express Inn. Traffic is a mix of walkers, horses, three wheeled , motorcycles, cars, and trucks. Oh - don't forget the sellers pulling their handcarts through it all.

Artwork in the lobby is a vibrant collage of colors and shapes. W has gotten us 2 nights for $76, a 20-minute walk from the USA embassy. 

We walk to #LittleArabia nearby. Our meals are excellent ($12 for both). We'll definitely come back if we're in this part of Jakarta.

Night falls as we eat. I like the landscape lighting strip along the road.

We've come into the city for an embassy appointment first thing tomorrow. Sleep tight, everyone!

Read more:

*Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

“I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.

“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.

Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy. Exodus 15:1-6

*The Lord brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:19

*[Paul writes:] By the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:10

Moravian Prayer: Amazing God, you delight in us! Our imperfections aside, you genuinely love us just as we are, and you delight in meeting us where we are. We may be in the darkest recesses of our own hearts, or we may be frolicking in the fields of joy. Either way, your grace abounds! Amen.

Small decisions and friend moments

Monday, July 21, 2025

Walk. Meetings. Work. That's Monday's rhythm. Between, I talk to Mom, who turns 90 in August. She's praying and caring for the family and affirming her caregivers even as her body grows frailer.

In the side yard, pink flowers bloom atop 6' (2 meter) stalks. Where did they come from? The leaves look similar to papaya.

I complete a checklist of to-dos before lunch. W meets our Korean friends for lunch at their place. I have to get going on a class I co-teach in 2 weeks. Since next week is full, the coursework needs to be settled this week. It can be disappointing to miss connections as I prioritize what needs to be done. In this case, my students will be ready so I have to be diligent in preparation for class.

I make a quick lunch of pasta and pasta. Carbs are my go-to when my brain gets fuzzy or unfocused..

The deluge of data from MS Forms drives me crazy. The information is there. I can read it online or in an Excel sheet. I click on individual answers and get a popup of "more details" from the replies to each question. But I can't print the pop-ups, which have the meatiest content.

I can't figure out how to capture information in chunks that are intuitive to me - all MS offers is a survey or a huge spreadsheet. For a half-minute, I consider wading through all 300 survey returns, tabulating responses one by one into the narrative. 

There's no way a workplace admin would use such a clunky method; it should be easy to print "More Details" in a block rather than printing the limited data in the summary. I watch a few YouTube explanations that leave me where I am. My conclusion is, "I don't know what I'm doing."

Perhaps W can figure it out when he returns? He doesn't get overwhelmed the way I do by numbers and random-to-me data. But he doesn't find a better solution.

Tuesday

Calls start after our walk. The 3 big dogs prefer to walk on one leash. The little guy gets a separate walk later on.

My dear friend Keelee sent along "comfort cookies" - chocolate coffee flavored - from her @QuietWaters bakery. Every month or so, I pull one out of the freezer as a treat. The verse for today is: "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." Psalm 116:7. So true.

A young mom pops in for a few hours and a morning cup of tea. In the afternoon, our team arrives on the Porch for updates, tea, and cookies.

Wednesday

We walk the dogs, taking them before our weekly date breakfast at #NaraParkBandung. Near our table is a tabletop rotting away in the sun and rain. Tropical weather is brutal to unsealed wood. Our favorite table is smooth and stable, thanks to its resin finish. Iqbal is a good server, bringing us extra-hot tea.

A neighbor has chopped tall pines to their bare trunks, 30' (10 meters) high. See the stub? Will that regrow? Our friends say, "Yes of course," and look puzzled at why we ask. Everything grows here.

Jane and I visit for 2 hours before lunch on the Porch. Then W and I take the yardman and PakG to the project's yard to help with planning the garden. The contractor offers a proposal about the broken tile around the kitchen sink. I take photos of the ceiling, where wallpaper has peeled off and holes are being patched.

We have a month to decide where to pull the lighting through the ceiling. We lay out the table placement, step back to see the line of sight, and consider the options.

While I do some business from home, W is off to a men's study.

Thursday

Only a few are available to hike so we skip the drive into the mountains and walk down the hill along the river. The stairs in various neighborhoods are steep and uneven. You need healthy knees to negotiate them. Fortunately, the paths are dry today so it's not slippery. 

The village across the river has been painted as a mural but the crowds of tourists from a few months ago are missing.

We take up the offer of the owner of a maggot factory to tour his set-up.

I snap a poster of the process from food scraps to adult worms that are used for fishing and chicken feed. He sells the compost generated by the maggots for Rp5000/kg (15c/lb.)

The wildflowers are abundant.

This one looks like an exotic bird about to take off.

We complete two loops on the university's Treetop Walk. Then we walk halfway back up the hill (13 flights) to shop and pick up bananas from Veronica's. PakG picks us up there - our watches read 5 miles (7+ km), which is enough.

Our friends arrive about the time we're coming home from lunch. The mom and her sister lived with us when they arrived in the USA for university. Their family helped settle us into Bandung. Today, we take the dogs for a walk together. The 3 beauties, a mom and her daughter, pose on some grand steps.

The helpers bake a few loaves of banana bread, which we enjoy along with pastries from Jakarta sent by Livia, Kristi's mom. Yum.

At night, I hop on a call as a beta tester for a crowdfunding platform. It's designed to fund worthy projects around the world. Very exciting, which cranks up my energy about the time I need to fall asleep. Might as well write the talk for Sunday, which W and I have discussed this week.

Read more:

*For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. Psalm 62:1

*Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers? Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:16-19

*It is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7

Moravian Prayer: God of justice, we often need to be reminded that those who hurt others are human, too. Our enemies deal with struggles and challenges just like we do, so help us remember to pray for their souls and the healing of their hearts. Amen.