Wednesday, May 26, 2025
After a walk that includes little Casey, we tackle calls, meetings, and emails. (He goes home tonight.) I write the Lenten posts each day.
Mid-morning, I bake an oatmeal loaf, the first attempt in a new breadmaker. W found the appliance on clearance at ACE for $23, due to missing parts, when he took our heavily-used breadmaker in for repairs. He had already ordered replacement parts for the old one but those didn't fix it. When it got to the shop, they said it needs a new motor. The repairman will install the motor for $5, incl parts = should be like new.
Turns out that the new appliance is a Cuisinart. The dough paddle and hook that were missing? Those are the replacements W ordered for the other machine and they fit perfectly. The first loaf is a little flat so we'll tweak the recipe next time.
The lunch centerpiece is the third of four American steaks gifted by W's friend. We froze the meat in Seattle; thawed it here, and W put it in his sous vide. We refroze it immediately. When we want a special meal, we thaw a steak to room temperature before it's hot-seared on a cast-iron griddle. I fry green beans, warm up sweet potatoes, and add Monday's leftovers: cheesy spaghetti to round out the meal.
"My birthday lunch for myself," I say to W. "Who in this whole country is eating steak from a Seattle butcher?" (No one.) When I find a taste I'm hungry for, the meal practically assembles itself. Ingredients show up to match the palate (just as paint shows up to match the canvas.) Meal prep for the feast takes 15 minutes.
The afternoon indulgence is a few squares of peppermint chocolate from Lisa ... we shall miss this couple when they leave Bandung.
And not just because of good New Zealand-brand chocolate!
In rainy season, the plants grow madly. Because snakes, rodents, and other wildlife inhabit overgrown areas, yard maintenance is a priority.
The yardman clips the lawn, which is knee-high in places after 4 weeks. He tried to trim it 2 weeks ago when the good "Weed-wacker" was being repaired. The cheap local string trimmer overheated within minutes so he gave up. Today he makes good progress with decent tools.
Meanwhile Anton the poodle is recovering from being neutered yesterday. He seems happy enough. His dog-walker sends a photo of him ambling around the neighborhood, wearing his post-surgery "
cone of shame" so he doesn't open his stitches. He'll arrive in a few weeks, all healed up.
Thursday
It's hiking day, a short one of less than 5 km. Bailey got jumped by a big dog last week and doesn't want to go. We leave him under the Porch table to relax with the house occupants. He's happy to see us when we get home and PakG fluffs him up with a bath anyway.
The main thoroughfares to the mountains are narrow. Often a neighbor will earn extra cash by standing at one end of a one-and-a-half lane street, waving one lane of traffic through at a time.
This busy street is wider but complicated by someone balancing on a ladder. The tukang trims a long hedge with a string trimmer - about a foot under the city's electrical wires. Everyone drives around his ladder. I waited until traffic had passed to snap a photo of this main road.
The trek is through forest, tea fields, and recently planted coffee bushes.
Apparently coffee beans taste sweet when they ripen. I haven't tried one.
Some old tea fields are being torn up and replaced by coffee plants. These old tea roots hang below the shrubs, visible where roads have been cut into the 10' (3 meter) bank of soil.
There are wildflowers.
There are waterfalls.
And there are benches to sit in the shade if you decide not to go down to the waterfalls.
This little bamboo shed keeps rain off a woodpile.
Lunch with Eva is at Mandarin: delicious. We have a few leftovers but we eat enough that only a good nap can reduce the stupor. The dogs snooze in the car and sprawl on the Porch when we get home.
The helpers are baking ginger cookies. I assemble Ramadan food packets, to be taken home today or tomorrow (depending on their last day before a week's holiday.) The staff got their THR last week, an extra month's pay mandated by the government. An employee must be paid the equivalent of a month's wages to prepare for their religious month: Muslims before Leberan (the final week of Ramadan); Christians before Christmas (though that is less enforced); and the other religions at their primary holidays. We save in advance. The added financial burden can be ruinous for businesses who are barely making payroll.
Indonesia officially recognizes 6 religious groups: Christian (Protestant), Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and animism. With official holidays for each group, salaried employees take a lot of days off - in 2025 it's 17 days (plus 10 collective leave days)! = 27 days. Those on daily wages work through holidays of other religions - they can't afford a month without pay.
My evening meeting is cancelled but I'm wide awake after a late nap. Since I can't sleep right away, it's time to evaluate the year. It's taken almost two years (August '23-March '25) to complete the Morning Pages Journal. Yesterday I finished and put it away. I bought a dozen or so journals a few years back; today the first pages are written in a new one.
Friday
It's my birthday. I start with a walk and Ibu Siti's massage at the house. Maddie and Beba drop in to pick up kefir seeds. Our visit is short but sweet.
Martin, Sayaka, and Harun come for lunch. At Christmas, we offered each team member a meal at our place. The offer is good until the end of May. It's fun when they claim the gift.
Sayaka has made salmon sushi and brings a birthday cake.
We make one last trip with PakG to Toko Setiabudi grocer. While locals are running from one relative to another ("the art of Ramadan"), we will visit with friends and howdy with neighbors.
I reset the kefir and ginger bug - the next sparkling juices are mango and coconut water. Birthday wishes come from all sides, warming my heart. A package from IbuD and Aska contains a beautiful batik blouse in my favorite colors.
A photo pops up from 16 year ago, in another thinner lifetime. My tan sweater is the base color of the batik. In the tropics, you wear more colors than you did in Seattle.
Saturday
I'm awake at 2 AM. I enjoy the silence by setting up a new notebook and listening through the book of Romans. How amazing are the God's gifts of grace, righteousness, and inner peace!
"No one is saved by keeping the law," Paul explains. "You'd have to keep every part of the law precisely, which is humanly impossible. Missing even one point incurs judgment." Yet he writes that Jesus has come and fulfilled the law. Jesus offers us his perfection and righteousness. It's mind-bogging. And an occasion for worship and gratitude this morning.
This weekend starts with
Nyepi, a Hindu festival of silence. For most of Muslim Bandung, it's just another national day off. However, in Hindu Bali, most media, phones, commerce, and transportation will be shut down.
Eid al-Fitr will be Sunday or Monday, with a week off after to travel. The 30-day Ramadan fast ends with feasting and gifting. Crime is high because whoever can will return to their villages or visit family homes, hopefully with a gift to offer the family. (We lost our smartphones twice the first year. Thankfully they were recovered by friends who negotiated their ransom.)
Traffic is a snarl. Trains, buses, and taxis are full. Motorcycles clog the roads. Shops will close for the week. Restaurants may or may not have enough staff to stay open. Owners will drive their cars if their drivers leave, which can be dangerous: many only drive during this annual holiday week.
Our dogs don't mind. They patrol the yard and get fewer walks. There's more play since we're around. It's quiet until fireworks mark end of the season. There is no regulation of fireworks. It's a free-for-all that goes on during the all-night chanting at Eid - plus a few days before and after.
Our first visit to Bandung was 12 Ramadans ago. It was a magical evening, thanks to Stefano and Livia Bramono and their daughter Kristi. In that July 2014 rainstorm, we stumbled upon an art gallery and restaurant. We ate together, overlooking valleys and mountains of the city below as darkness fell. Fireworks erupted and celebrated our arrival with us.
Read more:
*To the humble the Lord shows favor. Proverbs 3:34
*The Lord said, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” Joel 2:28 NIV
*A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But Jesus said to them, “The kings of the gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather, the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like one who serves.” Luke 22:24-26
*Peter said, “Jesus, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you see and hear.” Acts 2:33
Moravian Prayer: Spirit of the living God, thank you for your holy presence. It is so easy to fill our lives with matters of this world. Grant us wisdom and discernment and fill our hearts and minds with renewed vision, so we can more clearly see the life to which you have called us.
Almighty God, forgive us when we have not humbled ourselves before you and before our neighbor. Quiet our minds so we can be still and hear your voice. Inspire us to serve as we model the compassionate love of Jesus, and may our words and actions be pleasing to you. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.
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