Saturday, March 16, 2024 (Lent Day 28)
How good to wake up in our own bed. I'm still thinking of the pleasant voice on the airplane speaker yesterday: "Dear passengers, we would like to remind you that possession and trafficking of drugs is punishable by death. Thank you." Hm. Good thing we're in no danger of that.
After a walk, it's fun to run into little Falk and his daddy, watching the construction of a house in the neighborhood.
The construction workers synchronize their movements. One picks up a brick from a pile on the ground; another stands on a narrow board near the second storey. The one below lofts it to the guy above (see the brick flying upward?), who piles the bricks near a bricklayer building the second-floor wall. Occasionally, man#2 pulls up a bucket of mortar that has been mixed by man#1 on the ground.
W and I are working together as usual, too. We revise tomorrow's talk for IES Bandung, read it through, and have breakfast. I have an appointment while W meets friends for lunch.
One of my current favorite cookies is a sesame concoction made here in Bandung. With a cup of tea, they're a good afternoon snack.
Sunday
It's my favorite day of the week, when we get together with the community of faith. The prayer room fills up.
Partway through, my throat feels rough. A
Buckleys' cough candy takes care of it. I share a cough drop from my stash with someone on the worship team. He winces, though I tried to prepare him for the menthol taste with their old advertising slogan: "Tastes terrible but it works!" (In the evening, the roughness takes hold. Cough cough to clear it ... and more
Buckleys.)
The response of the IES congregation in worship and "takeways" is heartfelt. How we love when God is at work among us.
Titik has outdone herself with the flowers (again!). My first glance as the two bouquets sit on the stage makes my heart overflow with thanks to God. I'm thankful for 2 things: the beauty he puts in the world and the people he gifts to showcase that beauty to life for the rest of us.
I bring home the larger arrangement: 5'X3' (160X100cm) - it almost fills the coffee table. See the red clump? 14 full-sized mums; the white one? a dozen full-sized roses. There are white gladiolas, hand-sized white and red anthuriums, and +1' (35cm) garden leaves. Stunning.
Fireworks bang into the air at random times, starting at sunset. We hear them until midnight, though a few clusters explode throughout the night.
It's an early morning, By 2:00, I'm awake. The Ramadan chants begin at 2:40, waking women to cook breakfast for their families. An hour later, calls from the mosque speakers wake people to eat. The sermons and prayer chants are intermittent through 6:00.
Most adults will not eat or drink during daylight (6:00-18:00) and are sleep-deprived. That means they are exhausted and have low energy. It's a low-key month all around, with people coming alive at nightfall to feast as they break their fast.
This year is particularly difficult for locals. The cost of food staples rose sharply before the national election last month. When we ask about the steep increase, we're told that political candidates bought out the rice crops to give away to prospective voters.
Rice is not only expensive; sometime we can't find any. Since we've been living here, some food price have doubled. Wages have not. Hopefully, as promised, prices will be lowered as food is restocked from the fields.
Those who keep Ramadan are supposed to note their solidarity with the poor, please God by doing extra religious rituals, and balance personal sins with personal righteousness. The fast itself earns religious credit. An interesting post for expats
explains what's going on.
I have two early calls before taking a final stab at sorting student grades from last month, as requested by the administrator. I check every submitted assignment.My bookkeeping has remained consistently erratic since college. What makes the research/writing class more complicated is that, instead of one grade per assignment, students may earn 3-4 recorded grades due to revisions. I try to be very mindful when updating. But oh well.
Numbers are slippery for me. (Words and colors are concrete.) I can quickly and accurately estimate a long column - within spitting distance. But when I do careful arithmetic, the numbers slide around into different totals. The grade record is sent off with that warning - and my grade book is closed.
I take a nap to make up for the short night. Lunch yesterday was pho, but we ordered extra Vietnamese spring rolls today so IbuS doesn't have to cook.
First thing every morning, I
post a Lenten blog. We're into the last 10 days of Lent, counting down toward Easter. The day takes off with a meeting online. Then W and I walk to #Narapark for a date morning. We sit near the noodle place (#Pinoterrace) and order our usual. I can't taste the spice in the
rica (hot sauce). And my appetite is gone, even with good food in front of me.
The staff has set up games, probably for kids who will come when their parents break their fast.
This lonely dog looks through the fence of a new parking lot. He looks healthy enough but may be too warm in the sunshine. Smart boy - sitting in the shade.
Another neighbor is rebuilding his crumbling house. The place stood unoccupied for a few years, which means disintegration by onslaughts of insects and the tropical sun, rain, and wind.
I'm definitely "under the weather" myself. I walk in the door, happy that IbuS has changed the slipcovers to cream from black. The sofa and 12 dining chairs slipcovers were cut from 2 heavy canvas drop cloths.
I like the modern simplicity of our metal and pleather DR chairs. We got narrow seats to squeeze 12 people at our round table. Mere weeks later, the black ribbing started to peel. There's no refund or exchange in Indonesia. What you bought is what you own. (That's why they check every light bulb and every electrical appliance before you leave the store.)
It's a simple 2-part pattern for the chair slipcovers. One length drapes the front, seat, and back. The other pattern piece yields the 2 matching side squares. The painter's canvases we bought at Home Depot (USA) were huge: 12X15' (almost 4X5m). I cut the cloth so that the thick seam bisecting the canvas landed on the front edge of the chairs. They haven't torn in 9 years of use, which is pretty good for $30 and a few hours of measuring, cutting, and sewing.
The LR looks fresher and happier. The gorgeous flower arrangement and lighter-colored accessories make it feel like springtime.
Outside, it's summer and the flowers are blooming, just like in June, September, and December. Lucky us.
On another note, our team is learning new skills. Each person is acquiring leadership skills as they take turns of being in charge of the team meeting. Good timing: the cold/flu is moving into my chest and my head hurts. I drink a foul Chinese blend of herb tea for easing a sore throat. Ugh. After years of "never sick," I'm getting a little tired of this.
Read more:*O give thanks to the Lord; call on his name; make known his deeds among the peoples. Psalm 105:1
*So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17
*I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
Moravian Prayer: O priceless Treasure, we consider you a profound blessing in our lives, yet we can be slow to speak your praises to those around us. Make us as bold to proclaim your place in our lives and in the universe as we are quick to endorse a new product or service we have discovered. Your name be praised. Amen.
