Celebrating people in the season

Monday, December 12, 2022

We stop in at Ambrogio for a quick lunch between checking off the grocery list. As usual, the brisket on sourdough is amazing.

We pass a flock of women strolling down the street. Indonesians like to dress alike to show solidarity. It's similar to a group wearing matching logo T-shirts in the USA.

We toss the groceries in the fridge - it takes me until evening to put things away and bake meatballs for tomorrow. The handy $1 gadget from Penang makes round meatballs in no time! How did I not know this? We put the freezer stuff in cold-storage bags. They'll be thawed by the time I prep for movie night on Wednesday morning. That will speed up the cooking time.

Tuesday

W is putting out glue traps each evening and overnight he catches the second rat in 2 days. Every once in a while, we get a plague of them in the house. No idea if they come from the garden or neighbors.

It's W's mom's birthday until 3pm today with time zone differences. She lives near Vancouver. We chatted with her yesterday, a day early for her and right-on-time for us.

It's another night when I'm up for a while so I'm sleep-deprived when I start prepping food at 6:00. The little potatoes need scrubbing before they go into the slow cooker. That takes a while but it doesn't take long to make spinach in cream sauce. The helpers cut up salad and heat up the meats I cooked yesterday. Today their main task is baking. There are hundreds of cookies on the counter when they're done.

The yard man has something going on with his kid so he's not here. Neither is PakG, who is ill.

We don't drive in this city for a reason. Coming out of the grocer yesterday, we hear an accident happen between car and motorcycle. We see the swarm of people shouting and running toward the motorcyclist as we leave the grocer's parking lot.

The car speeds away and the motorcyclist seems barely hurt. He has been taken off to the side by bystanders by the time we drive by.

"If the driver of the car tries to drive away and is caught, he will be mobbed and beaten," PakG tells us. "Sometimes people even die. You can't just drive off." But the guy does and we don't know if anyone gets his info. 

After scolding the helpers for their perpetual lateness, I realize I'm mean. I need a walk to walk off my meanness. It's inappropriate to scold or be direct in giving instructions. I feel hungry, thirsty, tired ... and crabby. When I get home, the house is quiet and everyone avoids me. I don't mind: I'm feeling kinder and less edgy.

The IES team comes at 11:00 for our annual Christmas dinner. We relax on The Porch as everyone arrives.

They're the best! It's a privilege to serve together. Each one feels called to serve uniquely from the others. We meet each week to check in, pray with each other, and gain encouragement.

The neighbors, leaving for the city, have turned off the whole-house water in the early morning. The water tanks are completely empty after the helpers wash the baking dishes. There's no water for washing up or using the toilet. They use emergency bottles of water to tidy the kitchen before they leave.

We can hardly wait for the incoming city water in the morning! How quickly we have forgotten the "out of water" norm before getting the plumbing and water-storage systems integrated a few months ago.

Wednesday

I wake at 1 a.m. and can't get back to sleep so I listen to Luke and some psalms (#29-57). I might as well get up and start cooking when the sun comes up before 6:00. Fifty are signed up with a waiting list for dinner-and-a-movie tonight. I post last month's menu on the fridge and get to work.

 I'm done by 9:30 a.m. and have a short nap. W and I walk to get mushroom pasta at Ethnic nearby.

Formerly a residence, this beloved classic eating spot is relaxing. W and I choose a table at the back of the yard, surrounded by ferns and vines.

I set the buffet and finished cooking. When the helpers arrive at 3:00, I leave the kitchen to them: they cook rice, chop salad and fruit, and do last-minute cleaning. 

Over 40 people show up, from 16 countries. About half are "Family" (here at least 3X) and the rest are here for the first time ("Guests") or the second time ("Friends"). First we eat supper. The line stretches out to The Porch.

We read the Christmas story and watch the movie. Then we break for intermission (dessert) and finish the movie. Afterward, the conversation picks up as people chat and meet each other.

We're in bed after 11:00, with a guest crashing upstairs overnight. She's gone back across the city to her university before we get up in the morning.

Thursday

After a drive into the mountains, the dogs as ready for the hike as we are.

We wait for everyone to arrive, watching a worker fill old rice sacks with leftovers from the tofu factory across the street. It will be fed to livestock.

We hike up a mile toward the tea fields with the city below in the distance. We rest to catch our breath a few times and I wonder if I'll have sore calves tomorrow. We usually don't feel a hike afterward but who knows. This 5km (3+mile) walk is steep.

There are deep valleys between the mountains north of Bandung. Today's walk is a loop upward over 2 km (280 meters elevation) and back around, skirting the rim of the mountainside. It starts to rain on the last 1/3 so we pull flimsy raincoats from our backpacks.

In the last kilometer, Angie and I are besieged by flies. Hundreds swarm us and settle on our plastic jackets. Some bite - all are annoying. We slap and flap them off after a while. The others, coming a few minutes behind us, don't see any at all. (They're all on us?!)

We have lunch together in town - it's a delight to sit around the table with friends. We're near enough to walk home, where the helpers have baked and reset the house from movie night. 

Ibu A and Ibu S are two petite Sundanese ladies but STRONG. The rugs are rolled out, the furniture replaced, and decor put on the tables. It's so "right" that I don't even notice when I first come in. I'm shocked when I realize what they've done. Wow.

Even the dining room is set! (I have no idea how they did this.) The Christmas tablecloth is spread, the chairs are in place, and the heavy DIY marble turntable in the middle is centered.

W and I stand the IKEA bookcase upright on its short end: we'll have too many people milling about at Christmas to lay it the long way. I set the Nativity scene into a shelf and rearrange the decorations for Christmas Day - 10 days to go!

We catch up on chores and reading. I have a 2-hr Mastermind at 10:00 p.m. with beloved colleagues and mentors. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Read more:

*How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life for evermore. Psalm 133:1,3

*For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. Romans 12:4-5

Moravian Prayer: Giver of gifts, we thank you for the presence of your Spirit within our lives. We thank you for the community of faith into which you called us. May we support and encourage one another in faith. Amen.