Happy Indonesian Independence Day

Saturday, August 15, 2026
Alice picks up a few loaves of banana bread for tomorrow's potluck at IES Bandung. We're still living off Veronica and Kiki's bananas, baked when I left for Austin.

IESB celebrates Independence Day (August 17, Monday) on the nearest Sunday: participants are asked to wear red and white (Indonesia's national colors), share Indonesian traditions in the Gathering, and bring food for the potluck afterwards. That's the joy of an international church - we belong to many cultures.

W gets a haircut at the local barber for IDR20.000 ($1.20). He drops past the university/student food court on the way back for smoked chicken burritos. One each (@$1.60) covers lunch and supper. I write some book reviews, read, and thank God for a quiet day.

I head outside to the yard to check if any branches have fallen. The tree stretches tall.

Its branches have been breaking over the yard. They have smashed the neck of the giraffe statue to bits. Woe to anyone who gets caught under a falling limb - it is wide and fragile in old age.

Along the trek back to the Project, the life-sized zebra statue needs a good cleaning and maybe repainting. We haven't gotten to that yet.

I'm slightly freaked out by my latest creation: 3 paintings called "Men behind the Veil." Women around the world wear veils for various reasons: ritual, religion, or privacy. But what if men also lived behind the veil? The scrabbling of mice in the ceiling distracts me from the process.

The last chore of the day is in the guest room. We hang hotel duvet covers with the ornate trim that I discovered in a box. I think Christine may have given that red edging to me. W has to hold up the heavy double-sheets while I fix the trim and pleats in place.

Sunday
Each time I draw open the curtains, the apartment at the foot of the Project feels peaceful.

The little sitting area overlooks a green sideyard.

We walk and W gets more words. For some reason the hilarious competition song, "Anything you can do I can do better" gets stuck in my head. W finds it online and we have a good laugh together. I hang the "Men Behind the Veil" paintings in my office. I'm no feminist but I am happy with equal opportunities for equal gifting and experience.

It's a quiet morning with a relevant, encouraging online Gathering. We lunch at Homeground, a nearby Chinese-Szechwan eatery. One of our favorite dishes is the Szechwanese green beans. So flavorful.

I order Taiwanese noodles. I like spicy + noodles!

Tota, Tetty, and Reuben drop by. I love the themed outfit - Tetty is a fashionista in Indonesia's colors of red and white.

They bring #TitikBadudu 's flower bouquet in the same colors. The whole room lights up.

Every Indonesian island is filled with craftsmen and artists. This tall screen is from Papua - but was found in the Project's backyard.

Monday - National Day in Indonesia

Hardly anyone is about when we walk after 6am. WE've had the first rainstorm in weeks overnight. The leaves and garbage that collect on the shoulders of the streets have washed into the roads. We step carefully to avoid small sticks that could roll under our sandals.

W has a speech therapy session with Agnes. As I prepare for brunch, I pull out a new-ish commercial wok to steam dumplings. Oh my - someone has scraped up the non-stick coating of our best wok in the main kitchen, stirring in it with metal tools. Generally, our best kitchen tools cannot be not shared with local helpers because they don't know how to care for them. This commercial-sized wok was a find at 90% off in a chef supply store closeout. 

I'm disappointed that the finish is ruined. The helpers say they never use it. So the only other option is that a one-time cook at an event must have scraped it, heating their food. Oh well, off the shelf it goes - along with many other things that have been broken around here.

We eat dumplings and siu mai with baby potatoes and homemade dipping sauce. Melvi, home from her teaching stint up north, has brought back shrimp-flavored crackers. 

Her German-language class has 30! students in it. She's a skilled teacher. It's nice to have her join us at the Porch table.

Sayaka gives W a myocranial therapy session; DrG and Melvi come to say hi and have tea on the Porch. Beside us, the persistent swallows are back, trying for the -nth time to build a nest atop a Porch support post. W chases them off with a squirt gun and dismantles the start of a nest - again. The chirping and twittering of our budgerigars, lovebirds, and a canary and the scattering of their seed attract lots of wild birds. We have big cages and have had our birds for years.

Staff is taking the day off so the Project is quiet and peaceful. Tomorrow everyone will be back at work but for now, we set out dishes and food: tea, cake, and cookies. Cleanup is simple - back to the kitchen go the dishes; the food goes home with our guests.

I started on a pita recipe in the morning. It's a lot of work, kneading, stretching, and proofing the dough. By evening, it is ready to fry in a hot pan. Totally worth it - 1 part yogurt to 3 parts flour, with a pinch of yeast, sugar, and salt. You punch it down after an hour or more, then let it rise again before cutting it into pieces (about 3/4c / 180gm size). Then roll it out and fry - with low or no oil.

Tuesday

What a nice walk. The irises are starting to emergy.

Someone strings a wire between 2 trees at the street and hangs their laundry.

They set up shop about 10 years ago along the street, a small seller of fruit. Then they built a structure with a tin roof. Now it's a family dwelling, illegal but solid, right across from one of the best-maintained Padel clubs in the city. Rich and poor live side by side.

A 10" 25cm spider watches it all from above, waiting for food in the web it built across the street.

Read more:
* You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Job 10:12

* For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13

* He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” John 9:11

Moravian Prayer:  Protector, you have sheltered your people in the past. Preserve us this day, we pray, from spiritual blindness and earthly trials by reminding us of your unending abundance and penetrating light. Amen.