The Smell of Indonesia

When I was at my pre-field orientation this past summer one of the things they mentioned is that every country has a smell. I didn't really know what they were talking about... a smell? What does that mean? The whole country has the same smell? How could that be?

It didn't take long before I found out. I remember almost immediately after arriving in Indonesia, taking in the smell of this foreign place. However, I couldn't quite place the smell, just knew it was unique. After a few months of being here, I finally realized what it is. The smell of Indonesia is the smell of burning leaves (sometimes mixed with trash). Although there is trash pick up throughout the city, it is still very common to see people burning trash. But even more common is to see little fires along the side of the road of leaves burning. That smell has now been ingrained in my mind.

A Walk through the Kampung to the Bandung Zoo

The weekend always brings with it an adventure or two. Last weekend we had a very lazy Saturday and just hung out at home all day and night. So by the time Sunday rolled around we were ready to get out. A group of us decided to walk to the zoo. To get there we walked through the kampung, which is what they call the neighborhoods where the local Sundanese people live. They are formed by gongs, narrow alley ways, that connect in a maze all around the city. For the most part they are too narrow for cars to drive through (some people can get around on motorbike through them) but mostly you just have to walk. We also walked through a graveyard along the way. Graveyards here have a different look than they do in the States. The one we went through was really overgrown and unkept. I got some good pictures along the way that might help give you an idea of what daily life is like, especially for the local people.

Also along our walk we stopped at an art park. It was this weird hippie like community with some open air art galleries done by local artists.

At the end of our walk we ended up at the Bandung zoo. I've heard that the zoo here is really not a place you want to go because it is really depressing. After seeing it for myself I'd have to agree. We showed up and were told that the zoo was closed. Then a lady came up and told us that if we went around to another entrance we could get in. So we went around only to find the guy at the entrance tell us that we were too late. Then the same lady came up again and said that he should let us in... and so he caved. We basically had the zoo to ourselves as we wandered around looking at the different animals. It did get a little eerie as the sun started setting and it was getting dark, and we were in the closed down zoo all by ourselves.

Sadly, the animals at the zoo were stuffed in small cages or crammed in with lots of other animals. The cages were dirty and unkept and the elephant had a chain around it's leg. Along with that there were really just bars between you and the animals... for the most part you could reach through and touch them if you wanted to. At one point we started taunting the lion and it jumped up and surprised us... kind of scary. We also saw a snake kill a duck. (I guess that's what happens when you put ducks in with the snakes.)

For all the pictures of the afternoon check out the web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyinbandung/KampungWalkBandungZoo

Week Without Walls

These past three days have been BAIS's annual Week Without Walls. It's a week where both students and staff are challenged to get beyond themselves and the confines of our campus to reach out to the larger community. This year's slogan is "Letting Others In; Getting Beyond Ourselves; Learning to Love Like Jesus." There were 11 different groups doing a wide variety of things: from planting trees and picking up trash to visiting a deaf school, community health outreach, and inviting neighborhood kids to our campus for a sports camp. The groups were mixed ages as well as the staff being mixed with different grades than they normally work with.

The group I was assigned to was "The Center." Eight students, grades 10 through 12, and three teachers joined up with a local ministry to college students. A few years ago a group of people started "The Center," a place where young people can come and practice their English and just hang out.

And that's just what we did for the last three days: hung out. We started the morning with some training, then in the late morning they hooked us up with a city guide to take us around the city. This turned into a time to just hang out with a local Indonesian, getting to know them, seeing the city of Bandung, having lunch, etc.

We traveled by Angkot, the public transportation, which are like vans that have routes all over the city. One day our guide took us to the center of Bandung to see some historical buildings. We saw some old churches and the cathedral. We saw the oldest bank in Bandung and walked around a park. Then we went to the Asia-Africa Museum. I had no idea that this conference had been held in Bandung. Actually, I'm not even sure I had ever heard of this before this week. We had a great time hanging out and getting to know our guide, a local Sundanese girl. She grew up in Bandung and graduated university with a degree in criminal law. She currently teaches classes in criminal law at the university and has been going to "The Center" since it started 5 years ago.

Another day she took us to an orphanage that she volunteers at twice a week teaching English to the kids. When we got there most of the kids were at school but we got to go and hold the babies. It was such an impactful and moving experience. There were probably 20 or so babies in the two rooms with only a few workers. I wanted to stay all day and hold them. I just kept thinking of how they say that babies who don't get a lot of touch are affected for years to come. But eventually we had to leave to head back.

Then in the afternoon we spent time at "The Center" for their daily hang out time. We sat around, talking and playing games with many different people, from all walks of life, but mostly college students. While the purpose of "The Center" is for people to come and practice their English with native speakers, it has turned into a place where people come because it's where their friends are and they feel at home. Some people come everyday, others come and stay all afternoon and evening.

It really has been an amazing past couple of days. It's given me a fresh perspective of Indonesia and the people who live here. I walked away with some new friends, many who are around my age. It was refreshing to see what others who are living here in Bandung are doing. And I'm left in awe of my Father for the things He is teaching me and for bringing me to this place.

A few highlights from the week are below. I've put all the pictures from the past few days up on a web album. Click here to view them: http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyinbandung/WWW

Riding an Angkot with our city guide. (The two girls on the right are two of our high schoolers.)

Holding babies at the orphanage.

Playing with some of the little girls at the orphanage.

Making friends with some girls at "The Center."

An English lesson one afternoon at "The Center."

Birthday Celebration

A couple weekends ago we went out to celebrate my birthday. It was a fun evening packed full of surprises. Some friends had arranged for us to try go-carting at a large mall in southern Bandung. It was my first time ever trying this and I have a feeling it's a little different here than in the States. It just didn't feel super safe... I felt like I was going to tip over or something. Don't worry mom we all wore helmets. :)

Then we went inside the mall where they have some games and a roller coaster. A few of us decided to give the roller coaster a try and, although it wasn't the greatest thing ever, it was still fun. Next, we headed to a local Indonesian restaurant for dinner where I tried some new and different foods: squid, snails, and cow skin being among them. Lastly, we made a stop for dessert nearby. We enjoyed various types of cheesecake at a hole in the wall cheesecake place. Here are a couple of highlight pictures from the evening. To see all the pictures click on the following link that will take you to that Picasa Web Album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyinbandung/MyBirthdayCelebrationInIndonesia

Ponderings

Father,

I can't believe it's the end of another week. I don't know what happened to it... just seemed to disappeared right before me. I still feel in a daze over the events and business of the week.

And so here I sit asking myself "am I doing what You've called me here to do?" and "what do You have for me here in this place?" I'm afraid I too quickly get caught up in myself and become focused on my own needs and worries.

Your Word says, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

As the result of a challenge from a friend this week I am sensing that you are calling me to ask for forgiveness from those who you've placed me in community with. For it seems I find myself needing healing... but don't we all? For only then will my prayer be powerful and effective. And only then will I be set free to live as you intended me to live- overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control. And without these things I'm not doing what You've called me here to do. Please begin a new work within me, Father.

Amen.

New Picasa Web Albums

I've put up a couple new Web Albums full of pictures.

One is from a trip a group of us took to a local orphanage. At our staff Christmas party instead of giving gifts to each other we gathered gifts to give to a local orphanage. Then one Saturday we went up (it's a little ways up the mountain) and spent the morning with the kids of the orphanage. We brought a Christmas tree and stuff to make ornaments to decorate it. We also brought up some cakes to enjoy and Jennie, one of our teachers, gave a little devotion. It was a very fun day.

View the Orphanage Pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyinbandung/OrphanageTrip

The other album is of the Idul Adha holiday. This holiday is celebrated by performing animal sacrifices. I had put up some pictures on my blog before Christmas, but there are quite a few more. It was quite the cultural experience! Caution: These pictures are pretty graphic (unlike the censored version I had put on my blog before). But for those of you who want to view the whole experience, enjoy.

View the Idul Adha Pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyinbandung/IdulAdhaAnimalSacrifices

Switchfoot

Switchfoot came to Jakarta last night and quite a few of our secondary students went. They were all talking about it on Friday at school. (Some of them had bought t-shirts and were wearing them.) I guess this would be an exciting event in the States, but our students don't usually get to do stuff like that here in Indonesia so they were pretty thrilled. Those that went had to make the three hour drive from Bandung to Jakarta but I'm sure they thought it was worth it. Their excitement is so fun to see.

Here are a couple of pictures taken before Christmas break. These are my 9th grade students (they were having a study party right before semester exams). I don't have a whole lot of pictures of my students so I thought I'd post a few that I do have. Figured maybe you'd enjoy seeing some of the faces that I work with day in and day out.

Studying for exams in the BAIS library.

Hanging out in the "pit," one of the few places here that actually has carpet. Students have to take off their shoes before going it and get to relax on pillows.

Yes, that's me. I showed up at the study party for a little bit to help answer geometry questions.

Revive Me

I know I promised pictures of my birthday celebration... they are on their way, I promise.

It's been hard to get back into the swing of things here. We are almost done with our second week back. Everyday seems filled to the max with unexpected things popping up all the time. I've been tired and come home pretty worn out each day. Pray for strength and adjustment.

This is going to be an incredibly busy semester. There are a lot of different things going on at the school. In a couple of weeks we are having Week Without Walls, a week where the students and staff spend time in various ministries around the city. We're hosting some open houses this week to try and attract new families to the school for the coming fall. The school is in the middle of a building project, building a new school about 45 minutes from where we are right now. There are so many details that go along with this project. One of which is the logistics of actually moving all of the stuff in our school. Another is all of the staff (and many school families) moving their houses and personal belongings. Some drama has surrounded our recent house searching... details aside, it has been an added stress. Please be in prayer over the many details of our new school, the building project, and the move.

But in the midst of these circumstances God has been showing up. Last week one of our high school teachers shared in chapel of her recent struggles and how God showed up in the midst of them. She played a song that has been running through my mind ever since, part of which says "Revive me according to your loving kindness." And slowly, but surely He is.

This is the view out my front door. That's my tree. We've been having some amazing sunsets that light up the whole sky (only for about 3 minutes, but still). Don't you see Him? He's all around...

Celebrating Year 23

Well, I'm back in Bandung, Indonesia. I had a great Christmas break and now I'm back to life here. We started school again this past Monday. Although it's hard to start getting up early again, it is good to be back. I'm blessed to really be enjoying my job.

I wanted to share my birthday story. I left LAX on January 8th. Along the way, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, it became January10th. After serving breakfast on the plane, a group of flight attendants came over and gave me this cake and sang Happy Birthday to me (at least I think they did... I was kind of delirious). The cake was a little strange as you can probably tell from the picture and image because it was airplane food. Then other crew members continued to come over and wish me Happy Birthday. Although it was sweet, it was also kind of depressing to be traveling alone on my birthday, traveling toward a place with good friends but no family.


Things went fairly smoothly in all my travels to get back. My flight took off an hour late from LAX, which caused me to miss my flight in Malaysia. They got me right on the next flight with just a couple hours layover. However, I didn't get into Jakarta until 6:00 pm or so. From there I got on an airport shuttle that took me to southern Bandung and then I took a taxi from there to my apartment.

By the time I got to my house it was 10:30 pm and I was a beyond exhausted. But I arrived to these fun door decorations. Some girls had come over shortly before I got back and done it all.


Although we had originally planned to go out to dinner that night for my birthday, that didn't quite happen. But it was postponed to Saturday night and we had a great time. I'll post some pictures soon.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

I have had a wonderful vacation in the States over the past few weeks. It was great to get a chance to hang out with family and visit with some friends. Now I'm off on a red eye flight to make the long journey back to my home very far away. Please pray for safe travels. I also ask for your prayers as I'm currently not feeling too well. Just this morning I woke up a little achy and with a stuffy nose.

Here are some highlights of my time here with family and friends.

Cookie Baking

The day after I arrived in the States my mom and sisters (and one of my sister's friends) and I spend the day baking lots of yummy Christmas cookies.

Tea with the Girls

With lots of family in town a bunch of the girls got dressed up and went to afternoon tea.

New Year's Eve

It was a quiet New Year's Eve with just a few friends. We ate a yummy dinner of ham and played games and toasted in the New Year while watching the ball drop on TV.

My parent's new giant TV. My dog Conner.

Rose Parade

My sister, one of her friends and I had prime seating at the Rose parade in Pasadena because one of my sister's friends lives on the parade route. I've been to the parade many times, but it was fun to enjoy it once again.

Happy 2008!

  

Early Birthday Dinner

My parents took me out for a very fun birthday dinner at the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant. We enjoyed cheese fondue, salad, dinner fondue with meat and vegetables cooked in a chicken broth, and a delicious chocolate dessert fondue.