sharing life.

Homestay

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 14:35:17 +0700

Dirt floors.

Wood stove.

Indonesian bathrooms.

Smoke.

Its where we were for the last month... living with an Indonesian family. If you click here you can see a photo journal of our time that we spent immersed in the Indonesian culture and language.

We interrupt this broadcast

Mon, 31 May 2010 19:36:31 +0700

We’re done with differences. It was a great idea. But I get bored with things quickly. So now the blog entries are going back to the normal ministry and cultural journal entries as our family experiences them.

The guy in the picture with Andrew is Min (pronounced mean). He is 49 years old and is Andrew’s closest Indonesian friend here. He comes over a couple nights a week for tea or coffee. Andrew helps him look for grass to feed his goats. That’s what they were doing the day I took this picture.

Differences 105 - Boy or Girl?

Thu, 13 May 2010 15:26:54 +0700

“cewok atau cewek?” (boy or girl?)

I got this question at least three times a day after Elliana was born.

“Cewek,” I would say.

Elliana wears pink. Everyday. Or flowers. Or a bow. Its obvious. Isn’t it?

Not here. Boys can wear pink too. I asked my friend, Tari, how people know the difference between a boy and a girl without having to ask the parents.

“Prempuan tidindik.” (the girls have their ears pierced)

Oh. Then I asked how young they are when they get their ears pierced.

Two days old. Woah. For real? And everyone does this? Yes.

That week Tari and I bought white gold earrings for Elliana. A couple days later we took the newly purchased earrings and Elliana to the local bidan (midwife) and Elliana experienced the joys of ear piercing.

I won’t tell you how they pierced her ears. Lets just say its “old school”. Her ears are healed and now no one asks if Elliana is a boy or girl.

Boy or girl?
Its obvious... she has earrings.
And no. I still won’t put my son in pink clothes.

Differences 104 - Church Bells

Tue, 4 May 2010 21:06:09 +0700

All of have heard the sound of church bells indicating the hour of the day.

Here, the Muslim call to prayer replaces the gong of bells.

Five times a day the Muslims are called to pray. At those times, all the Masjids’ speakers echo the chants of Arabic prayers. It is often overwhelming as there are literally at least one Masjid on every street, sometimes there are even two or three.

There is a Masjid located a couple doors down from our house. A bunch of kids were coloring there a couple days ago, so I walked up and got some pictures of the kiddos in their garb.

Differences 103 - Redefining “Paparazzi”

Sat, 1 May 2010 21:17:29 +0700

You always see the evidence of the paparazzi on celebrity magazines such as “People” or “In Touch”. Since moving to Indonesia, we have had the “pleasure” of experiencing the “paparazzi”.

We are white. We all have blue eyes. Chase has blonde hair. Our daughter is less than 2 months old. For all these reasons and more, Indonesians don’t think twice about whipping out their cameras and taking a few photos of us and our kids. We’ve been stopped at bus stations, the grocery store, the post office and people have even come into the gate (like the picture above) just to get a couple snapshots of our family!

This week alone we have had our picture taken 3 times... that we know of. Some Indonesians will try and be discreet and pretend like they are texting a friend and some will march right over to us and ask if they can have a picture taken WITH Chase or Elliana.

Random fact: It happens the most at the post office. Now that I think of it, it has happened every time we have gone. A lady also told me she wanted to stuff me in her bag and take me home to her village because I was so adorable. But that’s a different story.

We happily pose for our Indonesian acquaintances while using our Indonesian language in order to show our love for them!

SAY CHEESE!!!!!