Two Months

It's been over two months in Jakarta already!  In some ways it feels much longer but many days I'm reminded that I still have a lot to learn.  So far, the best advice I've been given is to really plan for one big thing each day, not a big to-do list.  Be happy if you accomplish that one goal.  Things are unpredictable, weather changes quickly, traffic can be unbelievable.  But then I see an awesome guy like this biking down our street and I'm reminded that Indonesia is amazing.

 

I love our neighborhood.  Pondok Indah has wide, tree-lined streets so it's easy to walk around.  There are many vendors who walk or bike their goods up and down the street each day, and every one has a different noise (tinkling glass, funny horn, wooden block) so you know if it's your favorite fried chicken cart, you better get out there and buy your lunch.  It's really convenient for all the workers who can't leave the house for lunch or a drink.  So far I've seen happy balloon guy several times, a guy with hamsters and goldfish, a man with brooms and buckets, and every kind of food and drink I can imagine.

I'm beginning to get my bearings when we're driving around and recognize many of the places we pass frequently.  One of our favorites is the monkey house.  No idea why they have two monkeys in their front yard but they're always fun to watch.  On this particular day, I was only going 2.1 miles from the house and we got stuck in a massive traffic jam.  After 45 minutes of crawling through the streets, I finally got out and walked once I recognized where we were, thanks to Monkey House.

The kids are thriving at school and beginning to show us the fruits of their labors.  Ben had his first strings performance, which was basically a practice in front of the parents so that the kids could get used to the pressure of having an audience watching and 10,000 smartphones pointed at them.  Ben is at the back on the right.  On Wednesdays, we go back to school for music lessons (and in this case, the quick performance) and Matt usually needs the car to get home around the same time we're leaving.  The walk home is manageable but tough right now with the heavy guitar case.  So far, we have had several taxi disasters where we couldn't book one, it never showed up, or it got stuck in traffic.  This past Wednesday, it finally worked out perfectly and our taxi was waiting as soon as we hit the parking lot and we were home 5 minutes later.  Small successes are a big deal!  But later I realized I underpaid the taxi driver (I had no idea there was a minimum fare, but we're talking less than a dollar) so I was humbled again.  Baby steps here.

I had my first lunch with Alex and it's fun because the parents can just join the kids wherever they're sitting and talk to their friends as well.  He has an adorable little French friend named Minan. Both of the kids are starting to find their people and will hopefully see more of their friends on the weekends once we're unpacked with everything at the house.

 

Naturally, we've introduced our furry and feathered friends and at the moment there is no doubt who is in charge.  The big beak wins!

I will always remember this picture because I thinks it's precious, but also because it was such a happy morning and Ben was home from school for his conference day.  Right as Alex was getting on the bus, we decided to see how Kitty would do in the front yard so Ben went to grab him.  Little Kitty absolutely freaked out and took off running down the street.  Unfortunately, Ben and I were barefoot and Alex's bus came at that moment.  Our sweet driver and guard went running after the kitty but he had disappeared.  We looked and looked and finally had to acknowledge that there are infinite hiding spots for any cat that doesn't want to be found and pray that Kitty would decide to come back home.  It was a pretty horrible day.  Things just snowballed for Ben and all the stresses he's been experiencing over the past few months came pouring out with tears over our brunch.  My heart was breaking for him and for Alex, who was at school hoping that we'd found Kitty.  The day continued to get worse for the boys, who'd grown so attached to the innocent love of a kitten, and I just prayed and prayed for some encouragement.  Just before dark, we went back out to see if Kitty would be venturing out to look for dinner and we saw a different guard running down the street with a wriggling, angry orange kitten in his hand.  Thank you, God!!  We felt His love, the love of our staff, and the community out on the street.  And we got the sweet love of our kitten back safely.