Crap, a toast, creepy clouds and nervous...

As it's now approaching nine months since we've moved to the jungle all the way around the world I can't help but smile and grimace. It has been wonderful but it hasn't been easy. Yes, many people do it and often but the circumstances are different -- we literally live on a secluded mountain with natives who (most) don't wear shoes, litter the streets with trash and beetle nut spit which makes town look like a murder scene (picture below), break into our houses, steal our things, the grocery store is lacking and super expensive, there aren't hardly any extracurricular activities and the only ride out of town is by a helicopter or a nasty bus (phew, I feel better). The honeymoon is over and I am at the moment of cultural and environmental exhaustion but it is still pretty radical! Everything is relative and what happens here happens everywhere -- except everywhere else has better food, outlets and you can drive to get the hell out (only joking). Mike likes to say that here your highs are higher but your lows or lower. This place is what you make it. All crap aside, it has been the best adventure ever.

Just when you think you're going to break, your friends come in and save you! This happened on Saturday when I hosted my 1st Annual Toast to Accomplishments Party. This is a long standing tradition from a friend back home and I thought it would be the perfect thing for us women here. Fifteen of us got together and shared our accomplishments from 2013 and our goals for 2014. We laughed and we cried but we came together in love and support. It was just what I needed!

So it rains here almost every day and is easily predictable. I don't get too gloomy from it and appreciate the beautiful sound it makes and the shower water it creates. I do think my body feels the deficiency from the lack of sun from time to time. I always laugh to myself when I see the clouds roll in up the mountain valley. They slowly and quietly creep in with a promise that something is going to happen -- it's an eerie sight.

All in all, we are doing well. Mike's job continues to be very dynamic and he does his best to manage the cultural and operational demands (which don't seem to be very aligned). Yoga is still my saving grace and school is good. Hannah is doing well and seems to be more of a teenager than a little girl anymore. Breaks my heart but what can you do? Mason the other night, out of nowhere, started crying and said he wanted to go home. He never seemed to be emotional until now. I do think it is good for him as this is part of his life lesson. School has started again and I think we are all looking forward to the routine and I am sure that will help Mason.

Tomorrow our live-in Pembantu (maid/nanny) starts. I haven't been this excited and nervous in a longtime. She is so very sweet. It's going to be an adjustment for everyone but she is going to be a great fit! I hope we all can learn as much as possible from her. Just never thought in a million years that I would have a live-in nanny and be a stay-at-home mom at the same time but I am going to enjoy every second and take the time to focus more on school, my kiddos and my hubby! Blessed!!!!!!!  

We are preparing for the long haul as this quarter is the longest of the school year and the kiddos tend to get a little stir-crazy after a while but we are looking forward to going to Thailand in April and then in June going HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

As always to be continued....

  

Bali hai...

We left Jogja and arrived in beautiful Bali. Bali, in my opinion, is an acquired taste. It really is beautiful and its history and culture are fascinating. The streets are chaotic, there are no rules to driving (well there may be but I am a non-witness (no different from Jogja)), the people are aggressively sweet and the temples, garudas (Google that one) and statues are breathtaking. The service industry in Indonesia and the Asian airlines leave America with much to be desired.

The hotel we stayed at was a flat line aesthetically. However, the staff, entertainment, location and food were all fabulous! It was close to the beach, shops, stores and restaurants. You won’t escape the chaos of Bali but why would you – that is part of the deal!!

For two days we strolled down to the beach, bought some cheap (semi-cold) Bintangs and jumped into the warm, fish-infested, Bali Sea. It was remarkable! The kiddos loved it. We dove for coral and dug our feet in the sand!

New Year’s Eve came and the poor, over-exerted, kiddos were out by 8:00 pm despite their wishes of staying up late. Mike and I listened to the firework booms and pouring rain while watching TLC food shows that made our mouth water – missing home and American food. We watched the ball drop at 3:00 pm on New Year’s Day, it was weird! The rain continued and we stayed in the hotel which worked out great. I got to complete my final paper for school and the kids got some, much needed, downtime.

The rain subsided and off we were again for shopping and then to the Bali Safari Zoo. The zoo was awesome but a little nerve-wrecking with their wildlife tactics. Nonetheless, it was a great day.

We were sad to go but Mikey has to go back to work (somebody has to, right?) and back to the Denpasar airport we went. I am not going to insinuate that airports are fun but some are more than others. Our 1:50 am flight (terrible time to begin with) was delayed almost 3 hours by the time we boarded and took-off. I don’t get angry very easily but when the temperature of the terminal is a blowing-cold-less-than 60 degrees Fahrenheit for over four hours, this mama was mad. Mason was shivering in his sleep and I looked at the other, anxiously waiting, passengers they were shivering too, I asked them to turn the cold air off or make it warmer and the guy just said no (not a representation of my raved customer service). So finally freezing and tired we made our way back to Timika.

Due to transportation issues we had to stay another night in Timika before getting home after 48 hours later.  

Still tired but happy to be home, we now wait another 3 months before we head to Thailand.

As always to be continued….

  

Yogyakarta, the land of ancient wonders...

It has been a several weeks and Christmas has come and gone. We started our holidays in Yogyakarta (aka Jogja), a little town in Java. (Before we left Santa came early and left a note saying he didn't want to miss us. However, he did bring our stockings as a surprise on Christmas morning).

Jogja is a remarkable little town full of ancient wonders. I say little but Jogja really isn't that little. The population is about 400 thousand people. Upon arrival, the airport was no fluff and was a relief to tackle compared to Bali. We got our (soaked) luggage, easily got a taxi and set off to the hotel. 

We arrived in Jojga on the 22nd of December. The hotel we stayed at is beautiful (Hyatt Regency Jogja). It's quietly nestled between random buildings and structures. Its exterior has a very Asian-like feel with koi ponds and bell-chiming music. Its interior has western architectural flare and deftly decorated with Christmas pieces. It has like six or seven pools that are connected by tunnels, waterfalls, bridges and a large temple that houses a slide. There is also a beautiful 9 hole golf course, tennis courts and a neat lounge. It’s a little pricy but beautiful.

On Tuesday we got a driver and headed to Prambanan. Prambanan is an area of many Hindu temples built in the 9^th century. The (short) story goes like this- a man asked for the princess’ hand in marriage. She accepted only if he built a temple of stone in one night that was adorned with 1,000 statues. He gathered a large crew and started building. The princess didn’t want to marry him and brought her own crew to destroy his progress. Despite her efforts he completed the large temple but only accomplished 999 statues. He was furious and with her acts of defiance he turned her into the last statue. There she remains with the bull, the destroyer, the protector and Ganesh the elephant. Over time the temple was surrounded by hundreds of smaller temples. Only fallen remains of the temples lay due to earthquakes. It was an amazing, magical experience for us all.

Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas dinner were nicely planned at the Hyatt. Each table had candelabras with three tiered red candles, unique red-furred fruit and ribbons. Both nights they had a children’s choir that presented us with Indonesian and western Christmas classics. I only teared up a few times wondering how much Hannah and Mason will appreciate this Christmas and how much we are missing at home (the US). All in all it was very special- a true memory made.

After Christmas we met up with a gentleman that Mike works with who lives in Jogja. His family of four met us at our hotel and forward we went to one of the largest Buddhist temples- Borobudur. Borobudur is another 9^th century temple that was buried under volcanic ash and luckily discovered. Its true story I have yet to research but it is very awe-inspiring.

The magnitude of these places is almost hard to take in. How they accomplished so much with so little leaves much to the imagination. However, at both places we were mobbed several times with people wanting to take our picture. Just too funny to me. Hannah did get too uncomfortable so we had to leave Borobudur. She said “if I hear someone say Bule’ one more time, I am going to freak.”. They don’t mean it to be rude but sometimes it’s hard to be labeled or singled out.

We enjoyed the hotel, the pool, the food but mostly we enjoyed the drives we took through Jogja. Their vein-like routes led us through dense brush areas laced with shacks, little restaurants and open spaces of rice fields. We raced alongside horse drawn carriages and mobile food stands. It is a GORGEOUS place!!  

Our trip in Jogja was over and we, once again, boarded a plane to Denpasar (Bali).

As always to be continued…

Giving thanks, a tribut to my dad and the angels on high...

The holiday season is in full bloom and with it comes an awaited excitement- THANKS BE TO GOD! So happy to feel a little seasonal and spiritual familiarity.
Thursday we celebrated our first Thanksgiving without blood relatives. I say "blood" because we celebrated with our dear friends who have become our extended family. It was a beautiful time. However, we did miss our family back home.
On Friday, we recreated another turkey meal adorned with green bean casserole, home-made mashed potatoes, pumpkin cupcakes and chicken wings for Mike's Indonesian crew members. A bunch of them came, enjoyed an all-American meal and shared their beautiful laughter with us. I tried several times to speak (and botched) Bahasa Indonesia with them and was received pretty well (I think they appreciated the effort?). It was one of those moments where I realized that we are here to teach them and they are here to teach us-- they learnt about our cultural traditions and we are always learning about theirs. An ongoing benediction in our lives.
The togetherness of friends via events is endless and this month was Movember. Movember is a charity for men's health. It focuses not only on prostate and testicular cancer awareness but mental health, as well. So the men got the opportunity to grow mustaches for the entire month as part of the fundraising efforts (there were some unique looking 'stashes, I must say). This Saturday we celebrated Movember by a night of generous donations, auction items and card-playing. It was an awesome night that brought in roughly $10,000.00 (unmatched). I not only got to help a little bit but was able to thank everyone who came to support the cause and thank our friends who put it together but I was able to share my dad's story of his battle with cancer. He is a true inspiration, beacon of strength and stronger than me on my good days. It was an awesome night. I am very proud of my dad and this community's generosity! To conclude the evening, I got to shave Mike's mustache off-- PHEW.
As I said the holiday season has really made it's appearance. We have been able to attend two Christmas concerts so far. The first was a choir and orchestra that were absolutely gifted and tonight, the kids and I joined our friends to see their daughter dance as an angel. I was so filled with emotion! The concerts brought me such humility and happiness!
Soon everyone will be leaving again for holiday and I am very excited about this week as I will get to go caroling and join the ladies for a Christmas exchange before the mass departure. However, it's these occasions that hit me hard and make me miss my family back home.
We have only 21 days until we go on our next trip and this time it will be on two separate islands in Indonesia. Christmas in Yogyakarta and New Year's in Bali. Very exciting but another milestone-- our first Christmas away from family.
As always, to be continued...   

  

The joys of being a stay-at-home mom and my first farewell...

As we are quickly approaching our 6 month anniversary, I am still trying to manage the schedule, to-dos and lifestyle here. Ok the lifestyle, I think I have figured out and totally love. However, it's been a struggle to realize that I may have a few things here and there to do or places to go or people to see but a lot of stuff comes up last minute and the inconsistency is freaking me out a little (not complaining, of course). From being a total planner, knowing what to expect at all times, it's just not like that here and on the seat of my pants I must fly and enjoy the ride. I am creating my own schedule for school which is the priority during the day.
The joy in such opportunities include being a stay-at-home mom. I have been helping out at the kiddos school. I assist Mason's teacher from taking pictures, to cutting things out etc.- no matter what it is I get to do it and it's awesome! In Hannah's class I have been teaching them yoga every Thursday. This week they each got a letter of the alphabet and got to create their own yoga pose inspired by the letter. It's these moments and baking for the teacher's birthday or making treats for Halloween that are absolutely priceless.

The downside of living here is everyone will leave at some point. Yesterday, I experienced my first farewell(s) luncheon. My friend said "it's like going to a funeral. Everyone reminisces about you and there is a slide show of pictures of you..." etc.. She was so right and just like at funerals there were lots of tears. There are two women leaving (one who has been here 20 years and another 5 years), both were some of my biggest yoga supporters. They are truly loving and amazing women and I had a very special bond with them. While sitting there in tears with all the ladies, I began thinking about how sad I was to see these ladies leave and that I probably wont see them again but it was the thought of my poor kiddos going through this with their friends here and how they had to go through it before they left. I acknowledge it's part of the deal here but it's definitely not easy. One thing that seemed to be repeated was to enjoy how precious this place is and especially the women but don't have just one friend because some day they will leave too.     

As always, to be continued...

The sights and sounds of Christmas and an unexpected visitor...

This weekend was another blessing. Friday night we went to dinner with friends and we all came back to our house for a card game- a late night but a great time. Saturday was spent with Christmas music- playing Manheim Steamroller (a Herring tradition of Christmas music- it only took 3 days to download) and the kids and I putting up the tree and Christmas decorations. Our dear friend helped us and joined us for dinner and Christmas movies. It was a wonderful day. Mike even made home-made ice cream!
Today (Sunday) I began the task of cleaning up our maids' quarters in anticipation of a fulltime maid. We have decided that this is the direction we want to go, especially while I am immersed in school. I am excited to learn more of the Indonesian culture but nervous at the same time. I am sure everything will be just wonderful!
Speaking of Christmas, it's very hard to grasp what time of year it is and be in the spirit of the "Holiday Season". There aren't any leaves changing to gold, no cold air meeting your breath, no snow falling or the hustle-bustle of crazy shoppers. It's the same weather day after day, it's the same day after day like a time warp- until today. Today, we had a very unexpected visitor (the typing mom winks), SANTA! We suddenly heard music and Hannah and Mason's name over a PA outside. We all jumped up to find out what the commotion was and wouldn't you know it (another wink), here comes Santa, in a (motorized) chariot with elves, music and presents! It was awesome!!!!!! Poor Mason was napping and I pulled him out of his bed in deep slumber, he had no idea what the heck was going on. I actually started to get teary- it was so beautiful to see the group of smiles and excitement over sharing Christmas joy with Hannah and (grumpy) Mason. It was wonderful to feel the Christmas cheer- finally! After many pictures they went on their way back to the North Pole leaving the kiddos with their presents. Suddenly, little Hannah pipes up and says "mom, Santa has the same wrapping paper as us" UGH busted! Fear went through me and all I could say was "well it was very popular wrapping paper at the time I bought it.". Ah saved (this time). They opened their gifts and happiness filled our home.
Now, not to forget the up-and-coming Thanksgiving, the Americans plan to turkey-it-up all day on the 28th and dabble in many treats of home and comfort. I know we all have many thanks to give! We are all looking forward to the experience of Thanksgiving in the jungle in a different country. It's going to be interesting! More on that, for sure!

As always, to be continued...     

The unexpected sadness from presents and being of the minority...

Just one day after our amazing trip to Australia our sea freight arrived. It was just as everyone said it would be: CHRISTMAS! We were frantically tearing at the boxes to see what treasures awaited us after almost six months. There were a few items that were long lost treasures of desire and need; the rest was just the same ol’ stuff. It’s amazing how much you learn to live without and sad how much one family can own and take advantage of when there are children, not so far away, starving to death.

It was fun to start really making this home our home- our many pictures now hang on the, once bare, walls, the kids have their toys and me, my kitchen stuff. However, we did receive all of our dog’s stuffed animals. It was such a terrible feeling. Hannah and Mason were very upset. We all miss her so very much. The thing that hit me the hardest was the unexpected sadness of putting the kids’ books on our new bookshelf. The memories of them sitting on their beds, at our only home in Colorado, and us reading the same books to them there and placing those books of the bookshelf in Hannah’s old room. It was sad. A time in our lives that once was and will never be the same again. So tightly I hold onto those memories and embrace the new ones here.

We are still unpacking and it will take time but life here goes on and a swift pace. I was asked to participate in the International Day celebration and there I found myself amongst many, many Indonesian women and very few expatriates. They are all so very sweet but it’s hard being the minority. They speak Bahasa Indonesia very quickly and it’s overwhelming at times (sympathy for Mike comes to play). Despite cultural differences, we, yet again, came together, bonded and had a great time! The show was amazing! Another blessing!

As always, to be continued……