How to Survive Life in Indonesia - Volume 2

So it has been several months since my last update on how to survive life in Indonesia. In case you missed it, you can read the first volume here. Here are just a few things I have learned in the last few months living here in Indonesia that I consider necessary for survival...

Cockroaches definitely qualify as an arch enemy, although I am getting better at just killing them right away. I still hate the physical contact necessary to kill them, so I recently went through a stage where I sprayed them with bug spray. So late one evening I was in our dining area and saw one make a run from one of the bedrooms toward me and I grabbed the can and gave it a squirt. What I wasn't paying attention to was this crack in the floor...

So apparently our house does not have a much of a foundation (if one at all) and was possibly built directly on a pile of dirt. So the floor tile has shifted and broken in areas allowing things living in the dirt direct access to our house. So when I sprayed the bug spray accidentally into this crack I must have sprayed the insect kingdom living just beneath and they all came running out trying to get away. No less than 20 insects were all of a sudden scurrying around on the floor :) So note to self... if one is going to spray these cracks, one should at least be wearing shoes and preferably be standing on a chair!

One of my other favorite pastimes these days is reading the directions on the backs of packages of food etc. It is good language practice because many packages are in both Indonesian and English. Sometimes they have been translated from English to Indonesian and other times from Indonesian to English. These can results in some hilarious translations. Take the package below. They were doing great until they got to almost the final line - the directions.

I am pretty sure "wind" was not quite the word they were looking for.

And just in case any of you were confused about how to use a drive-through at McDonalds there are directions that even include pictures here!

But don't worry - if figuring out the drive-through is too difficult, you can always just order it to be delivered, on little motorbikes with boxes on the back, directly to your house. There are not McDonalds in most places of course - just a few in the big cities. My nearest one right now is a good 60 minutes away and I am not even sure there is one at all in Kalimantan.

Our presentation today on Surviving Life in Indonesia was brought to you by Skimmed Milk by Diamond...

I have to admit I love milk, so being able to get fresh milk here is a huge blessing. One that I am going to sorely miss when I move to Kalimantan in March!

6 Months In

Can you believe over six months have already gone by? 

That was the start of a recent letter I received from the missionary care department at WorldVenture (my organization). It caught me by surprise because it doesn't feel like 6 months has passed, since I arrived in Indonesia. Minus the whole broken leg thing I feel like I have had a rather easy transition :) 

It did however make me start to think about the next transition ahead. Hopefully in about three months I will be moving to hospital! I am excited to finally get settled and move into ministry but there is a bit of trepidation too. I really want to thrive and have a fruitful ministry and it will take a lot of effort to develop relationships (especially considering I am an introvert), figure out how I can best use my skills and gifts, and yet not get too overwhelmed by the work. Finding the right work / rest balance will be tough because there are always people who need help (click here to read a couple of recent stories of patients at the hospital).

The letter from WorldVenture goes on to describe how I am in the zone - a term mountain climbers use to describe that spot where you have to decide whether you are going to go forward or turn back. There is no doubt in my mind that I will go forward but I would also ask for your prayers, starting even now, that this next transition will also go well. 

Christmas 2013 in Indonesia

Christmas this year may not have quite happened the way it usually happens but it was fun to create new memories and traditions! It started at a little after 6 am and didn't end until close to 2 am on the 26th and it was packed full of special moments. Here are a few pictures from my Christmas in Indonesia...

Thanks to a package from Grandma I got to do some Christmas baking

Those cookies ended up at a Cookie Exchange party hosted by friend

Woke up on Christmas morning to this cuteness. He is enjoying a candy cane here and unlike most kids I know, took his time enjoying it. 

And this cuteness too! Their shirts say "Who needs mistletoe when you are this cute" and they both got plenty of kisses from Aunt Calista 

All ready and waiting anxiously for Christmas morning - including my 3 ducks (gifts from my sisters before I left)

Opening presents took several hours because each toy had to be enjoyed and played with before we could go onto the next one! I was even told "no" at one point when I encouraged the opening of a new gift :) 

And thanks to Skype and other technology we can enjoy Christmas activities with family and friends far away

My family has a special tradition of waking up to a specific song and thanks to Skype I was able to participate and waiting for my sisters as they came down the stairs on Christmas morning. 

Not exactly your typical Christmas morning family picture but the best we can do when we are opposite sides of the world! We are missing my mom though too, as she was taking the picture, which I am sure she was just fine with since she was in her PJs :) 

And Christmas isn't done yet, as the cards and packages are still coming :) I am also enjoying some down time to myself over the next week, because the Geary family is celebrating Christmas at the hospital in Kalimantan.