A Visit from My Parents

What a whirlwind this week has been! It has been full of laughter, prayer, long talks, and a few tears. It had been 19 months since I last saw any of my family, which is the longest I have ever gone without seeing them. I should preface all this to say that this is the first time my dad has been outside of the US. Let's just say being in a car on Indonesian roads was an experience for him! My mom had made the trip out by herself in 2005.

So here is their trip in a few pictures...

Arriving at the airport in Pontianak after a very long trip! The Indonesian crowd enjoyed our reunion :) 

In front of my home with my dad after church on Sunday

After church on Sunday with my mom

Meeting the Nursing School staff

Meeting the OB Ward staff (who had only patient that day so were busy planting flowers outside the ward)

Getting to know some of the staff I work with. 

The Pediatric Ward staff

With the staff on our Class III medical/surgical unit 

With one of my friends - Dr. Irene (our radiologist) 

Attending the Children's Program for our Hospital Birthday Celebration 

My dad had no problems making friends, especially with the kids :) 

And with adults too!  

We had a lovely dinner with Wendell (Opa) & Paul Geary after their arrival at Bethesda

We also worked on a few "nesting" projects like putting in shelf liner paper in a couple of cupboards, hanging a mirror, and curtains.  

We finished up our trip with a night in Singapore, so they could see some of the sights and catch their early flight

This weekend we celebrated Chinese New Year. (This area in Singapore was absolutely packed with people watching a performance, shopping, and eating) 

It ended all too soon though and just 8 days after I picked them up they were boarding their flights back to the US. 

As I write this they are just a 5 hours or so outside of Portland. Thanks to the international date line they left Asia on Saturday morning and arrive in Portland on Saturday morning. They will take the next couple of days to rest and I imagine be back at work early next week. It was so lovely to see them and share a bit of my life here with them but it was really hard to say goodbye knowing it will probably be another 18 months before I see them again. Right now I am scheduled for 6+ months of home assignment starting in August of 2016.

After a night of rest in Singapore I am headed to a 2-week medical education conference in Thailand tomorrow. Right now though I am battling a fever and bad cold or flu, so please be praying that ends quickly so I can enjoy this conference, plus the new roommate I will meet tomorrow probably doesn't want a sick roomie :(

Underhills are Here!

On Friday night I had the joy of meeting the Underhill family (minus two family members) at the airport in Pontianak. They had been traveling for a long time, so were very tired. We got them loaded in the car, gave them some snacks and then quickly found them a shower and bed.

After a night of sleep though it was time to do a whole lot of shopping for household things because no one had lived in the house in awhile. My favorite moment of that day though was when we went to the cargo section of the airport to pick up their luggage. I had never been there before, so that in itself made it an adventure. Once there it took us awhile to figure out where to go etc and then we were faced with the fact that we didn't want to pay for them to keep the luggage until Monday but we really didn't have the truck needed to pick up all almost 600 pounds. We did however have a van and decided that it was worth a try to get all 16 bags (large duffles and crates) inside. The guys in the cargo area all seemed rather amused with our plan and our driver thought we could only fit 5-6 bags in total. Imagine his surprise when we got 5 bags just in the back. While it was crowded, in the end we managed to fit 700 pounds of luggage plus much of the food and household supplies we had purchased in the van. While there was no applause at the end from our audience you could tell they were impressed :)

The van was then sent on ahead of us to Serukam. We followed on Monday after some more shopping and resting. Hopefully in a coming blog post I can introduce you to the Underhill family. In the meantime please be praying for Brian, Holly, Hattie, Isaac, Eli and Annie as they make this big transition. Please be praying especially for the kids, as they work on re-learning Indonesian and making friends.

A Serukam Christmas (Part 2)

The last blog post got you up to the Christmas Eve, which is when the activities really get going. So here we go...

First is a Christmas Eve Service but it might be different than the typical Christmas Eve Service where you are. Yes, there is a candlelight portion and lots of singing of Christmas carols etc. There is also a sermon. Then you completely switch tones and small groups from different Sunday school classes or other groups perform special dance numbers and sing Christmas songs. This year the service lasted only 3+ hours :)

We start with formal worship. 

My seat mates for the Christmas Eve Service :) 

Some of our lovely lady doctors.

Following a sermon we switch to the more upbeat celebration. 

Finally there are several special music and dance numbers. 

Following the service the younger doctors, some of our support staff, and myself gathered at the hospital. We went to visit all the patients and sing Christmas carols for them. We also gave them a present and prayed for them by name. There were only about 20 patients total. We spent time with two moms at the hospital with their premature infants and another mom who had recently experienced a miscarriage. There were tears and sadness mixed with the joy of the season for some.

Getting ready for caroling

Then we headed to the home of some of our senior doctors and enjoyed some food and fellowship.

Christmas morning we were back at church and then it was time for visiting. The Muslim people also go visiting during their big holiday - Idul Fitri and the Chinese people do it at Chinese New Year too. So instead of staying home with your family on Christmas day or even celebrating with your extended family, here in Serukam and surrounding areas we go visiting. You visit neighbors and friends and others you haven't seen in awhile and catch up. Everyone spends the month of December baking and preparing. At some homes it is just snacks and cookies with some soda or other drinks. At other homes though it is a full meal. The Dyak people here love to eat pig and this is a fun time of year for them to prepare their favorite dishes.

Different groups travel around together. 

It is important to visit those in positions of authority etc first. This house was a local government official's house. The little girls were dancing to songs from Frozen as we got ready to leave. Oh and the Santa behind sings and dances. 

And we eat...

... and eat! 

Thanks to the dateline I get to celebrate Christmas for more than 24 hours though as I stay up late to celebrate with family at home via Skype. To help ease the loneliness from family and friends I enjoy opening my the cards and packages that have been sent.

Cards from family and friends, including some lovely hand-drawn ones from Sunday School kids. 

Packages from home filled with things to help me remember that snow exists and make some fun Christmas cookies. 

All in all it might not be the same as Christmas in the US but it has its special moments and as I get to know my community better it will become even better.

A Serukam Christmas (Part 1)

It is only December 23rd but here in Serukam we have been celebrating Christmas since the beginning of December. There is too much to cover in one blog post, so we are dividing this into a before December 25th post and an after December 25th post :) Also, I have already done a separate post about the Christmas celebration I hosted at my house for the nursing students. Christmas is a busy time of year!

So a Serukam (the name of the village where the hospital is) Christmas is quite different than a typical Christmas in the US. Instead of focusing on family and presents, it focuses on the church and community. A teammate told me that and it has helped me look at it completely different because I have to admit it can be tough if you are expecting something else.

The first Christmas celebration here in Serukam happened back on December 6th. This year it was hosted by AkPer, the nursing school. Then over the next couple of weeks we had celebrations at the hospital for staff, then patients, then youth group at church, and then neighboring village churches, etc, etc, etc. Pretty much every night there is an event and depending what group you are part of your need to attend varies and/or you are asked to speak. Thankfully being a woman with still not fabulous language skills I wasn't asked to be a speaker this year but I imagine that will change sometime soon.

These Christmas services follow a similar pattern. The room where they are held is well-decorated and tend to be full and hot by the time it is over. They also follow a typical pattern that depending on the group can be quite formal. First you have some singing, then a welcome speech and prayer, followed by the lighting of the candles, then more singing, followed by special music from different groups, and usually a drama of some sort. Then there is usually a devotional sharing or full sermon depending on the group followed by more singing and a closing prayer. Some of the younger groups also do a door prize or other event guaranteed to get some good laughs. And last but not least you are served a rice meal or at least a rice meal to go in a box. So there you have it in words, now how about in pictures. First from the Nursing School Christmas...

Special dance that included the lighting of the candles

We sang several Christmas songs led by the worship team. You can also see the decorating - this is normally a classroom. 

Then several special music selections. This one is the senior class.

And the freshmen class - so young! 

Then comes a drama - this one was the story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2.

Welcome Baby Jesus!

And then from the hospital staff Christmas, which was held in the hospital chapel... 

Special music by the local pre-school kids. Guaranteed to be a hit anywhere you live! 

Our worship team for the evening as we sang lots of Christmas songs but also focused on Christ's death as part of the His plan for redemption and salvation. 

Candle lighting dance and ceremony

The drama - about a young girl who was blind. 

I was sitting in the front row but these little ones were so excited they kept squeezing in front of me. 

Listening to a sermon - the pastors here can get quite excited and even angry sounding during the Christmas services here. 

A final special music selection. 

I should mention that for most of these special Christmas services I get escorted to very front row. For the hospital service I was really really late because there had been a c-section and then I had to transfer the baby to the ICU. So there I was in the way back, hoping to blend in but no such luck! I got found and escorted way all the way to the front. Definitely no taking catnaps :) While overall I like these Christmas events, they are just so different from a typical Christmas service in the US. They are usually loud and enthusiastic compared to the more reverent feeling in the US. They also sing O Holy Night when the light the candles at the beginning and then the lights all come back on and it is time to party :) 

Next up a marathon Christmas Eve service, caroling at the hospital, a Christmas morning service followed by several days of visiting and eating with friends and community members! 

A Christmas Open House with the Nursing Students

Last night I opened my home to celebrate Christmas with the nursing students before they head home on Christmas vacation. A teacher hosting a event like this is not exactly cultural as teachers are respected (and sometimes feared) by their students here in Indonesia. The opportunity to get to know them better outside of the classroom was too good to pass up, though as we took pictures and laughed together. We took a lot of pictures, so here we go...

The house is decorated. 

The food and drinks are ready to go. There are 157 students and most are teenagers, so they can eat a lot of food! 

Here they come. (people take off their shoes before entering a house here)

 It took awhile for the first group to come because it was raining and I am sure the students weren't quite sure what to expect. Finally, three freshmen students showed up. Then they started coming in larger groups...

We enjoyed singing together with this group.  

And we took pictures everywhere. 

The chocolate cake was quite the hit! 

Having fun talking and laughing

Someone in the group has some good photography skills, because I didn't take the next couple of pictures but they are good! 

They came in waves. A group would be ready to leave just as the next group came. 

And with each one they would take pictures in groups and alone. 

And then I would get added to the group. 

There were cameras and cell phones taking pictures everywhere

So this introvert needs to take a day (or two!) to recover but it was a lot of fun. They students head home to their towns and villages today and tomorrow. Praying they have a safe trip and a fun Christmas with their family and friends. We will all be back in the classroom on January 5th and final exams for this first semester are the last week of January.