Hi Everyone!!
It has been so long since I've posted, a testament to the craziness of these last few weeks. I was told that after Easter, time really picks up, and that has definitely proven to be the case. Between post-Easter Easter activities (the actual date of holidays doesn't really seem to matter all that much here- I was hanging up the Easter decorations in the TK two days after Easter weekend), a surprise trip to Jogja/Solo with an MCC worker from Laos, and the arrival (FINALLY!) of Andrew (my boyfriend), there just hasn't been time to sit down and write the blog post that I have been wanting to write.
We leave first thing tomorrow morning for a week-long getaway to Gili Trawangan, a small island (no motorized vehicles allowed) off the coast of Lombok (a bigger island that is just off the coast of Bali). We're taking a bus there (over 24 hours. But only $40!), and there is still much to do before then, so I will have to leave a blog post for another week, but I just wanted to let you know that I am STILL HERE, and that I will definitely send you an update once I have internet again after our trip.
I hope you have all had great weeks, and that life is just going great for you!!
Have an awesome day!
Love,
Ellery
Friday, April 20, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Selamat Paskah!
Selamat Paskah- Happy Easter!
I'm writing this in the mid-afternoon of the Saturday of the Easter Weekend- it sure is different from a typical Easter Weekend at home! Easter break, as I mentioned before, began as of Tuesday afternoon. School will start up again on Tuesday, April 10, giving the teachers and students nearly a week of holidays! I feel as though the time has been used wisely so far...
On Tuesday night, after a lazy afternoon, I headed to church to be one of three judges in a Nasi Goreng competition. In the weeks leading up to Easter, the Sola Gratia church does all sorts of little competitions with different groups and communities within the church body. Last week I judged an Easter Egg Scene competition (using chicken and quail eggs and other craft supplies to create some sort of scene), and this week, the competition was to see who could use fried rice and fresh vegetables to create the most beautiful and creative plate. It was fun to be involved, and I got some Nasi Goreng out of it, which is always a delicious treat.
I woke up on Wednesday morning with a big- and I mean big- goal to accomplish that day: baking Paska. Those of you who come from the Russian Mennonite background should know full well what this is, but for those of you who are not familiar with this, I'll fill you in. Paska is a sweet bread that is baked (usually by Grandmas and Omas) just once a year, at Easter. It uses lemon and sometimes orange, and is topped with white icing and- the most important part- colourful sprinkles. In my family, around Easter, Paska appears on the breakfast table, as a dessert, and in our Easter baskets, as well as on the faspa dinner table during that "light" meal that follows the big Easter lunch. It has forever been one of the main symbols of the Easter season for me, and, while there are many compromises that one has to make when overseas as far as traditions are concerned, Paska was not something I was willing to sacrifice. It was especially difficult to overlook considering that in Bahasa Indonesia, the word for Easter is Paskah, so I found myself thinking about that bread every day for the last few weeks. After a dream about it on Tuesday night, I knew that it must be tackled. Grandma had emailed me her recipe a few weeks ago, and we had emailed back and forth about it several times since then, so I felt like I was as well-prepared for the laborious task as I could possibly be. On Wednesday morning, my host mom and I headed out to the "baking essentials store" and picked up everything needed. My host mom is a truly amazing woman, and she had decided to undergo this baking task with me, which turned out to be quite vital- I could not have done it alone. We stood at the counter in the store, and requested items from behind the counter; it's kind of old fashioned, but it's a very convenient system! The highlight was finding the rainbow sprinkles- I was worried that I wouldn't be able to track those down. We got down to baking around 1:30 in the afternoon, and tensions were high when at 3:30, it looked like the yeast wasn't going to react (this was my first time baking with yeast). Things were a little touch-and-go for awhile, but by 6:30 we had the first batch in the oven (and by this time, Laura had joined me), and we waited anxiously to see how they turned out. The result? Amazing. I would never dare utter the words "they were as good as my grandma's", but I also cannot say that we could have improved upon them. They were light, fluffy, just sweet enough, and perfectly Paska-esque. My host family disagreed. While they said the first batch was good, they preferred the next batch- crispy on the outside (crispy!!!) and soft on the inside. My host mom has since tried it with chocolate spread in the middle, and suggested that I take this idea back to my family in Canada. I withheld a gasp of shock and horror, and refrained from explaining that such an action would be a near sin, and allowed her to enjoy the Paska just as she pleased (though I had to look away). Beyond just tasting good, the Paska symbolized something much greater. It gave me a glimmer of hope that one day I too might be like my grandmas. It's only ever been a dream of mine to be able to wake up in the morning and say, "hey, I have an extra 7 minutes this morning, and some flour, I'll just whip up a quick batch of zwieback." (I know it's not that simple, but my grandmas make it look that way!) It is common to walk into my grandmas' homes and smell delicious things being baked and cooked, and while it is always most enjoyable to be the beneficiary of those situations, I also really want to someday be able to do the same thing myself. This paska baking endeavour (and, might I add, in a country where the ingredients and baking equipment are all a bit different) was a step- a big step- in that direction! So I felt very accomplished on Wednesday night.We even brought some Paska to my pastor and his family, all the way across town!
The baking streak continued on Thursday morning, with a much simpler and previously tested banana chocolate chip muffin recipe. These went over even better than the paska among the Indonesian population, likely because bananas are a very (VERY) common ingredient in many foods here, and also because it's hard to find fault with a good banana chocolate chip muffin recipe. Laura headed home after lunch, and I headed off to Ichthus FM, where I shared my baked goods with my very appreciative co-host, Chris. PPA was canceled on Thursday afternoon, but in the evening,we had a foot-washing church service. This definitely pushed the limits of my comfort zone, as foot washing is both not a ritual that we practice in my home church, and is also not something I have really felt comfortable participating in during other events that I've been at in the past. In the case of this service, every single person in the church gets their feet washed and washes someone else's feet. It went surprisingly quickly and smoothly, and it was a really interesting event to witness, as it is so unlike anything that I've seen before. There were just so many people!
Yesterday was Good Friday, and it was also the day that both PPA Sola Gratia and PPA Sendang Guwo had their yearly outing as a team. I was invited by both groups to their separate events, which was very flattering. I ended up joining Sendang Guwo, who had asked me to join them awhile back. We drove for over an hour to get to a place that has fishing ponds, a swimming pool, big pavilions, and food. It was a REALLY awesome day! Some of the leaders, including myself, arrived before the kids did, and we had some time to hang out and catch the early morning activities at this place. One of these early morning activities involves the guys who work in the "restaurant" scooping lots of fish out of the river, and killing them, to be fried later. The method is quite special to watch: one man wades in the water, and uses a net to scoop out fish. He dumps the fish onto the ground beside the river, where another man waits with a wooden mallet. This man then engages in a live version of "whack-a-mole", bopping the jumping fish on the head to kill them. While it totally freaked me out, I also had the urge to try this myself, and they handed me the net so that I could both catch and kill my own fish. I was successful in catching a fish (one fish only), but the killing was a bit more difficult, and I couldn't stomach hitting it over the head more than one time. It was a memorable little experience though!
The kids arrived by 9AM, and after a quick little sermon, we were hunting for quail eggs and decorating Easter eggs, which I also judged. We had a huge lunch of grilled fish (the ones we killed in the morning- nice and fresh!), rice, and veggies, and then spent the afternoon in the pool. I had forgotten my sunscreen, and the consequences of this error are fairly severe- my arms and face are a rather unappealing shade of red. Swimming was a LOT of fun though. I discovered that most of the kids don't know how to swim, a concept that really baffles me, but that makes complete sense- if you don't take the lessons, how could you know how to? It just comes so second nature to me that I couldn't fathom not knowing how to do it. I looked it up though, and according to yahoo!answers (the most reliable source of information...), over half of the world population cannot swim. Just another thing that I totally take for granted. Anyways, so most of the kids were sticking to the shallow (and I mean shallow- about a foot and a half deep) end, until some of them worked up the courage to join me in the "deep" (5 feet) end. I spent the afternoon giving "swimming lessons" to an ever-growing group of kids. It took a lot for these kids to work up the nerve to push off from the safety of the stairs, but slowly, one-by-one, they got more confident, and trusted me enough to know that I wasn't going to let them drown in the 5 feet of water. It was a good feeling to be so trusted!
Last night was a Good Friday service at church, and during this more solemn service, the youth did a re-enactment of Jesus getting nailed to the cross. The differences in church life just know no bounds! The front of the church is all decked out with a huge tomb, complete with a real doorway. It is an extremely well-done set. We participated in communion, which actually is quite similar to my church at home, except that both the wine and the bread are passed out at the same time.
In the evening, we celebrated my host brother's birthday, and I hit the hay quite early. I woke up this morning in good time, and have taken it easy today. I learned how to make a really delicious soup that my host mom makes (called Zuppa Soup- a chicken and corn cream soup, baked in the oven with puff pastry). We got to enjoy that for a late lunch. This day has somehow slipped right by me- it's almost 4:30 already! I have a growing to-do list of things to get done before Andrew arrives in a mere 11 days (I say "mere" more in the hopes that it will go fast rather than with the belief that 11 days is very short). Youth is canceled tonight, as we will be going on an outing tomorrow after church. Church begins at 5AM tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get to bed nice and early tonight!
Anyways, I'll let you get back to your Easter Weekend festivities and celebrations!
Thinking of you!
Lots of love,
Ellery
PS- below are some additional photos that don't really fit with anything I've said in my blog, but that may be of interest to you! Happy Easter :)
I'm writing this in the mid-afternoon of the Saturday of the Easter Weekend- it sure is different from a typical Easter Weekend at home! Easter break, as I mentioned before, began as of Tuesday afternoon. School will start up again on Tuesday, April 10, giving the teachers and students nearly a week of holidays! I feel as though the time has been used wisely so far...
On Tuesday night, after a lazy afternoon, I headed to church to be one of three judges in a Nasi Goreng competition. In the weeks leading up to Easter, the Sola Gratia church does all sorts of little competitions with different groups and communities within the church body. Last week I judged an Easter Egg Scene competition (using chicken and quail eggs and other craft supplies to create some sort of scene), and this week, the competition was to see who could use fried rice and fresh vegetables to create the most beautiful and creative plate. It was fun to be involved, and I got some Nasi Goreng out of it, which is always a delicious treat.
 |
| Working hard on a Nasi Goreng creation! |
 |
| Enjoying Paska with my "Nanek" ("Grandma"). |
Yesterday was Good Friday, and it was also the day that both PPA Sola Gratia and PPA Sendang Guwo had their yearly outing as a team. I was invited by both groups to their separate events, which was very flattering. I ended up joining Sendang Guwo, who had asked me to join them awhile back. We drove for over an hour to get to a place that has fishing ponds, a swimming pool, big pavilions, and food. It was a REALLY awesome day! Some of the leaders, including myself, arrived before the kids did, and we had some time to hang out and catch the early morning activities at this place. One of these early morning activities involves the guys who work in the "restaurant" scooping lots of fish out of the river, and killing them, to be fried later. The method is quite special to watch: one man wades in the water, and uses a net to scoop out fish. He dumps the fish onto the ground beside the river, where another man waits with a wooden mallet. This man then engages in a live version of "whack-a-mole", bopping the jumping fish on the head to kill them. While it totally freaked me out, I also had the urge to try this myself, and they handed me the net so that I could both catch and kill my own fish. I was successful in catching a fish (one fish only), but the killing was a bit more difficult, and I couldn't stomach hitting it over the head more than one time. It was a memorable little experience though!
 |
| Killing fish for lunch! |
Last night was a Good Friday service at church, and during this more solemn service, the youth did a re-enactment of Jesus getting nailed to the cross. The differences in church life just know no bounds! The front of the church is all decked out with a huge tomb, complete with a real doorway. It is an extremely well-done set. We participated in communion, which actually is quite similar to my church at home, except that both the wine and the bread are passed out at the same time.
 |
| The front of my church, all decked out for Easter |
Anyways, I'll let you get back to your Easter Weekend festivities and celebrations!
Thinking of you!
Lots of love,
Ellery
PS- below are some additional photos that don't really fit with anything I've said in my blog, but that may be of interest to you! Happy Easter :)
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| We made pancakes with maple syrup for "Canadian Snack Day" at PPA. They were well-enjoyed, but the Hershey's Chocolate Chips went over better than the syrup. |
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| Green Canyon, Pangandaran. We swam up and around the corner, and then jumped off rocks into the rapids! |
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| "Ikan Bakar" (Grilled Fish): one of my favourite foods here. (So much so that I may have already posted pictures of this before... I cannot remember!) |
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Easter Approaches
Selamat Sore dan Apa Kabar? ("Safe late-afternoon and How are you?")
And now it's April! Five days away from Easter, and just over two weeks away from the arrival of two much-anticipated visitors from Canada ;)
Honestly, this past week has been a bit of a longing-for-home week. I thought that perhaps these little bouts of homesickness wouldn't happen anymore, since I'm three and a half months away from the end, but I guess one is never immune to those bouts of homesickness, no matter how much or how little time one has left away from home. With Easter just around the corner, my mind has been wandering to the traditions of Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets, paska (which is actually the word for "Easter" in Bahasa Indonesia, so my mind has been on paska in particular!), and above all, spending time with family. There is nothing I hate more than missing out on family stuff!!
I also find that I am really missing my church at home. At holidays in particular, I find myself longing for the familiar songs, the familiar faces, the familiar length, and the familiar language of my home church. Sunday was admittedly a bit of a meltdown day for me, as I have found any 3+ hour church service day to be. On Sunday I attended the typical morning service (2 and a half hours) and then the youth service (another 2 and a half hours). Like any given Sunday, this time was spent with lots of loud and repetitive hands-in-the-air praise and worship music, long sermons, lengthy prayers that got more and less passionate as the background music got louder and softer, and alter calls. In my head, I know that this is what people here get meaning out of. This is the worship style that they grew up with, and these are the people that they grew up worshiping with (and the language that they've grown up worshiping in). Frustratingly, my emotions cannot seem to catch up with my brain, and I find myself increasingly irritated with this style of worship that I am entirely unable to connect with. Two and half hours is my limit- I start turning a little bit ugly after that!
As Easter approaches, I'm confronted for a second time this year, with a difficult moral dilemma. In Indonesia, where bombings are a more common occurrence than in North America, church security is a concern, particularly around the major holidays (Christmas and Easter). A few years ago, 19 churches on Java were bombed on Christmas Eve, by Muslim Extremists. An interesting result of the bombings was the provision of security to churches all over- by Muslims. I honestly do not know the details of the story (though if you are interested, I can find out the specifics for you) but to me, that gesture on part of the Indonesian Muslim community, was a very significant act of peacebuilding and reconciliation between the Muslim and Christian communities. The result of this also means that an armed security guard stands at the entrance/in the parking lot of churches on these major holidays. This is where I struggle. After we were required to leave Solo following the bombing in September, I have not been able to shake a feeling of uneasiness in church, particularly on these major holidays. So, even though it doesn't entirely squelch my anxiety, I am partly grateful for this provision of security. However, this raises huge contradictions in my beliefs about pacifism and the rejection of violence- particularly lethal weapons- as a means to control people. A few weeks ago, Jason brought up a similar bone of contention that he struggles with in his/my own home country; the police. Even Canada uses violence- or the threat of it- as one means to keep its citizens in line. How simple- and hypocritical- it is for me to say that I reject the use of violence and consider it wrong, while I live in security because others, who I don't have to face, are willing to carry the gun. (I say this with the realization that this grossly oversimplifies circumstances and situations.) How much more complicated and uncomfortable it is for me to walk past an armed guard at the gate of my Indonesian church. I am SO thankful that I went away this year, rather than next year, after my undergrad would be finished. I'm so eager to get back into the classroom and have these discussions and raise my confusions with those who may have more insight and therefore a more grounded and justified opinion on topics such as these. I also welcome the thoughts of anyone who considers this a topic worthy of discussion, no matter what your views are- I am very interested to hear what you have to say!
Last week was a bit of a tumultuous one for all of Indonesia, as it was announced that fuel prices would go up by 33% as of April 1. Fuel prices have not been climbing in Indonesia as they have in other parts of the world, and people can still fill up for 4,500 rupiah per liter. The proposed price increase had a lot of people really upset- of course, an increase in fuel prices also affects the cost of everything else, including food and electricity- and last week there were a number of demonstrations in the major cities (including Semarang, but they were not too huge here) that were significant enough to sway the votes in the government. Long story short, prices did not go up on April 1 as was originally planned, but with conditions. If you are interested, here's a link to an article about it:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/03/31/fuel-price-hike-still-play.html
And now onto lighter, day-to-day stuff... We have been heavily immersed in "Easter Crafts Week" at school, and I really got in touch with my creative side, as we made chickens, bunnies, eggs, and Easter baskets in my classes. Easter break begins as of this afternoon, and the fun picks up again next week, as the TK will be celebrating Easter a week after the actual holiday. I have to admit, I've been quite impressed with how the crafts have turned out-I felt like Neil Buchanan (Art Attack anyone? Anyone born in the early 90's should know what I'm talking about). At my church, and possibly in other churches here, it is a tradition for kids to go on an egg hunt for Easter. The biggest difference between this egg hunt and the egg hunts that I am used to, is that these kids search for real eggs (chicken or duck), where we most often search for candy-filled plastic ones. The eggs here are not decorated or coloured either. I told them about the Easter Bunny today, using a yellow rabbit puppet to help paint the picture in their minds. They had never heard of the Easter Bunny, but they were pretty enthused about the idea of getting chocolates for Easter. We decorated paper eggs today, and stuck them together, leaving an opening at the top. I promised them that the Easter Bunny would put a chocolate inside these Easter Eggs, so long as they did a good job colouring. The kids took this task very seriously; one of my kiddies was colouring her whole egg yellow, and she showed it to me, asking, "Miss Ellery, semua kuning, tidak-apa apa??" ("Is it ok if it's all yellow??") I said that it was ok, but that the Easter Bunny would like it better if it had more colours on it. The next time I looked at her egg, it was covered with every colour in her pencil crayon packet. They take that chocolate seriously.
Last week, I was invited into the house of one of my students. A part of his house is used for the PPA Sendang Guwo office/meeting place, so I am there every week, but never inside the living quarters. However, the last few weeks, this student who lives there has taken a bit of a liking to me, and has been eagerly telling me about his vast and diverse DVD collection (of top quality films, let me assure you...). He asked me in class if I would like to watch one of them next time I was at PPA, and I said of course I would, so sure enough, he came running out with two DVDs in his hand- one in Mandarin and one in English- for me to choose from. I chose the English sing-along (sung by non-English speakers, which made it an extra special treat), and in we went to watch. This was the first time that I have been inside a really low-income home, and it was also one of the first times that I've been really overwhelmed by the conditions that some people live in. My 5 year old student invited me to sit down on the bed, and I discovered that, besides being really dirty, it was rock hard. It was just such a wake-up call for me, to the struggles that this family, and so many others like it, must face day-to-day- struggles that never even enter my "middle-class" mind.
I was told a really interesting little story on Sunday, about a comment made by a guest speaker at a conference that one of the YALTers attended. This speaker is, from what I've been told, heavily involved in a church planting organization. He spoke of one of his mission trips that he took, to an area that was hit hard by a tsunami, an area where MCC was also working at the time. This man spoke of the money his organization spent, and the money that MCC spent (MCC had spent far more), doing two completely different types of work in the region. He concluded his story with the statement that when all was said and done, his organization saved hundreds of souls, and MCC didn't save one. I was taken aback by this story, and I have thought about it a lot since Sunday. It really astounds me sometimes how divided the views are about how to most effectively help others, even within one religion. Of course, since I'm serving with MCC because I believe in their values and priorities, it is extremely difficult for me to see the mission that this man believes in, as even an equally-as-effective service program, let alone one that is more effective (as this man implied). I would be so curious to see what this man would have to say if the opportunity arose to engage in a sit-down discussion.
Like I said before, we have just begun our Easter break. I plan to make paska on Thursday (or attempt it anyways), and there are a few little events here and there throughout the weekend. Of course, Easter festivities in church will be taking place as well. I ask for your ongoing prayers, particularly for a peaceful Easter season in Indonesia.
Have a great week, everyone! Happy Easter!!
Love,
Ellery
And now it's April! Five days away from Easter, and just over two weeks away from the arrival of two much-anticipated visitors from Canada ;)
Honestly, this past week has been a bit of a longing-for-home week. I thought that perhaps these little bouts of homesickness wouldn't happen anymore, since I'm three and a half months away from the end, but I guess one is never immune to those bouts of homesickness, no matter how much or how little time one has left away from home. With Easter just around the corner, my mind has been wandering to the traditions of Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets, paska (which is actually the word for "Easter" in Bahasa Indonesia, so my mind has been on paska in particular!), and above all, spending time with family. There is nothing I hate more than missing out on family stuff!!
I also find that I am really missing my church at home. At holidays in particular, I find myself longing for the familiar songs, the familiar faces, the familiar length, and the familiar language of my home church. Sunday was admittedly a bit of a meltdown day for me, as I have found any 3+ hour church service day to be. On Sunday I attended the typical morning service (2 and a half hours) and then the youth service (another 2 and a half hours). Like any given Sunday, this time was spent with lots of loud and repetitive hands-in-the-air praise and worship music, long sermons, lengthy prayers that got more and less passionate as the background music got louder and softer, and alter calls. In my head, I know that this is what people here get meaning out of. This is the worship style that they grew up with, and these are the people that they grew up worshiping with (and the language that they've grown up worshiping in). Frustratingly, my emotions cannot seem to catch up with my brain, and I find myself increasingly irritated with this style of worship that I am entirely unable to connect with. Two and half hours is my limit- I start turning a little bit ugly after that!
As Easter approaches, I'm confronted for a second time this year, with a difficult moral dilemma. In Indonesia, where bombings are a more common occurrence than in North America, church security is a concern, particularly around the major holidays (Christmas and Easter). A few years ago, 19 churches on Java were bombed on Christmas Eve, by Muslim Extremists. An interesting result of the bombings was the provision of security to churches all over- by Muslims. I honestly do not know the details of the story (though if you are interested, I can find out the specifics for you) but to me, that gesture on part of the Indonesian Muslim community, was a very significant act of peacebuilding and reconciliation between the Muslim and Christian communities. The result of this also means that an armed security guard stands at the entrance/in the parking lot of churches on these major holidays. This is where I struggle. After we were required to leave Solo following the bombing in September, I have not been able to shake a feeling of uneasiness in church, particularly on these major holidays. So, even though it doesn't entirely squelch my anxiety, I am partly grateful for this provision of security. However, this raises huge contradictions in my beliefs about pacifism and the rejection of violence- particularly lethal weapons- as a means to control people. A few weeks ago, Jason brought up a similar bone of contention that he struggles with in his/my own home country; the police. Even Canada uses violence- or the threat of it- as one means to keep its citizens in line. How simple- and hypocritical- it is for me to say that I reject the use of violence and consider it wrong, while I live in security because others, who I don't have to face, are willing to carry the gun. (I say this with the realization that this grossly oversimplifies circumstances and situations.) How much more complicated and uncomfortable it is for me to walk past an armed guard at the gate of my Indonesian church. I am SO thankful that I went away this year, rather than next year, after my undergrad would be finished. I'm so eager to get back into the classroom and have these discussions and raise my confusions with those who may have more insight and therefore a more grounded and justified opinion on topics such as these. I also welcome the thoughts of anyone who considers this a topic worthy of discussion, no matter what your views are- I am very interested to hear what you have to say!
Last week was a bit of a tumultuous one for all of Indonesia, as it was announced that fuel prices would go up by 33% as of April 1. Fuel prices have not been climbing in Indonesia as they have in other parts of the world, and people can still fill up for 4,500 rupiah per liter. The proposed price increase had a lot of people really upset- of course, an increase in fuel prices also affects the cost of everything else, including food and electricity- and last week there were a number of demonstrations in the major cities (including Semarang, but they were not too huge here) that were significant enough to sway the votes in the government. Long story short, prices did not go up on April 1 as was originally planned, but with conditions. If you are interested, here's a link to an article about it:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/03/31/fuel-price-hike-still-play.html
And now onto lighter, day-to-day stuff... We have been heavily immersed in "Easter Crafts Week" at school, and I really got in touch with my creative side, as we made chickens, bunnies, eggs, and Easter baskets in my classes. Easter break begins as of this afternoon, and the fun picks up again next week, as the TK will be celebrating Easter a week after the actual holiday. I have to admit, I've been quite impressed with how the crafts have turned out-I felt like Neil Buchanan (Art Attack anyone? Anyone born in the early 90's should know what I'm talking about). At my church, and possibly in other churches here, it is a tradition for kids to go on an egg hunt for Easter. The biggest difference between this egg hunt and the egg hunts that I am used to, is that these kids search for real eggs (chicken or duck), where we most often search for candy-filled plastic ones. The eggs here are not decorated or coloured either. I told them about the Easter Bunny today, using a yellow rabbit puppet to help paint the picture in their minds. They had never heard of the Easter Bunny, but they were pretty enthused about the idea of getting chocolates for Easter. We decorated paper eggs today, and stuck them together, leaving an opening at the top. I promised them that the Easter Bunny would put a chocolate inside these Easter Eggs, so long as they did a good job colouring. The kids took this task very seriously; one of my kiddies was colouring her whole egg yellow, and she showed it to me, asking, "Miss Ellery, semua kuning, tidak-apa apa??" ("Is it ok if it's all yellow??") I said that it was ok, but that the Easter Bunny would like it better if it had more colours on it. The next time I looked at her egg, it was covered with every colour in her pencil crayon packet. They take that chocolate seriously.
Last week, I was invited into the house of one of my students. A part of his house is used for the PPA Sendang Guwo office/meeting place, so I am there every week, but never inside the living quarters. However, the last few weeks, this student who lives there has taken a bit of a liking to me, and has been eagerly telling me about his vast and diverse DVD collection (of top quality films, let me assure you...). He asked me in class if I would like to watch one of them next time I was at PPA, and I said of course I would, so sure enough, he came running out with two DVDs in his hand- one in Mandarin and one in English- for me to choose from. I chose the English sing-along (sung by non-English speakers, which made it an extra special treat), and in we went to watch. This was the first time that I have been inside a really low-income home, and it was also one of the first times that I've been really overwhelmed by the conditions that some people live in. My 5 year old student invited me to sit down on the bed, and I discovered that, besides being really dirty, it was rock hard. It was just such a wake-up call for me, to the struggles that this family, and so many others like it, must face day-to-day- struggles that never even enter my "middle-class" mind.
I was told a really interesting little story on Sunday, about a comment made by a guest speaker at a conference that one of the YALTers attended. This speaker is, from what I've been told, heavily involved in a church planting organization. He spoke of one of his mission trips that he took, to an area that was hit hard by a tsunami, an area where MCC was also working at the time. This man spoke of the money his organization spent, and the money that MCC spent (MCC had spent far more), doing two completely different types of work in the region. He concluded his story with the statement that when all was said and done, his organization saved hundreds of souls, and MCC didn't save one. I was taken aback by this story, and I have thought about it a lot since Sunday. It really astounds me sometimes how divided the views are about how to most effectively help others, even within one religion. Of course, since I'm serving with MCC because I believe in their values and priorities, it is extremely difficult for me to see the mission that this man believes in, as even an equally-as-effective service program, let alone one that is more effective (as this man implied). I would be so curious to see what this man would have to say if the opportunity arose to engage in a sit-down discussion.
Like I said before, we have just begun our Easter break. I plan to make paska on Thursday (or attempt it anyways), and there are a few little events here and there throughout the weekend. Of course, Easter festivities in church will be taking place as well. I ask for your ongoing prayers, particularly for a peaceful Easter season in Indonesia.
Have a great week, everyone! Happy Easter!!
Love,
Ellery
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