Good Morning or Afternoon or Evening to you, wherever you're reading this from!
First and foremost, I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom! I hate missing birthdays at home, but I'm thinking lots about you today, and I hope that you have a wonderful birthday! I love you!!
Secondly, I just wanted to ease the minds of those of you who were concerned about my whole being sick thing last week. I am feeling 100% restored this week, and whatever the virus was, it is gone now. Thanks for your concern and for your prayers! (Those prayers could now be transferred along to my host dad, who seems to have caught whatever I had, and is in the same flu-ish boat as I was last week.)
I think that my swift healing was due largely in part to an absolutely wonderful weekend with a few of my amazing YALT friends. After posting on Saturday, I headed off to the Java Mall to meet Nancy, Nicole, and Laura, who had planned on spending the weekend at my house. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch together, and then did some shopping and iced tea drinking, and lots and lots and lots of chatting. We went to youth on Saturday evening, and my host mom made rendang, one of my favourite Indonesian foods, for dinner that night. Rendang, as I have mentioned before, has been ranked the world's most delicious food, and whether that is true or not, it was certainly unanimously declared a delicious dish by all those who had not yet tried it. Making rendang from scratch requires hours and hours and all sorts of fancy spices and leaves that I've never heard of, but thankfully, the ingredients also come in instant form, and the taste is still pretty awesome. I plan on bringing a whole bunch of packets back, and introducing as many of you as I can to the world's most delicious food. ;)
We watched a movie on Saturday evening, and partway through, some of us were really craving some ice cream. Knowing that my host parents sometimes have some, we went downstairs and asked whether there was any ice cream to be had. We were in luck! There was a little bit left, as well as an ice cream bar that we decided to share. We thanked my host mom, and headed back upstairs. About 10 minutes later, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see my host mom standing there with a plate of ice cream bars. She had had them bought specially for us, as she felt that one ice cream bar was not enough. It was a small gesture that showed a lot of love, and I'm smiling right now as I think about the smile on her face as she handed us the plate of ice cream bars. I'm a blessed woman to live with this family!
There was no church on Sunday morning as there was to be a special evening service featuring "The Singing Pastor" from Jakarta. (I don't think that this is his official title, but it's fitting nonetheless.) The lack of church gave us a chance to sleep in, and then we ventured forth once again into the shopping world. Some of the girls had a mission to fulfill this weekend, finding oleh-oleh (souvenirs) to bring home, and so we focused our time on getting some of those gifts purchased. Nancy and Nicole left shortly after lunch, and Laura and I stuck around my place until it was time for the evening worship service. "The Singing Pastor" from Jakarta certainly lived up to his reputation. We were treated to a solid hour/hour and a half "sermon" that could truly be dubbed a one-man musical (complete with a sales pitch at the end, for his CDs, being sold for half price tonight only!!). There are some life experiences that I just couldn't have encountered had I not done this year in the Indo. "The Singing Pastor" from Jakarta falls under that category. While I'm thinking of those life experiences, I'm reminded of one that happened a few weeks ago. Laura was coming to meet me for the weekend, and we decided to meet at- wait for it- the mall! She had texted me to tell me she arrived, and I texted her back saying that I was on the second floor. I then waited by the railing on the second floor so that I could see down to the first floor and spot her as soon as she came into view. I did a quick scan, and finally found her near the base of the escalator, chatting with an Indonesian girl. The girl had her cell phone out, and Laura walked away with a piece of paper in hand. When Laura came up the escalator to meet me, she held out that piece of paper with a name and a phone number on it. "Here, this is for you", she said. I took it and recognized neither the name nor the number. I laughed, thinking it was a joke (since people often give us their numbers here, and so we often have pieces of paper like this), but Laura said that this girl knew me. In fact, the girl had spotted Laura, called to her, and asked Laura if she knew "this girl." She then showed Laura a picture that she had of me on her cell phone. By some strange fluke, this girl had snagged a friend of mine when she snagged Laura (this perhaps sheds some light on how few white people there are here), and Laura thought that I must know who this girl is. I still have no clue who that girl is, or how she got my picture. And yet when Laura told me the story, neither of us were too terribly fazed by it. Just another random experience in the Indo...
We had sate ayam with lontong for dinner on Sunday night, which is one of my favourite meals. My host mom said that I cannot be scared to eat lots, because I need to eat as much as I can of the foods I like before I head back to the crazy place where banana leaves are a difficult (impossible?) find, and most herbs and spices are dried and bottled. It's true that my beloved "Canadian" food cannot even begin to compare to Indonesian food in terms of spices. Our food is really quite bland by comparison to foods here, with ingredient lists that would probably scare even the most qualified Canadian cooks. I happily obliged last night, and ate an unfathomable amount of chicken satay and lontong, and then curled up in a ball for a good night's sleep.
I stayed in Semarang today rather than head to Salatiga as I normally would on a Monday. Laura wanted to pick some things up at a local craft supply store, and I wanted to get some pictures developed. Laura headed back to Kopeng after lunch, and now here I am! This upcoming week looks to be completely "normal", with this being the last week of regular TK classes. TK still continues next week, but the classes are shortened, and they end on Thursday. This upcoming Saturday, the kiddies graduate, and I am playing the music for their graduation performance. I'll need to practice for that this week. PPA and Ichthus FM still continue like normal this week, and will do so right up until I leave. I'm glad that those activities will still be continuing. I'm always happiest when I have lots to do.
This past week provided me with a lot of time to think (and think and think), and I was able to get my course schedule nailed down (I think) for next year. I was also overcome this week by the thought of how close I am to the end of my undergraduate career, and in turn, the end of a journey that has been clearly marked out and relatively easy to navigate up until this point. In fact, I am realizing that in my mind, this year abroad, which I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember, was sort of the mental roadblock that stood between me and "THE FUTURE", a place of complete unknowns and so very very many potential paths to travel. It was a really overwhelming revelation this week that this time a year from now, I'll be done my undergraduate degree and in a place of needing to make some bigger decisions. While there is great excitement in the endless opportunities, I also find myself more at a loss than ever as to what I'd like to do, and what my next moves are going to be. (I can already hear the voices telling me to surrender it to God, and just relax, and in the meantime, make the most of the time I have left here in the Indo. I will respond to that with an "I'm trying, but it's hard!!") I'd appreciate prayers both for better discernment of what my future is intended to hold, as well as for patience (I ALWAYS need prayers for patience!!) and a sense of contentment, knowing that everything will work out exactly as it is intended to.
Sending lots of love your way!
Have a great day!
Ellery
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