A Weekend in the Village

Good Morning!

As I was walking home today (just now, in fact), a man with a distracted look on his face pulled over on his motorbike. His eyes were on the sky, and I was confused, until he produced a pigeon (a live pigeon) from his pocket, and clutched it in his hand, eyes still searching above. It seemed that what he was looking for wasn't to be found, so he continued on his way, the pigeon perched on the left handlebar, held in place by the hand of the driver. My only guess is that there was some sort of pigeon racing going on (that's a sport here), and they were seeking out the mate. Further along, I spotted a man busily picking up pieces of garbage from the road (Cleaning! How nice! I thought), and then chucking them over the side of the bridge, into the stream below. I suppose it was one of those "out of sight, out of mind" scenarios.

For us YALTers here in Indonesia (and I'm guessing in pretty much every part of the world), these last few weeks are jam packed with plans and activities that those in our host communities have planned for us, with the realization that there's not a lot of time left. For me, one of those plans included a two night trip to Blora, a regency in northeast Central Java, which is comprised of one main town and many villages. My principal from the TK (Bu Yanti) is from one of those villages, and she was eager to show me where she lived. I have been wanting to see a village since I arrived here, and since a visit to Riki in her placement (a village) never happened, I was glad to still get a chance to go.

Bu Yanti and her family picked me up on Friday evening (after my second PPA party, where I was presented with even more gifts and grilled fish, and where I had the chance to try to express my gratitude to them for all they have done for me this year through some gifts and a photo collage that I made of this past year), and we set off on the three and a half hour drive to Blora. We stopped off for dinner along the way, and I discovered a type of washroom that I haven't yet stumbled upon. It's the kind where there is no toilet of any sort, just a slightly sloped floor and a drain. (I opted to seek out a squatty potty.) The roads to Blora were bumpy, to say the least (my head grazed the top of the van on more than one occasion), and judging by the speed we were going, Bu Yanti's husband was eager to get to Blora (the speedometer read 80 km/hr, which led me to wonder whether the speedometer was broken or whether I've grown so used to never exceeding 50 km/hr that 80 seemed downright wreckless), but we finally made it to the home that Bu Yanti grew up in, where her mother still lives.

Wow, was that house ever different than my place here in Semarang. Bu Yanti's mom's place is big and open concept, with basic ceramic flooring, and a straight view up to the roof. The walls that divide the rooms come up about as high as normal walls, but since there is no ceiling, the rooms are all open to each other from about 8 feet and higher (and the ledge that is created provides a perfect runway for lots of rats). The exception to the high ceilings is the bathroom, which is maybe 5 feet high at the highest point. There is a big well in the backyard to haul up water needed to do dishes and other daily tasks. There is electricity, but it cannot support too much going on at once- the TV, fridge, and laptop was more than enough! Chickens scurry around the backyard, and there are lots of different types of fruit trees growing wild along the border of the property. There is a makeshift badminton court set up next to the house, which gets put to good (late night) use. I learned that people plant bamboo around the border of a village to protect it from the winds that sweep across the fields of corn or other crops, so you can tell where there are villages by observing the lines of bamboo planted in fields.

Inside the village house. Bu Yanti's mom hosts lots of get-togethers, hence the three separate sitting areas

I was treated like royalty while I was there: given the biggest bed (outfitted with a matching batik sheet set), taken on an incredible bike ride through the village (where I got a chance to cut rice from the fields and put it into the machine that shakes all the rice grains from the stalks), and ate way too much satay for my own good. I also got to see the inside of a few different village homes, ranging from quite well off right down to the most basic. Often, you can see rice or krupuk drying on large tarps in front of houses during the day. It goes inside at night, and I discovered that in one home, the massive pile of rice in the living room has taken the place of furniture. Forget the couch! Just prop up a pillow against the rice mountain! Another home was a simple two room dwelling, and when i poked my head into the second room, I discovered 10 goats settling in for the night.There were a few visits to other family members while I was there, and I learned that almost all of the extended family is Muslim. This seems to be the case with many of the Christians that I meet here. I just took for granted that the families of most people would be Christian because that's how it is at home. Here, I've met so many Indonesians my age whose parents are Christian, but whose grandparents and extended family are Muslim. I've yet to inquire about the struggles, challenges, and opportunities that arise within families of such diverse religious backgrounds. I'm curious as to how that affects family dynamics and relationships. The weekend provided a lot of opportunity to just rest and relax, and it was really nice to hang out in a completely new place.

Just cutting some rice!

And de-rice-ing the stalks (I'm quite sure that's the official term :p)

We as YALTers often talk about the differences between ways of living here in Java compared to at home. I have a tendency to try to spin as many scenarios as possible and look at it through my Canadian lens, in order to try to better understand it in Indonesian context. For example, while I think that skin whitening powder looks utterly ridiculous on people here, I cannot help but think of the lengths that white North Americans go to to make our skin look darker (and I, being blessed with an extra pasty and untannable complexion, am not excluding myself from this). This is an example of an easily flipped scenario that enables me to understand some parts of Indonesian/Javanese culture a little bit better. I guess it only makes sense that we use our only frame of reference as a foundation for understanding others, but the problem in employing the "This is like in Canada, except..." mentality is that there are countless scenarios that just cannot be mirrored in a Canadian context (ie: goats and rice piles in living rooms), and then I'm stuck with not knowing how to process and understand that new scenario. The result is that I find myself less open minded than I think I would if I were to just accept the culture as it is, without always trying to fit it into my box of understanding. One of the things that I've really struggled with (I feel as though I've used that line more than once this year) is the understanding and appreciation of traditional culture and identity, which includes, but is not limited to, foods, clothing, and interactions with people of varying age and status, and can be applied, in different contexts, to the country as a whole (ie: batik fabrics in their various patterns), to specific islands (ie: the special rice cone that is served at any major celebration or festival), to specific groups of people (ie: ethnic Chinese and ethnic Javanese) and to specific regions (Semarang vs. Salatiga vs. Blora, etc. etc.). For example, this past weekend, my principal was showing me the special "pohon jati", a type of tree grown in her hometown and used for building houses, among other things. She talked so much about that tree that I came to realize that it was of substantial significance to her and others in her community. However, I just could not find it in me to get excited about that tree. I wanted to, I really did, and I felt guilty by the end, that I not only didn't take interest in the tree, but I was actually starting to become a bit frustrated with the tree references. It's a tree! It's just a tree!! But it's not, not to her, and not to those in her community. I have the same reaction (or lack of) when I hear about special foods from different regions. There's the special soto (a type of soup) from Solo, from Semarang, from Jakarta... They all taste the same to me, I absolutely cannot tell them apart. Or a special fruit, grown in this specific regency, similar to another kind of fruit, but not quite the same, like the kelinkin (sp?), similar to a lychee, but different, and different yet again from the longan fruit. They taste the same! Before I left for Blora, my host mom told me all about the satay that Blora is well known for. It's special because they serve it with a kind of soup ("similar to soto, but not soto"...) and the peanut sauce uses more peanuts than sweet soya sauce, as is common in many other places, and unlike other places, you can order a specific quantity in Blora, rather than only in batches of 5, 10, or 20. The satay in Blora was delicious, but I don't know how to appreciate the variation in ingredients and cooking methods like native Indonesians do. People ask me what the traditional foods and clothings and music from Canada are. When I respond with, "There aren't any", people look at me with puzzled expressions. No special foods? No special music? No traditional clothing? How could that be? I then go on to explain that because Canada is so multicultural, traditions are specific to families and small groups of people, rather than to regions or provinces or the country as a whole. Of course there are things like Mennonite traditional foods (which actually don't exist among the Mennonite communities here), or seafood being popular along the East Coast, but it just doesn't compare in the same ways. I did a bit of wikipedia-ing to see what could be said for Canada's cultural and traditional backgrounds, and found a quote about Canadian identity that I thought was kind of interesting:

"The Canadian Identity, as it has come to be known, is as elusive as the Sasquatch and the Ogopogo. It has animated—and frustrated—generations of statesmen, historians, writers, artists, philosophers, and the National Film Board...Canada resists easy definition.

—Andrew Cohen, The Unfinished Canadian: The People We Are

I guess it makes sense why a country so steeped in tradition and culturally specific ways of living, is hard for me as a Canadian to identify with. That said, I think I've also been blind to any tradition and culture in my home country, as so often tends to happen when it's just the norm for us. Stepping outside of Canada for a year (and stepping into this traditions-based country) has made me curious about what I don't know about Canadian culture and tradition. I want to look into that a bit when I get home again.

Along that same vein, I've also realized this year, just how easy it is at home, to idealize the whole idea of acceptance and appreciation of other cultures. The idea seems so awesome when I'm flipping through an MCC Global Family calendar or sitting in a PACS class at Grebel or attending a two week World Conference, but living it for over 10 months has made me realize that I've come to a more realistic- more human, I've been told- view of things. I think it's because when I thought about learning about new cultures, I envisioned sitting on someone's front porch, sipping a cup of tea, conversing about our differences and stumbling upon many similarities that would draw us closer together. It seemed so perfect. I failed to consider all of the time that goes on between those front porch discussions. Or the fact that I'd be here alone, and struggling to navigate more than just a few little cultural hurdles (like trying to maintain my own mental health, a task that was much more difficult than I expected this year). Or the fact that I cannot fully communicate or understand everything being communicated. Or the fact that our different backgrounds and mentalities make it a bit more difficult to understand the other perspectives and lifestyles than I originally anticipated. It's made me sad to lose my idealistic views, but I'm betting that that was all part of the big lessons God is trying to teach me this year, and if that's true, then I believe that what I feel is a negative shift in mentality, is actually a lesson that I've been needing to learn, and will in some way be used for good.

I got back from the village on Sunday night, after a long and bumpy ride home (which included a drive past the salt harvesting fields, something I've never seen before), and I took a much needed shower before heading straight to bed! I went to Salatiga on Monday and discovered that Sushant and Priti (MCCers from India who have been serving in Solo) had made the move to Salatiga. Sushant and Priti are an AWESOME young couple with a 1 and a half year old son, and their term was supposed to end in April, but they agreed to stay on for an extra 6 months. With Karen and Major's baby due any day now, and Dan and Jeanne on home leave, it's really helpful to have Sushant and Priti around to help with our "disorientation" activities as well as with the next group of YALTers coming in August. We had lunch together, and checked out their new place, which is right across from Karen and Major's. It was another great Monday in Salatiga. I used Tuesday to pack, and then in the evening, I joined a group of people from the church on a search for a romantic location for the church's annual couple's dinner that will take place on July 26th. It was a really fun group of people, and we had a great time driving around and checking out a few places!

Yesterday was probably the longest on-the-go day of the year so far. It was the day trip with the teachers from TK, and we had planned to go to Jogjakarta for the day. The drive there is 3 hours if the traffic is moderate, which it wasn't, so it ended up taking around 4 hours to get there. We left just after 6AM and arrived at Prambanan (the Hindu temples) around 10:30. It's interesting to observe the dramatic differences between a day trip with my family at home in Canada, and a day trip with people here. Almost invariably, day trips here involve more driving than sightseeing, many stops at many places, and tons and tons and tons of photos. In fact, I think that the photos are the most important part of the endeavour. I'm all for documenting a place, but I find that one or two or five are enough for me. In one day, we ended up squeezing in the trip to Prambanan, a tour of the Kraton, a palace in Jogjakarta (a guided tour, with a guide who was delighted to have a foreginer in his group, and purposefully called me over to speak directly to me throughout the whole tour, which was a real treat for people like me who like to see things at their own pace and not listen to someone else rambling on about the things they're most passionate about, which in this case, was the topic of circumcision), a trip to Parangtritis Beach (where we rode in horse carts along the beach, and ate rujak, a fruit salad with a sweet spicy sauce), and time to shop on Malioboro, the big shopping strip in Jogja. We made it home just shortly after midnight, and I pretty much fell right into bed. My teachers paid for absolutely everything, which was SO generous of them, and while it was a long day, it was a lot of fun to spend time with the teaching staff one last time. They're a really great group!

The Indo equivalent of a gas station and corner store! (They have the Western versions too, but this one is so much more interesting)

At the beach! Notice the lack of swim suits and beach towels. With the exception of popular tourist spots, trips to the beaches here are quite different than trips to the beaches at home.

Before I close this mega post, I'll just give you a quick update on the prayer requests I posted last week:
- My foot is feeling waaaay better! Thanks for the prayers! I'm very grateful :)
-My host mom is also feeling much much better. I don't think we know what the problem is exactly, but she's been taking a medication that seems to be helping a lot
-The young guy from my community has not been heard from again since last week. I was talking to Sushant and Priti about it, and they were really nonchalant about it. They figure that since he's 18, he'll do just fine on his own. That still seems so young to me, but I guess it's another culturally and contextually specific scenario.  Prayer for his safety and success, as well as healing from the hurt of that decision and the way it was executed, is still greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading!
Have a great day!

Love,
Ellery

Salatiga, PPA Party, and a Few Prayer Requests

Selamat Malam, Semua Orang!

I was driving back from PPA today (well, sitting on the back of a motorbike that was driven by Pak Hardy), and I was looking around at the scenery as we sped along. It dawned on me that everything we passed- the chickens hanging off the back of motorbikes, the stalls being set up on the sidewalks for dinner, the crazy traffic, the kids playing in the streets, the smells of garbage burning and food cooking and gasoline and other city smells, the occasional rat scurrying for cover, the "restaurants" on motorbikes, the motorbikes that have been converted into trains, the bicycles that have been converted into mini carnivals (think mall rides for kiddies, attached to a platform with wheels, attached to a bicycle), the men and women who dance at the street corners in traditional Javanese style, the old ladies with massive baskets carried on their backs, the men who set up key-making stalls or license plate stalls or shoe repair stalls at the side of the road, the gasoline sold in water bottles, etc, etc.- has become so commonplace that I no longer think twice about them. There are so many times when I'm on the back of a motorbike or in a vehicle when I think to myself, "oh, I should blog about this!", but then I forget about it within a few seconds. (Such a shame too, because my blog posts are really lacking in length and content... ;) ) It's a bizarre sensation to become so familiar and in a way comfortable, within a context that is SO different from my whole world at home. It's also pretty cool to think that 10 months ago, I didn't know a thing about any part of Indonesia (save for the beaches in Bali), and now I could tell you exactly how to get around most of Semarang, and from Semarang to a whole variety of locations in Central Java, I could tell you how much it would cost you for a variety of different modes of transportation, foods, and services, I could barter for your rides in a becak and your purchases at the market (though not as effectively as others), and I could effectively translate the gist of what people would be saying to you, as well as what you'd like to say to people. Laura and I were talking about how great it feels to now not have to think twice about going out without a native Indonesian. We have become comfortable enough with the culture and the language to navigate it without constant assistance. I never dreamed that that could happen when I first arrived here back in August, and I consider that to be a really substantial accomplishment! It's a really good feeling!

This is the kind of thing I can't find in Canada. This guy will carry this contraption on his shoulders. Sometimes I am amazed by how delicious foods from these kinds of vendors are!

 Last weekend was a really nice relaxing one. We watched a movie at youth on Saturday, and on Sunday, we went out for seafood at lunch, and then to a beautiful little cafe in a quieter neighbourhood for dinner. We could sit outside, and the stars were clear, and the temperature was similar to a summer evening at home. It was a really beautiful evening! I left for Salatiga on Monday morning, with the plan to stay until Wednesday. I had plans to bake enough cookies for the 130 kids at PPA (for two parties, one of which was today, and the other is tomorrow), and after taking over my host family's kitchen every day for a week straight, I just couldn't ask to use it to bake again. (My host mom also assisted me every day, and I think she was more than happy to send me off to Salatiga to embark on this last massive baking endeavour.) The time in Salatiga was AWESOME. It started out with the discovery of not just one, not even two, but three packages awaiting me at the MCC office. One was filled with beanie babies for kids here, and the other two were filled with treats and love directly from home. Going away this year has given me the chance to realize how incredibly blessed I am to have my family and friends at home. It just astounds me.

Laura joined me mid-morning, and we had lunch together, and then began the baking endeavour. We also decided to cook dinner on Monday night, and invited Karen and Major and a woman named Christy (who was formerly living in Winnipeg) to join us. I don't think I've ever felt more successful in the kitchen as I did on Monday afternoon (except for maybe Tuesday night, when I just whipped up a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies while waiting for 70 of the 500 sugar cookies to bake). Together, Laura and I made pepper chicken penne with a basil and oregano cream sauce, homemade garlic bread (using homemade bread that I made), and sugar cookies with fresh whipped cream and strawberries for dessert. It was SO MUCH FUN to prepare the meal in the Jantzi kitchen (the most well-stocked and conveniently organized kitchen in the world), and it was even more fun to have the chance to feel like hosts. We concluded the evening with some episodes of Friends and some popcorn, and went to bed.

I woke up on Tuesday morning to fresh bagels (only at the Jantzi house) with cream cheese. I added to that some of the homemade strawberry jam that Grandma sent me in a package, and it was absolutely amazing. Laura and I had a lazy morning, and then headed up to her school in Kopeng for the afternoon, to play Dutch Blitz with some of the students. It was a lot of fun! We came back down to Salatiga in the evening to conclude our baking endeavour, and enjoyed dinner at the Pancisila (the city centre)- nasi goreng (fried rice), jagung bakar (grilled corn- INCREDIBLE stuff), and es jeruk (freshly squeezed iced orange drink) for rp.13,000 total (about $1.50). Nancy and Riki came back that evening from a three day trip to Jogjakarta, so we enjoyed hearing about their travels, and then watched Mama Mia together before heading to bed.

I found a little(?) friend hiding out under the cooling rack as I was putting away cookies. Laura kindly disposed of him for me.

 I left Salatiga around 9:30 yesterday morning, in order to get home in time to get to PPA Sendangguwo to prepare for today's party. We hung the paper chain, stuffed the candy into the pinata, and went on a long adventure to the store and to a juice stand for fresh mango and guava juice. From PPA Sendangguwo, I headed to PPA Sola Gratia, and found out that it was my last PPA! The kids have a holiday from now until July 11, and I head to Salatiga on July 12. I was glad to be there to see a few of the kids from TK one last time (and of course all the others too). I had a quiet evening at home after PPA ended.

Getting ready for the PPA party, with pinatas and paper chains!

This morning I got some stuff together for the party that was to happen this afternoon. I made icing for the cookies (the kids got to decorate the cookies themselves this time- no more flags for me!), and then straightened my hair as per the request from the staff at PPA. At 1:30, I headed over to do some final prep. When I caught a glimpse of the classroom, I instantly realized how much of a mutual impact the PPA community and I have had on each other this year. The staff had made a big sign at the front of the classroom, saying "Thank-You Ellery, We love you", and balloons were up and the pinata was painted and hung. The whole party was just one thing after another- a song that two girls had practiced to sing especially for me, a homemade hair clip made by two of the girls (who made matching ones for themselves), homemade cookies that the staff made and decorated together especially for me, phone accessories and a handwritten note (written in English by a non-English speaker) from one of the staff, a pencil case from another girl, a prayer especially for me, and a meal of grilled fish and rice, made specifically for me because they know I love grilled fish. It was just incredible. We decorated cookies together, did a gift exchange, and broke open the pinata, using a rolling pin as a stick (the most resilient pinata ever created- I thought we may have to get out a saw, it was so strong), as well as shared that wonderful meal together. PPA was not in my original assignment description when I accepted the position in Indonesia, but am I ever thankful that it got added into my weekly activities. It wound up being one of my favourite things about my life here (besides my TK kiddies), and I learned an incredible amount from the staff and parents and kids there, and just had tons of fun with that group of people. We still have one more party tomorrow, for the other group of kids, and then that chapter of my Indonesia experience will come to an end as well. All that remains of my original weekly schedule is Ichthus FM! Not to worry though, these next three weeks are absolutely crammed full of plans and outings.

The pinata that wouldn't break! We still had lots of fun, and at least everyone got a turn this way!

The staff at PPA Sendangguwo. I have been SO LUCKY to get to spend time with this awesome group of people each week. Left to Right: Bu Lisa, Milka, Ary, (me), Mega, Pak Hardy.

Before I close this post, I wanted to mention a few things that need prayer. First and foremost is a situation within my community regarding a young boy (18 years old) who decided to leave home without warning, and attempt to figure life out on his own, without the help and support of those who have been trying to assist him up until now. I will keep the details vague in a place as public as a blog post, but ultimately, my host family, my church community, and the boy himself could really benefit from your thoughts and prayers surrounding his decision, and the questions and hurt feelings of those who are affected by this. If this is something you'd like more details about, I can send you an email with more information.

Secondly, I just wanted to tack on a prayer request for my foot! A three-year old injury that never properly healed flares up every once in awhile, but this flare-up has been quite persistent and has spread to other parts of my foot. It makes walking kind of painful, and after a visit to the doctor, it seems that not a lot can be done for it right now. It's not too terrible or anything, but there are a lot of activities coming up, and I really want to be able to participate in them wholeheartedly, before the year draws to a close. I'll add to this a prayer request for my host mom as well. She's been feeling under the weather for the last month, and is unsure what the cause is. Prayer for quick healing for her would be greatly appreciated.

And with that, I shall leave you to enjoy the rest of this day!
Thanks for reading!

Lots of love,
Ellery

The End of TK...

Good Morning!

It is with a bit of a heavy heart (and a tear or two glistening on my cheek) that I announce that the primary component of my official assignment here in Indonesia has reached its end. Yesterday, I said good-bye to 61 of the most respectful, patient, and unconditionally loving little people I've ever met. We celebrated the end of the year with a Kung Fu Panda 2 and banana pancake party that was truly cross-cultural, as we used a Western pancake recipe, and topped the pancakes off with Gula Jawa sauce, a Javanese sugar sauce. It felt a bit surreal to say good-bye to my kiddies, and I can't really wrap my mind around the fact that I will likely never again see those kids, who were my greatest source of joy this year, and who provided me with so many smiles, laughs, and opportunities for learning and growing. My kiddies taught me more than I could have ever hoped to teach them, particularly about being patient (they have way more patience than I do), about being content (they're way more content than I am), and about just seeing the joy in the little things (like a sticker). I'm thankful beyond thankful that those kids were put into my life here, and they will be missed above all else when I am home and reflecting upon my life here.

Banana pancakes with my TK kiddies. These kids made my year!

 The last two weeks have been a bit nuts, as we were preparing for the TK-B Graduation ceremony last Saturday, and then for the TK end-of-the-year party, which happened yesterday. Kenang-kenangan (keepsakes/souvenirs/momentos) are a big part of the Indonesian tradition, and I have already been given so much from so many people; the generosity has really been overwhelming. On the flip side, there is not only a hope for, but an expectation, for me to provide the same for people here. That has been equally overwhelming, though for different reason, and the preparation for that consumed almost every free minute of my days for the last little while (and severely cut into my sleep, which has made these last few weeks quite exhausting). What could I possibly have been doing to consume so much time, you ask? Well, I wanted to do something unique and memorable for my kiddies, something that represented this year in a special way. It also had to be something affordable, since anything I did for 1 person had to replicated 60 more times. Finally an idea came to me- flag cookies! I decided I would bake sugar cookies for all of the kids, cut them into rectangles, and ice them to look like the Indonesian flag and the Canadian flag (two cookies for every kid). I thought it would kind of be a cool cultural thing, it would be unique, and it would reflect the immense amount of love that I feel for those kiddies.As it turns out, more love (and a drop or two of stress) went into those cookies than I ever thought possible. About 5 days of love, to be exact. I learned that sugar cookie dough melts at an alarmingly rapid speed here in this climate, so I could only rip off small bits at a time, keeping the rest in the freezer, and then quickly roll and cut before the dough melted into a gooey mess. I also went through a shocking quantity of flour, trying to un-stick the dough every time I rolled it. Then we'd carve the maple leaf into them prior to baking (all credit for that goes to my friends Debora, Anna, and Laura), and then pop 'em in the oven, 8 or 9 at a time. And then there was the icing process! I wanted to make hard icing, so that I could put the cookies into baggies, and package them all pretty (complete with homemade name tags, a hand-written note, and a picture of me on the back). Corn syrup was nowhere to be found, however, so we (Laura and I) decided to make our own. In the process, we created a lovely thick caramel candy- so hard, in fact, that we couldn't even bite it, let alone mix it into the icing like corn syrup. We fixed that little blunder, and then soldiered forth with icing 122 cookies (which was also no easy task). Anyways, so the cookie baking/icing/bagging expedition was a drawn out one, and I questioned whether it was even going to be worth it in the end. I got my answer this morning, when one of the parents came in (a parent of one of my favourite kiddies in the TK). She said that her son (Yusuf is his name) woke up this morning, and suddenly remembered that I am leaving. She said he started crying, and was looking around for the picture of me that I had stuck to the back of the cookie bags. She said he held it close to his heart after that. That alone was worth all the stress and tension of the cookie-making ordeal. Another student came up to me and asked when I'd be able to make those again for her. She really liked them! So in the end, it was all worth it, and I'm glad I did it.

The end result of my cookie baking endeavour! (With many MANY thanks to those who helped me get these done!)

In addition to the TK kids, the list of people who are anticipating at least a little something from me includes the staff at church and at the TK, the staff at PPA, the youth group, and about 150 PPA kids. I head to Salatiga on Monday to continue the cookie baking excitement. ;) While I have been a bit(?) overwhelmed with trying to come up with ideas of how to show my appreciation to such a large number of people (which is a challenge, as it is entirely impossible to repay people here for all of their help and kindness this year), there is an incredible blessing in that. I am realizing just how many people's lives I got to be involved in this year, and how well-received I have been by those people. This year has certainly looked quite different than how I anticipated it to look, and sometimes I feel a deep sense of frustration and disappointment that my wildly idealistic visions for this year weren't met. I've felt like I haven't learned what I was so hoping to learn, and haven't accomplished what I was expecting to accomplish. The tangible reminder in the form of a mega list of all the people I need to thank, shows me that while this year may not have been what I was expecting it to be, it was still undoubtedly a worthwhile year. I learned from all of these people that I interacted with, in ways that were entirely unanticipated. These interactions have provided me with a LOT to think about and consider; my preconceived notions have been shattered, and my views of overseas mission, of service, and of new cultures has been dramatically altered. While these learning experiences have often been confusing, frustrating, and challenging, I think that ultimately I can only respond with gratitude for the opportunity to have had these experiences. When I get back home and have a chance to reflect upon this year, I hope to gain a clearer and clearer vision of how this year shaped me. For now however, I shall continue to bake my cookies by the dozen, and try to maintain as stress-free an attitude as I possibly can!

Between all the baking and gift giving and receiving, a notable event that occurred in the last few weeks was the TK-B Graduation Ceremony! Kindergarten graduations here certainly put our kindergarten graduation ceremonies at home to shame. (Do they even celebrate that accomplishment in Canada?) My kiddies were decked out in robes and graduation hats, and the teachers worked all week to make tubes (is there an official word for that?) for their little graduation certificates. Makeup artists and hairdressers came in early last Saturday morning, and all of the kids (boys included) were made over in preparation for the big event. This was another opportunity for me to experience the differences between what we hold as standards of beauty. I got up early that morning, put on my makeup (which includes powder that makes my skin a little darker), and headed to school. About an hour later, I was being doused in whitening foundation and powder; white skin is as highly regarded as beautiful as tanned skin is in our culture (perhaps even more so here). They also did my hair in an inexplicable hairdo that only pictures can capture. I'll suffice to say that it took over an hour to un-tease it (we were halfway to dreadlocks, she teased the bottom layers so much) and to wash out the half bottle of hairspray used to hold my hair in place. I was also dressed in a kebaya, a traditional Javanese outfit for formal occasions. (Well, half a kebaya, as the skirt part was not intended for my Western figure.)

That hairstyle was a feat of humanity. The shirt I'm wearing is a kebaya, traditional Javanese clothing

The Graduating Class!

 I played the music for the ceremony, and was presented with a beautiful gift (a batik shirt, a batik dress, and a batik bag, along with two batik maps) as a thank-you from the TK. I gave a little thank-you speech as well, and presented them with a small gift too. Afterwards, the kids all changed into costumes and put on a play/dance/musical show of sorts. It was about as high quality as you could expect from 3-5 year olds, but the adorableness of it outweighed the lack of coordination. Overall, it was a really great little production, and I was really glad to be able to be involved in this little memorable moment of these kids' lives.
Other than that, the last days and weeks have held a pre-wedding dinner and the accompanying wedding the next day, some trips to different batik stores to search for some good things to take back with me, and a whoooole bunch of trips to the picture developing store and the baking supply store. It's been busy busy busy, and I'm glad that this weekend is a bit slower. It'll be nice to have a break. This afternoon is just housekeeping, with youth happening tonight. Tomorrow is church and then a free afternoon, and then I head to Salatiga on Monday morning.

My schedule is really filling up for these last few weeks in Semarang, as people are kindly offering to take me out on special little adventures, or inviting me to join in pre-planned outings and events. It's going to be a busy finale to the year!

I hope you're all keeping well. Those of you in the Niagara area who are going to the Strawberry Festival, eat something delicious for me!! ;)

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Ellery

A Wonderful Weekend with Beautiful Friends!

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

The Good-Byes Begin

Selamat Siang, Keluarga dan Teman-Teman! (Hello, Family and Friends!)

It seems I blinked and missed the month of May! I awoke yesterday morning to be greeted by the first day of my last full month here in the Indo. This is both a cause for both excitement, as I anticipate many reunions with family and friends (and food!) from home, and also for sadness, as I prepare to say good-bye to the family and friends (and food!) that have become so special to me here. This past week, we have been receiving emails about end-of-the-year stuff, and we have the date confirmed that we will be heading back to Salatiga for a group "disorientation" (July 12th), so I'm now really feeling in this weird limbo stage, as things wrap up here, but as going home still seems too far away to be believable.

The good-byes started this week on Wednesday, as we held our last Gloria Patri Learning Centre session. Rather than teaching, we held a going-away party, with Indonesian food (mie ayam, or a type of chicken noodle soup) as the main course, and Canadian food (homemade banana chocolate chip muffins and sugar cookies) for dessert. Debora and Ibu Linda came over on Tuesday night to help prepare for this, and we ended up baking together from 4PM until almost 10PM. It was a fun evening! We made a whole bunch of icing in different colours, and thought that the kids may like to decorate their own sugar cookies. This proved a HUGE hit, and was a first for many kids there. Their excitement was contagious, and I was so happy to see them with such big smiles on their faces. On top of that, the kids all signed a "Thank-You" card for me, which was really special. Then one of the people who coordinate the learning centre presented me with a thank-you card, along with a gift (a beautiful batik bag), and kue bandung, one of my favourite Indonesian desserts. It was a really special evening, and while it was sad to say good-bye, I was so happy to leave on such a high note.

I went to Salatiga as per usual on Monday, and met Laura for the day. We tried a new place for lunch, called "Biztro", having wanted to go there for a long time as it is the place that Ibu Rini (Pak Lilik and Ibu Christin's helper) used to work. It was a really cute place, and would have been perfect had it not been for a slightly over-eager waiter who took a liking to me, and made valiant efforts to woo me, but lacked a few key social skills, which wound up being deal-breakers. (ie: I'm not really into guys who wait outside the bathroom stall for me to emerge so that, while I'm washing my hands, they can remind me- for the third or fourth time- to give them a call). I never knew I was such a catch until I came to Indonesia, and without putting in even a tiny bit of effort! All that's required to maintain such status is to continue to wake up in the morning with white skin. This is something that still boggles my mind.

After lunch, Laura and I took a nice long walk from Biztro to a little store we like, and halfway through that walk, I started feeling a bit sub-par. This feeling continued as I headed home, and into that evening, and then persisted through the rest of the week. It started with a mild fever (which is long gone), and I am covered in little red dots today, which I have been told is something to do with the virus escaping through the skin, and I will be better as soon as the dots clear up (well, worsen first, and then clear up). Being ill in Indonesia presents a whole onslaught of cultural differences, and opens up opportunities for much learning, as well as practice in negotiation and compromising skills. I've tried all sorts of new herbal drinks and medications this week, and spent a rather immense amount of time in bed. They suggested that I go home early from TK on Tuesday, and then I missed Wednesday, and when the dots broke out, they sent me home again today. It's been nice having a lay-low week, but at the same time, I go a little crazy with too much down time, and I was not overly thrilled to be sent home today. (At home, my family employs a "take an advil if you must, and soldier forth with your day" approach to illness, and I think there's something to be said for the whole mind-over-matter philosophy.) Nicole, Nancy, and Laura are coming down today, and I am really looking forward to getting up and out, and hanging out with my beautiful YALT friends.

Well, it's a short post from me today!
I hope you all have a great day!

Love,
Ellery