Our First Guest and More

Mountain Tea fields between Candi Cetho and Candi Sukho, Java Timur, Indonesia

For other recent Pictures click the picture above

       Three weeks ago we had our first guest visit from the USA. Sarod, a friend from our Church, contacted us and said he wanted to see the real Indonesia and decided to stay with us 10 days. We had month of anticipation and planning for his arrival.

We only had one problem the entire time he visited and it occurred when he arrived. “Where are they?” We showed up an hour late, ooops. Sarod from the get go proved he was the right person to visit us, especially for what we had planned. Ten days started in Surabaya, where we took him to Madakariapura waterfall, and ended in Yogyakarta where we showed him around for one night. In between were endless adventures within an hour of our site and showing him off to all the locals. He had the chance to eat the entire inside of a chicken all on one skewer stick, yes even the placenta. He saw the lush mountain farms, entered both of our school, met the youth group at Church, visited the local wood and bird markets, and even had a tailor make him a batik shirt with the handmade fabric he purchased that day. Many of those days ended with his feet dangling from the bed where he had already passed out, the heat of course added to this as well.

Paige and I asked him what the most surprising aspect of Indonesia was during his stay. He mentioned that it was very startling how different the sanitation levels were compared to America, especially to the eye. “There are many places we have eaten at which have been amazing and I have not become sick from that would never pass an health code inspection in the US let alone people would ever eat from.” The other was that it really surprised him how much attention we draw wherever we go from small villages to big cities everyone asks for photos.

We feel blessed that we could show him the best of our life in Indonesia and it was refreshing seeing and hearing his perspective. He has sense made it back home with no problems and informed us he was exhausted for a week. We take that as a huge compliment. We are always ready to be a personal tour guide of Java. Who’s next?

                    

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A friend of ours who happens to work for our old company, (FNI) Freese and Nichols in Ft. Worth, Texas, asked if we would write a brief article to share with FNI. The following is what we wrote.

Two years ago Paige and I made the decision to accept a nomination to join Peace Corps not knowing exactly where we would be sent or what our job would be. Today we’re living in a small, simple town (desa) named Caruban on the east side of Java Island, Indonesia. Since then we have had months of experiences that we will never be able to fully explain.

Our life here is pretty simple and enjoyable. Some normal experiences include: Riding bikes as our main source of transportation, which we are proud to say occurs every day. We teach English to 10^th and 11^th graders at local high-schools. We buy our food daily at the local market which provides amazingly fresh fruits and veggies and still cook together as we did in America. We have been forced to replace beef with tempe and tofu, but quickly realized we enjoy the taste. Oh and don't forget you haven't eaten unless you have had a portion of white rice.

The odd experiences that stick out: We have a new appreciation for air conditioning. Living on the equator the weather is constantly a hot 90-100 (F) during the day with humidity levels rarely under 50% and there are two equally long seasons: wet and dry. We are the only non-tourist white people within at least a 60 mile radius, so we are often treated as celebrities. Anywhere we go outside of our home desa, we are asked to pose for pictures. We made an Indo specific Facebook account so students can practice their English and already have had 4000+ add us as friends!  The people here are incredibly kind and loving. In America, often the words Muslim and Islam are looked down on, or feared, but we have been blessed with many friends in a predominantly Islamic community. People that are strong in their beliefs, but have no problem with other faiths, and hope for peace between the differences.

Indonesia is a beautiful country with incredibly fertile land. Everything grows, as though we live in a cartoon world. Sugar cane can grow 10 feet in a few months, avocados are the size of small footballs, and we have a dozen types of bananas to choose from. Not to mention the dozen fruits we had never heard of before.  Unfortunately littering is a major issue, so there are many places on this island that are incredibly dirty. The island of Java has a population of 180 million, so we try our best to promote taking care of our planet and personal health.

Life here is completely normal to us now but we realize how odd it can be to people back home. We’ve done our best to learn the good and bad of Indonesia, to share the good and bad of America, and to share the blessings Christ is providing. We continue to share our time and smiles, hoping it will promote understanding and awareness of how people live across the world. If you’d like to talk more, feel free to email or check out our blog.

       Kami akan kembali ke Amerika Serikat untuk Hari Natal dan berharap mengunjungi semuanya selama liburan. Tuhan memberkatimu (Check out Google Translate!)