The First Three Weeks

Phew.  We feel like we have been drinking from a fire hose.  So many new words, smells, traditions, people, foods, challenges, victories…… so. many.

We have been gone from the US for three weeks.  Right now, it really doesn’t seem like that long.  I know there will be days that feel different and I’m sure those are coming very soon but for now I feel like time has been flying.  I’m sure it has something to do with that fire hose….

We are settled into our new home in Salatiga.  It is a very nice house and I’m finally not screaming when I almost step on a lizard or when I find a giant cockroach in my bathroom.  To be honest though, I’ve only found dead cockroaches (praise God for whoever bought those roach tablets off our wish list!).  Jack had a live one hanging out in the shower with him the other day and I’m sure I wouldn’t have been as cool about it as he was.

Our home is truly beautiful and a blessing.  We have a gorgeous view of Mount Merbabu out our dining room window.  Emma has her own room and the boys have taken to sharing a room very well.  We have a lot of space and look forward to hosting dinners here once I can figure out how to cook.

RIP my beloved instapot.  We have not found a way to be able to use it with the electrical system in our house.  We almost made it release the “magic smoke” but thankfully we caught it in time.  If you know me, you know this was a giant loss.

We all started school this week.

Emma and Jackson are at Mountainview Christian School.  It is a very different culture than they are familiar with but they are getting used to it.  Asian learning tends to be intense and this school is no exception.  It is also absolutely different for them to be in the very small minority as American children and they especially stand out with their Dutch blonde hair.

Jack, RJ and I are attending formal language school.  We have learned SO MUCH in this first week.  It is incredible.  Be watching for a facebook live video soon and we’ll try to give you a little taste of Bahasa Indonesia :)  Just remember we’re like preschoolers again, learning our name, ABC’s and 123’s.

Here are a few God winks so far:

• On the third day we were here, Emma and Jackson met friends from school and have been going to open gyms for volleyball and basketball several times.
• We were greeted by our amazing staff in Jakarta when we landed and then by our Salatiga teammates when we flew here.  We are so thankful not to be alone.
• I successfully made hard boiled eggs without my instapot!  Have I mentioned RIP instapot? :(
• I made spaghetti sauce from scratch at the last minute last week and didn’t feel overwhelmed.  It was actually really nice to be cooking and feel a bit “normal.”
• We LOVE the food here.  It’s fantastic!
• The Marco Polo app has been a huge blessing to communicate videos with family in our free time and then they can answer in their free time.
• Most of us adjusted to the jet lag fairly quickly.  Most of us…. not this gal.  It took me the full 12 days for the 12 hour time difference.
• I went to a neighborhood women’s meeting (a regular thing here) even before language school started and a beautiful Indonesian neighbor befriended me and tried her best to help me understand what was happening.  She then invited me for tea and it was great to laugh and make mistakes in each other’s languages.  I look forward to a friendship with her.
• I started a bible study here once a week and I’m so thankful for the accountability and friendship that brings.  This was the first week and I exclaimed to the kids “I have friends coming over tonight!!!!”

Well, that’s enough words for now.  Thank you so, so much for the prayers for our family as we go through this gigantic transition.

Here are a pictures from our first few weeks:

Please continue to pray for us.

Specifics today:

• Supernatural retention and patience for learning Indonesian.
• The courage to create deep friendships even though they will only be for ten months in person.
• Details of settling in to all fall into place.