G has always thought that we are going to have a “laki-laki lagi.” We’ll see if he’s right. Go vote if you think we are going to have a boy or going to have a girl…

What do you think we are having?(survey)

the musholla just up the hill from us

Every day we hear 5 calls to prayer from the local mosques surrounding us:

1. at dawn (around 4 am)
2. at noon (12:00 pm)
3. afternoon (around 3:00 pm)
4. sunset (around 6 pm)
5. nightfall (around 7 pm)

Usually G is getting settled into bed during the nightfall prayer, and so we often notice this one. For the most part the rest of them have become so common, that we don’t often notice. The other night G was just laying down when the call started and he began to mimic it. I asked him what he thought the guy was saying, and G said something like “it’s time to go to bed.”

I think it can be a beautiful sound and often use it as my own call to prayer, if I notice it.

On August 17, we joined our Indonesian friends as they celebrated their 64^th year of independence. We are found that they love to party and find this holiday a great excuse to do just that. Starting weeks before, there were neighborhood competitions (like Eel-in-a-Bottle, Water-Bag-Pinata, Kerupuk Eating Contests, and many more) that got us all involved. We hung flags from our fences and cleaned our streets together. We collected donations and planned together. And finally, we culminated the whole celebration in a late night block party complete with an awards ceremony featuring international guests—yes, us! It was a great time to bond and relax with the people who we share most of our lives with here. But as a local pastor shared later in a men’s Bible study, the freedom that we celebrated was only partial. Only a portion of us really enjoy true freedom. It was refreshing and challenging to hear his vision for bringing true and complete freedom to every part of this nation, starting with those closest to us. 

Another cultural phenomenon that we are experiencing for the first time is the month of religious fasting. Shortly after our Independence Day party, the festivities took a sharp turn toward piety. The devotion and commitment required to do this year after year is really amazing. With so much focus being placed on religion and beliefs right now, we are finding some small opportunities to discuss some of these deeper issues with folks around us. And where our language allows, we have had some conversations that begin to touch on the similarities and difference between what we believe.  

That issue of language ability (or slowly shrinking lack thereof) faces us every time we venture outside our home—and sometimes even when we try to stay in it! This month, it was spotlighted for Michael as he underwent a culture and language evaluation with our team of language consultants here. From an hour of conversational interview and story telling, we’ve come to the conclusion that his language proficiency has just barely become Capable. The system of quantifying language ability is rather complex, but we use a system with 4 levels (Basic, Progressing, Capable, and Proficient). You might remember a few months ago that we were both evaluated to be at a middle Progressing level. Amy is scheduled for an evaluation soon also, so we look forward to seeing how far she’s come in that time as well. Realizing the results of our slow progress over these past months is rather encouraging. 

As far as health, Amy has been feeling better lately. Her extra strength morning sickness (the kind that last 24 hours) has faded recently. From our second ultrasound a few weeks ago, the baby seems to be doing well also. We have lots of decisions regarding the delivery in February, but we have a lot of good options open to us that make those choices a little easier. Some of those decisions are still dependent upon other future plans that we are currently making. So far, we still hope to be moved from here to Central Indonesia by the end of this year to continue language study and begin some other ministries there. 

But until then, we’ll keep our focus on keeping sane during life and language study here. We appreciate the time you take keep up with us and pray for us, and ask you once again to keep it up.

Your friends in Indonesia (and for those with more than one entry in that category, more specifically…)

The Huttemans

In addition to my good looks, it appears my poor son has also inherited my athleticism. That being the case, I still entered him into some of the neighborhood contests that were held here in honor of the 64th anniversary of Indonesian independence (you’re right, we were a few weeks early, the actual holiday isn’t until 17 August). Unlike the “coconut shell shoe on a string race”, the “drop a pencil in a bottle game”, the “water bag pinata”, and various other feats of coordination and speed, I assumed that G would at least stand a chance at the “kerupuk eating contest”. Apparently, though, hands free eating is just not one of his strong suits.

We consoled ourselves that none of the other contenders in his weight class got off more than a bite during the 10 minute contest either. In the end, he was cheered by the whole neighborhood and got to eat his kerupuk later anyway. I really think G enjoyed losing just as much winning. So there’s another trait I lent him. I love you son!

Michael

first names are more important here anyway

In the past week the 3 of us have all been to a doctor of some sort, and I feel less stress about those three visits combined than I do just thinking about visiting a doctor in America. For one, I don’t feel like I am compromising G’s college fund to take him for a checkup. In fact, his most recent exam (with a course of antibiotics) cost less than Rp. 50,000 (about $5). And before than a head wound patch up was completely free. I had a routine exam with an eye specialist for another $5. But what really blew us away was Amy’s prenatal check-up, ultrasound, and lab work that ran a bill of Rp. 125,000 (that’s right, $12.50). You couldn’t eat out on the way home from your doctor for that much, could you?

Of course, there are some aspects of the healthcare system here that are probably less than ideal. Having to explain symptoms with hand motions is another (but then again it’s only us foreigners who have to do that). The differences in explanations for why people are sick (they were thinking about too many things, or she ate too much sugar, or he’s been falling down too much). Who can ignore the clothes rack with freshly washed latex gloves drying in the street. And the fact that patients have to round the time on the ”OPEN” sign up to the nearest hour divisible by 3, also makes getting well in Indonesia a little tricky.

But those few small things aside, we really appreciate being cared for here in Indonesia.

MICHAEL

Sorry this won’t be an Indonesian Recipe, ever since I got pregnant it has been a little bit harder to eat Indonesian food. I know, I scoffed at people who said that too, but then it happened to me. I imagine that once morning sickness is gone, I’ll be able to eat it all over again. I found out though, that this is a very Indonesian way to feel, a lot of my close Indonesian friends didn’t want to eat rice when they were pregnant, some only wanted bread and cheese (which are considered to be very American foods). This is unbelievable to me because rice is even more than a staple for Indonesians, it is THE food, everything else is just a side dish.

BREAD (this easy recipe comes from my grandmother, Rose Petersen and makes 2 LOAVES of BREAD)

6c flour (3 c whole wheat/3 c white, can also add 1/2 c of flax or wheat germ) 
2T yeast
4T sugar
4T oil
2t salt
2½ c lukewarm water

Combine 4 c of flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. You can activate the yeast by putting it in the warm water for 2 minutes before hand, but this isn’t always needed, I just do it if my yeast is old or if I’ve been having some problems with my bread rising.
Add oil and water.
Mix  in additional 2 c of flour until the bread is the correct consistency. It should be pulling away from the bowl, and starting to look “elastic.” I then turn it onto a floured surface and knead it adding more flour until it is no longer sticky, and has a nice appearance.
Place in greased plastic bowl, cover with towel and allow to rise. Dough should double in size (approximately 1 hour)
Shape the dough as you wish. My favorite is to make three long pieces of dough, and then braid them together.
Let the loaves rise again (approximately 30 minutes)
Brush beaten egg on the top of the loaves and sprinkle with sesame seeds, dried rosemary, or poppy seeds if you wish.
Bake in a 350 F (170 C) oven for about 60 minutes, or until golden brown. If you are unsure if the loaf is done in the inside you can tap it, if it sounds faintly hollow, it’s done.

APPLESAUCE

Apples (roughly 1/2 lb–we just use small tart local apples, but sweeter ones would work too)
Copious amounts of Cinnamon

Peel, core, and slice the apples. Boil in enough water to cover them until mushy. Put the apples in your blender with as much cinnamon as you like, some of the water to thin it, and then blend away. You can also put the apples in a large wooden bowl, and mash them with the removable end of your rolling pin (or a fancy tool specially created for this purpose). If you have a fine mesh sieve, you can boil the apples with the peels on (you won’t lose as many vitamins), and mash them through the sieve. Depending on the apples, you won’t need any sugar.

PEANUT BUTTER

Shelled, Raw Peanuts

Toast your raw peanuts in a fry pan or in your oven (make sure you pay attention to them in the oven–they’ll burn in about 5 minutes and get totally black in 7). Put them in the dry mill of your blender (this thing is the best invention ever. We grind our coffee in it, we can grind spices in it, we make peanut butter), or maybe in a food processor and then blend away. In about 2 minutes it will turn into a nice peanut butter. Salt not needed. Oil not needed. We used to take the papery skins off the peanuts before blending, but found that the taste difference was so small that it wasn’t worth the work (I’m a very lazy cook).

1. Becak (Bicycle Cart): a little more expensive way of getting around town.
2. Susu (Milk) Truck: we have our milk delivered to us too, but it’s by a guy in a motorcycle truck.
3. Sampah (Trash): There is a guy who pushes a cart and collects our trash every other day or so.
4. Angkota/Mikrolet: The local town transportation. $ .20 to go most anywhere.
5. Sepeda Motor/Ojek: we mostly ride motorcycles everywhere. In our new town we’ll be able to hire a motorcycle driver to take us short distances.
6. Taksi: They don’t have any in here in our town, but the next place we are going to move to will. They are just really expensive.
7. Dokar (Horse Cart): G especially loves taking a horse cart places.
8. Mobil pemadam kebakaran (firetruck): I’ve never seen one, but heard that one of our friends was side swiped by one and had to go to the hospital, so there must be some around. Since our houses are mostly made of brick (termites eat all the wood), there isn’t as much worry of fire.

But than again there are many differences. It’s fun to think of the similarities for a minute though.

Wasn’t it inevitable? Michael and I decided to go away for the night to celebrate our 6th anniversary. This was our first night without G, but we left him in the capable hands of our house helpers. They watch him every day while we are in school so they know the drill, know the house, and even do a load of laundry or two while babysitting. Not to mention the fact that G gets along with them really well. As we were sitting down to dinner, I got a phone call that G had fallen down, had a small cut, and “boleh dijahit di bidan sistwanti (can he be stiched at the midwife’s?).”  To which I replied: “No. First call our friends so they can stop by and decide if he needs stitches or just super glue.” I would rather him not go  through the trauma of facial sutures without me. We jumped on our motorbike for a quick and cold 30 minute ride back to the house. We pulled into the driveway just in time to tuck him into bed after convincing him to take off his blood soaked shirt (he was kind of proud of it). It really must have been quite a crime scene as there were blood stains everywhere. We tried to assure the ladies that they had done a wonderful job. And when all was settled down here, we reluctantly returned to finish our uneaten dinner, and enjoy our already paid for cabin.

We got back early this morning and let our helpers go home and rest. I think they are way more traumatized than G. We opened up his bandages this morning to see that he maybe should have been sewn after all, but we’ve got a butterfly on it hoping that will help. Good thing he’s a boy, and boys consider scars cool (or so I’m told).