Visit

Woman harvesting tea at plantation

I don't know what it is like for you to have someone visit where you live. For me it means that, starting a few days or weeks before they arrive through the time they are here, I see things through their eyes. So, starting a few weeks ago and continuing now, I have been looking at Jakarta new again through the eyes of my parents, who arrived here a couple of weeks ago and leave this Tuesday (January 21). In spite of the busyness of a new semester and showing them around, their visit has forced me to see Indonesia the way I first saw it 6 months ago, before I became slightly immune to the poverty and struggles of this place. With them, we have experienced the economic extremes (driving through slums and staying at beautiful country villa), geographic extremes (urban congestion and rural isolation), weather extremes (puring rain and relative dryness) and cultural and religious extremes (Thai puppets and muslim calls to prayer). Over all its been a good time to reflect and visit.

Here are some highlights in pictures of my parents (Tom and Carolyn's) visit to Indonesia.

Neil with Sumatran Orangutan at Taman Safari (which by the way means "forest person" in Bahasa)

Mom and Hope with students at Taman Fatillahah (The students interviewed mom for an English class assignment)

Grand kids and mom and dad at Taman Mini


Eric, Neil and Matthew White with elephant at Taman Safari

Mom and Dad at tea plantation in the mountains

Great pictures

The 7 of us ( including my parents, Tom and Carolyn) made a trip to the mountains (Puncak) January 5 and 6. We joined our friends the White family, who also had parents visiting and Steven Pointdexter ( another first year SPH teacher we had met in Singapore in July). We all had a great time. Kim White took lots of pictures of the event, which included a night in a mountain villa and a trip to Taman Safari (Indonesian version of Busch Gardens). Check out the pictures at:

http://trisandkim.blogspot.com/2009/01/back-from-hills.html

Kim is not only a great photographer, but an accomplished and prolific blogger. Have fun reading and seeing. We will be posting more pictures and comments later.

Answers to poll question

Here is the answer to the poll question "Which of the following items purchased by the Weedas in Bali was the most expensive (at around $10.45)?"

1. Most people (56%) correctly guessed the sunscreen. After finding out that some generic sun screen that we had bought in Jakarta was not working, we felt compelled to buy name brand "Hawaiian Tropic" for its protective powers, even though it was over $10 for a small bottle (105,000 Rupiah) . It was worth it.

2. Janet's hour long full body massage was 60,000 Rupiah or about $6.

3. Janet's batik sorong was 37,000 Rupiah or about $3.70. Later we had to buy four more to visit the Hindu temple. They were 50,000 each. If you ever need to borrow one, we will now gladly lend you one of the 5 we now own.

4. McDonald's Mc Flurrys in Indonesia all run about 5,000 Rupiah or about $.50 each. In Bali, the were 5,500 Rupiah, or $.55. For 5 they were about $2.70. (They are a bit smaller in size than they are in the U.S.)

My parents, Tom and Carolyn, arrived last Saturday night and we have been busy vistiting places. Stay tuned for more posting regarding the things we see!

Resolutions

I don't even remember what I resolved last new year's eve (December 31, 2007). However, if it was the following, it came true:

1. To lose 25 pounds
2. To develop a nice tan
3. To be a millionaire

None of these are quite as glamorous as they seem. The weight loss is the product of a month of intestinal problems, the tan the result of a bad sunburn in Bali and being a millionaire in Indonesia means you have a million rupiah (about a hundred dollars). In other words, beautiful women (other than Janet) are not starting to swarm around me :).

More pictures of the family from our trip to Bali:

Janet, Neil and I (after new years resolution!) :-)

Neil and I with Surfing Santa

Hope with Hindu priestess at Besakiah

The family at Besakiah temple

The New Year 2009 came a few days after the Muslim New Year, which this year occurred on December 28 (it floats because it is on a lunar calender). In Islam, the year is 1430 not 2009. On January 26, we will celebrate another ne year (Chinese). Lots of celebrating!

New Year

Background: when you go to Bali, the following alters are found outside of every business and home:

In addition, little woven trays can be found next to cash registers countertops and even dashboards of cars (as in this case).

In both these cases, these sacrifices are presented to good spirits so that positive things will happen through out the days or hours ahead. They had a variety of contents including flowers, cigarettes, money, candy, crackers and incense.

It didn’t end there, because on the ground in front of businesses and houses could be found the same little trays. In this case, they were offered to keep evil spirits (under foot) at bay.

On Christmas Day, Neil and I walked from our hotel to a mini mart to buy some drinking water. The streets were quiet as it was early on a holiday. However along the way, sitting in front of a closed shop sat a Balinese man and an Australian. I eavesdropped for 5 seconds as we walked by and heard an interesting reply to an unknown question/discussion. The Australian man said the following to the Balinese man (presumably the owner of the shop they were in front of):

“You should focus on creating a good product and selling it a fair price. That would help your business more than whether you are offering the right sacrifices throughout the day”.

In this answer, one sees a clash of worldviews between traditional (based on fate) and technological (based on rationalism) societies. We could spend hours looking at these two worlds (if you attended a Christian school or university, you have taken many classes already doing this, ad nauseum). One summary of these worldviews is this. Rationalism offers us answers (laws of science) but no meaning (there is nothing greater than ourselves, other than indifferent laws of nature) and Fate offers us meaning (spirits everywhere) but no answers (they act on seemingly arbitrary whims).

Through the groaning of a fallen world, may we cling to a Providential God of both meaning and answers in this New Year.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:15-16