Answers to Word origins quiz

Salamat- Arab (similar to "Salam alekem", traditional Arab greeting)
Rupiah- Indian (very similar to Rupee, the Indian currency)
Guru- Indian
Wanita- Portuguese (similar to Juanita)
Indah- Portuguese (similar to Linda)
Kantor- Dutch
Mie- Chinese (similar to “mein” , as in “chow mein”)
Mingo- Portuguese (similar to domingo)
Raja- Indian
Meja- Portuguese (similar to mesa)

Have a great week.

sweeda

Word origins quiz

Believe it or not, Indonesia has been a crossroads of world cultures for many years. Waves of merchants and conquerors have traveled to Indonesia. During the 17th century, Indonesia was the most coveted areas in the world by European explorers mainly for the spices found here (In fact, the English, Portuguese and the Dutch all vied for this land as a colony in what has been called the “Spice Race”. The Dutch eventually won. Before European contact, Chinese, Indian and Arab traders all stopped in Indonesia as part of established trade routes. As our family is learning Bahasa (the language of Indonesia), it has been fun to see Indonesia’s history tied into the words they use.

See if you can match the words below with the correct origin. All the Bahasa words below come from either Arab, Indian, Chinese, Portuguese or Dutch words. Answers will appear next week.

Salamat- Greeting as in “salamat malam” for good evening
Rupiah- currency
Guru- teacher
Wanita- Woman
Indah- Beautiful
Kantor- office
Mie- noodles
Mingo- Sunday
Raja- King
Meja- Table

Answer to picture quiz

The racket (seen below) has wire mesh that holds a mild electrical charge. As mosquitos buzz around you, simply bat at them with the racket and with a satisfying ZAP, they are history.

Watch out mosquitos (and Roger Federer)!

Weather forecast for Lippo Village for next 2 years

Hot and Hazy
High: 92
Low: 74
60% chance of thunderstorm
Humidity 90%

sunrise: 6:02 AM

sunset: 5:58 PM

Jealous?

Actually it has many drawbacks although to a North American right now it probably sounds good!

Cultural Awareness: This week, Eric started watching American Idol on TV so that he has something to talk about with members of his class. So much for immersing ourselves in another culture!

Operas of hope

"Paper People"

One of Hope’s favorite activities is playing “paper people”. This involves us cutting plain paper into human figures of all sizes and shapes which she then colors with clothes and faces. Often she asks us to cut out props such as bikes, cars, beds, chairs, suns, moons, stars and houses which will also then be colored. She will then spend hours weaving epic operas of love, family, and friends during which these “paper people” and the props are lined up on the floor in various ways while she talks and sings her way through the story in her mind. (The key dramatic elements of tragedy and treachery have not yet found their way into her tales, but will the closer she gets to middle school :-)). When the stories are completed or when the time comes to move on, the paper people are all packed away in a box. These “paper people” are far from two dimensional in her mind as they are often compilations of her real and imaginary friends and the scenes often mimic events (school, sleepovers, parties and play times) in her own life. If we try to throw away her “paper people”, she melts down.

Hope enters the story

Janet and I sometimes spend time discussing news we hear from our friends or family. Often, they are faced with decisions about their career, raising children, or working through difficult situations. Sometimes they are celebrating good news or exciting possibilities. While we dearly struggle, wonder and celebrate situations in their lives and long and pray for answers and clarity for them, there is an element in our talking through their epic journey where we find ourselves using their situation as a way of transferring/ projecting/discussing similar issues we face in our own life. In fact, the things most pressing in our lives currently are the things we most often gravitate towards in our conversations which were started by our reflections about other people and things. This sometimes happens without our even realizing it.

Neil relaxes with the cast of the WOZ

As you can see from the pictures, Neil for the past months has been practicing for a small part as a munchkin in the SPH Senior School presentation of the Wizard of Oz. He really enjoyed this as he hung out with teachers, high school kids as well as other munchkins his age. He also got to get out of school lots to practice and perform in an extremely professional production at a very cool theater in Jakarta.

Lastly and maybe most importantly, as a member of the Lollipop Guild (in which he had to sing a trio), he was one of many dancing and singing figures in this silly epic who helped a girl named Dorothy navigate through the terror and wonder of Oz …

SPH Dorothy

and find her way back home.

No wonder Neil (and the rest of us) like this story so much.

.

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On a different note:

Two days ago I paid the most and the least ever for round trip plane tickets...on the same day.

Most: Round trip tickets from Jakarta...to Hong Kong....to Tokyo...to Detroit....to Grand Rapids and back (in a slightly different way). Price: you don't want to know (or I don't want to tell you!). Dates in Michigan: June 16-July 15

Least: April is spring break and Asian air carriers are in a price war! We booked round trip tickets on Air Asia to Yogjakarta (a city about 300 miles away but quite unreachable by car) for $11 a ticket on the way there, and just under $5 a ticket on the way back! (I'm hoping we are not stuffed in the luggage compartment or sitting on the wing--Air Asia has the reputation as the Southwest Airlines of Asia, so thats reassuring). Total price ( including taxes, "administration fees" and $1.50 charge for suitcases) meant the round trip tickets were a bit above $35 a piece. Still a great deal!

Spring Break, here we come.

Please email if you get a chance!

Fun at the Canteen

2 minute primer to ordering food in an Indonesian Restaurant (with the knowledge that we are still figuring things out)

Daging- Meat (used optionally)
Ayam- Chicken
Nasi- Rice
Mie- Noodles (rice or ramen noodles)
Ikan- Fish
Bakso- Meatball (usually Chicken)
Sapi- Beef
Goreng- Fried
Soto- Stew
Sopa- Soup
Dan- and
Simbal- Chile sauce (should be assumed to be on most things)

Simply combine above phrases to order what you want (for example):

Nasi Ikan- Fish and rice
Nasi Goreng- Fried rice
Ayam Goreng- Fried chicken
Mie ayam bakso- Chicken noodles and meatballs

If you are thinking this is simple…it is!
If you are thinking this is vague…it is! Here’s the twist.

When you order Nasi Ayam (chicken and rice), how it is prepared depends on the region of Indonesia it comes from. For example, I often order Nasi Ayam Padang (Padang is a region of West Sumatra known for its spicy food) at the lunch canteen and get Chicken and rice which is then cooked in a chile and curry sauce. The dish also contains steamed jackfruit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit ), greens and some fried noodles (see picture below).

Nasi Ayam Padang a.k.a. lunchtime bliss

(clock wise from upper left: greens, fried noodles, jackfruit, chicken all smothered in chili)

Proper etiquette
“Native” Indonesians have never used chopsticks, although IndoChinese do when eating Chinese or Japanese food. Native Indonesians traditionally used only their hands (right hand only) in eating. During colonization, they began the custom using fork and spoons (no knives). It is interesting to cut with a spoon (which is what they do).

Proper eating technique (spoon in right hand, fork in left).

spoon can be used to scoop and cut.

What is the proper etiquette for eating a ice cream birthday cake?

For a mere $24, The family and I enjoyed a Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cake for my 41st birthday. Seeing as Indonesian sweets aren't very good, it was worth every penny!

Other misc. notes:

Update on the contest with the rats:

Tropical Weedas- 4

Rats- 0

Please answer the quiz question on the right. Talk more later and thanks for reading.

After a delay of a few weeks, I am once again blogging. Here are just a few miscellaneous events from the last week in our life.

1. We are in the middle of a rat infestation. Score so far:

Rats= 0

Tropical Weedas=3

Matches still in progress= ??? (hopefully not very many)

We have heard that the daily rains are driving them inside.

2. Lippo Village is hosting street car race on its new race track. This weekends events were small in scale, however in November, Lippo Village will host a Formula 1 A1 race that will draw teams from all over the world. This Sunday we drove down to the track, parked our car, and attended the race. When we returned to our car we found the following sticker "Achilles Radials: It's all about trust" on our car (in both the front and back). All the other cars around us also had the stickers as well. Apparently, you shouldn't trust your car with them when at a car race in which they sponsor.

Sticker on car before being scraped off

3. Neil and I competed in a fun run on Saturday morning where we got to run on the race track mentioned above. About 3 minutes into my race the heavens opened and downpour began. It was a miserable experience for a few minutes until I realized it cooled things off and it was a lot of fun! When the race was done, people were given tags regarding their place so they could collect prizes they had won. All the women runners were given a tag that said "winner's woman". Seeing as I didn't do very well, I'm glad Janet didn't run!

4. Neil will make his theatrical debut this coming weekend SPH High School's version of "The Wizard of Oz" where he stars as a munchin.

5. The weekend after next, I will be in the mountains with my Grade 11 students for a Spiritual retreat. It will be fun to be with students outside the school campus.

Following these two events over the next few weeks, I will return to a more normal blogging routine. Don't forget to email or comment!

sweeda

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