vaca-what?

so sometimes vacation doesn’t seem like much of a vacation. but it is always full of blessings, big and small. and parties. oh, the parties.

we had a half day of school friday, and thanks to my intense desire to be done with school, i had all my grades turned in before the final bell even rang. i was so ready to get out of there. and then the principal announced over the PA that all teachers needed to report to the auditorium for staff lunch. i was pretty bummed about having to stay longer. but turns out, this staff lunch was put on by the parents of our students. and it was a whole christmas spread, including three golden brown turkeys and homemade cranberry sauce. wow.

that night, i had not one, but TWO parties to go to. the first was a chili cookoff. i don’t want to brag or anything, but i’m pretty sure i unofficially won. then i went to some other friends’ house to watch cloudy with a chance of meatballs on the projector while laying on pillows in their backyard. awesome movie. watch it. really.

saturday i went to semarang with some friends to see new moon. awful movie. don’t watch it. really. i fell asleep after the first 20 minutes and woke up in time for the very last line. that is what i call good timing. after that, we went to yohanes’ parents house for a huge get together with his entire family and college friends. i started to feel a little awkward when i noticed that several of the men in yo’s family were coming to stand surreptitiously “beside” me (sometimes that meant behind me, depending on which way i was facing at the time) while who i assume to be an uncle was taking “our” picture from the corner. found out later his mom has designs on me. and didn’t really keep it a secret. fantastic. (side note: yo, if you are reading this, it’s more funny than awkward. promise. i like your parents.) we went to an outdoor lounge afterward that was built on a perch overlooking the whole city. we sat there drinking awesome drinks (honey, milk, and peach and strawberry ice cream – new favorite drink) and talking and taking pictures for an hour and a half STRAIGHT (nobody takes pictures like asians). we definitely got home well after midnight. which was a good feeling. because one of the best parts of break is staying up late and sleeping in!

sunday, i went BACK to semarang with charles and marie. to buy cheese. and to help them shop for christmas for the orphanage. i found feta! mm mm mm. AND miracle whip! kraft products were banned until just recently. i also found cherry tomatoes, mozarella, chocolate banana bread, and real-ish milk. this was obviously an above average shopping trip. i felt a little extravagant buying all those things, but you never know when you’ll see them again… oh, and we got clothes for 16 boys. that was mostly marie though. i just held the baby. and told her if things matched or not. while eating lunch, we ran into a family from charles’ parents church in jepara. they are extremely wealthy and support his church a lot, so as we approached them, marie quickly whispered to me, “shake hands and suck up.” okaaaaaay. i tried to be as charming as possible in a language i don’t really speak. i sat next to a really old guy in a wheelchair who kept talking to me, but i didn’t understand a thing he said. (marie said later that she can't understand him either, which made me feel a lot better.) luckily, in typical indonesian fashion, he asked a lot of questions, and each question ended with “ya?” (example: this food is really good, ya?) so i just said “ya” and smiled and nodded a lot. i have no clue what i was affirming or might have been agreeing to. but he seemed happy, so that’s good. his wife decided i am too old to be single (i AM getting there in this culture), so she promised to keep her eyes out for a suitable match. maybe i should give her yo’s mom’s number. they can duke it out.

(totaling up the last of the clothes for the orphanage)

monday was a staff christmas party at our superintendent’s house. and as much as i love hanging out with my fellow teachers, a better opportunity presented itself. a family who serves on another island was visiting and they were having dinner with some friends of mine that night. so i went there. the place where they live is very strongly muslim. but the husband was explaining to us that even more than that, this place is very strongly under the hold of satan. they are muslim on their ID cards, but they are more concerned with the spirit world than they are with the koran or with prayer. to witness to these people, he said that he often has to get them to be muslim FIRST, and then use that to lead them to christ. he also said that because he regularly reads the koran and is well known and respected in the area, people there will often say, “i wish i was more like him, he is a good muslim.” they were an awesome family, and i’m glad that i got to spend some time with them.

tuesday was the international school staff christmas party. all the indonesian staff get together and put this on for all the other staff. this year, i got to be designated photographer. in the auditorium. with all the lights off except for stage lights. ugghhhh. i think i did alright though. in a dress and high heels. i even understood the christmas sermon! well, most of it…

wednesday, GT and wiwik FINALLY got married! again, i was designated photographer. i was a little nervous about this one. i really had no idea what i was getting into. indonesian weddings are very different from american ones. and this wedding was particularly unique in that it was entirely planned in 10 days. also, the inside of the church was neon lime green. at the reception, there was a catered buffet, but NO tables or chairs! that was gt’s decision because he didn’t want people to linger. it worked.

today is christmas eve. i prayed a couple weeks ago that my christmas boxes would get here on time. God answered with, “what is christmas, really?” so i thought about it and came back with, “Christmas is about You. but You know how important it is for me to have that connection to my family when i am so far away. it means a lot to me.” and God said, “of course i know. your boxes will come.” so every day for two weeks, i’ve been bugging the office staff to see if my boxes came. nope. and school offices were closed today. so i asked charles to take me straight to the post office (i didn’t know where it was) so that we could check there. he did. they checked their incoming package log books for my name (yeah, records here are kept on paper. in ledger books.), but i wasn’t in there. then the man remembered, “two boxes came just a few minutes ago. we haven’t had time to process them. wait here.” he came back with two boxes that had my name on them. way to pull a last minute trick, God… though i already suspected that would be the case since it usually is. i got my boxes. and i’m really happy. and i’m being a very good girl and waiting until tomorrow to open them. also, the guy at the post office asked if charles is my dad. this is funny for two reasons. 1. he is only 10 years older than me, and he is pretty young looking. 2. he is 100% indonesian. i really don’t know how anyone could possibly assume we were even distantly related. i’m going to call him dad from now on, rest assured.

tomorrow, of course, is christmas day. sunrise christmas service in town and then i am apparently spending the day with charles and marie and another family that lives here. marie says if i don’t, she is telling my dad. i told her that he wouldn’t care. she said he would care that i was spending christmas day all alone. she might have me on that one. not really sure. how about it dad?

saturday… there is something going on saturday, but i totally forget what. hopefully it will come to me before then. or else get cancelled.

and then sunday… we take a bus to solo, a train to surabaya, a plane to lombok, a taxi to the northern point of the island, a boat to gili, and then a horse and carriage to our hotel. we like to use as many modes of transportation as possible. keeps things zesty. i am looking forward to getting away. majorly. and a lonely little beach island sounds perfect.

right here is good too though. my three cats are curled up in one giant ball sleeping beside me on the couch, and christmas music is playing through my speakers. oh, and don’t forget about the half eaten dead rat outside my door that was on my couch when i woke up this morning. festive.

and this thing was in my yard earlier. sorry, had to share.