loving arms.

well, i've been back in country for almost a week now. it's been really good getting back into the swing of things and knowing that i don't have to pack up and leave again in a few days. it seems like that's been my entire summer's story.

lots of things happened over the summer, much of which i was gone for. many teachers left, and more new ones came. the new jaga finally got a uniform. i have a new neighbor. rainy season ended at long last. 2 of my best indonesian friends moved to different islands. 2 of my best american friends went home on furlough. anniversaries of births and anniversaries of deaths were celebrated. i missed the ENTIRE world cup (didn't watch a single game). ron and kim are no longer here to be my adopted parents or to fix my computer or to feed me. my driver's license expired. some new missionaries moved to town to start language school. things got repainted. things got repaired.

but there's still a cat sized hole in my bathroom ceiling.

some things i wish i had been here for. some i was glad to be gone for.

salatiga is great though. and life is great. i am so blessed. 5 of our 8 new teachers are single girls, so i've been having lots of fun getting to know them and helping out when i can.

school starts on tuesday and teacher meetings started last wednesday. most of those have actually been kind of fun. i really love the people i get to work with. even the boring parts of the meetings aren't so bad with coworkers like them.

and i don't know if anyone remembers or not, but the friday before school starts is a day when our national staff celebrates indonesian independence day with us. usually we play ridiculous games, mostly designed for their entertainment as they watch us whiteys fail miserably at all the traditional games. i mean, seriously? - who can catch a rice cake with their mouth? well, i was VERY impressed by our staff. they, as a group, decided this year (remember that many of them aren't saved... i'd say somewhere around 1/3 - 1/2 are muslim) that they wanted to do community ministry to celebrate independence day. instead of playing games. so we divided up into groups, and friday we headed to different parts of town to CLEAN! this side of salatiga looks great now... we mowed lawns, trimmed hedges, swept the streets, pulled weeds, cleaned the roadside gutters, and picked up ALL the garbage we could find - which was a LOT in a country that tends not to use garbage cans! we were filling up truck beds, just to give you an idea of the quantity of trash we found...

besides independence day, something else that i forgot i was coming home to is ramadan - the fasting month. some will start fasting the 10th and some the 11th, depending on which calendar they follow. so lately there have been lots of weddings and parties to celebrate the beginning of the holy month. for the first time in a LONG time, independence day (one of the biggest celebratory days of the year) is exactly a week after ramadan starts... so most neighborhoods have also been celebrating that holiday early since they won't be able to on the actual day. for the record, we will be celebrating the 65th anniversary of indonesian freedom. and basically, i came home to one giant party. music and fireworks have been pretty much nonstop the last several days.

oh, and i've made several muslim friends this past year. i've already been invited to some idul fitri (end of fasting month) parties, and i've been asking questions about the "rules" of fasting and all that. it's amazing what you learn when you're brave enough to use the language and ask questions!

so anyways, that's how things are right now. i'm home. it's a party. i've thought before that the best part of any trip is coming back home. but last night, i got to see a bunch of friends that i hadn't seen since june (the group i went to pacitan - the beach - with) since i've been on and off the island so much. and i changed my mind - kind of. the best part of a trip is the moment when you are LITERALLY welcomed back with loving arms.