New Things

1. The Old Made New

My laptop is baaaaack! Granted, this isn't new. But they had to re-install Windows, so it basically felt new. Thankfully, all of my files were backed up. But everything else was back to factory settings. So I had to re-remember how to get Windows to stop doing all of the annoying things it does. A small price to pay to have my laptop back to normal and working better than ever! Speaking of price - Mas Wahyu, the guy who fixed it for me, wouldn't accept any money for his labor. He worked on it for FIVE days! I finally stopped insisting and baked him a whole batch of pumpkin streusel muffins over the weekend instead.

2. New Things

I have this student who is Indonesian, but she and her family went to America for Christmas break. While the American stayed in Indonesia... funny, right? Well, anyways, her mom is super sweet and asked if she could bring me anything from America. I couldn't think of anything (because I knew I had Christmas packages coming that would be full of American good-ness). But they got back over the weekend, and today the mom came in my class and left a GAP bag on my desk. I thanked her and later looked in the bag. Holy cow. She went clothes shopping at the GAP for me!! I wasn't expecting the contents of the bag to ACTUALLY be from GAP... Such a nice gift and gesture. I'm thankful for generous people and sweet students and new clothes that smell like America!

3. New Events

Today I have something new to add to my calendar. I have an old friend who is part of a Muslim community here in town. He recently asked if I would teach English to some of his friends. At first, I wanted to say no. Because if I'm selfish about anything, it's my time. The ONLY day of the week that I don't have something extra-curricular scheduled is Tuesday. And that is my down time. I'm an introvert. I need that time. For myself. For my sanity. But then I realized that right in front of me is an open door. Like, it really couldn't be open any wider. This is a chance to make new friends and build new relationships and to teach and to be taught. And with people that I might not normally spend time with. And so I said yes. But I limited it to twice a month. Because like I said, I'm selfish. So tonight will be my first time teaching English to this crowd. I don't really know what to expect, but I think I'm almost actually looking forward to it!

4. New Experiences

Last night, I went out to dinner with some friends. I wore a hoodie that I haven't worn for several weeks. So as I always do, I shook it out really good to make sure no geckos or cockroaches were hiding in the sleeves. I put it on as I headed out the door. By the time I made it to my motorbike, my left arm was itching a little bit. I didn't think much of it. I just thought maybe an ant had been in my jacket or something. Ten minutes later, when I got to the restaurant, my left arm and my right shoulder were both itching like crazy. So I pulled up the sleeve of the jacket and inspected my arm. Uh.... basically, it looked like the time I found out I was allergic to penecillin. My entire left arm was swollen, covered in red bumps, and pretty itchy. Unfortunately, I had worn a tank top under the jacket, so there was no way I could take the jacket off in public. I left it on, and by the end of dinner, the itching had already gone down. Afterwards, I was going to a friend's house to practice conversational English. I headed straight there, but the wind on my bike made the itch flare up again. So when I got there, I made sure there were no men in the house (it was only my friend, her three year old daughter, and her mom), and I yanked my hoodie off. My friend gasped in horror, and I quickly realized why. My left arm up to my shoulder was swollen and covered in red welts, my right arm from the elbow up looked the same, as did the top half of my back. Upon closer inspection, I also found that part of my stomach and my left side from my hip to my armpit were covered with the same thing. They got me some salve and helped me put it on. And then they said to drink a glass of milk (??), so I did. The itching had gone down again, but I looked worthy of social ostracism. When I got home a few hours later, I rubbed coconut oil all over everything, and it cleared up pretty quickly after that. But the mystery still remains - what did I react to? Was it something in my jacket? Was it something I ate or drank? DID I FINALLY ACTUALLY BECOME ALLERGIC TO MIDDLE SCHOOL CHILDREN?? I may never know...

5. New Friends

There was a 4 day youth mission conference going on in my town over the past weekend. Speakers came from other countries to share about what God is doing in different parts of the world and to share from their own hearts as well. Most of them are staying much longer than the 4 day weekend and are speaking in many other venues as well. I got to help translate for one of the Indian men last week. And holy cow, I am terrible at understanding Indian accents. But it was the first time I've really officially translated for an event, and it was fun! I also spent quite a bit of time over the weekend talking to two of the other speakers - one from India and one from the Philippines. We all exchanged contact information, and I have invitations to visit both countries. I live in what a lot of Indonesians refer to as a village - comparatively speaking, it's a pretty small town. We don't even have a mall to boast of. But I love how international it is here - even outside of my immediate school community. Now, who wants to sponsor my grand world tour where I visit all the amazing people I've met in my time here? Donations are accepted. : )