Some Little Big Things

I feel like the last couple of weeks have been full of new/big things. Three different sports seasons are currently under way, so there is never any shortage of after school entertainment around here! Our school also changed its name last week after a mandate from the government stating that no school in the entire country is allowed to use the word “International” in its name (this in response to a child molestation case at another international school… What is the connection, you might ask? Well, your guess is as good as mine…). We didn’t do anything drastic, we just dropped the word “international” from our name. So now in our school name’s abbreviation, there is no longer a vowel, which makes it hard to say. But oh well, what can ya do? Now comes the process of changing our website, our letterhead, all of our signs and banners, our official documentation, our visas, our sports jerseys, etc… I’m glad I am not a part of that process because it sounds no fun.

This past weekend, however, was LOTS of fun. Some friends and I planned a trip to the beach, and we stayed overnight in Jogjakarta, the arts and culture capital of Java. I always enjoy visiting Jogja, and I feel like I’d like to stay there for a longer period of time someday and just experience the city. Maybe during a break or something. Here are just a few snapshots I took with my phone.

 

There is a song called “Indiana”, and the first verse was running through my head while I was sitting in the sand, just watching the waves come crashing in.

“I’m glad I never lived next to the water,

so I could never get used to the beach.

And I’m glad I never grew up on a mountain,

to figure out how high the world could reach.”

Indiana may be boring and full of cows and corn, but at least it taught me to appreciate the mountains and oceans of Indonesia!

While we were in Jogja, we ate dinner at a fancy Mediterranean restaurant. We don’t often get international food where we live – it’s mostly all rice and veggies – so having a nice dinner like this is always a special treat. While we were there, one of my friends pulled out a bag of fried grasshoppers and dared everyone to eat one (what are we, in third grade??). I’ll eat anything once, but I didn’t want to volunteer too quickly. Like the shrewd businesswoman that I am (ya, right), I wanted to see what I could get out of the deal. I got him to agree to buy me creme brulee (on the menu there!) for dessert if I downed one whole grasshopper. I definitely got the better end of that deal!



While in Jogja, I also bought a new (drumroll please…) LAPTOP. The hard drive in my last laptop crashed in March, so I’ve gone 6 months without one. I was partly saving up money and partly also challenging myself to live without the technology. It was doable. But I’ll be honest - it was a looong six months. If I needed the internet, I either had to open it up on my phone or come to school to use a computer. I also don’t have a TV, and my laptop was my only way to watch shows I had saved on the hard drive. So I’ve gone half a year with very limited internet and TV use. In that time, I’ve crocheted two and a half blankets, read four classics, and spent more time painting my fingernails than I ever thought possible. I’m a child of the late 20th century. I’m ready to have some technology back in my life.

Unfortunately, this being Indonesia, all the software that was installed on my new laptop was pirated, including the operating system. Thankfully, I work for an awesome school, and I can get things like Windows 8 and MS Office for free through the school’s license! So hooray for little victories like that!

It’s time to head home (I’m writing this on a school desktop while waiting for our IT guy to finish installing all my legit new software), so I’ll leave you with this conversational gem a friend of mine had with another friend’s 3 year old son recently. A little background - this whole conversation took place at yet ANOTHER friend's house while we were all hanging out. And the kid is being raised in a Muslim home.

Kid: Where's my mom?
Friend: She left you.
Kid: No! Where is my mom?!
Me: Calm down. She went to buy milk, she said.
Kid: You're mean! (punches friend in the leg)
Friend: Who do you trust? Me or her?
Kid: I trust my mom! Where is my mom?
Friend: No. I think you should trust in Jesus.
Kid: No. I only trust my mom.
Friend: Do you know who Jesus is??
Kid: No! Yes!
Friend: Who is Jesus?
Kid: He's a zombie.

And this is funny to me because, if you think about it, he's not that far off... I mean, Jesus did come back from the dead...