Bits and Bites....

Wishing you all a blessed New Year! May you continue to find joy in God's presence each and every day!
We are settling in here. There's no real routine yet however, as school has yet to begin. It feels as though each day has involved at least one sort of shopping trip.... However, there is a light appearing at the end of the proverbial tunnel. We are all clothed in season-appropriate clothing and managing to keep warm.
The cooler temperatures have definitely curbed the children's desire to play in the outdoors. This morning however, in anticipation of the arrival of cousins to play with, they are requesting to go to the park. Progress is being made. We'll have to see how long we last at the park though...
We are enjoying reconnecting with family and friends and eating foods that we haven't had for the past 3.5 years. Like sausage and waffles for breakfast.... strawberry yogurt.... sour cream and nacho chips... waffle cones... bbq'ed pork chops... fresh milk... etc... etc...
One thing I have observed about Canada and maybe more specifically this area of Canada, is that there is such a diverse mix of people calling this beautiful country home. In Value Village I met a young woman from the Philipines who has lived here for one year. In front of me at the Sears check-out was a family from South America. The majority of the cashiers at the local Superstore are from Pakistan or India. The woman in the men's clothing store is of Japanese background. I'm not sure where the girl working in Mark's Workwearhouse was from but I think her name sounded Greek and she had a unique accent. A nearby church just sponsored a family from Ethiopia. The wonderful effect this melting pot has is that no one need feel different. We're all different! In Papua we are the minority, and are often stared at and watched. I love that I can go to the store here and no one looks at me twice. No one's looking in my cart to see what I'm purchasing or watching the cashier punch it all in to see how high the total will be.
We miss Papua. We miss our friends, we miss eating fresh pineapple; I even miss the smallness. In just a week and a half we have already driven over 400 kilometers! I miss feeling really really warm. I don't really miss all the people coming to the door yet. In the week and a half that we've been here, we've had people come to the door maybe 4 times and they were all expected. That would be one morning in Papua!
I miss being able to walk to church and passing by the locals in their colourful dress on their way to church and greeting the folks I know. I am enjoying sitting on comfortable benches and listening to sermons in my mother tongue along with singing and actually knowing what I am singing. The language of song is often quite different than the spoken language.

Bits and Bites....

We've been in Canada for a week now. It's still cold... If you factor in the difference in humidity we are experiencing temperatures approximately 25 degrees lower than those we are used to. The kids aren't real keen to play in the outdoors (current temp-7C). Indoors the temperatures are about 15 degrees lower than we are used to. Only Aidan appears completely unaffected and is at times clad in only a pair of shorts... Oh to be so warm blooded...
I have decided that for our first month here I will not look at the price of food, but simply buy the foods we enjoy eating (within reason of course). It is so hard to shop here and not simply purchase everything!
Good news from Papua. Ritha's mom was released from the psychiatric hospital and was more cognizant. They are working on convincing her that returning to her home town is the best option for her. In the meantime she is living with Ritha. Awi and Rode are scheduled to return to Ritha on Saturday. The entire time they have been at Awi's bio-mom's place Awi has been sick with unhappiness. So they have decided that she is too young to be separated from her mom (Ritha). What an answer to prayer!

Blessings...

The kids on the plane as we left Sentani (or rather bounced our way into the air) and then me with Ibu Tati.

Some of us are handling the cold better than others....

Christmas day we attended church in the morning and it was lovely to see all the folks again and attend a service in our native tongue. Then we headed home, had some lunch and then went for a walk at Mill Lake Park. It is such a beautiful park to visit. The kids loved the playground as well! Following that we headed out to Yarrow to visit with family. We enjoyed a delicious dinner together with the families of two of my siblings, Henry and Karen and Aunt Mary and Uncle Morris and their kids. So fun to have a Christmas dinner with family! Then we gave the kids their gifts. Excitment! This morning it is very quiet in the house as everyone is playing with their new things.

We are so blessed! There was a group of folks who got our home here set up for us and then provided us with some food. We have a vehicle to use thanks to our good friends C and P. We have been so well taken care of and we want to thank all of you who helped out!

Canada....

Well, after about 15 hours of flying time, we arrived at Vancouver International airport, a whole 45 minutes early, and were met by our friends Chris and Pearl and Aunt Mary and Josh and Amanda. So fun to be met by loved ones!
It is really cold here... Today we went out to get coats for the kids and buy long pants for those that didn't actually have any... We never wear long pants in Papua except for that one week each year that we spend in Pyramid! We also visited the Superstore.... The kids couldn't get over how huge the shampoo bottles are! They were overwhelmed by all that is available there.
We were also successful in obtaining new drivers licenses. Thankfully we were not required to do a road test.... whew.... Today we insured the vehicle that we will be using and it sure feels good to be independant! We also got a phone, phone number and the internet to work...
We are still jet-lagging a little. It's after 11pm and I don't feel tired in spite of a broken sleep last night...

Bandung!

I am sitting in the airport hotel in Jakarta. I can't believe how fast the internet is!! Am I really still in Indo???
On Thursday morning we flew to Jakarta where we were met at the airport by our old friend Santhi and two friends of hers. We, and the driver, so that's 11 people, crammed into a 7 passenger van and proceeded to make our way to Bandung. It took us about 4 hours to get there because the traffic was insane and then to top it off we had to get off the highway at one point to get gas and to do that we actually had to drive a bit... Needless to say we were all a bit pooped by the time we reached David and Santhi's place. Well, actually, it's David's dad's house. It's a home designed by Frank Lloyd-Wright. Very spacious and airy and beautiful.
Then next morning we borrowed David's mom's van and driver and visited Ibu Tati, the lovely woman who took care of Marc and Brynne when we were in language school. The look on her face when she saw us made the entire trip worthwhile! She was sooo excited! She gave us all a bottle of pop and fed the kids chips. Pop is not cheap for people here so that was a special treat for us. Then we did some shopping. I was only able to find clothes for Marc and Brynne. Then we visited the kampung where we used to live and saw our old neighbours. They were also very excited to see us. Unfortunately we ran out of time and couldn't visit our other helper. We spent some time with David and his family at a mall called Paris Van Java. There we lost Aidan and I was having visions of him being kidnapped and ransomed.... But he had just been distracted by a tv screen while we walked on and then he thought we had gone to the car so he went to the car, found we weren't there, and went back into the mall crying. David and Santhi's friends found him and brought him to us.... It was soooo time to go home. The next day we went to Bandung Electronics Centre. This is a crazy crazy place. I don't know exactly how many stories hight it is, maybe 6 or 7 and there are electronics shops galore on each level! At the top is a food court. Due to the fact that it was a long weekend in Bandung, the traffic was insane! The patience of our children was sorely tested. On Sunday we were able to worship at the church we attended for the entire year we lived in Bandung. It was neat to see the folks there again.
So tomorrow morning we are scheduled to fly to Vancouver. I am very tired and ready to get back into a "normal" routine again. It was great to be able to visit Bandung and our friends there again. David and Santhi and their parents hospitality was great! We are so thankful for their friendship. It was also fun to get to know their little boy Ethan.

Bits and Bites....

We are down to the wire here folks. In just one more day we will leave our home here in Sentani and head out to the bustling metropolis of Bandung. The plan is to spend the weekend with our good friends David and Santhi and see our old house and neighbours and helpers and of course, try to find some winter clothes at the outlets. Then on Monday morning we will head out to Vancouver and arrive on Monday only a few hours after we've left... so to speak...
Today Ritha, her sister, and another brother took her mother to the "Rumah Sakit Jiwa". This, literally translated, means: house of sick souls. Ritha's mother had not eaten or drunk for about 4 days and had begun speaking to mosquitoes and lizards. Then she disrobed down to her undergarments in the street and barely avoided being beaten to a pulp. That is what you do to mentally disturbed people here, you beat them. Sadly, Ritha and family had to tie her up in order to be able to bring her there. There's no ambulance to call here... Let's pray that she receives the help she needs at this hospital. I've heard mixed stories regarding this place, but truly, there is simply no other option for her right now.
Tonight we had Christmas dinner with our Sentani family. It was a lovely evening with really great food and a really great chocolate fondu following. We are seriously going to miss our Sentani family when we are on furlough! Love you guys!

Bits and Bites....

As I sit here bundled in long pants and a sweatshirt in my a/c'ed bedroom with a controlled temperature of 24 C, I shiver at the thought of our imminent arrival in just over one week at Vancouver International Airport. Brrrr....
We have been getting things ready to leave. Basically that means making lists of the things we need to buy and throwing out all the things too broken to use anymore or so worn out that we would turn up our noses should we take them out of the cupboard after a six month hiatus... And people, that's a lot of stuff...
Hugo just threw out his work shoes, totally finished. This morning I dried myself, or at least attempted to dry myself, with a towel sporting a huge hole in the middle (I had no choice, they all have huge holes). Mikah's long pants are looking more like capris everyday. She's now taller than me... Brynne owns only two pairs of shorts that don't have holes in them... Buy some here you say? Ummm, girls clothes here are terrible. They're mostly made of plastic materials and are limited to short skirty-type ensembles and blousy-type tops. Simple shorts and t-shirts, especially those without garish pictures or sayings, very hard to come by.
In the meantime, life here just keeps going on. Awi's biological mother was supposed to arrive today to take Awi back with her. She wants Ritha and Rode to come too. But Ritha does not want to go. She sees no point in "celebrating" Christmas there under the circumstances and then being forced to see Awi call another woman mother. Awi does not want to call this woman "mom" but she may be forced to. So Ritha was considering allowing Rode to go alone and I strongly suggested she not allow this to happen. I fear that if she were to allow Rode to go, she'd never get her back. I feel really bad for leaving at a time like this.
Yokben is doing better. I checked up on him the other night and he proudly showed me that he had only two doses of his meds left, exactly the right amount. He was also in awe of how well the tylenol from Canada helped his head feel better.... Thanks again for that big bottle Jane! The local stuff is just not as good! However, now Yokben's dad is quite sick so his older sister, whose house he lives in (Nelfika's mom) went to Wamena along with Nelfika.