Jumbled thoughts on a Jog

In America you have the freedom to run anywhere you want with only a few weird looks. In Indonesia, however, it's unusual when a white girl runs by. So we jog at the school- on a gigantic hill.

Yesterday I grabbed my music, shoes, and no map. :) I just did an interval run until I found my way back. I went through this gated community that has a lake. The roads twisted and turned, but it was a beautiful, sunny day. I got lost twice and that got me thinking. I have only walked through with my family and only paid attention to a few landmarks.

There's some adventure and "fun" in just taking off and going wherever we want- no restraints, no regards, no appointments, no expectations. Just go. As I was running, I took a wrong turn. None of the houses looked familiar- all of the houses looked unfamiliar when by myself! At first I didn't mind, but then my thoughts turned towards the dreaded "what ifs"... you know what if Josh goes to look for me on the normal roads, what if I miss dinner, what if there are dogs that are out of the gate... the "what ifs". The "what ifs" took some of the fun out of the journey, and fear began to creep in. The "what if" thoughts might not even show on the outside- that fear, uncertainty, lack of peace seems to only effect the inside.

All of the sudden, I recognized the road that led home! Safety, comfort, peace. Although the journey took longer than expected, it was really fun and felt good just to go.

I'm learning that this journey that I'm on is an adventure. Sometimes I'll take a wrong turn and not follow the One who knows the way. It'll take longer to get back on the road to home, but the lessons learned on the "wrong ways" might be well worth the journey. Sometimes "wrong ways" are hard lessons, and we want to quit and give up. Newsflash- you can't quit in the midst of the run because you have to go somewhere- back home or to the finish line. Don't give up. Continue on the journey-hard times and everything.

Don't fear the wrong ways but at the same time try to stay on the road home...

Great Adventures

This month has literally flown by!

- We landed in Washington on June 8.
- June 15-19 I was in Arizona for my college roomie's wedding
- June 20-25 in Washington (with my feet on the the ground!)
- June 26-July 2 in Orlando, Florida for a debrief about our time in Indonesia.
- July 3- Aug. 1 We'll both be in Washington.
- Aug. 1-8 I'll be going to Texas to visit my family!! :) (I'm really looking forward to that!)
- After that trip, I'll return to Washington and we'll plan again from there.

So this has been a busy time, but it's been so wonderful to reconnect with others!

This week in Florida has been such a blessing. We've met others who are co-laborers all around the world. We've been encouraged by our friends in Orlando and had the opportunity to just share our experiences. We had tons of great food and even took a trip to "Gatorland". I held the tail end of a HUGE snake and almost passed out!

Here's some photos because I know you're itching to see!

Before snake:


I shut my eyes closed, because I did NOT want to see what was coming! Here's the first touch:


I'm freaking out.








Then we had a chance to pose with the snake in groups. So, Josh was upset that he didn't get to hold the snake. This is me trying to be brave.


It was short-lived...


I have mixed feelings on any recommendations for Gatorland. :)
I also did not volunteer for this but was volunteered by former students and athletes of mine! They love to see me squirm! :) Now that I think of it, Josh was probably pointing me out too!

Here's the evidence.


This is Josh while they were bringing the huge snake out. It's clear who volunteered me, isn't it?

The Long Road Home

It began on May 31 with a seven hour flight from Papua to Jakarta. We booked a room at the transit hotel "FM7". The idea of a swimming pool with a nice place to eat sounded wonderful. The pool area had three different pools- a freeeeeezing cold one, a not so freezing cold one, and a hot tub. There was also a sauna, which we didn't go into but enjoyed wathching others come out and go straight into the ice pool.

From here we left on our 11:40 pm flight to Seoul, South Korea. We stepped off the plane and began the hunt for the shuttle bus to the transit hotel. **Note to self- while in SKorea, look for the yellow question mark when calling for the hotel shuttle. The hotel desk looked at us like we were nuts. The weather in SKorea was windy and chilly! We had our sweatshirts out though. We arrived around 10:30am, went straight to the hotel, and crashed for a few hours. We woke up hungry, confused on the time, and cold. We set out to find some food or Dr.Pepper- no DP but we found a fun Mexican food place, which unexpectedly had good food.

Our next flight left at 9 pm on June 1. I think. The SKorean airport has this really neat room with chairs that are reclined and comfy. It was a nice place to hang out. They also had DP and subway! So SKorea, your airport was fantastic!

Somehow we made it to Honolulu, Hawaii at 10:30 am on June 1- how did that happen? For real, we left on the night of June 1 and arrived on the morning of June 1- whaaaaaat? Thanks alot, International Dateline. Needless to say, our bodies were soooo confused on the time of day or date that we didn't know when to eat or sleep. We wanted to eat at weird times, and when the clock said we should be hungry our bodies just weren't hungry. It's been a wonderful place to adjust and keep the cranky, jetlagged monsters at bay.

Tomorrow we'll move on for our final leg of travel for now. We'll leave around 10pm and arrive around 6am. **Note to self- for future travel try to avoid night flights. seriously.

Here are some photos :)

A Photo Journey of Lives Changed

A Glimpse of Life

We live in a pretty unique situation. Our neighborhood is made up of three streets, with houses that all share walls. We share walls with the neighbors that surround us. Because of that we have a fairly small yard... ok "fairly small" doesn't do it justice, it's a patch of grass.

Many families in our neighborhood have children that have no playground, so their playground is the street. That's right, folks. They rule the street. Sure, they will give permission to the occassional car/motorcycle to pass by, but if their bike is parked in the street in front of your driveway, chances are you'll be the one to go around before they move it. :) So here's a glimpse into their lives (and our's too) when I joined them on their playground.

















These kids live all around us. Some of these kids help run a small shop out of their home. A few of these kids stay home during the day and do not go to school. It dawned on me as I was taking these photos, these kids don't have cameras. They were asking for the photos, because they don't have pictures of themselves through their years. They are very sweet and always say hello to us... always is not an understatement. Every time we walk outside there is a greeting exchanged. Sweet kids. I think we're kinda lucky to live near them.

-Amber

T O U R

Most of my adventures in Sentani, Indonesia, take place in the classroom at Hillcrest International School. The school has about 200 students from K-12 grades. I teach 6th grade math and language arts, as well as 5th grade math. Sixth grade consists of six boys, and fifth grade is totals out at 19 students. It's quite a difference :) Here are some photos of my classroom... be careful, after viewing God could place the desire in your heart to teach MKs at HIS :)

This is the view from the door.


This is the back wall of the classroom.



This is the Critic Corner board. After students read a book they create a two-part paper. It includes a brief summary of the book and a recommendation. They also design an alternative cover. These are their opinions of Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli.


This is the side wall. This wall is our "Word Wall". Each week we study 10 words and their origins. We look at their Greek or Latin roots, research other words that fit into those categories, and get very familiar with our dictionaries.


Here's a close-up of our "Word Wall".


This side wall has three windows that over look Mt. Cyclops, here's two shots from one window. Sangat indah (sahn-got en-dah: very beautiful)!




Finally, here's the most comfy corner of the whole room, my desk. It's actually some what clean and organized right now. Just for those of you who are sitting in disbelief, this is ACTUALLY my desk. It's hard to believe that, I know, due to the fine organizational skills, but it's true. Pinky Promise.


Here's another bulletin board. I won't metion exactly how long it's been up there. :)


It almost felt like an episode of "Cribs" on MTV or "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", without all the flash.

I pray that this post will plant some dreams or stir hearts to seek what the Lord has in store for us. Who knows? It might be teaching overseas at HIS. I hope so, it would be great to have you on board! If you are interested in knowing more, please contact me! I would love to tell you of the amazing things that are happening here! :)

What's for dinner? Seriously...

I think I ask myself this question almost every single night. The meat in Sentani is mainly chicken, beef, fish, tofu, and more chicken. Our dinners are mainly chicken and rice, and when we tire of that we switch it around to rice and chicken. :)Not really, but sometimes it feels like that. We eat pasta, Mexican food, and pizza too. Tonight I went through a "drive thru" (insert imagination here). It was almost like KFC or Churches Chicken.

This is called a "Kaki Lima" (Kah-Key Lee-Mah). It literally means "5 Legs".



Vendors will push the cart around town selling their goodies. If you count the legs when the cart is stopped, you'll count five legs including the two legs of the vendor. This car is stationary, so it might be missing a few legs... The guys in the back are the vendors. They have a huge vat of oil which is used to fry the chicken. They then set the chicken in the window and sell it to people that walk up to buy it. Fried chicken (ayam goreng "eye-yam gore-ang (like angle)") is a popular dish.



We have to be very careful with the foods we eat if it isn't cooked in our home. Fruits and veggies have to be washed and dried very carefully, killing all of the harmful bacteria that can make us very sick (in both directions... if you know what I mean, either way not pretty). A good rule of thumb that we use is- if it's freshly fried, it's just right. So buying food from a kaki lima can be harmless if the food has recently been fried. This kaki lima offers fried chicken that is freshly fried around 5:30. The price is only 7,000 rupiah (roo-pia or rupes if you're local), that is about $0.81. What a bargain!

So ayam goreng, that's what's for dinner