…says Lauren, or at least something to that effect. And we all wanted to do something together as a team. All of the team members have spent the last two weeks staying with several different homestay families and we haven’t had any time to spend together, just for fun and relaxation.
So we made them a deal. This past Thursday they moved back to the guesthouse to begin to prepare to go to the villages. Thursday was also the final day of Indonesian class, which means a test. A big test. Each test is worth 100 points. There are 9 team members. So we promised them that if they got a combined score of 700 then we would take them to the zoo in the afternoon for some fun together. We thought that the students who learn language more easily would balance those who do not. And they did. They had a combined score of 737. So off to the Ragunan zoo we went.
It was a lot of fun and though we arrived to late in the day to see the gorillas, Lauren did see the Sumatran elephants, Melissa saw a hippo and we all saw the komodo dragons and Sumatran tigers (which are my favorites). There are birds from all over indonesia, snakes (big snakes), monkeys and baboons and all manner of fish and deer and many other animals. And even from this small zoo it is easy to see the amazing diversity of God’s creation.
While we are here in Jakarta, we try to give the team an exposure to Indonesian national culture, so on Friday we went around Jakarta to visit the National Monument and the National Museum. And for lunch we stopped in at a famous Padang restaurant, one of the first in Jakarta. Padang restaurants are similar to buffets, except that they carry all of the food to you, on plates stacked two or three or four high. the plates fill the table and when you are done, you pay for the dishes you have eaten off of. There was rice (of course) shrimp, goat, beef, cow lung, cow brain, tripe, leafy greens, sambal (chilli sauce), lots of fish, chicken, fruit and a lot more. We all had a delicious meal (well except for the brain…not my favorite) and then headed off back to the guest house.
Saturday was spent packing and in taking care of some last minute shopping for our village trips and for our “Thank You” dinner we have for all of the host families. In honor of the Fourth of July and Canada Day (yep they have a day too ;) we had hotdogs and hamburgers. Most of the host families were able to come and we all had a great time of fellowship during or last evening before leaving Jakarta.
The “village phase” of our trip is both an exciting and a challenging time. All that the participants have been learning for the last few weeks leads up to this, and it is a chance to put in to practice many of the lessons they have learned here, and in school. At the same time, it is a whole new experience for most of them. While Jakarta has many of the comforts of the West, most of those cannot be found in the village. The lifestyle and the culture there is very different from that of the average westerner.
After just getting used to the way of life in Jakarta, the team has to readjust again to a new place with somewhat different values and expectations. And this can be very difficult at times
Life in the village also reveals how attached or accustomed to things we have become. Whether for our entertainment or convenience, we often center our lives around stuff and not people. And it is not that the people in the village do not want these things (like the Amish in America) it is just that they do not have most of them yet. They still live in a different mindset.
And so it is important to mark the end of our time in Jakarta, Both to show appreciation but also to reset our thinking for what is coming next. So we can be sure to change our expectations as we change our locations. And maybe so we can listen to what God would say to us as we travel on.
Thanks for praying,
Dave, and for Helen
