More Firsts for Our Family for the New Year

We continue to experience new things here in the New Year.  A couple weeks ago after church I (Greg) attended my first wedding reception. Julie and the kids had attended the international church that morning so they didn't get the invite.  Being the only white guy there I found myself the center of attention which felt a bit awkward being that the bride and groom should be the center of attention.  It probably doesn't help that I'm a 1-2 feet taller than most. So anyway I had my picture taken several times with the bride and groom and probably the worse part was I was way over due for a haircut and I wore a helmet on the way to the celebrations so I have no idea what condition my hair was in.  Note to self get a hair cut more often! This coming Sunday our whole family received an official invitation to another wedding reception, this will be a good experience for Julie and the kids.  And being that the kids and Julie lebih cantik daripada saya (more beautiful than me) I think I'll be off the hook a bit maybe for picture taking.

The next new experience we had was one of our neighbors passed away last week.  Which means yes Julie and I attended our first pemakaman (funeral).  In fact that day 3 people passed away in our neighborhood but  we only attended the one as it was a neighbor kitty-corner from us.  The lady passed away around 9:00 am shortly after the neighbors gathered to help set up the tent and chairs which in most cases blocks off the road which requires people to find alternative routes and they do this for weddings too.  Since Julie was home when she passed away, she was able to go to the house and join the other neighborhood ladies as they supported the grieving family members. This is a very important part of cultural here as your neighbors become your family.  The services started about 1:00 pm and then the graveside service followed and by 2:30ish everyone was heading home.  Then for the next 3-4 evenings neighbors come and go from the family's house to visit for a bit.  It was a nice and simple service for the lady was apparently Christian. Knowing the demographics of our neighborhood the next pemakaman we attend will likely be Muslim which will be certainly different in regards to the feel of things.  A lot of  the processes are the same but I sure there will be some differences.

And my favorite experience I think to date was yesterday.  Unfortunately I experienced it alone from the rest of my family.  Our dear friends (neighbors from our last house) have been experiencing a lot of sickness and so yesterday I had the privilege of visiting them and one of the family members who just miscarried her first child.  She was at the local hospital and we went to visit her and bring her home. Long story short they needed some help with somethings including logistics of getting some important documents from South Korea were her husband is currently working to the hospital.  Praise the Lord for the wonderful tools of computers and email.  The other need that I think was maybe why this has been one of my highlights was they needed help with transportation for everyone back to Kopeng.  I wasn't able to fly them but we were able to loan them Buzz (Julie's scooter) and I was able to drive JR (our other bike), which allowed for a single trip from the hospital to Kopeng.  It felt really good to have the resources and ability to help by a simple way of just providing transportation.  I'm really starting to look forward to being able to do this with airplanes later this year Lord willing.  If you think of them, you can pray for this family.  I don't quite understand how this works but this young gal has only been married for 6 months or so and then a couple months ago her husband took a job in South Korea which is a four year contract that doesn't include anytime for a trip home to be with his new bride.  Then to have a miscarriage I can't even imagine what that would be like.

Again we want to Thank each and everyone of you who continue to hold us up in prayer and walk with us through supporting the work of MAF.  

Sorry no pictures this time.  I'll be sure to put some up next time.
Blessings
Greg (Julie and the Kids)

Banyak Sesuatu Baru Untuk Tahun Baru

Greetings,

Well a lot has happened since our last post.  The year is off to a fast start as we started the New Year in our new place of residence.  Thankfully some of us are adjusting to this move well, but unfortunately not all of us.  We have been without internet now for a week which has made communications a little slower but not impossible.  We have a nice restaurant down the road from us with a killer blueberry smoothie so I (Greg) being enjoying a few more of those while trying to keep up on emails and what not.  I’m thinking I should just cancel the internet altogether and put the money towards blueberry smoothies in a daily run for internet.  But I think I might get in trouble from higher up if they find out I canceled the internet at the house.

                Are family started out the year with a trip to Kopeng to see a tradition celebration of sorts.  If I understood our friend right it was to mark the end of a month however I forget the name of the month as it is from a different calendar than we use.  Included are some pictures from that celebrations.

Traditional music/puppet show call Wayang Kulit.  

Traditional dance done by group young boys

Traditional dance preformed by 2 adults 

I think each dance tells a story but I'm not sure.

Enjoying some warm food and fellowship around the
kitchen fire place.

             














        Then on Sunday morning we traveled again with our friends to Gedong Songo.  Gedong Songo is the site of a series of  ancient  Hindu temples stretched along the mountain side.  Then after hiking and taking in the sights at Gedong Songo we traveled to Borobudur an ancient Buda temple.  According to Wiki Gedong Songo predates Borobudur both of which were built in the 8-9 century.  Which make them the oldest buildings I ever visited.  The architectural complexity was impressive to think they were constructed by hand without power tools, heavy machines and auto-cad.  The trip was great only one complaint, I could have done without the high pressure salesman at the end of the trip at Borobudur.  It seemed like an eternity trying to get to the exit while being hounded to buy some souvenirs.  Lots of pictures taken.

Gedong Songo

Kids enjoying the concrete wildlife.

Gedong Songo overlooking the hot-springs.

The fresh smell of hot sulfur mum yummy.

The grand temple Borobudur, it was massive!

Mt Merbabu or Mt. Merapi from atop Borobudur.

Where's Waldo or I mean Isaac?

Oh there he is again trying to hide.

A good time had by all even Waldo oh I mean Isaac.

                














        The last two group of pictures is from a couple different biking adventures.  The first group were taken on a trip with a friend.  When he was younger he camped out at this camp ground which had a nice pool at one time up by Kopeng.   On this trip he also introduced me to Gule Kambing which is a Indonesian meal.  Gule Kambing is a soup with rice and some vegetables and then goat meat.  It was pretty good and  I enjoyed.  Later I was warned that it’s not a good soup for high blood pressure.  Maybe I will only enjoy it on rare occasions! I quickly googled Gule Kambing, what I ate looks a lot different than that in some of the pictures not to mention that most of the receipts seem to call for lamb instead of goat.  You might have to come visit to try some authentic Indonesian Gule Kambing. 

Swimming pool in what I would consider the middle of
no where at one time looked like pretty nice place.

                













        This last group of pictures is some more landscape from a solo biking trip.  I was trying to find my way to the top of Mt. Merbabu.  Google maps shows a road to the top but I either need to change out my tires for some off road style or better yet change out bikes for a motor cross bike.  Or what I will likely try is return in the dry season when the clay isn’t crazy slippery and try again. 

If you look hard you can see a tiny village just below the
clouds up on the mountain that is my chosen destination
 on this trip.

Vegetation abrupt change yes those are pine trees and it
smelled like I was back home.

Stone road cut through the pine tree.  I doesn't look steep
I had a challenge getting going again after stopping
for these few pictures and a leg stretch.

Here is the village up close built on the side of the mountain.
Maybe only 1/3 of the way up to the top.

Villages crop land.  There is a lot of things that grow here.

Slight up grade to the road with two tracks made from
concrete a little smoother than the stones earlier.

Steep decent on the right and then 270 corner and a steep
climb to the left on the way between villages.

This shows up as a road on Google maps.
It was a little slippery but not to steep so it wasn't to bad.

PS.  If you click on the pictures they should be bigger and a little bit easier to see the details in some of them. This was a large post hope you enjoy looking at the picture, we enjoyed taking them.  Blessings