We have alot of ants. Most are very small, and some are a similar size to what we had in Ontario. The little ones have a shocking ability to get into places that you thought were safe. We take care to cover all food that is outside the fridge. The minute a pack of cookies or crackers or even gum is opened, the leftovers have to be put in the fridge. After each meal we have to be meticulous about cleaning up, wipe tables (and kids mouths, and shirts) and sweep. Should we fail to do any of these, disagreeable are the consequences which we shall surely face. Here is one such story.
Yesterday I bought a bag of candy (of the sweet and sour variety) and left the open bag on the kitchen counter. Now, after my first paragraph you are asking, why would she do that? Because most of the candy one buys here comes individually wrapped, so that you buy a bag of individually wrapped candies (not the kind that you can open by stretching the 2 sides apart, but the truly, completely sealed kind). My daughter asked for a candy today after dinner, and I agreed. She took it herself and was asking me to open it, when she starting crying. While waiting for me to get the scissors, she had put the wrapped sweet in her mouth. By the time I got to her she had ants on her shirt, on both hands, and on her tongue! We acted quickly to get them out of her mouth first, and then took care of the rest. As soon as we got them out of her mouth, she was fine - no lasting distress. Not so true for me!
It is times like these that remind me that I am not at home. Sometimes I get very tired of constantly having to be on top of things - and its not just the ants - its checking the beds every night before we go to sleep, for bugs, its the foot long lizard in the back room, the mosquito larvae that live in our bak, the neighbour's dog which has a regular case of worms, the daily smell of burning garbage, plastics, and other toxic stuff, the reality of earthquakes, political sensitivity and the fact that we are very obvious foreigners living in a majority muslim country - the list goes on. No, I don't want to come home yet. Yes, I still enjoy living here. But every once in a while I crave the ability to take a walk outside without being an object of interest, drink water from household taps, to experience a good old fashioned snow storm that will kill off most of the bugs and share the road with people who have actually taken driver training.
Lori
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Visit to the village
Today we went to visit the home of Ibu Wahl, the woman who helps us with our meals. She lives with her mother and sisters in a village just outside of Jogja. We had a good time visiting and being shown around the area. I will keep this short and recommend checking out the pictures.
Phil
Phil
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Bridge-building Conference
This past week, I have been attending a conference organized by the Religious Studies program (CRCS/ICRS) at Gadjah Mada University. The conference was the conclusion of a series of meetings that brought together religiously affiliated people that might not otherwise meet. There were Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. There were people from different parts of Indonesia as well as from the U.S., Europe, Chile, Egypt and Singapore. There were academics, social activists, journalists and politicians. There were also people from across the political spectrum ranging from self-identifying liberals to conservatives. In one respect, the actual topic of the conference was less important than the fact that such a diverse group of people gathered together over four days to talk to each other.
The topic was 'Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities For Religions' and included sessions on the media, youth and education, environment, poverty, religious symbols and identity. Presenters represented a variety of organizations including leading newspapers (The Jakarta Post, Kompas), NGOs (Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Humanitarian Volunteers Network [Christian]), as well as more activist organizations like the magazine _Sabili_ and the organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia.
While the aim of the meetings and conference was to bring together a variety of people in order to encourage conversations on a variety of topics, the conference was dominated by the issue of Globalization and Islam. In large part, this issue was the result of the presence of the editor of 'Sabili' and the representative from Hizbut Tahrir.
'Sabili' is an Indonesian magazine that is at the forefront of Muslim radicalism. It gives a steady diet of anti-Western, anti-Zionist, anti-Christian articles that are quite inflammatory. They have listed the names and addresses of Christian churches which are to be targeted by militants. In his session, the editor gave a presentation that told us how globalization was a tool of the West to destroy Muslims. He was also very vocal in expressing his opinions regarding the positions of others. It was inevitable, then, that at least part of the conference would gravitate towards responding to his position.
I had a hard time getting a read on this fellow. It was clear what he thought of the West and globalization, but his comments on other religions were far less extreme than what one finds in 'Sabili'. 'Sabili' is a business and needs to sell copies, and I had the distinct impression that what I was hearing was less personal convictions and more of a show, or advertisement. For example, at one point this fellow became so upset with how other Muslims were using the name 'Islam' that he stood up, shouted his objection, and threatened to leave if people didn't change. The response of the crowd, the vast majority of whom were Muslim, was to start laughing. My guess is that this was not a nervous laughter but laughter at the show of indignation. I suspect that many people read 'Sabili' not because they agree with the articles, but because they are entertained by the outrageous claims being made. This does not mean that 'Sabili' is innocuous, it had a role in the destruction of churches, nor is the editor a buffoon, his influence among Muslims is considerable. Rather, in my opinion, the role of extremism in Indonesia is not a simple one. A few people are inflamed by 'Sabili' leading to acts of violence but almost without exception these are clearly disenfranchised individuals. They are angry at the West, at Christians, at other Muslims, and are looking for someone or something to channel that anger. Yet, the vast majority of Muslims in Indonesia, while most likely sharing some resentment of the West, would reject the extremism of 'Sabili'. This would be something like people who read supermarket tabloids. They may suspect there are secrets and conspiracies, but most likely don't believe that world leaders are really aliens.
The other force at work in the conference was the presence of Hizbut Tahrir. HT is a Muslim organization working towards the formation of a Caliphate, that is, a transnational state of Muslims led by a single individual, a Caliph. HT is banned in a number of Arab countries but is being 'watched' by the U.S. and European countries. It explicitly rejects the use of violence against innocent people but, as someone put it, creates an environment where there are not many innocent people. Currently on its website, HT has articles explaining the plan of the West to destroy Islam as well as how India is an enemy state. A year ago, HT held a rally in Jakarta in support of forming a Caliphate and 100,000 people attended. (The free meals may have had something to do with the participation of many.)
The representative of HT gave the sort of presentation one might expect on globalization, but reserved part of his speech for urging the adoption of sharia by all Muslims. In particular, he emphasized that the Quran was very clear what was meant by sharia. This is important because there is a raging debate going on in Indonesia regarding sharia. Several parts of Indonesia have been given permission to institute sharia but the question is, which sharia? While many Indonesian Muslims are open to sharia, most disagree with some of its traditional forms. So the question people are debating is whether sharia has one universal form or is it always translated into cultural settings. In particular, the arguments center around the role of women, the nature of punishment, openness to conversion out of Islam, and the place of non-Muslims. Once the issue of sharia was introduced by the representative of HT, it repeatedly arose throughout the rest of the conference. At one point, as Muslims were debating, a Hindu friend leaned over and asked me when this became a conference on Islamic law. As the conference concluded, one participant explained to all the non-Muslims present that the truth of sharia was not just for Muslims, so everyone could accept it, which I thought was very generous of him. On the other hand, there were many Muslims who vigorously objected to this understanding of sharia and Islam. So, while listening to HT was a bit disheartening, the response was encouraging.
The conference organizers consciously avoided any reference to 'dialogue', a word that is anathema to some participants. Rather, the goal was to get people like those from 'Sabili' and HT, into the same room with people from other religions, with the hope that talking to each other might help overcome some of the distance between groups. I was told that there was some evidence of improved relationships and I would like to think that this is true. As with most conferences, the quality of presentations was uneven, but the event was well worth attending for the insight it gave me into Islam and Islam in Indonesia.
The topic was 'Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities For Religions' and included sessions on the media, youth and education, environment, poverty, religious symbols and identity. Presenters represented a variety of organizations including leading newspapers (The Jakarta Post, Kompas), NGOs (Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Humanitarian Volunteers Network [Christian]), as well as more activist organizations like the magazine _Sabili_ and the organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia.
While the aim of the meetings and conference was to bring together a variety of people in order to encourage conversations on a variety of topics, the conference was dominated by the issue of Globalization and Islam. In large part, this issue was the result of the presence of the editor of 'Sabili' and the representative from Hizbut Tahrir.
'Sabili' is an Indonesian magazine that is at the forefront of Muslim radicalism. It gives a steady diet of anti-Western, anti-Zionist, anti-Christian articles that are quite inflammatory. They have listed the names and addresses of Christian churches which are to be targeted by militants. In his session, the editor gave a presentation that told us how globalization was a tool of the West to destroy Muslims. He was also very vocal in expressing his opinions regarding the positions of others. It was inevitable, then, that at least part of the conference would gravitate towards responding to his position.
I had a hard time getting a read on this fellow. It was clear what he thought of the West and globalization, but his comments on other religions were far less extreme than what one finds in 'Sabili'. 'Sabili' is a business and needs to sell copies, and I had the distinct impression that what I was hearing was less personal convictions and more of a show, or advertisement. For example, at one point this fellow became so upset with how other Muslims were using the name 'Islam' that he stood up, shouted his objection, and threatened to leave if people didn't change. The response of the crowd, the vast majority of whom were Muslim, was to start laughing. My guess is that this was not a nervous laughter but laughter at the show of indignation. I suspect that many people read 'Sabili' not because they agree with the articles, but because they are entertained by the outrageous claims being made. This does not mean that 'Sabili' is innocuous, it had a role in the destruction of churches, nor is the editor a buffoon, his influence among Muslims is considerable. Rather, in my opinion, the role of extremism in Indonesia is not a simple one. A few people are inflamed by 'Sabili' leading to acts of violence but almost without exception these are clearly disenfranchised individuals. They are angry at the West, at Christians, at other Muslims, and are looking for someone or something to channel that anger. Yet, the vast majority of Muslims in Indonesia, while most likely sharing some resentment of the West, would reject the extremism of 'Sabili'. This would be something like people who read supermarket tabloids. They may suspect there are secrets and conspiracies, but most likely don't believe that world leaders are really aliens.
The other force at work in the conference was the presence of Hizbut Tahrir. HT is a Muslim organization working towards the formation of a Caliphate, that is, a transnational state of Muslims led by a single individual, a Caliph. HT is banned in a number of Arab countries but is being 'watched' by the U.S. and European countries. It explicitly rejects the use of violence against innocent people but, as someone put it, creates an environment where there are not many innocent people. Currently on its website, HT has articles explaining the plan of the West to destroy Islam as well as how India is an enemy state. A year ago, HT held a rally in Jakarta in support of forming a Caliphate and 100,000 people attended. (The free meals may have had something to do with the participation of many.)
The representative of HT gave the sort of presentation one might expect on globalization, but reserved part of his speech for urging the adoption of sharia by all Muslims. In particular, he emphasized that the Quran was very clear what was meant by sharia. This is important because there is a raging debate going on in Indonesia regarding sharia. Several parts of Indonesia have been given permission to institute sharia but the question is, which sharia? While many Indonesian Muslims are open to sharia, most disagree with some of its traditional forms. So the question people are debating is whether sharia has one universal form or is it always translated into cultural settings. In particular, the arguments center around the role of women, the nature of punishment, openness to conversion out of Islam, and the place of non-Muslims. Once the issue of sharia was introduced by the representative of HT, it repeatedly arose throughout the rest of the conference. At one point, as Muslims were debating, a Hindu friend leaned over and asked me when this became a conference on Islamic law. As the conference concluded, one participant explained to all the non-Muslims present that the truth of sharia was not just for Muslims, so everyone could accept it, which I thought was very generous of him. On the other hand, there were many Muslims who vigorously objected to this understanding of sharia and Islam. So, while listening to HT was a bit disheartening, the response was encouraging.
The conference organizers consciously avoided any reference to 'dialogue', a word that is anathema to some participants. Rather, the goal was to get people like those from 'Sabili' and HT, into the same room with people from other religions, with the hope that talking to each other might help overcome some of the distance between groups. I was told that there was some evidence of improved relationships and I would like to think that this is true. As with most conferences, the quality of presentations was uneven, but the event was well worth attending for the insight it gave me into Islam and Islam in Indonesia.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Occupying the kids
A debate is raging in our household this summer break: How do we occupy the time of the kids? I am of the opinion that, for the most part, the kids should find their own way of filling their time. They should figure out their own games using what is available around our house. For example, the kids enjoy playing in the dirt in front of our house as well as riding their bicycles around the compound. We try to do other things, like go swimming, but for the most part I think the kids should learn to play on their own.
Lori, on the other hand, believes that the kids need far more structure in their lives, so that summer break is similar to school time. Lori has looked into getting the kids into swimming lessons, singing lessons as well as other sorts of activities. These haven't really worked out so far, for a variety of reasons.
This past week has been a bit tough since several of their friends have been gone. However, the kids have started to figure out different things to do. From friends we received a play kitchen set and so they have been playing 'restaurant'. And of course they play in the dirt. (See pictures.)
But the debate rages: Should kids have most of their time filled with structured events or should they work on finding their own ways of occupying their time?
Phil
Lori, on the other hand, believes that the kids need far more structure in their lives, so that summer break is similar to school time. Lori has looked into getting the kids into swimming lessons, singing lessons as well as other sorts of activities. These haven't really worked out so far, for a variety of reasons.
This past week has been a bit tough since several of their friends have been gone. However, the kids have started to figure out different things to do. From friends we received a play kitchen set and so they have been playing 'restaurant'. And of course they play in the dirt. (See pictures.)
But the debate rages: Should kids have most of their time filled with structured events or should they work on finding their own ways of occupying their time?
Phil
Thursday, June 19, 2008
School End of Year Program
The girls had their end of year program last night. The program was originally planned to be held at the school with a potluck supper, however the person who runs the Hyatt hotel here in Yogyakarta has a child at the school and so we ended up at the Hyatt last night. This was the first time we had been at the Hyatt and it was beautiful. The people at the Hyatt went out of their way to accommodate about 50 very excited kids.
The program had a 50's theme and the teachers did a great job of organizing it. Katie had a special role as Elvis. It was a bit scary just how good Katie did, doing the rock star thing in front of a large crowd. Mia had a lot of fun doing the hand jive with her friend.
It was a curious experience because of the diverse group of people that make up the school. On the one hand, there are relatively ordinary Indonesians. I say relatively because government regulations allow only Indonesian children with a father holding an international passport to attend. Then there are expat business people as well as expats connected with NGOs. So, the mix is quite eclectic. One of Mia's classmates is from Belgium but moving to Morocco. Another classmate has a father who is from Guatemala and mother from the former East Germany. There are children from the U.S., Senegal, Australia and Korea. With this mix, social events are an interesting experience as we meet people from all parts of the world and from different paths in life. More importantly, however, is that Katie and Mia are able to have friends from very different places and learn to get along with people who may do things differently.
We had a great time and the kids did a great job.
See our web album for pictures of our rock star!
Phil
The program had a 50's theme and the teachers did a great job of organizing it. Katie had a special role as Elvis. It was a bit scary just how good Katie did, doing the rock star thing in front of a large crowd. Mia had a lot of fun doing the hand jive with her friend.
It was a curious experience because of the diverse group of people that make up the school. On the one hand, there are relatively ordinary Indonesians. I say relatively because government regulations allow only Indonesian children with a father holding an international passport to attend. Then there are expat business people as well as expats connected with NGOs. So, the mix is quite eclectic. One of Mia's classmates is from Belgium but moving to Morocco. Another classmate has a father who is from Guatemala and mother from the former East Germany. There are children from the U.S., Senegal, Australia and Korea. With this mix, social events are an interesting experience as we meet people from all parts of the world and from different paths in life. More importantly, however, is that Katie and Mia are able to have friends from very different places and learn to get along with people who may do things differently.
We had a great time and the kids did a great job.
See our web album for pictures of our rock star!
Phil
Friday, June 13, 2008
From Katie
Hello everybody! This is Katie!!! I’m having fun in school. At the end of June my whole school is having a Rock’n’Roll program. It’s gonna be so fun!! There will be 5 Elvises and I am one of them! First I will be wearing a poodle skirt for the first song, but then after I have to go back stage and change into my Elvis clothes. The last 2 songs everyone will sing. The last song’s words are hard for almost everybody. I always practice that song so I know it very well. I’m gonna be done school soon. Starting last week I didn’t have any homework. There are three kids that live beside us. When we had homework from school we couldn’t play after school (that ended at two o’clock) until three thirty because we had lots of homework. Now we can play whenever we want to until five thirty. At five thirty we have to go home and eat supper. Tonight my class is having a party named Seven Eleven Night. It’s when we have to go to school at seven p.m. and our parents pick us up at eleven p.m. We can bring snacks like chips, and ice cream. Our teacher is bringing soda and smores. She is also bringing a huge chocolate bar the size as a computer screen.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Lori's Diary
Friday May 30, 2008
Friday evening, Katie and I, and some of her friends from school went to a Hip Hop Concert. It was sponsored by LIP (Lembaga Indonesia Prancis), the French Cultural Institute in Jogja. What a show! There were seven young men undulating, twirling, and flipping to music with spooky, insect, and African themes. The moves were creative and the group had no problem keeping us entertained for 2 hours.
Afterwards, Katie and her friends went up to the stage to get autographs. That moment gave me pause – seeing her there, among other excited young people, I could see that she is growing up. I hope she stays young for a while longer.
It was a great evening.
Tuesday June 10, 2008
Weather today started out a bit overcast, and more comfortable. This morning, went to the Post office at Gadjah Mada to mail a letter. As opposed to my experience in Salatiga, the post office here has been easy. This morning I walked in, was the first in line at the Post biasa (Standard Mail) booth. The girl sitting at the desk spoke to me in English and understood my own. She stamped my letter and I walked out within 2 minutes. Then, I took a becak (pedicab) to UKDW, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana to finish up some editing.
I am editing papers for faculty at the university who are doing PhDs overseas, and need to write their dissertations in English. This work is a bit tricky. I need to correct grammar and spelling, but sometimes I can't do this without changing the meaning of the sentences. As Indonesians tend to speak and write in the passive form, I often have to wait till the end of long sentences before realizing the general gist. Sometimes, I am left scratching my head as to what the writer is trying to say. As these are all theologians, could it be that I am unaware of specific theological terminology, that doesn't make sense to the lay person, like me? Or is it just plain poor English? As a result of this, I can spend about 1 hour doing this before getting a headache.
We had another pembantu issue yesterday. As we are relatively new to having Indonesian househelp, we are continuously encountering situations that need addressing. Our cook (who is a bit of a tattletale, and very territorial) was trying to get my attention in the kitchen yesterday. The other one, who helps with cleaning and looking after the kids, was once again, working in her kitchen. She was making fruit salad, using the papaya, (which the cook brought from her mother's house 1 hour away on bicycle) and other fruits (which the cook just bought at the market in the morning, for our day's meal). Granted, we had plenty of fruit, but the cook was not happy that the nanny was helping herself, both to kitchen space, and also to food which was meant for something else.
Most of the time, we let issues like this go, as we don't want to amplify a situation that could better be left alone. This time, we are wondering whether or not to say something.
June 11, 2008
Re: the pembantu issue yesterday, contrary to our dynamic, zealous natures, we have decided to do nothing, just wait and see what happens!
I had an interesting discussion with a friend from the university today. Her son has a developmental disability, which no doctor really seems to be able to diagnose. He isn’t able to sit yet, though he’s almost 3, and the latest CT scan shows that his metabolism is compromised, so that he is losing his eye sight and can’t hear. Something about amino acids. She is struggling to understand what the doctor says, and the doctor keeps apologizing to her and telling her to have another baby! There is much better health care in Singapore, but if she had enough money to get there and take him to a doctor once, she wouldn’t be able to continue treatment in Singapore indefinitely. It is clear that she wasn’t asking me for money – this is someone I see several times and week and get along with quite well. I suspect she is bringing up the subject with me, partly because I, as a foreigner may have some knowledge of what may be hurting her son. As a mom, my heart aches for her, its clear that she loves him very much.
Lori
Friday evening, Katie and I, and some of her friends from school went to a Hip Hop Concert. It was sponsored by LIP (Lembaga Indonesia Prancis), the French Cultural Institute in Jogja. What a show! There were seven young men undulating, twirling, and flipping to music with spooky, insect, and African themes. The moves were creative and the group had no problem keeping us entertained for 2 hours.
Afterwards, Katie and her friends went up to the stage to get autographs. That moment gave me pause – seeing her there, among other excited young people, I could see that she is growing up. I hope she stays young for a while longer.
It was a great evening.
Tuesday June 10, 2008
Weather today started out a bit overcast, and more comfortable. This morning, went to the Post office at Gadjah Mada to mail a letter. As opposed to my experience in Salatiga, the post office here has been easy. This morning I walked in, was the first in line at the Post biasa (Standard Mail) booth. The girl sitting at the desk spoke to me in English and understood my own. She stamped my letter and I walked out within 2 minutes. Then, I took a becak (pedicab) to UKDW, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana to finish up some editing.
I am editing papers for faculty at the university who are doing PhDs overseas, and need to write their dissertations in English. This work is a bit tricky. I need to correct grammar and spelling, but sometimes I can't do this without changing the meaning of the sentences. As Indonesians tend to speak and write in the passive form, I often have to wait till the end of long sentences before realizing the general gist. Sometimes, I am left scratching my head as to what the writer is trying to say. As these are all theologians, could it be that I am unaware of specific theological terminology, that doesn't make sense to the lay person, like me? Or is it just plain poor English? As a result of this, I can spend about 1 hour doing this before getting a headache.
We had another pembantu issue yesterday. As we are relatively new to having Indonesian househelp, we are continuously encountering situations that need addressing. Our cook (who is a bit of a tattletale, and very territorial) was trying to get my attention in the kitchen yesterday. The other one, who helps with cleaning and looking after the kids, was once again, working in her kitchen. She was making fruit salad, using the papaya, (which the cook brought from her mother's house 1 hour away on bicycle) and other fruits (which the cook just bought at the market in the morning, for our day's meal). Granted, we had plenty of fruit, but the cook was not happy that the nanny was helping herself, both to kitchen space, and also to food which was meant for something else.
Most of the time, we let issues like this go, as we don't want to amplify a situation that could better be left alone. This time, we are wondering whether or not to say something.
June 11, 2008
Re: the pembantu issue yesterday, contrary to our dynamic, zealous natures, we have decided to do nothing, just wait and see what happens!
I had an interesting discussion with a friend from the university today. Her son has a developmental disability, which no doctor really seems to be able to diagnose. He isn’t able to sit yet, though he’s almost 3, and the latest CT scan shows that his metabolism is compromised, so that he is losing his eye sight and can’t hear. Something about amino acids. She is struggling to understand what the doctor says, and the doctor keeps apologizing to her and telling her to have another baby! There is much better health care in Singapore, but if she had enough money to get there and take him to a doctor once, she wouldn’t be able to continue treatment in Singapore indefinitely. It is clear that she wasn’t asking me for money – this is someone I see several times and week and get along with quite well. I suspect she is bringing up the subject with me, partly because I, as a foreigner may have some knowledge of what may be hurting her son. As a mom, my heart aches for her, its clear that she loves him very much.
Lori
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