Parades!

You just never know what you are going to encounter when you make a trip into town here.  Today was our first experience of the Muslim New Year.  It is a national holiday here so we got to stay home from school, which was nice!  We thought we would try to get downtown to get some shopping done since that can be a bit of an ordeal when we're in school.  It isn't far from our house to the center of town, perhaps 8-10 minutes on a normal day. But this day, as we found out, was far from normal.  As I rounded a corner we saw what looked like a large group of kids parading down the street up ahead of us.  They were all wearing really neat traditional costumes, playing drums, and moving slowly down the road.  I thought that if I could just get around that one group of kids I would be able to continue on the road, but I soon discovered, as I inched ahead at walking speed, that we were caught in the middle of about a 1/4 mile long parade of school kids.  In fact, we were now part of the parade!   The people walking were taking up one whole lane, and there was oncoming traffic trying to go the other way, so it was a mess.  We ended up just becoming part of the parade as we drove along with the walking kids.  What else could we do but take pictures out our window, wave at the kids, and enjoy the experience!

 

We finally did get through that first parade, but we soon saw the road was blocked off further ahead for more parades.  We saw it in time to make a U-turn and find a back way to get to town.  Once in town there were also parades going down the main street (our only way out).  Realizing that we were stuck we decided there was nothing to do but enjoy the festivities!  After our shopping was done I was able to utilize Googlemaps on my phone to find a back-way out of town, but it took us over half an hour to get home instead of the usual 8 minutes. 

We learned two very important lessons today.  First, avoid going to town on any national holidays.  Second, you never know what you're going to encounter when you go out here, so the best policy when encountering an "inconvenience" such as this is to take a deep breath, pull out your camera, and join the fun.  After all, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
- Matt

The Beach!

After three months of working hard in language school, we decided it was time to do something special with the kids. They have been such good sports about us being in school, so on our last break before starting Unit 4 of language school we drove to the beach! It was great to spend some uninterrupted quality time with them and we all had a blast. The kids loved playing on the beach and it was Eva's first time experiencing sand. She loved it!

We went with a few of the other MAF families as well and at night we built campfires on the beach, roasted marshmallows, and went searching for crabs. There were quite a few crabs, both small and medium sized. We used flashlights to shine down in their sand holes and sometimes were able to see them hiding in there.

One of the days we were there was a national holiday in Indonesia. We didn't really think about what that would be like for us.....but we soon found out. The beach was crowded and once people spotted our blondies...well...let's just say that we were kind of in the spotlight. Everyone wanted pictures and we could see people spot us and start coming over from way down the beach. Most people were very polite about it and some were even trying to be discreet, like taking pictures of their friends with us in the background...it was kind of funny. Eventually though, on this day in particular, it started to get a bit overwhelming. We finally reached a breaking point when a man in his late teens/early twenties, cigarette in hand, came over and without asking, planted himself next to Callie and had his friend start taking pictures. She was trying to play in the sand and it was making her uncomfortable. I politely told him in Indonesian that she doesn't like that and asked him not to do it, but he wasn't listening. Then he went over to Blake while he was getting a bucket of water and tried to grab him to get some pictures......and MOTHER BEAR came out. I firmly told him that he MAY NOT do that. He started laughing...maybe because he was embarrassed or maybe because it was funny seeing a blonde white girl speaking his language, but either way we were out of there. Again, most people were very sweet and just thought the kids were super cute. They are not used to seeing blonde hair, blue-eyed kids. This was just one man that was not being respectful, so we left. The next days were much better and there were not many people.

We had a great time overall and wish we could have stayed longer!

 Matt, Blake, and little Ellie (our friend's daughter)

 People trying to take pictures

 

The kids sharing their sand toys with some adorable Indonesian kids

 



MAF Blog Post

I (Ellie) have had the privilege of occasionally writing for the MAF blog entitled "Moms on a Mission." Here is the link to my latest post if you would like to check it out:

http://www.mafblog.com/moms-on-a-mission/healer

August Update from Indonesia

Hello everyone!

I wanted to write a short update as to how we are doing and give a couple of prayer requests as well. We are almost halfway through Unit 2 of language school (there are 9 units) and are slowly feeling more confident in communicating with people. There are days that we feel pretty good about what we know, and then there are days when we feel like we will never get there. We try to remind ourselves to take one day at a time and not look ahead too far. One thing that we find kind of funny is that random Indonesian words will often pop into our heads at the most random times, like when I'm about to go to sleep for the night and a word like "istirahat" (break) keeps repeating itself over and over in my mind. The same thing happens to Matt. We like to blurt out the words as they come......it gives us a good laugh. We go to school for four hours each day and have Indonesian house helpers (Ibu Agnes and Ibu Yani) that watch the kids and help with various other things as well, including our language learning. They have been such a blessing and we have grown to love them both so much!

Blake has started preschool and he absolutely loves it. He has a personality that needs constant stimulation and he loves to do crafts etc. It is run by a very talented and energetic American woman and has a mixture of expat and Indonesian children. At home has been a bit of a different story and we could use a lot of prayer. Blake has been acting up quite a bit with the house helpers, and with us a little bit too. We have heard (and seen) that this is pretty common with kids moving to a new place with all new surroundings. I share this not to ask for parenting advice, and I won't go into all the details, but would really appreciate prayers for this! Also we could use prayers for us....for wisdom and patience with him.

Callie struggled at first with adjusting to the new place and the house helpers, but is doing awesome now and loves Ibu Agnes and Ibu Yani! She is talking in full sentences and sometimes surprises us with what she knows....she's a smart little thing!

Eva is still our happy little baby. She's almost 10 months and is crawling and now pulling herself up. She is also a little celebrity here! Everywhere we go she attracts attention....and pictures. Sometimes there will be a whole crowd of people around her, wanting to touch her face and look at her blue eyes. Luckily people are pretty respectful so far and it hasn't been too overwhelming.

I (Ellie) am still dealing with back pain and have been trying to strengthen my core muscles, but unfortunately that takes time and my back and hips continue to get out of alignment quickly, which causes the pain. Please pray for healing and that I would be able to get strong again.

Thanks so much!

 

Isn't she cute?

 



 

Preschool summer camp

 

Blake and Callie playing at Blake's preschool

 



Eighth Anniversary Outing

On August 6th we celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary and did something completely new and exciting. We rented a scooter and our friends Ashley and Pete took us to the beautiful rice fields and up one of the volcanos. I can't even describe the beauty of what we saw......it was absolutely breathtaking and felt like we were on a different planet! Here are some pictures from the adventure...

In case you were wondering, we were wearing our helmets....just not for the picture :)

 



 My friend Ashley and I

 We saw several waterfalls along the way

 

We found a little jungle path on the side of the mountain

 

This was halfway up the volcano 

 

Packages

We have had several people ask about sending us care packages, so we thought we'd put together some information about how to send packages and some types of things that we miss or really like. This list will probably change over time and we may add or subtract things as we find them.

1.) We have heard from people here that the best way to send a package is by US Postal Service and to use a flat rate box. It takes an average of three to four weeks to get here (no matter what they tell you at the USPS office). So please, no perishable items!

2.) Please keep the value of the package under $50.  Above that the taxes and fees increase dramatically (which we pay when we pick up the package). If the value is over $50 it would be better to send more than one package than to go over. You will have to fill out a customs form on which you list the items inside the package and their value. 

3.) It might be a good idea to put the items in a Ziploc bag (or separate ones) for extra protection.

Below is an "idea list", but is definitely not limited to any of these things:

• Kids Puzzles (100 pcs or less, ages 2-5)
• Kids Books (there are not kids books written in English here)
• Any kids tv shows like Curious George, Go Diego Go, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates etc.
• A&D diaper cream
• Whole wheat flour
• Mild chili seasoning packets
• Truvia sweetener
• Lemonade or Kool aid packets
• Fruit Snacks
• Almond Extract
• Dried cranberries
• Dried black or pinto beans
• Dove chocolates (milk chocolate and/or dark), twix, rolos, reeses, hersheys (we LOVE chocolate!!! Yes it might melt a little but that is okay.)
• Ghirardelli brownie mix
• Funfetti cake mix
• Sour Patch Kids (one of my absolute favorites!)
• Red Vines red licorice and whatever other candy....starbursts, skittles etc.
• Cereals (the cereals they have here are very limited. Things we like are Multigrain Cheerios, Life, Lucky Charms, Kix)
• Parmesan Cheese (the kind that is on the shelf in a canister, not fresh)
• Marshmallows
• Jello Dry Packets
• Jello Pudding Dry Packets
• Instant Oatmeal packets (flavored)
• Soaps (Caress, Dove exfoliating soap, Dial). This may sound funny but I have the hardest time finding good smelling soaps here! I miss my American soaps. Please don't send these along with food items though or they will probably arrive with a funny soapy taste :).

Okay I know a lot of this is sweet stuff...we don't eat that much candy but it's nice to have some sweet comfort food from home!

Thank you so much for your generosity and care for our family. It is such an encouragement and so nice to have a piece of "home" sent to us!

Address:
Matt and Ellie Scheer
c/o IMLAC
JL. Bina Taruna #2
Salatiga 50721 Jawa Tengah
Indonesia

We're Here in Indonesia!

We made it safely to Indonesia! We've been here almost six days and have been settling into our house and orienting to our new surroundings. The trip was long and pretty difficult with the kids, but overall it went okay. Our first couple of flights went fairly well actually, including the twelve hour flight to Taiwan. We had been worried about the kids not doing well in the beginning because we left at 11pm and had to take a short flight to Vancouver, B.C. first, so the kids didn't get to sleep until 2am when we boarded our longer flight, but they did amazingly well. The airport in Taiwan was rough though and it kind of went downhill from there due to all of our exhaustion. The kids would take turns waking up on the flights and screaming or crying, sometimes we'd have two at once that were crying.

When we arrived in Jakarta mid-day, the heat stepping off the airplane was absolutely stifling.....almost unbearable. No one could have prepared us for that heat, even though we have heard how hot it is here. I've been to the Philippines, Honduras, and Mexico several times, but I don't remember it being THAT hot! We stayed in Jakarta the first night at a mission house and the next day took a short flight to a smaller city called Semarang, then rented a taxi and drove to our little town called Salatiga where we'll be attending language school. It was a beautiful drive once we got out of the big cities, with green jungle everywhere. Salatiga is definitely more of a jungle town with a lot more green than the cities like Jakarta, and is slightly cooler (though still pretty hot!). And no, we don't have a/c in our house so that is something we've had to get used to. Hopefully soon we'll be able to at least have an a/c in one room.

The first night I encountered a giant cockroach in our bedroom, probably the size of a golf ball. Luckily we haven't seen one since! We have, however, seen many other critters, including spiders, mosquitoes, geckos, and lots and lots of ants. The ants are everywhere and anywhere there is food. They crawl all over the kitchen counter and it's pretty much impossible to get rid of them all. We've heard there are things you can do to minimize the ants, but that "eventually the ants will win." It sounds like many people who have lived here a long time have just learned to co-exist.

We've definitely had our share of difficulties since we came, but we also have had an amazing team welcoming us, both MAF families and expats from other organizations that have really tried to make our transition as smooth as possible. We didn't have water for half of the first day in our house, but luckily a friend was able to figure out the problem. Also both of our showers broke, though they were still somewhat usable, and Eva came down with a fever and GI issues and was pretty miserable for a few days. She is doing much better, but now I (Ellie) have it. On the positive side, we've been shown some amazing restaurants here in town that are pretty inexpensive, a nice pool to swim in, and many other of the "perks" of living here. Here are a few pictures....there will be much more to come....

 Long flight to Taiwan

 

 The airplane headphones were too big for Callie's head so we improvised

Resting in the Taipei airport.  The double stroller came in handy as a luggage cart! 

 View of our yard

 

 When the weather is good we can see this beautiful volcano from our yard

 

 We have a banana tree and a guava tree in our yard!

 

This is the spider that lives in our banana tree. We call him Pete #4 since there are three other Pete's that live here! This picture does not do him justice....he is about the size of my FACE, with yellow and black markings. I will be sure to stay far away since I am terrified of spiders. No picking bananas for me!

 



 Callie playing at a nearby pool

 

Blake having fun with the other kids/families that are here