Hopefully we'll start getting into our CLA again this week, although we have yet to find someone to help teach us on a regular basis. We still have a lot of listening materials that we can learn from. We're hoping to get fully into language study again by the middle of June, using these first two weeks to find regular language helpers and getting some routines
We've been in Palu for one week now, and it's already beginning to feel like home despite us living in the guesthouse. Our children have had loads of other children to play with, perhaps more so than they did in our last location. We've been on three trips to the beach in four days!! The climate here is much dryer than anywhere else in the country. We are in the middle of our rainy season now, and we've only seen a few drops of rain. The air isn't as humid, meaning our clothes dry in a matter of minutes. Hopefully we'll start getting into our CLA again this week, although we have yet to find someone to help teach us on a regular basis. We still have a lot of listening materials that we can learn from. We're hoping to get fully into language study again by the middle of June, using these first two weeks to find regular language helpers and getting some routines
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Yesterday was a red-letter holiday here in Palu, so the GFA church (and a thousand other people!!) decided to spend it at the beach. This particular beach is about an hours drive from where we live. We filled up two vehicles with about a total of 30+ people. The members of the GFA church are mostly people from more secluded villages who are in town to go to school, or have a ministry here. So the men, being raised to hunt and forage, spent their time spearfishing. While Nico and I drove the women and children to a beach more suited for swimming. We had a blast, the kids loved it! Nico rented a banana boat, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of them. Being on the beach, in fact being anywhere in this country has the potential to be quite exhausting for a white guy, even more so if you have little children. We are a spectacle to most people, and wherever we go we'll be stared, pointed, and laughed at. At the beach there was a crowd of people just watching us swim. A few would at all times get in the water and stand/swim very close by us so those on shore could get a picture of them next to us. It's something we're getting used to still, even after 18 months in the country. We just try to remind ourselves that it's well meant, and in fact quite harmless. We've arrived in Palu, our new home for the next year or so. These first six weeks we'll be staying in the guesthouse. We're very fortunate to have been offered to house-sit for a family that's gone back to the States for six months. But the house isn't available until the end of June. We've been given the whole top floor of the guesthouse, with plenty of space and privacy. So far we really like it, the kids are loving it too.
We've got a couple of weeks to get settled, before we're expected to be back in full language study. Since we're not really settling yet (living in the guesthouse), we plan on starting our studies right away. Initially we'll be doing a lot of review anyways. I'll stick some pictures of our new temporary home as soon as they are done syncing to dropbox. Right now it says "syncing 32 photos, 39 days left". The last place on earth where regular mail is faster than email I guess. Today we just relaxed at the park all morning. Our visas got sorted yesterday, so from now we're officially just chilling.
Some pictures of the KL skyline taken from our hotel. The thumbnails are slightly cropped, so click on the pictures to see them in all their glory.
We're in Kuala Lumpur to get our visas sorted again, our second trip since November. If all goes as planned we will be back here again in July or August to pick up what we hope to be some slightly more permanent visas. This morning we went to the embassy to submit our application, but were stopped at the gate because Esther was deemed to indecently dressed to enter, ha ha! After promising she'd wear my shirt for the duration of our visit we were let in. This time we had all our paperwork in order and were told that hopefully our visas would be ready for pickup already tomorrow afternoon. Which gives us three more days of vacationing here before flying to Palu on Friday. Since there are a number of things that are hard to come by in Indo, we had a very specific shopping list for this trip. One of the highest priority items was a new pair of sandals for the family giant. There are very few Indonesians with size 47 feet, making shoe shopping quite difficult for me. However, I successfully procured a pair of nice comfortable sandals already on our first evening in KL. We also got some board games for our family, and a snorkelling set each for Ariel and Samson. Esther has been able to spend half a day in H&M, now all that remains is a trip to Ikea for her complete satisfaction. This afternoon some good friends of ours invited our children over for a sleepover to give us some time to pack, and the children some time to hang out together before we move. It's been a crazy last couple of weeks, with our house looking less and less like a house and more and more like a warehouse. Boxes are stacked up against the walls, cupboards are being emptied, and furniture is starting to disappear as friends and neighbours are taking advantage of the opportunity to refurnish their own houses. It can be challenging deciding who gets what when we leave, since there are so many who would be all too happy to receive those things we can't take with us. People here are used to us foreigners moving on after a year or two in the city, and see this time of moving as a great opportunity to get their hands on some things they wouldn't usually buy themselves. Our helpers have been negotiating between themselves for quite some time now, trying to make sure they are getting a fair share. Since we're moving into someone else's house in Palu, we're not planning on bringing a lot of household items. Still, we've got five big boxes packed already. After some time in Palu we'll probably move to an Island called Ambon, where we'll likely be for just a few months. So at this stage it's really difficult to plan for the future, not knowing what sort of living conditions we'll be in the next two or so years. All we know is that we'll not be settled anywhere for quite some time, so we'll have to try to be light on our feet.
Today we were at last able to get the final Hep A and Hep B immunisations for our kids. They were long overdue, but now we're all set. The kids have known for a few days, and have had very different reactions. Ariel admitted being quite scared, and has searched frantically for a way out. Samson has been asking in anticipation every morning if it's time to finally get his injection. Even today, after Ariel had gotten hers (she was very brave) he walked in and sat down like a champ. He didn't want to sit on my lap, and he didn't want me to hold his hand. He just sat there stoically watching as the nurse poked him. I think at that point it suddenly dawned on him that injections do actually hurt, so he started laughing to keep the tears in. It was all quite comical. Aisa completely panicked and had to be held down forcefully. Since then she's been muttering over and over again how much she really didn't want an injection in the first place. All in all, a great success, one more item to cross off our list as we try to get it all together for our big move on Saturday.
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July 2016
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