Some Interesting Things

So for today's blog I will tell you a few interesting and possibly funny things:

• Mary got flashed by some guy by in a city near our village. I was walking with her when it happened but, luckily, I have gotten into the habit of not looking when people say "Miss, miss.."

• When in the same city I was physically assaulted by a mentally unwell woman. I was sitting eating outside, which by the way is a no-no in Indonesia (something we did not know until after we did it), when a crazy woman comes up to me, sticks out her tongue, and then proceeds to hit me on the head with her hand. I could do nothing of course because she is not mentally unstable so I just started walking away with Mary all the while we are being followed by this woman which we eventually managed to lose. Mary figures I got hit because I look Indonesian and the woman thought I should know better than to eat outside. Oh well, you live, you learn.
  

Also, something interesting to note is that when Mary told the local guys about being flashed they were all concerned for her safety but I get physically assaulted and everyone laughs...whatever.

• So Mary and I had to go without water for a few days because the water pipes that lead from our water tank were clogged with algae. We had one of our friends named Sefri at the convent clean it for us. Sefri called Mary's cell phone to tell her to meet him outside because he had a question about the tank and needed to show her something. Mary went outside and was looking everywhere for Sefri when all of a sudden she hears what sounds like a fruit fall to the ground a few seconds later she hears it again and realizes that it is coming from the water tank, which is up above on small tower. She then sees a head sticking out of our tank. Turns out Sefri had to climb inside to clean the tank and what she heard fall was the globs of algae he was flinging from inside the tank. I ran up from the house when I heard Mary ask in Indonesian "Sefri, are you in the tank?" When she told me what was going on we both couldn't stop laughing. Sefri was unaware of our laughter as he could hear nothing from within the tank.
• Rode on the back of a motorcycle that was being driven by a Sister. I don't think its an interesting sight here but in America it might be considered one.
  

• Okay other things to mention. Lent is going not as well as I would like it to. I find that my daily rosary praying is not going so well because the daily has turned into weekly. No good excuses except that I'm busier these days and more tired by evening which is when I usually pray my rosary. No good excuses, however, because I could make time to pray any other time during the day. By the way my daily Mass attendance is going okay as I have managed to make it to 5:30am Daily Mass at least 4-5 times a week.
  

Okay well I gotta go for now. I'll write again when I get the chance. By the way, in case I haven't said it, I miss you all very much family, friends, and sandwiches.

Kind of feeling stressed right now as our volunteer house is experiencing a few problems right now such as a leaky roof that might need to be replaced a water tank full of algae and pipes clogged with the stuff and mosquito screens that need to be replaced and my bathroom water spout that needs to be changed cuz a part broke off and water sprays everywhere when i open it.

I've also been busy, busy, busy with teaching. I love teaching the middles school kids but I'm kind of stressed trying to plan lessons for people of such different levels. We have students that are children, middle schoolers, high schoolers, and full grown adults. Some advanced some beginner, some intermediate.

Okay I have to make this blog short as I have to look up games for children. Sorry but at least I'm trying to update more frequently.

Okay keeping my Lenten promise, I am updating!

So what has happened in the last week. Well Mary and I had a visit from a few of the seminarians we taught over Christmas. I was very happy to see them. I'm afraid I appear very clingy with the priests and seminarians from there. Well its their fault for making Mary and I enjoy our time with them.

Still teaching at the middle school and am still surprised that I enjoy it. I enjoy it in the moment that I am teaching but I absolutely HATE preparing for lessons! Its a necessary evil, though, as not being prepared would make me not enjoy my in the moment teaching as it kind of did yesterday when I forgot to translate an English paragraph from a textbook for the English reading part of their lesson. I ended up fumbling through my English-Indonesian dictionary for about 10 min of my lesson. That was not enjoyable.

We visited my Indonesian teacher and his wife in their home yesterday evening. I appeared rude because I spoke very little because I was exhausted from having taught all day. I tried to think of things to say but focusing on speaking and listening to a foreign language when you're exhausted is even more difficult than when you're not exhausted.

I just remembered I wanted to tell you about the electricity in Indonesia. Okay the lights go out practically everyday here. Two to three days out of the week they go out at night which makes making dinner a real pain in the ass. Have you ever tried to make a dinner in the dark? It sucks. The lights stay out the entire night so there's not much to do after dinner except talk in the dark and pray in the dark and then its off to bed. I have tried studying Indonesian in the dark and its no fun. Imagine how difficult it is for students who have no electricity to study every night?

Okay my ride from the internet place is here so I have to cut this short. Until later.

Happy Lent!

I have no idea what to write. I come up with some great stuff when I am at my house one hour away from this internet place but when I get to the internet place I completely forget. I know I know write it down but I'm much too busy and lazy to do that.

So a few tidbits:

I chased a cow out of our front yard the other day in the dark and laughed the whole time I was doing it.

Started Indonesian language classes last week because I'm desperate to learn this language. Its such an easy language and yet its more difficult for me to learn than Italian. Probably because its nothing like Spanish.

Mary and I started teaching at the middle school across the street and I love the kids there...well so far, you know how middle school kids can be. Well you know how American middle school kids can be. Indonesian ones seem more respectful. I'm still trying to remember to pray before starting class (its a Catholic school) but I'm not accustomed to it as I only attended public schools in America and we all know prayer in the classroom there doesn't fly.

Had a visit from our program head a week ago. We told her about our joys but mostly about our pains and she really heard us out and we hope for some improvements in our situation. Its not a bad situation but it could definitely use some tweaking.

Oh I got some Italian Corn Flakes, along with Italian salami and a wedge of Italian parmesan cheese. Absolutely delicious. This is one of the perks of having the program your in based in Rome.

Oh recently had a parish visit from some of my favorite priests, those of the Claretian order. Twelve priests and all are very similar in their manner of treating Mary and me like terrible teasing older brothers would. I affectionately call them "horrible holy men."

Mary and I were trying to think of children's songs to teach of to our young students. We realized that we remember next to nothing and what we do remember we know different versions of. Tip to any future missionaries who can't remember children's songs: do not go on mission with an American who spent her childhood in Germany and to any of those who are with missionaries of other western countries- good luck.

Okay I will try very hard to update this blog more frequently. I will make it a Lenten goal.

That reminds me I'm trying to improve my spiritual life for Lent which means some sacrifice. I got five hours of sleep last night trying to do a Catholic book club discussion with Mary, pray a rosary, and do the readings for the next day's Mass. Mass here by the way is at 5:30 am and I went to sleep at midnight-ish. Oh yeah I'm trying to go to daily Mass five times a week. I expect I'll be on my way to sainthood by the time I leave here...okay don't laugh too hard. Gotta go, gotta eat...what should I have rice, rice, or more rice? I think I'll go with rice. Haha. Just kidding I have come to love the food here.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all! I just wanted to let you know that at this moment I am incredibly happy. I know its a miracle right? The reason?...60 men.

Mary and I are currently teaching a two week intensive English course at a seminary in the city of Kupang, which I believe is the capital of the province where Mary and I are staying.

I can only say that these seminarians are so warm, friendly, and fun. Mary and I celebrated New Years here and it was simply a blast! We watched skits by the seminarians which were funny even though I didn't quite understand all of what was being said.

After the skits and the "ball drop" we danced for two hours. Yes I danced and loved it! The guys showed us some traditional dances from their islands in Indonesia and of course I was bad at all of them but I didn't care and neither did they. They tried to teach me two step dancing which is supposed to be easy but of course I couldn't do it. Give me credit though for trying. Anyway, we also danced regularly (club dancing without all the dirtiness). I was complimented on my dancing. I think the guy was just being nice. I will say that I let loose with these guys. I danced more freely and I was happy. I only have one week left and I hope to make the best of it.

I hope all of you are well and I hope you start the New Year in a positive way. By the way I will have regular internet access for the remaining week I am in Kupang so I might possibly be able to answer your e-mails more quickly but for one week only folks.

Quick Stuff

Yeah I know it's been awhile. Bear with me.

The rainy season has begun. It has rained incredibly hard here and our house has flooded once. We have three leaks on our roof as a result of the rain. We also have water in the well now which means we now have water in the house as the well water gets pumped into our water tank giving us wonderful glorious water. I thought I was a water conservationist before well when I come back to the states I'm gonna be a psycho about it. Going without running water is something that I do not wish on anybody but unfortunately it is something virtually every person in this region deals with. Please conserve your water and remember some people have to carry bucketfuls of clean water from a communal well up a steep hill to their homes. The majority of these people are small children who do it as a part of their daily chores and by small children I mean children ages 4 and above and this is no exaggeration.

Okay now onto something fun. So part of the things I like about being here is that I am forced to try new things and I mean FORCED, out of need and not desire. This is one of the reasons I chose to go abroad. I knew I would do things I would not even attempt in the States.

Well one of those things I was forced to do was ride on the back of a motorcycle three times yesterday. The first time I was terrified convinced I would fall off, the second time I still had some fear and doubts and the third time I was perfectly relaxed holding a shopping bag in my lap as we rode. We means me and the driver for hire which they refer to as an ojek here. For the price of 3,000 Rupiah (the local currency), the equivalent of $0.30 in the States you get your own motorcycle driver and a ride from point A to point B in the city. I recommend it but with a helmet if possible. I went without, not because I was feeling reckless but simply because helmets are not usually provided for passengers by ojeks. This was one reason I kept silently praying "Please God don't let me fall or die."

Okay so that's it for today. Hopefully another post soon but don't hold your breath.

Day To Day

Okay my little sister has complained that no one knows anything about what I'm doing because I don't write anything here. In my defense I have limited access to the internet and when I do have access I usually only have a few precious minutes to send e-mails.

Today Mary took on the responsibility of doing the food shopping so that I could have a little more time online to tell you a little more about this place and what I'm doing.

I am in Nurobo, West Timor. It is a small village in the hills. It is very small and not much goes on there. Mary and I teach English several times a week to the girls at the local vocational school, to the sisters at the convent, and to the aspirants (those wishing to become priests or join the convent). Teaching English is a difficult task because I have no clue what I'm doing. As I have said many times speaking English does not necessarily make someone qualified to teach it but, oh well, I'll improve as teacher.

Mary and I are also supervising the local guy band group. We have to just be present while the music teacher gives electric guitar, bass, and drum lessons to some of the guys. We actually start with the band today. We will be doing more with the community as time goes on. Right now we are just trying to adjust.

Life here is not greatly difficult. It's not as convenient as living in the U.S. but it's not unbearable. Presently we have no running water at the volunteer house because our well is dry. We have to carry buckets of water from the sisters' convent to our house so that we can bathe and do our laundry and wash our dishes. We get dirty water from this other well which is not safe to drink so we just use that for toilet flushing.

The electricity here is pretty consistent. Except that it goes out practically everyday for a little while which I don't mind so much since we don't use the light during the day since we have many windows in our house. It is only when the lights go out when we are making dinner that I get upset. Mary and I end up burning food because we can't see. We also leave food on the counter because we can't see it which attracts ants and bugs in the following morning.

Speaking of bugs there are many here. Ants come in all the time as do cockroaches and scorpions and giant fist sized spiders. The cockroaches, spiders, and scorpions usually die as soon as they enter the house because we have sprayed bug poison everywhere.

Mary and I awaken on a daily basis to cocks crowing and pigs snorting and two horrible little children that cry as if they are dying every single morning! The children are not starving or ill by the way, I've checked. Apparently, they're just "spoiled" kids.

Every morning after being unpleasantly awakened in one form or another Mary and I attend daily mass which starts at 5:30 am which is not really as horrible as I originally thought it was going to be. The entire village wakes up by 6 am which sucks, so sleeping in for us usually means waking up at 6:30 am at the latest. Trying to sleep later is kind of impossible. We usually go to sleep by 9:30 pm since we get up so early and are exhausted by 7 pm anyway.

Oh about bathing. Mary and I pour clean water into big buckets and use a water scoop to pour over ourselves to bathe. The water is cold of course and it always leaves me gasping with the shock of the first scoop of water. We call this kind of bathing a mandi.

About learning the local language of Bahasa Indonesia, just don't ask. It is a relatively easy language to learn as there are no conjugations but as it is nothing like Spanish or Italian I find it difficult to remember the necessary words. I have hopes that within a year I'll be able to speak it with little difficulty, though.

Okay I think that's it for today. Let me know if any of you have any questions. If I remember next time I'll tell you about how cheap everything here is...well mostly cheap.