We arrived here in Indonesia pretty clueless, besides the word of the Lord.  Normally, we like to know about the country we’re heading to; you know, the culture and food and religion.  Not this time.  We didn’t get a chance to research much beforehand, so we just dove in, then asked questions later.

One of the first questions I asked was: “Is there a food we absolutely must try while we’re here?”  I didn’t know it was a dangerous question or I may have started in a little tamer.  Henry and Randy got a little emotional describing the juicy details of sipping live monkey brains and what I mean is that the monkey is still alive while they sipped its brains.  When they started talking about snake meat and bringing out the photos, I had to leave.

On a brighter note: they love donuts here!  Even more exciting is the cronut, a cross between a croissant and a donut.  I got the cheesecake one– filled with cream cheese and sprinkled with cinnamon.  After 3 weeks of rice 3 times a day, a cheesecake cronut will make you all dramatic, like “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire life” and “Can we hide several dozen of these under the bed?”  They are everything I ever wanted in a pastry, and I’m not lying.

There’s a Starbucks within walking distance, just like there was in Colorado Springs.  This week’s special here is a triple coffee frappucino.  Jessie got it without the jello chunks, then it was just a double coffee frap.  It didn’t taste much like coffee at all, even with coffee grounds sprinkled on top.  Come to think of it, there may be a few other differences.  I don’t remember the baristas at Starbucks in Colorado urging me to upsize my drink, or swindling me into buying another pastry.

We eat a lot of tofu.  This morning for breakfast we had white rice, deep fried tofu and tempeh and a very spicy sambal.  It’s not a real meal unless there’s something spicy. According to one of the girls, “that’s what’s so hilarious about eating!”  It’s boring to eat food that doesn’t have any flavor, and around here, picante equals flavor.

Supposedly across from Starbucks, there’s a place that serves cat.  The streets are full of mangy looking cats, most of them missing their tails (how I wonder where they are).  It’s hard not to be a little suspicious of the chicken nuggets, with such a funny texture and so many cats missing their tails.

We had a team day, where we went to the mall for the afternoon.  Surabaya is famous for its many large malls, oddly enough.  I’ll save you the details of the whole ordeal for now, but we ended up at Pizza Hut for dinner.  Hj and I were excited for some familiar flavors so we ordered a large meat lovers.  Because I am sparing you details of the whole ordeal, you don’t know why I went into the baby room and laid on the changing table until our food was ready, but that’s what I did.  When the pizza finally arrived, it was about the size of a dinner plate and it had chopped spam and sliced hotdogs for meat.  Mmmm… just the familiar flavors we were craving!  Meanwhile, down at the other end of the table, Ellie was downing her fourth slice of pizza.  I think she had missed her yeast breads and special Dutch cheeses.

I’m sorry I don’t have many photos to go with this post.  I told Hj I really need to include at least a picture of a cronut, and far too cheerfully, he suggested Google images.  So here you go.

courtesy of someone luckier than I

We were welcomed with open arms to YWAM Surabaya.  I think there are about a dozen staff members here, and every one of them is overflowing with kindness.  They tirelessly answer our many questions, dote on our children, and extend grace during the meltdowns.  Thankfully most of them are still young and spry, and have an amazing ability to sleep through sirens, storms and even a 2 year old on jet lag.

God must have heard us complain that living in Colorado Springs wasn’t enough community living, what with everyone hiding out in their own rooms and stuff.  So He offered us a taste of real community.  Right now, we have a room to ourselves, maybe 10×10 feet, with a double bed and an air conditioner.  We have our own shower with a toilet in it and that’s the extent of our space.  Ellie sleeps on the floor and Adam sleeps with us.  I thought we couldn’t live without a shelf, or a nightstand, or a trashcan.  I was wrong!

Our room has one big window that looks into the dining room, so we don’t feel too secluded or left out of whatever’s happening out there.  Glass louvers can’t keep us from the party!  Right now I hear some YWAMers trying to outdo each other with stories of their rumspringa days, but often it’s a competitive game of Dutch Blitz.  Did you know some cultures value quiet and some cultures value noise?  We are learning how to be flexible and how to raise our voices, to blend in with the natives.

Blending in with the natives isn’t as easy as you wish sometimes, but we are getting pretty good at working the crowds, signing the autographs, posing for photos.  If your self esteem is getting a little low, and you haven’t been fawned over enough lately, might I suggest a trip to Asia?  Don’t forget to bring the kids.

I was going to write about all the things God is teaching us, and what it’s like to raise kids with a dozen young people in the house, and some more observations of a brand new culture.  Alas.  It’s 11pm on our side of the world and Ellie is still going strong.  What I mean is, she is still singing, chattering and jumping on the bed and she doesn’t show signs of stopping.  I need to go find the guy who gave her a Snickers this afternoon and have a little chat with him.