The Marketplace

Time to Barter

On Friday our language class took a field trip to 4 markets: the flower market, the bird market, the fish market and the big market. The point in this trip was for us to practice our language skills and barter for what we wanted to buy.

We began the journey by taking the public transportation to the flower market. The public transportation are these tiny blue vans that will drive around until you yell "kiri" which means "left." These vans were very tight and they have no problem fitting as many as they can into this space.

With a fellow language student on the public transport.

The tropical climate makes everything so green.

Tucked away was this flower shop where they made arrangements.

Thought this place was cool.

Fish/Bird Market

From there we moved on the the fish and bird market where they had a little bit of everything on display. It was a lot like an American pet store meets flea market atmosphere. It was the perfect place to buy a pet for MJ and Hayley to take care of. 

This almost captures the chaos.

Handmade and Awesome.

Thought about buying this alarm clock.

This next scene was by far my favorite of the day. I was looking at a snake enclosure when I turned around to be face to face with this guy. 

Thats right, it's a bat. At this moment I had a few things go through my head.

#1. Oh gracious.

#2. Why is this thing not in a cage or tied up somehow?

#3. If it bites me will I become Batman?

But that wasn't the best part. The best part was the community that he was a part of. Within 2 feet you had Batman, his sidekick Iguana, three groupie rabbits, and Rooster version of Alfred (Batman's butler).

God created us for community.

Ashley has this look she gets when she sees something small and cute which is then followed by the phrase, "Awwwww." Needless to say, this next photo invoked this reaction.

Who feels sorry for the one on his back?

If you Google "Owls as Pets," the first site you see displays the following message on the main screen: "It is illegal to keep owls without special permits in most countries." Now I'm never one to judge, but I'm pretty sure the guy selling this did not have a permit. Regardless, they were amazing to see up close and cost less than buying a dog...

Insert "Dumb and Dumber" joke here.

Big Market

From there we jumped on another version of public transportation, a "becak," (bay-chak). This is a modified bicycle with a two-seater on the front. 

These guy's apparently don't have to obey any road rules.

Methodist Church next to Mosque.

The Big Market was complete chaos. Lets just say if you are claustrophobic or like your personal space, this isn't the place for you. They sold a little bit of everything here but we were mostly distracted by the foul odors and close quarters. However, we had to complete our task and barter for produce so we persevered. It really wasn't that bad, but I'll stick with H.E.B. in the future.

Where'd they go?

Ash successfully bought her "Wortel's" or Carrots.

They weigh everything on old school balance scales.

We had a blast on this outing. It was so much to take in within one day, but it was an awesome immersion into how many people live here. 

We feel so privileged to be on this journey and are hearing God's voice so clearly. Our hearts go out to the millions on this island that do not know their Savior and we ask that you would pray with us for their salvation. However, we have been truly encouraged by those we are working with and see God moving in and through their actions. Pray also that the team here would be refreshed and renewed daily as they pursue His will and His heart.

Thank you for your prayers and stay tuned for more updates!

Blessings,

David & Ash

New Perspective

A Typical Sunday

So, I guess things are a little different here from the typical Sunday's that we are used to in the states. We began the day with a 45 min. drive to a surrounding village to join some local believers for celebration. There were about 30 people crammed into the second floor of a villagers house where all furniture had been removed to create space. Despite this difference they worshiped with all they had and it was an honor for us to join them.

Us "bule's," white folk, had to have a translator.

Why did the cow cross the road?

Who doesn't enjoy walking their cows after Sunday celebration? Our dog Buddy would have gone nuts!

Ash and Hay cooking by candlelight. 

In a typical week, so far, the electricity goes out three to four times. This Sunday it went out around five o'clock leaving Ash and Hay to cook in the dark while MJ and I played with fire.

Candlelight Cooking.

MJ and I pretended to do things in the kitchen. Actually, our candle placement was imperative to the cooking process.

Watch Out!

Sorry mom. I always told you I would never drive a motorcycle. But it is awesome! However, I had to learn how to drive all over again. Thanks to MJ, who took me to open road to practice. I felt kinda silly, however, when there was a dad there teaching his 12 year old girl how to drive a motorcycle as well! 

Ash getting pumped for the first ride.

This excitement quickly turned to panic and fear when we got on the road! All I heard from her was "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Hilarious!

Here we Go!

Yeah, your prayers are appreciated... It was a completely different feel when someone was on the back. And I have to drive on the left side of the road. "Left is Right, Right is Wrong." I am slowly getting the hang of it as we drive daily to language school and our nearby grocery for a Coke.

First Date

Ashley and I went on our first date here to a nice local restaurant at Hotel Tugu. We were excited that the waiters spoke english, kinda why we chose this place. We didn't stay the night, just partook in their fine cuisine. I had an Australian steak and Ash had pasta. $25 bucks for the best meal in town...not bad.

My Gorgeous Date!

Our only other pic before the camera died...

The hotel and restaurant is the nicest in town. The hotel used to be a Chinese man's house. Side note: Any time your house can be turned into a hotel...your house is too big. Regardless, the place was amazing with antiques, fish ponds, three restaurants, and a Spa. We had fun exploring the place on our date night. 

Random

Ash and Hay getting frozen yogurt.

Maya loves the giggles. 

Sticky rice...Sticky Maya

They have a Hut.

Turns out, Pizza Hut is a big deal around here. The restaurant is really nice, comparable to an Olive Garden in the States. It was kinda weird to be honest, but the pizza tasted the same!

Picture doesn't do it justice, but it was nice.

Maya was a ham, flirting with the waiters and waiving at those who walked by. 

Thanks for checking in on us. We appreciate your prayers! Everything is going great and I am super appreciative of the team members here who are letting us join them. I am learning a lot both through hands on experience and my studies. We ask that you would continue to pray for our guidance, receptiveness of all that we experience, and our ability to learn the language. 

Blessings,

David

Official First Update!

Family and Friends,

We apologize for the lack of updates. We have had internet trouble and hope to have it resolved soon! Anyway, we have been here for a week and a half and things are going fantastic! The best way to tell you what we have seen and done is through pictures so here we go:

And We're Off...Leaving DFW

It was great to have our family together for the few days before we left. We had a great Christmas and New Years shindig!

At the Vancouver Airport

 If you ever have to go to Canada, go through Vancouver. The Airport was AMAZING. I called it the Gaylord Texan of airports.

Ashley getting cozy.

 Turns out Ash is a champion at sleeping on airplanes. On our 14 hour flight she slept for 11 hours compared to my 1.5. I had to walk around, talk to people, watch movies, ask for treats, etc.

Movie Time!

 When Ash did wake up, it was very early morning, most were still asleep, but Ashley was awake and laughing loudly at an old episode of Friends.

On the ground in Hong Kong.

Finally in Indonesia! 35ish hours later.

First meal.

Apparently we did not take pictures until our first meal out. Here we are getting a taste of the local cuisine. It took some time for my knees to get used to the short "shin-high" tables.

Hay, Maya, and MJ

 We could not be more excited about spending the next few months with these guys!

Local farmer plowing his rice field.

Everyone here rides motorcycles. Oh, and there are no rules of the road!

Maya laughing at our car fright as we braced with every stop.

Typical road clutter.

Mosque. Still getting used to the daily calls to prayer.

Driving up a mountain on an early outing.

We would use a truck. They use motorcycles.

Local vendor. Good at the time, but may have given me the stomach bug that downed me for two days!

Two men, and a baby....on a river.

Cool stairway off the mountain path.

This was the destination of our first outing. It was awesome to see some of God's artwork.

The Perry's

Ashley was a Rockstar. Everyone wanted their picture with her.

The Hansons

Down the river from the waterfall.

Sisters

My kinda zoo. NO FENCES!

Praying that chain works!

Every turn is a Kodak moment or "Nikon" moment in our case.

Looking over the valley.

Ladies getting a pedicure after their cream bath.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! We hope to update more often than we have and this will change as we get our internet problem fixed. Continue to pray for our ability to learn the language. We are taking language school daily and hope to become somewhat fluent soon! Also pray that we stay healthy. I had a bug for a few days but have since recovered and feel great. Everyone here has been very accommodating and we could not have asked for a better beginning to this journey.

Blessings,

David