Divine Appointments/Neighbors

The neighborhood we live in has had the reputation in the past as being a tough place to be able to really get to know people b/c most work all the time. However we believe the father has opened up doors here that are just like him.
2 Examples:
The other day a guy comes walking by our house with a good looking dog on a leash (both rarities in Indo.). So as the boys approached the dog i began to talk with the owner (we will call him lamda). As we struggled through the little Indonesian i could speak, i soon realized he spoke a lot better english than i did indonesian. Come to find out he lived in the states for six months back in 1998. He was trying to go to college and came a semester early to experience high school in america before starting college. unfortunately the economy crashed here in Indo. in 1998 and he could not afford to stay and go to college. Here's the cool part, the high school he attended was non other than Greer High right there in South Carolina! Thats right, the only guy in Indo that has ever heard of Greenville SC lives on the next street over. Coincidence? I dont think so. Remember Lamda, his wife, and young son as we visit with them this week.
The only guy i have stayed in touch with from Indo. the last 2 years is a professional baseball player here. We have alot in common and he speaks english so our relationship can progress a little. Anyway we have met up a couple times here in Bandung and he has invited me to travel with him in August for a tourney in Bali (ok if i have too). The cool part is that his sister lives directly across the street from us! Thats right of the 6 mil people who i happened to meet and stay in touch with from 2 years ago, and all the places we could have lived, and all the places she could have lived, she lives across the street. Coincidence? I dont think so.
Remember "G" as our relationship grows and he hears the truth.

PUSH MOWER ANYONE?

I never thought I would ever say this but how i wish i had a push mower and a set of hedge trimmers! I mean the damage i could do for the good of man kind over here would be mind blogging (no pun, ok a little). That little pach of grass you see beind me is our front yard and it takes me about 45 min to cut with my "long knife". It is truely a sight to see me squattting (ok not sure its an official squat) and cutting every blade of grass with my samari swing. Believe it or not I actually enjoy it. The boys usually come out to "help" and Candace gets a kick out of watching me. Now the hedge trimming thing is not so much fun. Sure its kinda cool for the first 5 min. but and hour later when your on the same bush with the same dull clippers you start too wonder if the blades are dull enough to actually end ones life!

IBL Basketball Its FANTASTIC!

Saturday and Indonesian my age and I went to the third game of a five game series for the IBL (Indonesian Basketball League) finals between the local team Garuda vs Bartimai from Jakarta. The atmoshpere outside the arena took me back to college football excitment with people, traffic, food, and music everywhere. Indo rap was blasting outside as hundreds of fans waited in line for tickets that cost about $3. We decided to bypass the line and by from scalpers for $5 each. The game was very intense. An Indo. Camron Indoor if you will. The crowd of over 5,ooo packed out the open air arena and responded to every good or bad play made on the court. The play was very physical and extremely entertaining. Almost too entertaining! The game had an NBA feel from the standpoint of the league trying to "sale" their product. But it also had a street ball element with a running commentary of the game by a DJ over the loud speakers complete with music. Then again the frantic hustle and emotianal mistakes reminded me of good ole highschool ball. The tallest guy that actually played was about 6'6 and was a pretty good player. Each team had about three post players around 6'3 200lbs. The rest of the guys were 6 ft. or under and fairly athletic. The game went back and forth with one run after the next but the story/drama was with Garuda's best player (#22 Samurada) who was injured and had very little playing time in the first half due to battling the flu and a hobbled leg. With his team down 11 in a low scoring game #22 comes into the game with 4 min. left to the roar of the hometown fans. He scores 13 points, including the last shot of the game with 2 sec. on the clock that gave Garuda their first and only lead of the game.

Candace came with us on Sunday for the 4th game of the series. It was great to have her there and share in the excitement. Garuda came up a little short in game#4 and Bartimia claimed its 3rd straight championship! Garuda held there heads high considering this was only there 2nd year in the league. This was truely a great and unigue experience that could only be experienced in person and in Indonesia.

Oh yeah.....the jersey you see me sportin in the photo is (of course)#22 Samurada! I guess I'm a fan for life.

Joshua is Potty Trained

Yea!!! Joshua is almost officially potty trained! We are so proud of how well and fast he has done it, but the funny thing is how he did it. The past two weeks Joshua and Caleb have had diarea, so everytime we took Joshua to the potty he would go, ha ha, because his diarea was so frequent. So eventually he knew when it was coming and would tell us he had to go, thats all it took for him to become a pottying machine. They potty train a little differently here. They just let the kids go "free" and go the bathroom wherever they want. So we have found it humerous that everyday we come home from school Joshua is naked and says he pee peed in the grass. I guess that's what our helper thought best when we told her we were trying to potty train, ha ha! Anyhow, we are just really glad we won't have THREE kids in diapers, and for a few months we'll only have one! (Potty training made easy- Another reason to move to Indonesia)

Another Saturday Night?

I was tired of Candace having all the fun with the blogging so i decided to get in on it. Mine will probably be too long and not very many pics.
Last Sat. we get home from dinner w/ friends and a trip to the local super market to find a family of six on our street. They were well dressed and did not fit the usual beggar profile. The father tried to explain his dilemma to me in Indonesian but we weren't making much progress. After calling an interpreture i learned that he had taken a train with his family from a city a days journey away to visit his family whom he had not seen in 5 years. he did not call first b/c neither had a phone. upon arriving he learned his family had moved and the neighbors did not know where too. on his way back to the train station he was robbed on the public transportion (which has happened to us 2). So he got dropped off down the street from our house and needed help. During this conversation Candace had prepared food and treats for the family while Joshua had brought out cold drinks to all the kids (a beautiful sight). After asking Candace (of course!) we invited them to spend the night (it was after 9 already) and then take them to the station tom. But they declined b/c he needed to work the next day and the all night train was cheaper than the day one. So we gave him the needed funds and I got to give him a tract in the local language and simply explain the importance of the message. I also got his address and am passing it own to a co-worker in his city. A father with his wife and 4 kids (all under 5 years old )roaming the streets of a foreign city at the mercy of anyone who would help. PDL he "happened" down our street. For Indonesia, just another saturday night.

We have found an oasis, literally, in the middle of a very busy city, a pool! Our boys love it ofcourse so we make frequent trips to let them get some energy out.

Zoo Trip

These are a couple pictures of our trip to the zoo. It was a great zoo but you can get much closer to the animals (including the lions and tigers) than any zoo in America. So we really had watch Joshua and Caleb, ha ha! It was a wonderful experience. Ofcourse the elephant wanted to get a little sniff and Josh (picture) which scared us all for a second. We survived the zoo and look forward to going back again sometime.