July 30, 2006

Hello Family & Friends,

It is wonderful/wierd/hot/normal to be back. All these emotions about being in the home in which the girls were raised,
but without them....I have to print some pics of them and frame them around the house. Six months is too long to just
live with empty shelves.

We bought a very small cd/dvd player and computer speakers with woofers and have it set up in our living room, which
is making a nice homey feel. Now we just have to get some living room lamps (a very difficult thing to find here). The
aesthetics of subtle, warm lighting is not in the mindset of most people,(too many watts), but I'm looking. All our house
lights are the brightest possible neon, brilliant hurt your eyes kind of lights. With the ceiling fan on, it makes for a nice
strobe effect (i.e. instant headache). I got a reading lamp for my bedside table, so I'm making progress.

Tomorrow, we have a painter coming, a plumber to unplug the bathroom sink, fix the water tank in the bathroom and
remove the 24 years old katadyne filter in our kitchen (now everyone uses 5 gallon drums of drinking water - no more 20 minute boiling for drinking water!), and a carpenter to "rehab" the living room furniture (also relics from our past) and fix
a few termite eaten things. Maintenance cannot be ignored here or it could mean disaster.

We got our Indonesian driver's licenses Friday. We forgot all about getting an international license before leaving Canada.
It took a whole week of bureaucracy to wade through the many offices, official stamps, letters from various community
leaders, photocopying of passports, etc. etc. but finally after 3 hours in the police station, we had them. We went to
the police station expecting to have our photo taken and sign some papers, but we were ushered into an examination
room to take a 30 minute theory test instead. They allow a passing grade if you get 18 our of 30 right. Because of
unfamiliar terminology, we barely passed. Whew! After the test, we had to have all ten fingers fingerprinted separately,
then all four together from both hands, then the thumbs again. The police officer with the little spy glass was reading
my fingerprint and said the lines in my thumb revealed a very high intelligence! HA!

We have been having so many get togethers with the staff for prayer, meals, trips to church plants and women's
meetings, interior trips to Karangan, etc. that it's high time to sit down and just be by myself for awhile! Oh yes, and
there's that small thing of preparing for teaching 3 or 4 courses starting in a week. Indonesians are such social beings,
I don't know how they get any work done. They just love spending time together. This is great, but when do I get
down to work? Maybe that IS my work... and teaching will just take care of itself. (Let's hope so.)

Well, lots to share, but it's bedtime. I miss you all but we're having a great time.

Love in Christ,
Janet