My journey back to the other side of the globe started off exceptionally well. I didn't have to pay overweight charges for my bags from Phoenix to Los Angeles. I ran into a former student of BAIS who ended up being on all my flights back to Jakarta. My carry-on was incredibly heavy because it had all my books in it. When the little man helping me picked it up and nearly fell over, I knew they were going to make me check it. Fortunately, they checked it free of charge. In an attempt to survive my journey on the airline made especially for the height of the Asian population, I requested a seat with more leg room. When the man across the counter asked "How about an emergency exit row?" it took everything for me to not leap across and give the little flight attendant a huge hug! I ended up getting an emergency exit row all to myself. That in combination with a Tylenol PM resulted in one of the best flights I have ever been on! When I got into Jakarta, I had to get a temporary visa because my paperwork was late getting to the states. The line was relatively short, and I was able to get a visa without question. All my bags arrived, and customs was a breeze. Jennie and I arrived at the same time and had planned to order a taxi to take us back to Bandung. Due to some computer problems, there was never a taxi ordered for us. Fortunately, the former student who was on my flight was meeting her family in Jakarta on their way to Bali, and they were sending their empty car and driver back to Bandung. We were able to hitch a ride free of charge. Like I said, my journey back to Indonesia started off
exceptionally well...and the honeymoon period ended the minute we left Jakarta city limits.
When Jennie and I got home, we were surprised to find our house rather filthy and not exactly what we had expected, which didn't make sense. Over the summer, we hired our former Jaga (night watchman) and his family to stay in our house, keep it clean and work on some projects so the house would be ready when we returned. We hoped he would show up in the next day or so, but when we couldn't contact him by phone and hadn't heard anything for three days we knew there was a problem. We also realized that he had a copy of our house keys as well as the spare keys and registration to my roommates bikes. We talked to various families in the area to figure out what we should do next and talked to a few Indonesian workers at school who thought they might know where to find him. After about a week, we got a hold of him, he came to the house and we ended up giving him his things and sending him on his way. It was a really tough way to end things, especially because he had been working for Jennie for years.
In the meantime, our school was a bit in shambles because the moving process didn't exactly go the way we had hoped either. We had been careful to label all boxes and furniture with the correct room numbers so that the moving men could take them to their designated classrooms. Instead, they just dumped everything in the hallway of the first floor. Volunteers from church and families near the school came to help everyday to move boxes and furniture so that teachers could eventually set up their classrooms. Although this was an inconvenience, it gave us a few days to focus on getting at least one aspect of our lives set up--our house. Our helper had come out to clean the house and do laundry, and her husband came out to do some painting and work on some other projects that didn't get done over the summer. While in the process of making our house look more like a home, we were finding out more surprises like a waterfall in our backyard caused by a malfunctioning water pump, a beehive in our mailbox, simple appliances blowing the electricity, none of the water heaters working, and not being able to set up any form of internet. All resolutions to those issues are still pending:)
All this chaos and lack of control was really taking its toll on me. At the Pre Field Orientation training I went to this summer they showed us a culture stress model that showed that normally you experience a honeymoon period in a new country before the stress part kicks in. I had jumped straight into full blown culture stress the minute we drove into Kota Baru and I was starting to question whether I was going to be able to handle it, fearing all the other things that could possibly go wrong. Then I was reminded of the reason I am here. I am not here in Indonesia to have a house that is perfectly set up, I am not in Indonesia to have a perfect classroom with decorations and nice furniture. I am not in Indonesia to have a comfortable trouble free life. I am here to be used by my Heavenly Father to pour into the lives of children.
I am still learning how to handle the chaos and unfamiliarity of living out here. Everyday I am asking for eyes to see the little blessings in each day, and He has been faithful. My bedroom is all finished, my classroom has come together nicely, we've had some really sweet times of fellowship with the staff, and we are all looking forward to the students coming next week. I think episodes like what we've experienced already are only going to continue, which it is why it is so crucial for the staff at BAIS to come together and seek His face in the good and the bad. Please be lifting up our staff as we continue to learn how to adjust out here. He is still working and things are coming together. Our school looks like a school, our classrooms look like real classrooms:) The only thing missing are those kids who make BAIS what it is. Tuesday is the first day of school. At 7:35am, nine fourth graders will be walking through the door of my classroom. Nine fourth graders that I will get to spend 36 weeks with growing a learning together. That right there is a reason to persevere.
