First Sunday

So everyone that has church at 9am and complains that it is too early should count their blessings. Our branch meets at 8am! There are actually some good reasons why we meet that early, and actually since our kids generally get up at around 6:30am sans jetlag of course, it might not end up being so bad after all.

We took our first family taxi ride this morning to church. We have been told to only use Bluebird brand, or other reputable taxis. They are bright blue taxis, and if you want to go luxury you can take a Silverbird which is a black mercedes. The taxi rides are very cheap and since we don't have a car yet, it's pretty much our only option. So there are no carseat laws here at all. It is actually laughable for me to write that...there are pretty much NO laws AT ALL when it comes to driving here. Come visit us and you can have a first hand experience. It's like Mr. Toad's wild ride at about 20 mph if you can imagine it. The traffic is bad enough that nobody can ever go much faster than that, but it's a crazy ride! Back to the carseat problem. We decided that while we are using taxi's we are pretty much going to go without carseats, except for Audrey. The boys have a blast in the backseat with me and Audrey and Tanner sits up front. We took a Silverbird taxi to church today and there was plenty of room in the back seat of our Benz for me and the kiddos. We got to church and immediately saw the branch president, who is Australian. He was very nice and told us where sacrament was being held. Yes, we needed directions to the chapel. It is a cool church building, two stories, and the chapel is on the upper floor and you get to it from the outside. We walked in and there were all of about 6 people in the room. The branch president told us almost all the U.S. families are gone for the summer back to the states to visit family, so we actually will only be having 2 hour block church until the first week of August when everyone gets back. No complaining here!

People began to file in and there ended up being about 50 people there. We were asked to come up and bear our testimonies, and I of course bawled my way through mine, partly because I usually do anyway, and because I am so T-I-R-E-D. Most of the branch is made up of U.S. Embassy employees, oil company execs, USAID employees, and church welfare missionaries. We met some nice people and I am excited to have some friends already. Two women are coming to visit me tomorrow, so that will be nice. Afterward we came home and it was a whopping 10:30am! What to do with the rest of our day of rest?! We have just been chilling here taking it easy and we will be going to our sponsors' house later this afternoon.

Yesterday, we actually got together with a family in the ward that works at the embassy and also lives a few doors down in the development we will eventually live in. They sent their driver over to pick us up and we visited with them and then ran over and walked through our house. It is being worked on right now and is kind of a disaster. They took out the A/C units that they had and are putting in central A/C. Woohoo!!!! We have been told everything should be ready in about 3 weeks, but I'll plan on 4-6 and then just be happy if we get in earlier. Our house is all tile on the ground floor, but the family that lives a few doors down asked for carpets to be put down over the top of the tile. I think I like that option. We have four bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs and they are all a good size. I really like the neighborhood, beautiful homes outside the development and beautiful greenery and trees, and its super quiet. There are kids in every house and apparently everyone plays outside together and runs from house to house. So we are excited to move in.

I have still not ventured out of the hotel with the three kids by myself. We went downstairs and played on the playground here at the hotel, but that's as far as I have been able to take it so far. It is daunting to think about taking all three kids out on my own, but I know I just need to do it, starting maybe for just a half hour. I will need to go do grocery shopping this week, but I am going to wait until Tanner gets home from work and then go by myself so I can fully focus on finding what I need and get the money thing down. There are about 10,000 Indonesian Rupiahs to 1 dollar, so the numbers can seem a little crazy until I just start thinking about taking off four zeros. Anyway, I'll be sure to report on my first shopping experience this next week. Our tasks for this week are to find a car, get cell phones for both Tanner and I, possibly start interviewing potential pembantus (maid/cook), and a driver. Lots to do all while keeping the children happy. They are doing great and love pointing out the Indonesian flags when we travel in the car. It will be great to get a maid because she will end up doing all the shopping for us, which will make life a lot easier!

The Indonesian people continue to charm us. They are economically poor, but are happy, smiling, and wonderful to talk to. They look at Audrey in awe, and smile when they see our towheaded boys bobbing and weaving about. I love listening to Tanner speak to them in their native tongue and I am excited to learn the language myself. I have a feeling we will be learning a lot from them.