A developmental snapshot of our family

I found this tableau next to me, I didn't set it up, I swear...

Saturday morning diversions

The dogbed becomes a two-passenger Jonas-powered ferry.

Thank you notes:

It strikes me that this whole blog could be nothing but thank-you notes and it would still be way more than I could write.

Recent entries would include (in no particular order):

• Mana, for unbelievable grandparenting during Sam's trip, when RSV decided to come for a visit. Julian, in his feverish misery, would go on a hunger strike if we (Mana or me) tried to put him down. It was quite cozy if we ignored how much other stuff we weren't getting done and just sat still and handed him back and forth. Still, not the way we would choose to earn quality time.
• Our other beloved family and friends, who were helping in innumerable ways even after Julian decided he wouldn't drink anything unless he was held by me or Mom. Before the RSV struck we were actually doing very well, following the rather excellent plan that Sam had made. Jodie, Tom, Danya, Simone and Andrew, Meghan and Julienne, Anita and Michael, we loved the time we got to spend with you, and we missed the time that we should have shared which was stolen by that dreaded germ! Zaide and Pop, many thanks for helping out in so many ways and for sharing your spouses with us during our time of greatest need!
• Jonas, who has been deservedly recognized by Mana and Zaide for being an *amazing* big brother to a boy whose fundamentally sunny disposition has been thoroughly clouded by the twin fronts of twoness and sickness (how much thinner can I stretch that metaphor? Hmmm...) Awesome! You must have some secret power that I haven't seen documented in any comic books. Or pokemon cards.
• Emma deserves huge thanks not only for being such an active member of what was clearly a fantastic team, but in particular for being a conduit through which I could stay in touch with Sam. I don't know what we would have done without her patient sharing of her cell phone. You know, Emma, sometimes I do actually want to talk to you when I call!
  
• Sweet Sam, who is doing more as a high school teacher to heal the rift between our country and the Muslim world than most diplomats have achieved. You helped Mike assemble a top notch bunch of educational ambassadors, and made the most of the experience yourself. We love seeing your pictures and videos, and hearing your stories, and I am getting such a kick out of how much the boys admire your adventurous spirit. We love that you are such a capable globetrotter, and their image of how one should interact with the world has been permanently broadened and improved. I only hope that I can manage to keep up with you three when the next adventure arises.
• Collette and Don, who sent me this fantastic fleece for Christmas. I should be the last person to need a new fleece (we could construct a whole flock of fake sheep out of our collection), but I have been living in this thing since I opened it. It is light enough to wear inside, and thick enough to protect me when I go wandering out to run between houses or get pellets for the stove, and it has this perfect iPhone pocket which allowed me to avoid losing my precious little gadget. This was more important than you might expect when the iPhone became a lifeline through which I could keep in touch with Sam with one hand while cradling the aforementioned sick toddler with the other. Sometimes it is very hard to "care for yourself while caring for others" (as Mom's workshop is titled) and you kept me from freezing on countless absent-minded forays into what has been an unforgiving winter.

Oy, I could go on for ever. Instead, I'd better get to bed. G'night Johnboy.

In the practice of cuddling

Look! They're holding still! While awake! Cuddling each other instead of swinging on us! About as likely as a "president of color" :-)





Sent from my ianPhone

She's home

And we're all very happy to see her :-)

(those are batique PJs that Sam brought home for the boys)

testing an email post

I have wanted to post via email, so here is a test of the process that Google says will work...

On her way :-)

Toraja, South Sulawesi & Balikpapan, Kalimantan

I have to choose between pictures and words because I have so little time....so I am choosing pictures. Here are a few pictures from the last few days!

Sam

Some photos!

Here are some photos so that the entries on arhstoindonesia.blogspot.com are a little more "scratch and sniff"....thanks for the idea Jennie!

Jakarta

Jakarta Journal

Watch the first step, it’s a big one. Twenty-five hours with our tray tables and seats in upright position. Safe to say that we caught up on all the reading about Indonesia that we’d been putting off. We had a chance to rest overnight in Singapore and then arrived in Jakarta in the afternoon.

Our Jakarta partner, Fathur, whisked us away on a city tour. The city makes a strong first impression. It’s built around open canals and mopeds – and it’s big. Really big. At 17 million people, it’s a megacity bigger than New York. But much warmer.

First stop on the actual tour Museum Sejarah Jakarta. The plaza was full of school children and families taking in the Sunday afternoon. At the door of the old Dutch government house, an exhuberant, spectacular self-appointed tour guide attached himself to our party. He corralled us into a group in front of each object of significance and reeled off a series of canned jokes and quick histories. We tried to wonder off to watch the monkey riding a motorcycle on the plaza or the children playing in the rainwater cistern, but he was relentless an insisted on attention. We got a little extra attention for the Obama connection. One group of teenagers was very excited to take their picture with the people who voted in Obama’s election.

We got a first chance to get out of the historic district after lunch. We walked through a working district where men ran industrial sewing machines to make giant tarps, parents and children shared single vespas and a goat joined our parade. We eventually made our way to the heart of Jakarta. Hundreds of young men were playing sepak bola in pick up games around the Monumen Nasional. Then we made our way across to the Istiqual Mosque and were greeted by a guard who kindly offered to give us a tour of the mosque. The enormity was staggering. The compound and courtyards can hold 200,000 worshippers (although it was practically empty and quiet when we were there). The state was intimately involved in the creation and design of this mosque as a symbol of independence and Muslim identity. Directly across the street is a cathedral representing the religious pluralism in Indonesia.

The following day we were privileged to meet with diplomats, bureaucrats and officials who were optimistic about the project and were eager to hear about the remainder of our trip. We were treated to a classic Javanese meal of gado-gado and curried cow brains…only Tom was willing to partake…he claimed the taste was preferable to the lungs.

More grownup fare

This comic is just too damn funny sometimes. If we didn't have an accreditation visit this week, I think it would go up on my door at work...

Favorite moments

As I watch the days go by with Sam in Indonesia, I catalog moments that I think she would appreciate. I hope that by sending these to her, she can relax a bit, knowing that our precious boys are doing well with the loving attention of myself, their grandparents, TomB, and our friends.

My instinct is to mail brief accounts to Sam, sometimes accompanied by an iPhone photo (not great quality, better than not having a picture at all, classic phone photography as far as I'm concerned).

Then today I realize that the same memories that tell Sam that we are missing her and doing fine are the ones that make good blog entries, fun for friends and family to read, and good sappy memories for posterity...

We have spent the last couple of nights with Mana and Zaide, sleeping in Uncle Eli (aka Until Eni)'s room. Early on in the visit they raided his hat collection, settling on a couple of beanies that appear to have come from Chinatown somewhere (maybe even one from San Francisco when we lived there? Maybe not). Of course, the hats somehow got linked with Ninja fantasies, and Julian wore one for about 24 hours, asking "do ninjas..." before any action. The best in show? "Do ninjas suck on binkies?" I've tried to make the distinction between Japan and China, but facts have a hard time penetrating such imaginary pursuits. I'm glad they didn't pick the fur hat from Russia, god knows where that would have led them!

The boys are tightly bonded to each other, tighter perhaps than I expected, given their age difference. It has surfaced as a source of comfort in these first days of Sam's adventure (dare I say "grand day out?:-) Last night, Mana and I were overwhelmed by a little tableau of the two boys snuggled nose to nose as they slept, today's version was when they consolidated their dinner seating to a single Trip-Trap chair. I began by thinking such close-quarter activities were a sign of patience on Jonas' part, but often I think that he likes the contact as much as Julian. If we can maintain such a balance over time, it will be a very nice thing.

PS. I took the shots of Jonas throwing the snowball with an app called "Quadcamera" on my iPhone. Good fun with fast-moving kids!

Day 1 in Jakarta

Here are some images of my first day in Indonesia. The Sepeda Motor (motorbikes) and Orange Sepeda are for Julian and Jonas. We also visited the old city of Batavia (before it was named Jakarta) and had this spectacular man telling us about the history. We visited the old city wharf and I took a few pictures for Ian (amazing sailing ships). In the old city there was a city grate with water below that young boys were swimming in! Anyway, more to come later...first to sleep.