small town life

The past couple of days has been full of lots of new things. Sorry for the delay. New place = no internet in my room = new routine.

First: Singapore. Wow. What a city. The two days I spent there really spoiled me - clean, full of English-speakers, and Subway. Man, oh man. But that wasn't the point, of course. Which leads me to…

Second: new visa! I am allowed to stay for another 60 days! Hooray! I'll be able to extend it for a little bit longer, but I will have to go back to Singapore again for my real visa. Oh, darn. :)

Third: Btown! I'm here!! Nearly a year later, I am walking the streets and seeing the faces of the people I've been waiting to join! It is quite different than the other city in so many aspects.

- There's green! Trees everywhere, and the beach! You can smell the ocean water when going to the store… and then you turn around and see the mountains on the other side. Do I really live here?

- Btown definitely has the small-town vibe. For those back home, if I had to guess, it's about the size of Lexington with the feel of Winchester. There are two universities, but right now it's holiday for them, so it's pretty quiet.

- And consequently, since it is a small town, I don't have quite as many luxuries as I did during language school. No massive, glamorous malls (though there are two small ones); no becaks (my primary mode of transportation the past four months); no McDonalds. I think I'll adjust. :)

- Language is a little different here. They use an "o" sound a lot more in place of the "a" sound, in particular at the end of a word. It makes listening a little more difficult… Additionally, since it is a small town, people sometimes use their tribal languages, which is not the language I learned. His power works in my weakness… His power works in my weakness.

Fourth: first driving lesson. I'm really excited about it all, but there's a healthy dose of fear as well. I've (almost) mastered driving in a parking lot today, but driving on the streets is a whole other ballgame. Hopefully I'll be able to have another lesson soon.

Fifth: home stay. Right now, I am living in what they call a kos. It's a house owned by a family, and they rent out the rooms to people, in most cases, to students. Sometimes the family themselves don't actually live there, and the kos next door during language school had something like 30 guys and girls living there. This kos is different. The family does live here, so I have an ibu kos (house mother), who has been very great. Also, rather than dozens of people here, there are only three other girls. We share a bathroom and a kitchen that is truly southeast Asian. I don't have internet right now, so I'll have to be a lot more intentional with my time on it (definitely not a bad thing). I promise there will be pictures after I've settled in more.

At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by it all. But my heart is learning to rejoice in it all - even the lack of everything I once knew to be a bathroom and a kitchen. I've been able to start relationships with my kos mates and met the students at the English club today for the first time.

He is so faithful. He doesn't abandon his children. Paul says he learned the secret to doing all things - hunger, sickness, the good and the bad - "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." In every circumstance, we can press on because he is our strength. He doesn't just leave us to fend for ourselves; rather, he fights our battles for us. He is clearing the obstacles and making straight our paths. All we have to do is be obedient and look to him.

Sorry for the book. I promise I'll upload photos soon. Those are more fun. :) 

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the L0rd your G0d is with you wherever you go." Josh 1:9

the end of the beginning

My time in this city has come to an end. 

We finished language school yesterday with evaluations at the mall, eating ice cream and pancakes while talking to people about what they do in their free time. All of my luggage, save for my backpack and guitar, is making its way on a bus to my new destination. And I am bound for Singapore in the morning for a two-day visa run.

It's strange to think that my time here is already over. I'm very much a mix of emotions that come in waves right now. I'm sad. I'm nervous. I'm scared. I'm excited. I'm readying myself for culture shock again. I'm trusting through uncertainties. I'm eager to meet the people, to see the city, to finally be where I've been preparing to go for a year. I'm ready to continue the journey.

This last week has been very full. We saw a friend get married. I got to wear a traditional top to the ceremony. I've packed up everything I own... again. We've cleaned (MagicErasers are awesome, by the way), booked flights, searched this city up and down for a hard guitar case (no luck). I've eaten out with friends, exchanged gifts, had sleepovers. I've said hard goodbyes, given many hugs, cried a lot, laughed just as much. It's been good.

And it's good when, as my eyes well up with tears, a dear friend sweetly take my hands and says, "Don't be sad, friend. It's not goodbye. It's just talk to you later."

It's not goodbye, loves. It's just talk to you later.

I borrowed the top from a friend. She dressed me up like a doll with all the jewelry and my hair.

Cleaning with the MagicEraser. Please note the difference between the tiles, particularly the line drawn down the grout.

faces from the pasar

I love these people. Now that I've gotten over the initial anxiety of being stared and yelled at all the time, I actually really enjoy walking down to the pasar (market) and talking to the people there. Since I'm moving in less than two weeks, Morgan and I walked down and took pictures of some of the people down there.

 

Meet Dinar. She is probably the most eager person I've met yet who wants to help us with our language. Photo by Morgan.

 

I watched these men play chess the other day while Morgan talked to Dinar. There's a group of six or so who get together every day and play right next to Dinar's flower booth. After establishing that it was culturally okay with Dinar for me to sit and talk to them, I joined them at their table. I talked to a sweet pak (older man) named Obi for a long time about pretty much everything I know how to talk about.

Today, when we walked down there, I was thrilled to see Obi watching the other paks play, as usual. As we were talking, he said to me in broken English, "You like daughter to me." If I wasn't about to cry before, I am now. (sigh)

haircut

I finally did it. I got my hair cut.

It had been three months since my last one, so I was in pretty desperate need of one. I've kind of resolved to grow it out, at least for a little bit, so while I didn't want to take off any length, I did need it to be restyled for long hair. Annnd I needed them to fix my bangs that I may have tried to cut myself. So I finally gathered the courage and went to a salon.

We go to a salon recommended by a friend, armed with a photo of the desired cut and a national friend. When we ask the prices, they give us a range between the equivalent of $15-20. It all depends on if you want the more or less experienced stylist. So the question becomes: How brave are you?

I know you're probably looking at the price and saying, "For real? It's only $20." But here, that $5 goes a long way, and $15 is already an expensive haircut. After looking at my picture and concluding that it's not that complicated - a little layering here and there, plus the bangs - I decided to be super brave and go with the less-experienced guy. I'll let you judge for yourself and see what you think.

For that $15, I got a haircut, a shampoo, head and arm massage, part of a back massage, and got to sit in a massaging chair as they rinsed my hair. Pretty nice.

Before - from the back. For pictures of the front, see my last post :)

Love R's face here. She's a nut. :)

Snip, snip

Ta da! So, what do you think? Not too bad, huh?