Hari Ulang – Har (like in Hark)-ee Ue (like in glue)-long – Birthday – and a happy one to William.
23 April 2007 Monday
Almost did not get out of bed to go exercise but remembered that I needed not only the exercise but also the discipline so I did 5 laps – did not feel too bad. I ran a little more of each lap – hopefully I will someday make it up to running all the way on each lap.
Great morning – we got to hear from both Bob’s and Cindy’s family – or at least part of each of them. It is a wonderful way to start off a day and a week. Hopefully we will hear from more of the family throughout the week.
After hearing from the family, we read from the Kitab Mormon early than normal because we need to leave early. Mary slept alright and did not cough much while we were home. We left at 9:00 to look at the Raya Elders house. When we got there they were just finishing up their cleaning. Sam had been there on Saturday and said it was a mess so they must have put their shoulders to the wheel over the last couple of days because it looked pretty good.
From there Mary managed to get me to agree to go see the ocean. Sam insured me it was only 30 minutes away – and for once he was correct. The beach reminded me of San Francisco bay only with a lot more pollution. They have a nice tourist like area that you have to pay to get into. There is no real beach – more like a shingle – and no waves. I would imagine there are times when the waves do come but they must never be very big because the businesses are much to close to the waterline for large waves. Mary walked out at least a foot into the water – that does not mean it was a foot deep – but that she was 12 inches from the sand.
What was nice was the breeze off the water. If they ever get good roads down to the waterfront I would imagine that at some time it will become a rich folks area as it is in most countries. But now it is mostly deserted old buildings and slums. But the people still look clean and almost always have a smile on their face. They have learned to live this way and so make the best of it.
After that we went to SoGo for one of our two weekly visits. We met sister Weaver – the wife of the English branch’s president doing her shopping. I think it is the market of choice for most ex-pats. They will soon be leaving for Angola for another 3-5 year tour. I can see why people do this – they get an American salary that is not taxed, a living expense that allows they to live like royalty and their children go to the best schools a country has to offer. So after 20 – 25 years abroad they can come home wealthy and with a great pension.
From SoGo we went to Global Doctor where we found Mary had bronchitis. The doctors visit and enough medicine to cure an elephant cost about $100 – this should be covered by our insurance. I am glad we went so that it did not become serious.
Home just in time to let the cleaning lady in – she actually helped us carry the groceries up to the apartment. I almost forgot we stopped and bought a decorative concrete planter. A full $5 purchase – I did not feel like beating the seller down any more – I have to remember that 10,000 ruhpias is only $1 – they say 70,000 and for some reason that sounds like a lot of money to me.
When I went to put the plants in I realized that I can not use some of them for where I want to put the planter. I want to put it in full sun and they are shade plants. So I will either need to buy more plants for the sunny area and another pot for the shade plants or transplant the big plant to the new planter and use it’s planter for the shade plants. Heavens I know what my choices are and reading that still does not make all that amount of sense. Anyway the planter looks great.
I am now trying to catch up on the journal… I missed Saturday and Sunday – I decided to start with today and will work my way back.
We spent a quiet afternoon and evening. Much of mine was taken up with this journal and our report to the president about our week. What I did not get is a nap. We had the restaurant bring up some sweet and sour pork and ate that with the rice we already had cooked. It is starting to seem normal to have a container of sticky rice in the refrigerator – we must be becoming more Indonesian. Either that or we are eating more left-overs.
Watched The Amazing Race and then started reading the Kitab Mormon. Mary was coughing and not feeling well so we stopped after about ½ hour so she could get some rest.
My patience lesson for the day started when I found that the office had not payed my cell phone bill so I could not use it. I called and asked them to please pay it and Hendra said they would. Of course they didn’t until I called a second time and mentioned that it was hard to operate without my cell phone (I never thought I would say that.) This seemed to finally get across to them and 20 minutes later my phone was working again. I must confess that I was annoyed but I did not let it really get to me as I usually would.