As we are learning the language of Indonesia we are also learning about the culture, customs, and religions of this country. Yesterday we learned about circumcision. We had no idea that this was required of those that follow the Islamic faith here. Boys are circumcised between the ages of 5 and 9. The date of the event is chosen using a couple different methods. Some will go to an older person who is known to be able to calculate which day would be the best. Some simply wait until they have the funds. Of course, when this event occurs, you need to have a party. In older times often the family would watch the event as it occurred. Nowadays, people may go to the doctor and have the party a week or so later. Some will also go to a traditional person who uses traditional methods. Apparently both cause pain. The reason for circumcision is interesting. Islamics believe that before a boy is circumcised not all of his pee can get out and therefore he is dirty. Anyone who is uncircumcised must wash himself before he can pray as you must be clean to pray. So they must clean five times a day as that is the number of times you are called to pray. Any female who is menstruating is also not allowed to pray or fast as they are considered unclean. There are some who say that the Koran instructs this. There are those that have told us that there is no text in the Koran stating that circumcision must still occur and that only the story of Abraham is told. Some have told us that the instruction for this is found in the hadiths. The hadiths are held in as high esteem as the Koran. So anyways, there’s most often a party and those that attend are of course expected to bring an envelope with money inside….
We have just found out that there has been a tremendous amount of rain in Sentani and two very important bridges have been washed out. One bridge is on the way to the school and the other is on the way to the nearest bigger city. There have also been quite a few people who've had water enter into their houses, and not through the roof. This may affect the availability of jet fuel, gas and food supplies for a quite a while. Please pray that things may be fixed speedily.