Tidbits...

Today Marc and Brynne played with Nelfika and her uncle Yokben (our guard/yard guy). Yokben is a lovely man who is incredibly patient. He pushed the kids around and around the yard in our wheelbarrow and then let them ride on his back. We are so blessed to have him working for us!

There is a new law here that states that all motorbikes and cars must have their headlights on at all times. This is painful for a fair number of Indonesians as many believe that this drains the battery of their vehicle. Alternators are not truly understood here... So the police are at times out in full force at key locations where they wave down all traffic and let everyone know that their headlights must be on. Some have no trouble turning on their lights while driving, others have some trouble and must pull over and do the deed. I see many who once out of sight of the police officers, turning off their lights again....

I'm sure that many of you heard about the ferry that sunk off the coast of Sumatera last week. About 2 weeks ago a few members of our church were coming home from their native Island of Halmahera by boat as well. They said that the journey lasted 16 hours and they had only enough room to sit or stand. They could not lie down to rest. In addition, the water in the bathrooms was only working for a couple hours at a time. They said it made it hard to wash themselves. I think they were too polite to say that it made it hard to "flush"... He has now decided never to take the boat again....

Today our friend Jan W. returned from a short trip to Boma, the interior village where they lived for a number of years including one year as the only white folks... While there, Jan procured a bow and arrow set for us to take back to Canada. We wanted one that hadn't been made just for tourists but one that had actually been used. It is a beautiful set including 5 handcrafted arrows; one for pigs, one for fish, two for birds and lastly, one for humans.... hmmm....