Thanks for asking about us and for praying for us! We have been very busy with a number of things—somewhat overwhelmed really.
Dealing with the immigration issues (8 trips to Immigration so far), police reporting and the general government bureaucracy has taken an enormous amount of time and expense the first three weeks. Hopefully next week we’ll get all of our papers and be set for the next few months at least.
We spent 3 days looking for a place to live once we arrived in Bandung and have settled on an apartment in a small villa. Very spacious, but their standards for cleanliness don’t match ours. Managing the water situation is a daily life issue. You cannot drink the tap water so everything becomes more complicated and time consuming from brushing your teeth to washing dishes.
We don’t have a driver yet, so we spend a large amount of time fiddling with taxis, waiting on them, etc. Waited for one an hour the night of Idul Friti that never came. Called 4 people today about getting a driver today and may have some resolution next week. Very welcome after a run in with a taxi driver today (drove us around in circles before stopping). Not knowing the language is a big issue. Hopefully, we can start language training next week, too.
I have been to the University (ITB) several times and now have an office. I’ve also met the Dean of engineering and a few of the Informatics faculty members. They have all been very gracious, especially my host, but it will take some time to get to know them. Most are Muslims. Not radical in the least. They just completed the Idul Friti holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan and the loud speakers sounded out over the city for 48 hours.
Exercise is important to me and I’ve had quite a time trying to find the right place to run and swim. Still looking, but I may have found a pool, called Cipaku. Click the link http://g.co/maps/eszk and the callout bubble labeled “A” identifies our street (alley). Zoom in and the pool I want to go to comes into view. Only a half mile from our apartment, but to get to it I have cut thru the shooting range of a military training base. Hope they don’t catch me and accuse me of being a CIA spy! I can run on the ITB track but it is in bad shape and there are no facilities I can use to clean up after running.
We’ve managed to go to the supermarket a few times and we met a medical missionary also shopping there. He and his wife have been a blessing to us. We ate out a week ago for the first time and attended a movie theater. Celebrated our 43rd!
Lastly, we have attended the First Baptist church here, and while small, the service was outstanding. Last Sunday we attended the Bandung International church which is closer to where we live. Both churches are interviewing pastors.
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