Catching up with TheOlsonFive!
Hello from Duri where I am catching up on email, Facebook and podcasts while I look out the window at our backyard (the picture above is NOT our backyard – but nearby). Since we have been here, I have seen many species of birds, colorful squirrels, a civet and a monitor lizard from this view. This morning while on a run near the Chevron Conservation park, I saw two pig-tailed Macaques climbing palm trees picking fruit. I was amazed and stopped to watch for a few minutes while they warily backed off into the jungle until I passed. The proximity of wildlife has been a surprise to me, especially due to the large amount of Palm tree cultivation done outside the camp. I was told that in the 1970s it was risky to walk from one of the camp apartments to the dining hall for fear of tiger attack.
Our family life is becoming more routine. Our weekdays start early – about 6:00. The girls and Stacey leave the house between 7:00 – 7:30 for work and school. Stacey still has a driver because she is just now growing accustomed to driving on the left. They still enjoy the school and are spending time now with after school sports including soccer and softball. The girls and I also try to swim three times a week.
My weekdays are not so busy, yet. I reluctantly do the lunch and dinner planning and so far, no one has gotten sick, but I do not have much imagination when it comes to feeding the family. I tend to cook the same way I was raised: Meat, Vegetable, starch and a glass of milk for dinner. Luckily we have a maid who cooks and she can make just about anything you tell her to, so I just have to get better at planning. You can get a wide variety of fruits and vegetables including mango and papaya, bananas, etc, and imported fruit like apples, seedless grapes and oranges. Vegetables (including okra!) are plentiful, too. We eat a lot of local chicken and pork – which is brought around to the house in a bucket – and is delicious. Fish, I buy from a neighbor who’s uncle is in the fishing business and he typically will have whole red snapper and mackerel plus extra jumbo shrimp that is brought in from northwestern Sumatra.
I like to go for a morning run most days and I have pushed the distance up to 5 – 6 miles each time out. There is a triathlon coming up and I have joined a team and will run the 10K. The race is coordinated by expats and they expect about 100 or so participants. In other sporting news, Stacey has been taking golf lessons and we both have plans to join a golf clinic in October.
I am planning my first trip to Leysin visit Ben in October. I am traveling by myself and will fly via Singapore and spend about five days in Switzerland. I have a day of teacher conferences planned as well as taking Ben into Geneva to see friends and to buy him anything he needs. Our first vacation trip will be in November when the girls school is closed the week of November 2 – 6. We are debating where to go – we have friends who have invited us to Thailand or Vietnam. In December, Ben will be home for three weeks and we will likely go to Bali – one of Indonesia’s 11,000 islands. We need to plan to stay local at that time of year because our Indonesian visas will expire Dec. 31 and can be a real hassle to replace them if we leave the country.
The girls are enjoying school, as I mentioned they are involved now in school sports and other activities. Lilly likes the Girl Scouts and Simone has joined Student Council. The school’s curriculum is US-based and they are finally learning some US History. The teachers have kids in the school and so we are getting a chance to really get to know the teachers and their families here. It is a small school, only 60 or so kids, but the girls have made friends easily and there are enough friends to go around. The Parent Teacher Organization is planning a big Halloween Haunted House and trick-or treating so the girls get to run around the camp in costume again.
Benjamin reports that all is well at his new school, other than the fact that for the first time in a long time, he is computer-less. Due to an accounting error, his school-supplied computer did not get ordered. The school assures me that his is coming in a couple of weeks. Ben is taking Art Exploration, and Jr. High Band along with the required math, biology, English Lit, French, P.E. and Ancient World History. We can login to the school’s website anytime to check his grades and so far he is doing very well. He is also on the Jr. High Basketball team. As a member of the school’s Adventure Club, Ben is going on a hike this weekend to Dents du Midi, a set of peaks near the school. They will spend the night tonight and then complete the summit on Saturday.
Well, there’s plenty more to tell, for sure, but I gotta get ready for a little TGIF we’re hosting at the house tonight.
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