Things that grow out of the soil...: Back in Solo

on saturday, we were able to fly back to solo without any incident. the sky had cleared up enough for planes to fly again. so, after being gone for about two weeks, we came back home to solo.

it was good to see ibu danny again. we gave her one of the pearl necklaces we bought on komodo. you'll notice that we're all wearing some pearls in this shot.

after dinner, we went to taman sriwedari to watch a wayang orang show. at first we worried that it might not work since there were big signs out front (big signs like the ones you see at weddings), but it turned out it was actually a very special night to watch the wayang orang show--it was the troupe's anniversary.

we didn't think we'd be able to sit together, but we ended up finding seats--and plush seats at that!

b and w brought their cincins. here i am modelling them.

it was a crowded night.

the performance was separated into bits and pieces and much more ceremonial (people/dancers walked down the central hallway to enter the stage).

here they are making their big entrance.

the men with the white faces are the famous wayang orang characters.

the cool umbrellas again.

the dancing was neat. these women are using the green scarves to do some of their moves.

we enjoyed the show, but, sadly, we were tired and falling asleep. afterall, we'd had a busy few weeks and the show didn't start until after 8pm, we stayed until about 9:30 and then headed out.

here we roland and cathy are with one of those big signs i mentioned. (note: w is scrunched up on the floor.)

so happy. and how can you not be? b looks amazing in his batik shirt and those brown polyester pants that i just love (honestly, they are the perfect pants). and me in a batik skirt and komodo pearls. we're in indonesia! life is good.

the scene outside the theater.

we had to wait quite awhile for our taksi.

s and i being twinsies (matching skirts).

it was raining a bit.

the next day, we went to church for the last time in solo. it was sad to say goodbye to people, and it felt weird to know we'd be leaving, flying back to amerika soon. but, i was happy that i could talk to people in indonesian, that i could bear my testimony in indonesian, and that i could say to people "pasti, kami akan kembali ke indonesia!" (sure, we will return to indonesia.) i found it deeply rewarding to see how we had grown over our nearly six months of living in indonesia--what we could do/say and the friends we had made.

sunday afternoon, all of us but cathy went out for a walk. we wound our way through several new kampungs, which was fun.

here roland is being a tough guy.

sunday night, we had a low-key meal and were getting ready to go to pacitan for a few days--we were leaving the next morning at 6am. around 8pm, roland and cathy got on the computer to skype with whitney. everything was fine until all of a sudden it wasn't. roland came out of our bedroom (where he and cathy were skyping) about 8:15 and went to bathroom saying he didn't feel well. b and i were packing in the dining room next to the bathroom and heard roland throwing up. at first it seemed like he must have eaten something that wasn't sitting well in his stomach, but then he just kept throwing up and throwing up and throwing up. it was violent; like nothing i've ever heard before.

once cathy got off the call with whitney, she came out and saw how bad things had gotten. roland was in such poor shape that he had no energy. he wanted to lie down on our bathroom floor (which you know things are bad if that starts sounding good to you). thankfully, cathy had the presence of mind to have us move a lightweight couch over by the bathroom. then roland could lie on that when he wasn't in the bathroom.

well, things turned from bad to worse for roland. once he started throwing up blood, things seemed pretty dire. b and cathy took him to the emergency room at a nearby hospital around 1am. they got him checked in (to the room shown below), and, thankfully, he got stabilized.

the doctors in solo weren't entirely sure what roland had. it seemed like probably an ulcer. roland ended up staying in the hospital for the next three days with brian there with him the whole time. cathy and i were there at times too, but since brian had the best indonesian, he really needed to be there at all times. thankfully, we had some good friends who came to the hospital at times to help us with translation issues. we were worried about not understanding the doctors and nurses and not having them understand us. below, is barita, one of our friends who helped us alot!

finally, on wednesday night, roland and brian came back home. roro was in much better shape although we still needed to be careful. he took it easy and didn't eat any spicy or unusual food.

thursday night, we went over to ibu dewi's new homestay and had a closing ramadan meal (it was the last day of ramadan). the food was good, as usual. it included some interesting fish and some very (very) spicy sambal that b ate a little too much of.

here is nobel playing with w and s.

the next morning, it was the first day of idul fitri (the biggest holiday of the year for muslims in indonesia). some of our friends and neighbors came over to memohon maaf lahir dan batin (ask forgiveness body and soul), which the tradition in indonesia. our neighbors ibu anis, pak anto, and their son andi were the first to ask our forgiveness. they were also happy to hear that roland had made it out of the hospital.

later that afternoon, we went over to ibu dani's house to have lunch/dinner with her and her family. she had invited us over to celebrate idul fitri with her family. we had a great time! b and i sat with ibu dani and talked with her and her family for a couple hours. we were especially enchanted by her granddaughter's dancing. her father is a professional choreographer.

she was good!

and very imut in her glasses.

we also enjoyed all of the food ibu dani had made. it was a feast with all of our favorite indonesian dishes (rendang and gulai). she had also made a lot of kue kering (dry cookies) that we ate. she had been making and stockpiling kue kering for the past few weeks in preparation for the festivities. oh man we were full after eating there.

but it was so delightful to have such good friends who would whole-heartedly welcome us into their home on such a special day.

here, b took some pictures of our bedroom. b did a lot of his work while sitting on the bed. and i would work from the desk at the foot of the bed. only our bedrooms had ac--so we spent nearly all of our working time (and for me all of my working time) inside this small bedroom.

we enjoyed the teddy bear sheets.

and the golden monkey pillow that i would wedge against the side of the wall so i could keep things on the bed (and know they wouldn't fall off). it enabled me to have sort-of like a night stand.