Experiencing Southeast Asia

A typical house on stilts

It would be impossible to write about everything we saw and experienced overseas in just one post, so I'll be writing several entries to try to give you a glimpse into our recent trip.

To begin I just have to say how awesome it was to finally set foot on this country's soil after planning and praying about this trip for so long.  It's been over a year since we felt called to missions, and this trip was something of a first step toward that long term goal.  For those of you who were praying, THANK YOU!  Everything went smoothly throughout the two weeks we were there, and I know it was only because our team was covered in prayer the whole time.  What an incredible blessing it was to know that we had so many dear friends interceding for us!

Hanging out on the front porch

Before getting into the more profound aspects of the trip, I thought it would be fun to fill you in on some of the interesting cultural things that we experienced.  This place is unlike any other country we have visited.  Of course it shares similarities with nearby southeast Asian countries, but much of the culture is unique to this country.

It can be difficult to prepare yourself to travel to a place like this since absolutely everything is so different from the way Americans live.  The best preparation was to simply pray that God would give me grace and give me patience and understanding of the new culture.  One of the hardest parts of the trip was simply being uncomfortable most of the time.  I'm so spoiled at home with comfy furniture, and there most people don't have much, if any furniture in their homes.  Rather than lounging couches with fluffy pillows, we would sit on the tiled floors of people's homes or porches.  That certainly takes some getting used to, especially since you have to constantly be aware of your feet!  It is rude to have the bottom of your feet facing toward anyone, so you typically have to sit with your feet underneath you or to the side.

Bathroom: laundry, bucket shower, and toilet

Another adjustment was the whole bathroom situation.  I'm thankful that, at least for now, I live in a country that has toilets and showers!  Toilets in Indo generally consist of a hole in the floor (referred to as a squatty potty) and a bucket of water you can use to flush with.  It's a good idea to carry toilet paper with you, because it practically doesn't exist there.  There is often a hose next to the squatty potty that people use to rinse off with.  And then there's the shower.  Rarely will you find an actual shower; generally you will have a tub filled with cold water and a smaller bucket that you use to dump the water over yourself.  The cool water can be refreshing after being in the heat all day and you certainly use less water, but I'm still grateful to be able to take normal showers now that we're home!

Sheep wandering the village streets

The places where we stayed were in fairly rural areas so there was plenty of livestock to be seen everywhere.  A misconception I've always had was that roosters crowed once a day, in the morning, when you actually want to get up.  Where I got that idea I have no clue, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  Apparently roosters "go off" quite early and tend to sound like they are moments away from death by strangulation.  Not the most pleasant way to wake up if I'm perfectly honest.  But they don't stop after one or two crows.  They go on all day and are quite loud! 

Our bedroom in one of the host homes

Possibly the biggest challenge for me was the language barrier.  While there is a national language spoken by the majority of people, but most also speak a language specific to their people group or geographical area.  I've learned how to say a few things in the language, but not nearly enough to have an in-depth conversation with people who spoke no English at all.  This brought on a lot of frustration since I wanted so badly to be able to communicate!  We definitely have a lot to learn...

Delicious food!

One thing I loved about this country was the food!  They eat a lot of fried rice (or nasi goreng) and fried chicken.  One of our favorite desserts was tehran bulan which is somewhat like a very thick crepe with chocolate, peanuts, and sweetened condensed milk.  Needless to say, we didn't lose any weight on this trip!

There are a million other little details I could write about, but hopefully this gives you an idea of what it was like in southeast Asia!  It truly is an incredible place, and I can't wait to go back!