Christmas time

This year we had Christmas in Ulladulla with Nanny (Dad's mum!). It was great fun. We went to church in the morning and then came back and opened presents - I was very patient! It was great fun and I enjoyed reading my new books and playing with my new toys although it seemed that every house I visited had a whole bunch of new toys for me to play with! We had some friends over for dinner and I enjoyed my first baked dinner - it was awesome, I particularly liked nanny's Yorkshire puddings (anyone who has tasted them would understand - there is a story going round that dad cried once when someone ate the last Yorkshire pudding, although I think that is an urban myth!)

Playing with FInn

This is me and my little brother Finn. He is really small. I like to give him big hugs and talk to him although he doesn't say much back to me at the moment.

in the car with Finn

this is Finn in the car seat on his first ride in the car. He liked it very much and slept all the way home!

Little Bro

On Sunday morning baby finally came out. We call him Finn now and he is very cute although I am not too sure about him yet - he doesn't do or say much at all! He was 55cm long when he was born (that is as big as me!), although he was a bit lighter at 3.8kg (I was 4.2kg!). Mum says that I am the front rower and he will be the winger! I think he will come home to live with us in a few days as he is resting in the hospital with mum. I have been having lots of fun playing with nanny and swimming at the beach

I think mum might explode soon!

My mum is getting bigger and bigger each day. They keep telling me a baby is going to come out but her belly looks more like a basket ball than a baby! Everyone keeps on touching mum's belly and I met a doctor who had a look and said that the baby is very big and will come out soon. Mum and dad are going into hospital on Thursday morning to see if the baby comes out and I will stay home with nanny, the doctor said she would be induced and the doctor would break the waters - I think then the baby comes out with a splash! I am looking forward to meeting Chilli and have been practicing pushing a small pram around and carry a toy baby around.

Meeting family...

We have just returned from a week in Gerringong where I met all my family. I was able to play with my cousins - Eleana and Katey who live in Sydney and I also met my other cousins Molly and Eva who I haven't seen since I was three days old! It was nice to see them all again and we played at the beach and in the sand and we had a bath together - it was great fun! I was the youngest and the only guy but they all treated me nicely! We watched movies together, I particularly like Nemo and Bob the builder, and we read lots and lots of books together which was great!

We had our family Christmas which was really nice. We had a big baked dinner and then we all gave out presents to each other - I excited I did a little dance whenever I got a new present! It was exciting to have a christmas with the whole family together!

At the beach I also developed a taste for sand! Dad kept on trying to stop me but it was just too tasty! I had good solid poos for the rest of the week!

Now I like to try to say everyone's name before I go to sleep and when I wake up in the morning so I don't forget them. I also like saying "Beeeech" with an ascending pitch - mum often laughs because she thinks it sounds like another word but I don't know that word yet...

Tess and Maws

Mum disappeared on Saturday and went away with Aunty Tess because she had to get ready for her wedding with Maws (Mawson). Mum was a maid of honor and was dressed in a lovely green dress. When Tess came in she looked beautiful and I kept on saying "Teeeessss!" and "Maawwws!" (in an ascending tone) over and over again, if you watch the video you can hear it clearly! They had a wonderful wedding at Waterslea on the Shoalhaven River near Nowra. Everyone had a great day and I played with all my cousins and friends. Mum looked very pregnant but managed to get through the day without being sick, she even did a short run when the photographer asked the bridal party to run forgetting that mum was pregnant! I went to sleep before the end, but they tell me that Tess and Maws did a special dance together that was really special.

home!

Over the last few weeks we have had a chaotic time packing and sorting and cleaning and saying goodbye to all our friends and at last we have arrived back in Aus. It is a bit strange as there are so many new people and they all have funny accents and no one pinches my cheeks any more. We left Bandung at 8:30am in the morning and then travelled to Jakarta and spent a day playing with Auntie Esther. We then drove to the airport and jumped on the plane at 10:30 at night - I was so tired and we were given 5 seats so I was able to lie out across the seats and fell asleep. That was all good until about 2am when I rolled off the seat and landed on the floor! Dad then put me to sleep on the floor and i slept there until the air hostess noticed me and got dad in trouble! We eventually got into Aus about 7:30am Aus time (about 3:30 Indo time!) We then spent 2 hours lined up trying to get through customs!
Nanny met us as was smiling and crying when she saw us. I then ate McDonalds for breakfast - I like hotcakes and milkshakes! We travelled to Wollongong and are staying in a friends house for the next three weeks before we move to another house and then to another house - it will be nice to meet everyone and play - look forward to seeing you!

Flying lessons gone wrong!

On Saturday we had a big outing to buy some things we needed in preparation to go home and on the way home I was really tired and fell asleep for about 20 minutes before we got home. Dad then transferred me to the cot, but I decided that I wanted to get out, so somehow I managed to climb the fence of my cot and jumped out landing headfirst on the floor – flapping my wings didn’t seem to help! Mum and dad were just outside and heard the thump and ran in to find me sprawled on the floor!

 

I was still really tired and wanted to go back to sleep again, but after about 20 minutes of being asleep I really started howling and then Mum and Dad  thought something was wrong, Dad was thinking cracked skull or brain damage! When mum tried to move my right arm to put a shirt on, I really cried because I couldn’t move it!

 

Mum and dad quickly rang for a taxi who said they would be here in five minutes. So mum and dad carried me up to the meeting point – our neighbors were all very concerned (about 5 minutes walk from our house), we then waited for about an hour for the taxi to come, and every time we rang up they said 5 more minutes. Eventually another taxi company dropped someone off and we jumped in the taxi. The taxi driver didn’t believe I was sick because I wasn’t crying or anything like that. When we eventually got to the hospital, I got an x-ray and cried a lot, mum wasn’t allowed in because of baby, so she had to wait outside and was crying too! The x-ray showed that I broken my collar bone – fortunately the break wasn’t too severe that I needed an operation, but I has to be strapped up for 2 weeks and can’t have a real bath.

 

When we got home all our neighbors were freaking out, and they couldn’t understand how I could possibly fall because they hold their children non stop until they are about 3 years old, and sleep in the same bed with them until they are about 6  – so in their eyes mum and dad have become the worst parents in the world – I still think they are okay! At the moment I am doing okay and getting around alright although he is being very careful with his arm. I am enjoying playing with my friends and mum is giving me whatever I want to eat which is great – I must have consumed packets and packets of biscuits! The doctor said I should be all better in 2 weeks – I wonder if mum will still give me as many chocolate biscuits!

 

Mum's big bath

On Friday the 7th of September mum did something very strange! She stripped to her underwear, wrapped herself in a sarong and was bathed in front of our house in full view of a big crowd of spectators!

This event is the Sundanese version of a baby shower called a tujuh bulanan (7 months celebration). Basically this is what happened. Our helpers, along with some of our neighbors, spent the whole day cooking and preparing food for the neighbors like fried chicken (ayam goreng) and yellow rice (nasi kuning) and a special food called rujak, which is a mixture of seven types of vegetables which are sweet, sour, hot, and salty in flavour.

The event started about 3:30 in the afternoon and was lead by a local lady who is called a praraji (a traditional midwife). Mum had to go into the bathroom and come out wrapped in a sarong, she tried to wear a t-shirt, but they sent her back in the toilet to take the t-shirt off. Mum also invited some teachers from language school who have experience in this type of thing. One of them gave a short talk from Psalm 139 and another prayed for mum, they seemed quite well received by all the people who are not believers. They also helped mum avoid some of the rituals which we were not too sure about. One involves a little mirror, a piece string, and a little knife all used to ward off evil spirits - mum didn't do that part.

We then went out the front of our house where mum sat on a little stool and a whole crowd of people surrounded our little house. She then had water poured on her seven times by seven different people, and the water had been collected from seven different wells in the area. Dad gave her the first washing, and then mum had to put on a new sarong. When she had a new sarong on, someone else washed her until she had been washed by 7 people and had changed the sarong 7 times. The water was mostly warm, until the last one where she was washed in cold water that contained 7 types of flowers of seven colours and the water also contained a fish! Dad was meant to catch the fish but he wasn't quick enough! The idea is that the birth will be something like a slimy fish - smooth!

After all the washings mum went inside to get dried up a bit and then dad had to chop a coconut with a machete. Dad had to draw a face of either a boy or a girl on the coconut and then chop in one go! After all this we sold the rujak to all the children and visitors, they loved it! After all that we ate dinner together. It was an amazing experience, I can't wait to meet my little adik (Indo term for younger sibling).

Hari Merdeka

Today we had a big celebration for the independence of our country. The actual date of independence is the 17th of August, but the celebration was held on the Sunday the 19th because the 17th fell on a Friday and people wanted to pray more than have a party!

The celebrations actually were going all weekend with some events on Friday and videos and music being shown at the local volleyball field every night. On Sunday we joined in a big parade which marched around the neighborhood. Each section of the community had built a small replica house which they filled with food and carried around the neighborhood, dancing and singing and when they finished the route they all ate food together. It was great fun, with loads of music and dancing. There were also many strange bearded ladies dancing around! Aunty Paula's section of the community actually won because she got up on stage and danced in front of the whole community!

After the parade there was more singing and karaoke contest in the afternoon. They also played lots of games for kids and adults like eating a kerupuk (a large prawn cracker) held from a string and sack races and tug of war and the even had a greasy pole and men tried to climb it but kept on slipping down.

Bath

One of Caden's new words is bath (barf)! He loves the bath and takes every opportunity to take off his clothes and jump in the water!

On our way back from Singapore, he looked out the window, saw all the clouds and the ocean and it must have looked very inviting as he was looking out the window, nodding his head, and saying "barf, barf!"

Singapore

After our time in Chiang Mai training we had a wonderful few days in Singapore organising our visas, Here are some photos of me playing with my friends!

Chiang Mai

After mum and dad finished teaching in Cipanas we drove to Jakarta and spent a night there before we jumped on a plane and flew to Chiang Mai. After a 3 hour flight we arrived in Bangkok and then changed planes to Chiang Mai. We stayed in a guest house which was really nice and mum and dad had some training while i played with my friends. It was particularly wonderful to see my friend Liliana from Australia who I met at OC in Singapore about 8 months ago! We had a great time playing together and visited the night market together and enjoyed Thai food! Mum was very happy and kept on going on about Pad Thai and Roti - she was very happy!

After a week of training at that place we then had the main conference for our organisation at a nice resort also in Chiang Mai but a bit further away from the centre. It was really nice with loads of food and two swimming pools! A fifty meter pool for the big people and a kiddies pool for all the kids. I was just able to stand up in the kiddies pool and had some great swims until i got a bit of a cold and started coughing and producing green snot! Mum and dad keep on wiping my nose with a tissue - it is so embarrassing! Mum and dad said they learnt alot and felt greatly encouraged to get back into language study again! The other funny thing was that the conference was called DAL - everyone had dad's name on their name tag, it was very confusing!

Dad was particularly excited by these geckos which were about 25cm long and climbed up the walls, he wanted to catch one but he was a bit slow!

encouragement

dad wants to tell you about how he was encouraged by the students at the college...

The month or so of helping with the English program at the college has been a wonderful opportunity which we have been so glad to have been a part of. We had 23 keen students who were always keen to learn and grow. Each day was relatively full. The students led an English devotion each morning and then we split into small groups and spent time working through the gospel of Mark. We then spent some time talking together and learnt basic grammar. We then had a time were we read together some articles in small groups. The college provided lunch and dinner everyday so we didn't have to worry about food. In the afternoon we had a break and then usually played sport or had time in the library. At nights we had a series of bible studies from Mark which they enjoyed, but they particularly liked the games we played which would often end in chaotic laughter. We had to implement the 'silent clap' in order to try to keep the noise down so that Caden wouldn't be woken up! We also had a day trip to the local animal safari which the students loved! Squeals of delight as they saw animals and roaring laughter as we watched a show together - Caden as usual disappeared with the students throughout the day, he had a great time roaring at lions, neighing at zebras, being splashed by the seal at the seal show...
The most enjoyable part of the time was just being able to chat with the students and beginning to hear their stories. Many of them were from small islands with churches but no pastor to look after them. A few students came from an area where one pastor looked after 22 churches! Others came to be trained up for cross cultural ministries in their own country. One girl told us that she only goes home once a year, when we asked he why she told us that she lived a weeks travel away! She had to catch a boat for 2 days, then take an 8 hour bus ride, then catch a car for a while, then catch a small boat up a river for 5 hours and then a five hour trek over the mountain to her village! She was one of the keenest students we met. We were also greatly encouraged to see them growing in their understanding of English even in just a few weeks. Corinne and I helped the lower class and were greatly encouraged as all of them made great leaps forward in their confidence and reading and speaking! They were all motivated as they are aware that most of the books that they will need to use for their studies are in English, unfortunately if they want to study they have to learn English because the books are just not available in Indonesian!
I think that is enough for Caden's blog. We have had an amazing time and feel very blessed to have had this opportunity. If you are interested there are opportunities like this every year in many different towns across the country. We actually met 6 young guys from the UK who had done the same thing in another college and all came back having had great experiences (although some were difficult) and were seriously considering what their next step would be! It is amazing that they would travel some 18 hours at a large cost to come half way around the world - i was asking myself where are the Aussies? This is our closest neighbor and is so close for us and relatively cheap to travel here, C'mon Aussie!

Sunday school

in Cipanas i went to sunday school every week and which was run by some of the students from the college. I learnt lots of new songs in Indonesian - i particularly like the one about king kong with a big body and small legs... i am not too sure of the point of the song but it is fun. Here is a photo of me with my friends and with one of my teachers!

some new friends

Uncle Harry and Aunty Olive came all the way from Australia to help mum and dad teach english at the college. I had great fun with them and they always looked after me!The college that mum and dad were helping at was just across the road from our house so the students often took me away and we played together. We also had horses and carts (sado) always parked out the front of our house - we even rode in one and i learnt how to make a noise like a horse neighing and a horse walking!

just down the road we have a big housing complex which is used by people from Jakarta who come up here every weekend. Inside the housing complex they actually have a huge swimming pool with a three waterslides and rides and boats and cars and everything! Dad and me had some great times riding in the car, although he didn't quite fit!