Hello all! Another week gone by in our adventure down under. It was a typical week complete with power outages as bread was baking etc. Hugo was busy with basically the same things as last week. This week was a bit slow as there was only one aircraft in the hangar for most of it. This coming week there will be a couple more in to work on. So Hugo was busy with more office type things relating to the policy manual and drawings of the wiring in the aircraft. On Saturday we gave Aidan some gravol and made our way to Abe. The drive still inspires white knuckles even though for more than half of it there are lines on the road. Our goal was to find some new sandals for Mikah. In the "mall" in Abe they have a Batta store so that's where we went first. We found her a cute pair of red and white sandals for $30,000 Rups, about $5 CAD! They seem pretty good quality, but here in Indonesia, you never know. They are also very busy putting in a KFC in the "mall". Everyone is very excited about it. One thing that you can miss here is going out to eat a tasty North American or Greek or Italian meal. If you want different food you have to pretty much make everything from scratch. The local store here does carry some imported stuff, but very limited selection. There is also a new play area for children in the mall. For $8,000 Rup each they can play for 1/2 an hour with little tykes toys. There are also little motorized cars and a ball bin to play in. Unfortunately there is no airconditioning or fans so it was very warm up there. After a half hour of playing the kids were ready for a rest and a drink. On Saturday night we decided to take the kids out for dinner at a restaurant within walking distance. It is a traditional Indonesian restaurant with a bamboo ceiling and tacky pink flowers and paintings on the wall. The tables and chairs are also made of bamboo and are quite nice. This restaurant is not a fast food place. It is common knowledge that you should phone in your order ahead of time so that you will not have to sit and wait for a half hour for your food. As our command of the language is not so good, we asked our neighbours to call for us. Thankfully, the restaurant was open as they are somewhat inconsistent with their hours. We are pretty sure that they stayed open just for us as we were the only people eating there at the time. We enjoyed a meal of deep-fried cumi-cumi (squid), ifu mie (stir fried vegetables with broth served over crunchy noodles), fu yung hai (like egg foo young but with a sweet and sour sauce on top), and sate ayam (chicken on a stick in a spicy sauce made with ketjap manis). The kids get to eat fries and chicken on a stick without the spicy sauce. The drink of choice out here is jeruk nipis - or limeaide. It is very refreshing especially when made from scratch and not with powder. I should mention that this restaurant has spagetti and steak on the menu, but we haven't heard from anyone what it actually tastes like. Usually your best bet is to stick with the traditional food. On Sunday morning we went to church in Waena as per usual. Church is supposed to start at 9:00 but sometimes it starts 15 min early or 15 min late. This time it started on time. We arrived at 8:50 and it was quite full already and we had to sit separately. As time went on, including after the service began, people kept coming in and the church became completely full and there were people standing in the entrance listening. The singing was very nice and loud today. The man who preached is actually a theological student who has almost completed his studies. Interestingly enough in his prayer he prayed for the churches in America and Canada. This particular church in Waena needs our prayers also as they are struggling with a number of issues. This church is made up predominantly of students who have come from the interior to study out here. Therefore there are very few families and older members to teach and guide the younger ones. The ZGK from Holland has sent Rev. Vandebeek here specifically to work with the young people. They have much to deal with coming from the sheltered life of the interior to all the temptations of life in the "big city". Well, that was our week. How was yours? Selamat Hari Minggu! In His Service, Hugo and Erica Feunekes