Habitat for Humanity Build -- Batam, Indonesia

Saturday, Final Habitat Build Day Today was our last day on the work site and our last full day in Batam; I'm so sad it's over! We couldn't start working until about 10:45 because it was raining so hard. I LOVE the thunder and lighting! (Not because it prevented us from working-- that was a bummer-- but because it's so neat!) I forgot to mention yesterday, we had to leave the site a bit earlier than usual because of the lighting, and then when we pulled onto the first main dirt road, lightning struck right in front of our van. Crazy!  We were practicing our Indonesian words today (unglar like singular means slacker / maaf means sorry / terima kasih means thank you (or "makasi" less formal, like saying "thanks") / suka means like / cinta like chin-tah means love) etc & I told Jeremi (one of the Indonesian laborers who actually received his own Habitat home last year & now works for Habitat) "Aku cinta Jeremi." He laughed...

Friday, Habitat Build Day Four At breakfast this morning, I sat next to an older Australian man named Peter. We talked about traveling and snorkeling and boating and he told me about his family. He said he's sailed almost all over the world, and he told me that it's a big, amazing world that we live in. I shook his hand and agreed, 100%. When we arrive at the worksite each morning, Pepen says good morning (Selamat pagi!) to each of us by name. Pepen is one of the Indonesian laborers hired to help us build. He always has a smile on his face, and being greeted by him is a great way to start the day!  Today we started laying bricks.  Honestly it was a little stressful 'cause you have to make sure the bricks are perfectly straight. I got to lay a few rows which was cool, but I prefer mixing the cement. Gunnar and I sculpted a kura-kura (turtle) with the mixture. :) We took our lunch break a little early today because it started to pour rain (hujan "who-john...

Thursday, Habitat Build Day 3 After an awesome day of fun & relaxation yesterday, it seemed a few of us were having a rough time adjusting back to work mode-- even the chickens were laughing at us this morning. But, after some quick stretches, a little prayer & a whole lot of music, we were able to get ourselves in gear. :) Today we wired some more rebar, passed some bricks, dug tunnels for the septic pipes, and dug the septic tank. As Rachel would say, "Gotta make room for the poop!"  It has been so neat to see the homeowners (Saepuloh and Sandra) really get their hands dirty and help with the build in any way they can. Today the two of them were working hard digging the septic tank. When we were passing the bricks from their pile by the side of the road up to where the house is (or will be) we made an assembly line. Iman (one of the Indonesian laborers) was at the end of the line stacking the bricks that I would hand to Griffin and Griffin would hand ...

Wednesday, Batam Cultural Day Today we got to take a break from working and experience a cultural day in Batam. Today was incredible! After our usual breakfast, we started off the day with a tour of Batam. First we visited a Buddhist temple called Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya. Outside the temple there were several stone Buddha statues posing with different animals. (A Buddha is one who has reached enlightenment.) We walked around the outside and got to peek inside as well. We then went to take a photo with the "Welcome to Batam" sign which looks like the Indonesian version of our Hollywood sign. The parking lot below (where you stand to get the sign in the background of your photos) was right next to what looked like the bones of an old warehouse building. It was neat to drive around the more city-like streets of Batam and see the sights. We noticed that everyone keeps their cars in really good condition and you rarely see dents in them. There are mopeds everywhere and t...

Tuesday, Habitat Build Day Two  Last night, Jackie (our Habitat leader) led us in a reflectional devotion and asked us to think about our  WHY-- Why we decided to come on this trip to Batam, Indonesia & to continue to think about that during our time here. Why did we decide to come and why did God give us this opportunity? What are we hoping to learn or teach and what purpose will we serve by being here? I don't have the answers yet, but Jackie's question was a good thing to have in the back of my mind as we were working hard and sweating hard today. Today's task list consisted of more digging, rebar & cement.  We have a really great team of hard workers and I feel lucky to be here, doing this work with them! When we got home (back to our hotel after work) this afternoon, a bunch of us walked over to the massage place across the street from our hotel to get massages before dinner. We were charged 150,000 Indonesian Rupiah for an hour long traditional massa...

Monday, Habitat Build Day One: What an amazing first day! If there's one thing I love, it's a big, delicious breakfast & that's definitely one thing we all got to enjoy today. (At our hotel, there's everything from omletes, chicken sausages & chocolate milk to sushi, fried rice & miso soup. You want it? They've got it. + Pastries and banana bread and bread pudding.) With full bellies and eager bodies, we piled in the van to drive the 45 minutes to our job site. Eric (our leader who works for Habitat for Humanity and is from Indonesia) and our van driver, Agung,  maneuvered the streets of Batam filled with numerous daring mopeds (sometimes driven by an entire family of five! --There are BABIES riding on those things!) until we arrived safely. It was neat to get to see some of Batam out the van windows as we were driving. Walking down the road to where we are building was one of my favorite parts of the morning. Last night, Eric gave us a booklet t...