Last week was “Indonesian Week” at the school. Every day had a different theme and the boys dressed up on most days according to the theme (Friday was Red & White day – the colors of the Indonesian flag – Tuesday was sarong day, Thursday was Bali day – basically beach wear). Additionally, there were lots of different activities, performances, and displays at the school each day of the week. Each of the classes has been studying different aspects of Indonesian culture and prepared parts to perform for the school. Heidi and I went to the school Monday morning to see Luke and a group of about 15 Prep Seniors (students in the prep-senior grade, which is basically kindergarten) perform a dance. That morning there was also a parade for the students who had dressed up, joined by a professional group that performed after Luke’s group. It was pretty impressive.
Both Grant and Luke performed on Thursday night with their school classes as well as with a special performance group Heidi signed them up for. The special groups met after school twice a week for several weeks and had special costumes, etc. Grant was a little bit embarrassed because he was one of only 2 boys in his group.
I went to Jogjakarta on Thursday for a business meeting with all of our dealers and I returned early on Friday in time to make it back for some things at home that afternoon. Heidi and I went up to the school to see one final school assembly for the end of Indonesian week (including a video and slide show compilation the school made covering all of the week’s events – Nash, Grant, and Luke were all in the slide show). That day the boys all bought puppets of a little red-faced Javanese man from one of the vendors at the campus (Heidi is pretty freaked out by the puppets. If you know how easily spooked Heidi is, you will understand why).
After school, we all came home and swam for a short while – it feels like the rainy season is ending because it was a lot hotter on Friday than it has been for months. We then went to Kids Sport for Grant’s birthday party (same place we had Luke’s party). Eighteen 7 & 8 year-olds are a lot louder and more rambunctious than the same number of 5 & 6 year-olds. They were all really excited and seemed to be having a good time, and Grant really enjoyed the party.
That night, Nash’s friend Rish spent the night, and I took them to an Italian restaurant for dinner (Grant and Luke had eaten dinner at the birthday party). On Saturday Heidi and I did some shopping at an outlet store, and while we were gone, Nash went to Rish’s house and Grant’s friend, Haneef, came over to play for a few hours. Those two played really well together with Luke, and they all had a good time playing with the new toys Grant received for his birthday. In fact, when Heidi and I came home from shopping, we heard a loud banging sound and we found Grant, Luke, and Haneef on the porch by the pool with our maid Warsi. Warsi and Luke were using screwdrivers to pick out toy dinosaur bones from a piece of rock (one of the presents Grant received). I think we caught Warsi by surprise, because she looked a little bit embarrassed when she saw us – she was really pounding on that rock trying to get those bones out. Heidi and I joked that maybe we should get one of those toys for Warsi’s birthday.
At 5:00 we took the boys to a new place to get their hair cut. It was a kids’ place and the boys all got milkshakes with their haircuts, which they thought was great, of course. We then went to Amigos for dinner with our friends, the Powell’s. Amigos is the only Mexican restaurant in town, and the first time our family went there, I remember thinking the food was below average. Yesterday was my third time eating there, and I actually think the food is good now. I guess we have forgotten what good (Americanized) Mexican food tastes like. Amigos always has live music and is a pretty popular place to go later in the evening (9:00 or later). Because we were there at 6:00 it wasn’t too crowded yet, but by the time we started eating, the band had started playing (6 Indonesian men singing Mexican tunes – now that’s entertainment). Well, after dinner, some of the kids decided to go towards the front by the band where there is a very small open area for dancing. They had a good time trying out some new dance moves, and the adults had a great time sitting back and watching them. Luke was particularly funny because he and Spencer Powell actually got up on the stage right in front of the two guitar players and danced. I wish we had brought the camera because it was hilarious. Maybe it was one of those times you just had to be there.
