Indonesia: Part 1 The First Few Days
This post is very picture heavy, but since this is my scrapbook I am posting lots of pictures as well as many details. So, look at the pictures or read the text but I hope you enjoy.
We headed out for Indonesia on June 29th, Andrew's 11 month birthday. I had to get his picture taken before going to the airport.
At the airport, many people from church came out to pray for the trip and to see us off. The Westrum kiddos, who have been to Indonesia themselves, came to provide some wisdom for the boys on how to handle the travel:)
The team we travelled with included the four of us as well as Bernard and Eric. Bernard and Eric remained in Indonesia after we left and will be there until the end of July.
Sam and Andrew both travelled so well. We are so proud of them. They dealt well with the long plan rides, with the different climate and with the attention they received. Sam slept most of the way from Charlotte to Houston.
In Houston, our family had some difficulty with boarding passes and getting through security. We got it all straightened out and just in time to get one last American meal before boarding our plane. Sam was so excited to see this bull because he has one just like it at home.
Our flight path was from Houston to Moscow, almost 12 hours, and then Moscow to Singapore, which is 10 hours. This isn't a plug for Singapore Airlines, but they are the best. They are so accommodating with the little ones. This is the cot they put out for Andrew to sleep in. He did a time or two and also used it to sit and eat in. It was wonderful.
For Sam, they provided special kids meals and an ice cream snack.
We arrived in Singapore and had a short layover. Again, not a plug for Singapore airport but this is the nicest airport I have ever seen. They have water canals and gardens. They have a butterfly garden and free calf massages. They also have a play area for kids to work off some energy. It's nice.
Sam had such joy the entire trip and was thrilled each time he was able to see an airplane. Here he is showing Andrew some planes.
And then, we arrived in Indonesia... 40 hours later at 8am on July 1st. My first impression of Indonesia, besides being hot, was the traffic is wild, the people curious and the smells at times overwhelming (more on all that later).
This is a vendor that set up shop outside of the Mosque we visited. They served up the staple food rice and then they had different meats inside some jars. You can notice, it is on wheels so if the worker needs to move, he just hops on and rides off. We didn't try it, but this is a typical setup.
We visited a mosque that first day in country. It was interesting to see and to learn some of the history of the mosque. We learned that the men and women pray separately, five times a day. The call to prayer is blared over the mosques loud speaker outside so that all the people will know it is time to pray, but they have 1 hour to get to the mosque to pray. Each mosque has a different time that the call to prayer is, based on their exact location on the globe. We learned that Friday is the Muslim holy day, a day in which preaching may occur over the loud speaker.
It was difficult to keep the boys awake that first day. It is HOT in the city we traveled to first. A different kind of heat, not only the sun was hot but it was so humid that is makes it feel miserable!
After visiting the mosque, we enjoyed some Indonesian cuisine, a nice shower and a comfortable bed!!
We headed out for Indonesia on June 29th, Andrew's 11 month birthday. I had to get his picture taken before going to the airport.
At the airport, many people from church came out to pray for the trip and to see us off. The Westrum kiddos, who have been to Indonesia themselves, came to provide some wisdom for the boys on how to handle the travel:)
The team we travelled with included the four of us as well as Bernard and Eric. Bernard and Eric remained in Indonesia after we left and will be there until the end of July.
Sam and Andrew both travelled so well. We are so proud of them. They dealt well with the long plan rides, with the different climate and with the attention they received. Sam slept most of the way from Charlotte to Houston.
In Houston, our family had some difficulty with boarding passes and getting through security. We got it all straightened out and just in time to get one last American meal before boarding our plane. Sam was so excited to see this bull because he has one just like it at home.
Our flight path was from Houston to Moscow, almost 12 hours, and then Moscow to Singapore, which is 10 hours. This isn't a plug for Singapore Airlines, but they are the best. They are so accommodating with the little ones. This is the cot they put out for Andrew to sleep in. He did a time or two and also used it to sit and eat in. It was wonderful.
For Sam, they provided special kids meals and an ice cream snack.
We arrived in Singapore and had a short layover. Again, not a plug for Singapore airport but this is the nicest airport I have ever seen. They have water canals and gardens. They have a butterfly garden and free calf massages. They also have a play area for kids to work off some energy. It's nice.
Sam had such joy the entire trip and was thrilled each time he was able to see an airplane. Here he is showing Andrew some planes.
And then, we arrived in Indonesia... 40 hours later at 8am on July 1st. My first impression of Indonesia, besides being hot, was the traffic is wild, the people curious and the smells at times overwhelming (more on all that later). 
This is a vendor that set up shop outside of the Mosque we visited. They served up the staple food rice and then they had different meats inside some jars. You can notice, it is on wheels so if the worker needs to move, he just hops on and rides off. We didn't try it, but this is a typical setup.
We visited a mosque that first day in country. It was interesting to see and to learn some of the history of the mosque. We learned that the men and women pray separately, five times a day. The call to prayer is blared over the mosques loud speaker outside so that all the people will know it is time to pray, but they have 1 hour to get to the mosque to pray. Each mosque has a different time that the call to prayer is, based on their exact location on the globe. We learned that Friday is the Muslim holy day, a day in which preaching may occur over the loud speaker.
It was difficult to keep the boys awake that first day. It is HOT in the city we traveled to first. A different kind of heat, not only the sun was hot but it was so humid that is makes it feel miserable!
After visiting the mosque, we enjoyed some Indonesian cuisine, a nice shower and a comfortable bed!!
Comments