Mmm, warm fuzzies in the skies

Garuda is the largest, 'safest' airline we have on offer in this massive archipelago. As our director put it about Indonesia's many airlines, "They're all death flights, Garuda's are just a little less deathly."

But hey, if they up their standards a wee bit more, we could fly all the way to London or Paris in the coming years!:

Garuda to fly to Europe in June: VP

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 02/09/2009 1:54 PM | National

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said national flag carrier Garuda was likely to resume service to Europe in June.

"We're hoping Garuda will start serving Europe again this June," Kalla said, as quoted by Antara news Monday.

Garuda, along with several other Indonesian airlines, are currently on the European Union's flight ban list due to safety concerns after the onset of several aviation accidents in the country.

Kalla said Garuda had been working hard in upgrading its services and is currently attempting to meet 10 more aviation points before the ban is lifted.

"It [the ban] is a good point of reflection for us all. The remaining 10 points to be fixed should be completed in the next two months," he said.

Under the aviation ban, Garuda was listed as having 68 safety concerns.

Iza's 2!

Happy Birthday to our little precious girl, who is literally growing too fast... over 2 inches in the last 2 months!

Her bday was Friday, January 30. I still remember the day she was born, Tuesday, January 30, 2007, quite vividly. I was at work/ASW and Jill had been in the hospital since Sunday, testing to see how she'd react to inducement drugs, as our baby wasn't growing at all in the final month in the womb. I got a panicked call from Jill past 10 AM that the doc didn't like Iza's reaction to the drugs (increased heart rate) and wanted to break her water. Well, he barely spoke English, our midwife wasn't there, I wasn't there and Jill was damn scared. Worse yet, he wasn't successful in breaking her water (that couldn't have felt good!). Magdalena, our midwife, showed up soon after and she calmed Jill down and said she'd do it no problem, and, of course, would wait for my arrival. I got there, she got me up to speed, we were all good, broke the water at 12 noon and 3 crazy hours later after much bath time for Jill our little (literally) Iza came shooting out! Born around 5 pounds/2.2 kilos... now she's over 28 pounds/14 kilos!

OK, enough of that historical stuff... here's the star of the day/weekend!

Iza in her new hot pants, and new "Little Geckos" chair, designed and made right here in Balikpapan!

ah, gotta love little, little kid parties... just happy, mellow adults hanging around. Iza did have her best friends over: Leila, Avae and La La, so she was stoked!

With much training from reading "I am a bunny" by Ole Risom, pics by Richard Scarry (dandelion page), Iza did a fantastic job of blowing out the candles!

Still a goofy little girl

She was very, very, very excited about the cake as we were making it (and ruining it... dad did a number on the first batch of frosting) but when it came time to eating the real thing... she just wasn't so sure about it! (it was rich!)

and... last, but not least,
she got a new (slightly used, passed on from her cousin, Maddie)
red
Schwinn tricycle!


too cool for school


she was pretty psyched to have a bike like her mom and dad. now all we need is a ground floor unit so she won't go riding down the stairway!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IZABELLA!

*Note: my apologies for zero posts in a while, and few to no pics. My mac was maxed out in space and juggling my gazillion pics was always a nightmare. I've finally made some working room but we're still having to deal with slow, unreliable connections so I'm not sure if any video will get on this site for a long while. Jill and I are, however, much more active now on Facebook, after so many Warsaw friends badgered us into it, so look us up on there, too for more current news... and the occasional (new) pic, too! Thanks!

22 Months and a whole lotta words

Iza turned 22 months on November 30th. We had some friends over for crepes and we all sang her happy bday, and she was almost blushing!

This is what we've been able to compile of her words by now, in no particular order. The list began shortly after her 21st month bday, so words with an asterisk (*) are from the last few weeks... of which there've been several! Also, we've been teaching her sign language (ASL), so words marked with a dollar sign ($) are ones she signs, too. Perhaps I'll add a 'sign only' list, as there's still many she can't say but can sign (like frog, cat, etc.)

Enjoy!

mama
mommy *
dada ($ she could sign it 6 months ago but forgot/gave up on it since she could say it so easily)
daddy
water $
apple $
more $
please $
thank you $
out (side) $
gecko (they're everywhere here at night. She loves them!)
Buddha
baby $
dirty $
beep beep (as in a car horn/outta my way!)
juice
Iza
Bella (sometimes herself, sometimes a neighbors dog)
Izabella
eyes
teeth
bye $
moo *
meow *
no
up (sometimes $)
help
hello
down
La La (a 4 year old friend here, whom she adores)
blue
I did it!
I did that!
I want water! *
Uh-oh!
yes
ball
purple *
moon
pee *
poopy*
diaper *
ho ho (ho) * ('tis the season!)
boo boo *
tea * (she likes peppermint tea)
Wow! * (this is so damn cute the way she says it!)
Bali * (she's infatuated with Balinese dancers, we'll be sure to take her to another performance over xmas break)
Woah! *
beach *
peek-a-boo * (she says something more like 'peegboo')
do * (as in do this or do that)
two * (to be sure she meant the number, she asked me for another green bean so she could put 2 in her mouth at once, and she did it again and again. Amazing how much more they'll eat when they're having fun?!)
yellow *
red $ *
habis (Bahasa Indonesian for 'finished', which she's been able to sign for 8 or more months now) *$
cheese
happy
hi!
this
Avae (her closest aged friend, like the song, Ave Maria) *
Atty (Avae's caretaker) *
rrrrr (like a growling dog) ;-)
balloon *
Eeyore (yes, the Pooh donkey) *
tree $
jump
hoot hoot (like an owl)
push *
bees * (Iza has 2 or 3 bees outside her window making a new hive. We lie on her bed every other day and watch their committed work and progression... the eggs were laid 2 days ago!)

I'm going to Sing!

-apore!
Got news Friday evening that my work permit paperwork went through, so Wednesday I'm off for a solo jaunt to Singapore for 3 days to finalize the permit/visa/KITAS process. I think I'm staying at the same hotel we were at en route to here. That trip was so rushed and exhausting that we only got to see a grocery store and the botanical gardens (see cute pics of Iza and crazy flowers below/earlier). Not sure how much I'll sightsee as everyone's giving me shopping wish lists as Singapore has everything and more that the states have. Empty going there, maxin' out coming back. Though I am looking forward to trying every Indian restaurant I can find! Yum!

Hopefully Iza will survive without me. I will miss her, she's (once again) at a great stage and saying and doing new things nearly every day. Two days ago she said, "Purple" and yesterday she said, and repeats constantly, "Play!" (of which now is all she will say when we put her in her high chair for mealtime... and she points and points to her toys and puzzles and crayons in the living area... I wonder if we'll have to start hiding everything just so she can eat!)

Up soon, Iza's vocabulary list and sign language list...

Seattle's KEXP, John in the morning, and an amazing playlist

From one of the greatest radio stations on the planet, 90.3 FM KEXP, on the web at www.kexp.org

Give it a listen!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008 (LISTEN TO THIS SHOW)

Time	Artist	Song	Album	Label
6:04	Smashing Pumpkins	Today	Siamese Dream	Virgin
6:07	Sugar	Changes	Copper Blue	Rykodisc
6:12	Sufjan Stevens	Chicago	Illinois	Asthmatic Kitty
6:16	U2	Beautiful Day	All That You Can't Leave Behind	Interscope
6:21	Talking Heads	Once in a Lifetime	Remain in Light	Sire
---- air break ----
6:25	Yeasayer	2080	All Hour Cymbals	We Are Free
	DJ Comments: Playing November 20 at Neumo's, and December 5 and 6 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.
6:29	The Wrens	Happy	The Meadowlands	Absolutely Kosher
6:35	Dogs	End of an Era	London Bridge	Universal International
---- air break ----
6:41	The The	Perfect	Soul Mining	Epic
6:46	The Soup Dragons	I'm Free	Lovegod	Big Life
---- air break ----
6:49	Stevie Wonder	Higher Ground	Innervisions	Motown
6:53	Primal Scream	Movin' On Up	Screamadelica	Sire
6:57	Blur	To the End	Parklife	Food/SBK
---- air break ----
7:04	The Helio Sequence	Keep Your Eyes Ahead	Keep Your Eyes Ahead	Sub Pop
	DJ Comments: Playing Friday night at Neumo's.
7:08	Tokyo Police Club	Citizens of Tomorrow	A Lesson in Crime	Paper Bag
7:10	R.E.M.	Superman	Lifes Rich Pageant	IRS
---- air break ----
7:13	Elbow	Leaders of the Free World	Leaders of the Free World	V2
7:18	The National	Lit Up	Lit Up	Beggars Banquet
	DJ Comments: Playing the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin this Saturday.
7:22	Le Tigre	Get Off the Internet	From the Desk of Mr. Lady	Mr. Lady
---- air break ----
7:25	David Bowie	Changes	Hunky Dory	Virgin
7:27	The Flaming Lips	Suddenly Everything Has Changed	The Soft Bulletin	Warner Bros.
7:31	Moby	We Are All Made of Stars	18	V2
7:36	The Go! Team	We Just Won't Be Defeated	Thunder, Lightning, Strike	Columbia
---- air break ----
7:40	Public Enemy	Brothers Gonna Work It Out	Fear of a Black Planet	Def Jam
7:45	Cornershop	Funky Days Are Back Again	When I Was Born for the 7th Time	Luaka Bop/Warner Bros.
7:49	The Tough Alliance	A New Chance	A New Chance	Modular
7:53	Stereo MC's	Connected	Connected	Island
---- air break ----
8:00	Japanese Motors	Single Fins & Safety Pins	Japanese Motors	Vice
	DJ Comments: KEXP in-studio today at noon!
8:04	The Smiths	A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours	Strangeways, Here We Come	Sire
8:07	Radiohead	Optimistic	Kid A	Capitol
8:11	Snow Patrol	Wow	Final Straw	Interscope
8:15	Prince	Let's Go Crazy	Purple Rain	Warner Bros.
8:20	Iggy Pop	Lust for Life	Lust for Life	Virgin
8:25	The Replacements	Can't Hardly Wait (Tim Version)	Nothing for All	A&M
---- air break ----
8:31	The Hold Steady	Stay Positive	Stay Positive	Vagrant
	DJ Comments: Playing tomorrow and Friday at Terminal 5, and November 20 and 21 at the Showbox.
8:33	The Pogues	The Sunny Side of the Street	Hell's Ditch	Island
8:36	Bob Dylan	Like a Rolling Stone	Highway 61 Revisited	Columbia
8:42	Bruce Springsteen	Reason to Believe	Nebraska	Columbia
8:46	Johnny Cash	I've Been Everywhere	Unchained	American
8:49	Dusty Springfield	Son of a Preacher Man	Dusty in Memphis	Mercury
8:51	The Velvet Underground	Beginning to See the Light	The Velvet Underground	Verve
8:55	The Long Winters	Sky Is Open	Putting the Days to Bed	Barsuk
	DJ Comments: Playing Town Hall Seattle tomorrow night.
---- air break ----
9:00	James Brown	Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)	All Time Greatest Hits	Polydor
9:03	Spearhead	People in tha Middle	Home	Capitol
	DJ Comments: Playing November 28 and 29 at the Fillmore in Denver.
9:07	Jim Noir	Don't You Worry	Jim Noir	Barsuk
---- air break ----
9:12	Nina Simone	Feeling Good (Joe Claussell Remix)	Verve Remixed	Verve
9:15	The Chemical Brothers	Life Is Sweet	Exit Planet Dust	Astralwerks
9:20	Spank Rock	Top Billin' From Far Left	YoYoYoYoYo	Big Dada
9:24	The Perceptionists	People 4 Prez	The Perceptionists	Definitive Jux
9:26	Superchunk	Hyper Enough	Here's Where the Strings Come In	Merge
9:29	Supergrass	Alright	I Should Coco	Parlophone/EMI
---- air break ----
9:36	The Walkmen	In the New Year	You & Me	Gigantic
	DJ Comments: Playing Sunday night at Cornell University.
9:39	White Rabbits	While We Go Dancing	Fort Nightly	Say Hey
	DJ Comments: Working on their next record.
9:44	PJ Harvey	Good Fortune	Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea	Island
9:47	Sonic Youth	Teen Age Riot	Daydream Nation	DGC
---- air break ----
9:55	Yo La Tengo	Big Day Coming	Painful	Matador

The Big O!

Could the Seattle Stranger say it in any better words? (click on title for link)

Even Iza stayed up well beyond her nap time to witness the election results unfold and watch the Senators give their speeches.

Crossing our collective fingers for today/tomorrow

We've just received confirmation that our ballots from us and other teachers here were mailed out successfully, and in time, by a visiting Republican dad who flew back to Texas on Sunday night.

a) We hope our ballots were really mailed and postmarked accurately
b) We hope our ballots won't need to be counted
c) If Palin-McCain miraculously win, we will not return to live in the states for at least four more years. Sorry folks and fam.

We're well ahead of you all, in the future, a good dozen or more hours ahead of NYC et al. So we will be hosting a Hopefully Happy Hour here at our still not decorated flat Wednesday after school gets out.

Wishing our friends well

Thanks to the US's attack within Syrian borders on a supposed high-ranking al-Qaida target, the American school in Damascus has been 'asked' by the Syrian government to shut down ASAP.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081103/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria_us

We have several friends from our Warsaw school who just started up there this year, and the teacher whom Jill replaced here at our new Indonesian school also began this August. We wish them well with their job search for the 2009-10 school year and beyond and that everyone has a safe return to their respective homes.

I'm jealous of all the guitar practice time you'll get now, Annie! ;-)