Sushi

We've been really into sushi-making the last couple weeks.  On Fridays Johnny and I have been making a simple dinner for the boys then making sushi for ourselves after they go to bed.  We didn't realize it was so insanely easy!

First you make a big ol' bowl of rice.   After cooking the rice you stir in a mixture of oil, salt, sugar, and rice vinegar to make the rice sticky.  Press the rice onto your nori and add your goodies.  This bad boy below is alpukat (local Javan avocados) and seared tuna.

Roll it on up!

Slice it into cute little sushi rolls.

This week we got a little carried away.  But that meant we had three days worth of sushi goodness to inhale.  Below are tuna and salmon rolls with alpukat and cucumber.

Busy, Busy

I have massively failed at blogging.  Life really gets in the way of such things; I guess that's not a bad thing.  We've had lots of ups and downs to keep us very busy.  To update you on what's happened since I last blogged I will post one picture of an event and a caption for it.  I will try to do better with blogging, but no promises.  I think I say that every time. :)

Zacks school had a big week of celebrating other countries and cultures.  Most schools call this National Day.  Zack's school called it UN Day for some reason.  Anyway, I helped with the U.S. table.

The other American moms and I got together and did a presentation for Zack's class.  Other parents did the same for their countries.  We talked about the origin and symbols of the U.S. flag and we held a mock election.  The kids voted for their favorite snack - mini apple pies or chocolate cupcakes.  I'll give you one guess which won.

The kids also had a flag parade.  Each country came through with their flags.  Afterwards they all gathered together and sang.  Very cute.  The U.S. represents 25% of the school, so it took a while to file all the American kids through.

We had our own little Diwali celebration.  We didn't find any fireworks, but we lit a couple little candles.  The Indian Embassy next door made up for our lack of fireworks by creating World War III in their compound.  

Gabey fell down the stairs and got a terrible bruise.

5 days later Gabey fell up one stair and split his head open.  He ended up in plastic surgery with somewhere around 30 stitches.

But he was back to his cheerful self very quickly.

Zack had fun at a water park birthday party for his schoolmate, Aaron.  Gabey missed out because of his head wound.

Zack's class and the two other KG classes got together to give the parents an adorable concert.

This is Zack's class.  They are such sweet kids.

I got to go to Zack's class again on Thanksgiving to help with crafts.

 And we finally got Gabey to agree to an allowance chore.  Washing the car!

Gabey being silly while Zack has baseball practice.

Next post; tree decorating and sushi making. :)

Gabey's Job

Ok, I can tell as the boys advance in school that more and more of my blog posts are going to be introduced with "Oh no, I'm so far behind again!"  It's a crazy phenomenon, but I'm actually considerably busier now that Zack is in school.  Wait until I have a KGer *and* a second grader!  Yikes.  I might as well sub at their school I'll be there so much.  I love it, though.


Gabriel finally agreed to take on a job for allowance.  I think the pile of money Zack was accumulating helped sway him.  Both boys are required to have a family helping chore that doesn't pay, but allowance work is optional for now.  Gabriel's job is to help me wash the car every week.  This is no easy task during rainy season in Jakarta.  The whole car is splattered with mud and we have to carefully wipe around new motorcycle scratches each week.

He wasn't too sure at first...

But he got to work and did a great job.

Big brother volunteered to help pro bono.

It took us well over an hour with all the help, but we got it done and it's shiny and lovely.  Gabey has now washed the car twice and earned his 10,000 rupiah, just like Zack.

I'm very proud of how hard these boys work.  They are always eager to help and learn something new. These guys rock!

Jakarta Adventures

I promised a while back that I would post weekly "Mommy and Gabriel's Excellent Adventure" blogs, but I promptly contracted strep, got our HHE, and then became heavily involved with Zack's school's UN Week festivities.  Next week Gabriel and I will be sure to go on an adventure.  I'm thinking maybe the fabric market I've heard so much about.

But Johnny and I are pretty religious about getting out together on Saturdays for Date Day, if even just for a couple hours.  For our first few weeks we were pretty boring.  We stuck to malls or the American Club.  It's hard to muster the energy for exploring when you're bogged down by jet lag and the busy work of moving in.  This week, however, we decided to go for something new.  So we consulted our trusty Lonely Planet Indonesia for some adventure ideas.  We settled on the Flea Market on Jalan Surabaya.  As described by Lonely Planet:

Jakarta’s famous flea market is in Menteng. It has woodcarvings, furniture, textiles, jewellery and many (often instant) antiques. Bargain like crazy – prices may be up to 10 times the value of the goods.

It's close to the U.S. Embassy, so we felt pretty comfortable driving to it.  I consider myself a fairly skilled haggler after 2 years of practice in the likes of Sarojini Nagar, Dilli Haat, and Chandni Chowk, but we weren't really in the mood to buy anything.  We simply strolled the length of Surabaya and back.  It was a truly intriguing place.  The atmosphere was so much more sane than an Indian market.  We were not harassed and everything was pretty clean and orderly.  Most of the market housed knick knacks and "antiques" that looked like they could have been looted from Colonial Dutch homes.  We even found cannons!

                                   

We were tempted, but we ultimately decided that it wouldn't fit in the car.  

The antique section ended abruptly in shops filled with suitcases, which merged into shops chock full of old phonograph records, everything from Elvis to the Beatles.  We think we might go back at some point before we leave Indonesia and pick up a couple statues or the like for souvenirs, but there's a chance we'll find better stuff at other markets.  We just got here; there are many more discoveries to make!

Tee Ball

Zack had his first tee ball game this past Saturday.  Our little Yankee squad played the Dragons.  We had a rocky start but once the ball got rolling, so to speak, everything went great.

The rocky start resulted from an utter lack of organization for our team.  We arrived with just a couple minutes to spare.  We have practices at Zack's campus, but games are held at the larger JIS campus which houses the Middle School and High School.  The gate to the ball field is very difficult to find if you've never been there before (which we hadn't).  One of the two coaches was several minutes late.
   I started warming up with Zack and ended up helping a couple other boys warm up too.  We also found out that since we "signed up late," you know, two weeks before the season started, Zack didn't have a uniform.  I was a little perturbed that they didn't bother to tell me that so I could prepare Zack, maybe at least order him a jersey to match.  The coach gave Zack her hat, so that helped a bit.  But, to make matters much worse, as she started assigning everyone their positions she informed Zack that he would have to sit on the bench and wait his turn to play.  The bench.  In t-ball.  In which there are no positions, runs, or outs.  C'mon, lady, you've got to be kidding me.
   I didn't know she had said this to Zack because I was out helping the kids find their "positions" around the field.  I came back to the dugout to find Zack on the verge of tears leaning against the gate.  After I gave the woman a look that could have melted her eyeballs out she started stuttering that "well, I guess he could really go anywhere."  To which I replied, "Um, well, *yeah...*  it's *tee ball.*"  Zack couldn't be consoled so he sat with Daddy for the first half of the inning.
   I think the coach felt really bad because she put Zack to bat first and that perked him up a lot.  After that she put him on the pitcher's mound and all kids were put in random positions close to real baseball positions around the field.  After that things went really smoothly.  The "innings" consisted of every child taking a turn at bat.  The fielder closest to the ball would pick it up and throw it to first.  There were no outs and no score.  The kids had a really good time and I had a blast playing third base coach.

My little slugger

Run, boy!

Coming in for the score!

I have a feeling the next game will go a bit more smoothly.  I hope since I'm not sick I can be more help in practice tomorrow.  And I need to order a jersey for Zack no matter how much it pains me to buy a Yankees jersey...

Gluten Free Tortillas

I love Tex-Mex.  The only cuisine that rivals Tex-Mex in my book is Thai.  Both foods are extremely gluten free friendly.  Unfortunately, Tex Mex is often accompanied with those delectable flour tortillas. That's a decided no-go for the dedicated GF-er.  Yes, you can generally replace the flour tortillas with corn, but I've generally found those to be a little "blah."  I really only truly love corn tortillas if they're crisped (i.e. fried into corn chips, broiled for tostadas, fried up as quesadillas).  So I've been trying to develop a good gluten free tortilla.  I started with using just masa harina, salt and water.  They were useable but not compelling.  So I finally decided to try out Sorghum flour.  Voila!  I got just what I wanted:

These tortillas are soft, savory, and work great as quesadillas, tacos, or fajitas.  And guess what!!  I wrote it down!!  That's right, I wrote down a recipe with accurate measurements and everything.  So here it is, my first ever published, carefully recorded recipe.  Enjoy!

1 3/4 cups masa harina

3/4 cups sorghum flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. baking powder

4 tbsp. bacon grease

1 3/4 cups *HOT* water

Mix dry ingredients.  Cut in bacon grease until it looks like pie crust.  Add hot water and mix.  The dough should look like fresh play dough.  Make sure the dough has cooled a bit before you knead it.  Knead for 5 or so minutes.  Separate into small balls, about 1 1/2" diameter.  Heat a pan, using a little bit of oil.  I prefer coconut oil.  Put your dough ball on your tortilla press between two pieces of wax paper or a grocery bag cut to fit (I prefer the grocery bag, for some reason it peels off easier).  Press and fry.  You should fry each side one minute then return it to the first side.  It should bubble and/or expand.  Set it on a plate to cool.  Repeat until you have a delicious pile of tortilla goodness.  Happy Tex-Mex eating!

Third Culture Kids

    I've written briefly about Third Culture Kids before, but it's really been at the forefront of my mind this week.  As you may know, "Third Culture Kid (TCK)" is the term used to describe children who have spent a large part of their lives living away from their country of origin.  When I use this term back home people often ask me, "so what are the three cultures?"

    The first culture is your own.  Technically my boys are American.  They were born in America, they lived in America for 2 years, they speak English without any accent (well, almost no accent; they slip in a few Indian-isms here and there), and a large portion of their day-to-day life is influenced by American culture since their parents are American.

    The second culture is their host country.  As expat kids they will rarely live in their country of origin.  We left America when Zack was two and Gabriel one.  They are now four and five and living in their third country.  In 20-44 months they will be packing up to head for their fourth.  These are boys who greet their compound guards with a cheerful "Selamat Pagi!" every morning.  They are boys who say they miss their Indian ayah but love their new Indonesian pembantu.  They have trekked the Himalayas, jumped off ferries onto pier-less Thai islands, played in the North Sea, tasted various street foods, ridden elephants, have their own frequent flier accounts, and can explain to you the difference between healthy stool, loose stool, and diarrhea.  Their vocabulary includes embassy, time zone, commissary, Dengue, and a variety of words in French, Hindi, Thai, and Indonesian.

    The third culture is much more abstract.  Third Culture Kids live in a culture all their own.  The only ones who really understand them and their experience are other TCKs.  The third culture is the balance of all cultures to which the TCKs have been exposed.  The TCK struggles to find an answer to the question "where are you from."  In truth, the TCK would probably tell you he feels most at home in an airport.  My children have trouble answering the question, "which is your country's flag?"  They have three to remember and choose from.  The TCKs are the proverbial "man without a country."  They are forced to create their own idea of home.

    This week in school Zack's whole campus (K-5) is preparing for UN Week.  The week involves a parade of country flags, performances for the parents, a day of touring country tables which have been set up by the parents of various countries, and Zack's class has been making culture baskets.  Each child is supposed to put together a basket of items from their country.  Suggestions included toys, book, money, flags, sports, clothes, etc.  Imagine the difficulty for the TCK!  Many of Zack's toys come from Khan Market in New Delhi.  A lot of his clothes come from the export reject market, Sarojini, in Delhi. He doesn't know what a dollar bill is.  He isn't sure which country is "his" country.  It was actually an eye-opening exercise for me.  Am I failing to keep Zack and Gabriel rooted?

    As a mother of two TCKs I've been struggling to figure out how to give my kids roots while still allowing them to reap the full benefit of a life overseas.  We try to take the good and fun with us from every country and use the bad to learn how to live better.  It's not easy.  An article my friend, Jason, shared with me urges people to view "roots" as more than just a house in the suburbs.  That has been excellent advise and I believe I have followed that fairly well thus far.  Roots for my little family are not a lifetime family home.  They are not walks in the Rockies on a beautiful Fall day.  They are not football games with Grandpa on a Sunday afternoons.  Although those are wonderful roots, that is just not our family.  And even though such experiences make up John's and my roots, I have to create something new, unique, and just as strong (I hope even stronger) for my special little TCKs.

    Roots for us are very different.  Roots are having family together.  John travels a lot; it means a lot to have us all home at once.  Zack wrote in his school assignment this week that his favorite activity is taking a walk with his family.
 
    Roots are the boys' bunk bed hung with their special, super cool tent fort.

    Roots are Skype calls with Grandma and Grandpa.

    Roots are sending Valentines to the cousins.

    Roots are Grandma's paintings on the wall; Jesus' birthday cake for breakfast on Christmas; riding bikes around the compound in the afternoons; reading the bed time Bible story; having pillow fights on Saturday mornings; playing tee ball with Mommy and Daddy.

   Yes, we have roots.  They are simple.  They are a little different.  They are strong.  My boys' perspective on home, culture, and "normal" life will be very different than your average American kid.  That's ok with me.  I hope and pray it's ok with them, too.  What a life, right?

T-Ball

Zack had his first t-ball practice Monday evening.  I'm so excited for the season even though his team is called the Yankees.  Our neighbor boy is on the team and his mom is one of the co-coaches.  I'm kind of wishing I had signed up to coach.  Neither of the moms who are coaching seem to know all that much about baseball, not to mention fundamentals.  Although it is t-ball, so it doesn't really matter all that much yet.  It's great that they stepped up.  Maybe next year.  

We were encouraged to help out.  Since I was still feeling utterly miserable John took off work to do the carpooling for the day.  He took us all to practice and help Zack with throwing before practice started.

Getting to know the team.

The Peanut gallery.  He joined in for a bit of throwing but for the most part Peanut was perfectly happy to play on the playground and eat his dinner.  I'm hoping to get him to play next year (he's not old enough this year) but I'm not entirely optimistic.

Learning how to run the bases.  A couple of the kids had obviously played last year.  The other kids took a couple tries of random running around before they understood that they were supposed to step on each base.  Zack took 2 tries, but after that he had it down pat.  

Practicing throwing.  At one point the mom who is coaching had to deal with her son's tempter tantrum, so I stepped in to throw with the kids.  Thanks to my dad I'm extremely well-versed in baseball.  I had all four of them catching consistently after 2 minutes of coaching and 2 throws each.  Mama didn't have a sports-savvy dad and three brothers for nothing!

They started throwing to each other.  Which was really funny.

Batting.  He's had a lot of practice with that since we have our own tee.

Our first game is Saturday morning.  Stay tuned for pics of my little stud muffin in uniform! ;)

HHE Arrives

This is way better than Christmas.  This is all the stuff we packed up in India on June 20th.  That's right, we hadn't seen most of out belongings for over 4 months.  This includes pretty much all household goods, most of the boys' toys, their bunk bed, all my precious baking/cooking supplies, MY DONUT TIN, and various other items.

It's pretty intense watching them try to get these big trucks backed into these tiny compounds.

It was raining so they were trying to work quickly.  Which was comical.  How many moving men does it take to pry open a crate?  

Success at last!

This is a very small view of the carnage.  It spreads over all three floors.  We built the boys' bed right away.  I always try to get their space comfortable first.  This is especially important for Gabey.  I've seen incredible improvement in his attitude and morale since HHE arrived.  I think he finally feels at home.

The timing of all this was extremely unfortunate as I came down with my whopping case of strep throat literally hours after all this junk arrived.  One last punch in the face from India?  So it's just been sitting around waiting for organization and it's killing me.  You know I'm pretty deathly ill if I allow stuff to sit around unorganized.  But since I have to take a break after one flight of stairs it's just going to have to wait.

Fun With Zack's Class

I'm way behind in blogging again!  This time my excuse is strep throat.  I haven't been fever sick in a long time and this one really knocked me out.  I started my antibiotics yesterday but I seriously overdid it trying to get some work done around the house and going to Zack's first-tball practice.  So it's catch up time!

Zack's school really encourages parents to be heavily involved with the classes.  One of the things we do is to come in for Tutti Frutti Tuesday.  On Tuesdays the kids bring in pieces of fruit to donate to villages in Indonesia where fruit is too expensive (many of them grow fruit, but need the income rather than the nutrition).  A parent comes in each week to cut fruit with the kids.  The idea  to get them to learn about and try new fruits.  Here we are cutting pineapple and mango.

Cutting anything with small children is always an adventure.

And here is Zack reading to us!!!  He brings home a new book each night to read to us.  I write it down in his parent-teach communication book and once he reads a certain number with proficiency he will get some tougher books.

Halloween!  Seriously, how cute are these kids??

I got to come in on Halloween and help with craft centers.  Here is Zack painting creepy eyes on saran wrap.  The kids can hang them in the window and it looks like eyes staring in.

It was so fun to work and play with Zack's class this week.  Next week they have their UN Festival and I'll be helping out with that quite a bit.  I'll be manning the U.S. table and doing a presentation about America for Zack's class along with two other American moms.  We'll be talking about elections and about the history of our flag.

And here are my lounge lizards just chatting. :)