My Goals

I have picked my three goals. Have you? If you don’t know what I am talking about I will tell you. I thought it would be a good idea to pick three things to work on between now and Thanksgiving. Any three things you want-silly or serious. Here’s mine: (1) To be more disciplined with my time- time with my own kids, time with dorm kids, time with Garth and time with God. (2) To relax more (in regards to my personality) to not get in a dither when things get messed up or don’t go my way (3) to be happier.
Don’t let my goals influence yours. If you want to pick finding a long lost relative or mastering the art of karate-go for it. You can do it.
I have been spending more time in the kitchen the last few days since we are still short one kitchen helper. She left early on Monday and hasn’t come back. She is mad at us for not loaning her more money so she isn’t coming in. I have enjoyed being in the kitchen and it has been good to spend that time with our cook, Poppi. I have asked Poppi to make the lunch meal and then I have been making the dinners. Our absent helper has until tomorrow. If she doesn’t show up we are going to hire someone else. Last year it seemed like most of what I made didn’t turn out. This year I am having more success, so it is not as frustrating for me. Tonight we had 4 friends over to the hostel for a real American meal of pizza. I even brought some pepperoni here from the States so it tasted great. You know, cooking here is so different. Let me give you an example of the meal we cooked yesterday-hamburgers. First, the meat. We had an Indonesian friend come over to call Abeh and order for us 10 kilos of ground beef. If the grinder is working, the butcher will grind it for us, otherwise we have to bring it home and grind it ourselves. It took ten phone calls over a course of three days to get the meat. Garth then drove 40 minutes to the meat store. Once we got the meat, we had to divide it up into smaller containers to freeze. Then we made the dough for the buns. We went to the local pasar (market) to get tomatoes and cabbage (since there was no lettuce), then on to the one store that sells cheese. Then we had to go to another store to get oil to cook the meat in. And finally, home to get everything ready. Easy peasy Japanesy. By the time the lunch meal is all made and eaten and cleaned up, it is about time to start thinking about…dinner!!!!!!!!!!
I am sure it sounds crazier to you than it really is. We have come to realize that things are not done the easy way and hardly anything here gets done quickly. Once you realize that-it is easier to accept all of the hassles.
See that is why I said goal #2-to relax when things don’t go the way I want them to. I am working on it.
Well, we have the Junior class in the kitchen making 8 cakes for the Friday night meal tomorrow. They just came and got me because the oven was full of smoke. It will be interesting to see how these cakes turn out-they used 16 cups of flour, 16 cups of sugar, 16 eggs, and 16 cups of oil!
I need to go check on them-
Talk to you soon-
Rachel