Friday was another interesting Muslim holiday. They sacrifice cows to commemorate the time God asked Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael. That wasn't a typo. I meant to put Ishmael since that is who the Muslims believe Abraham was to sacrifice. I don't know anymore details about this particular fesitivity. I need to find out and post on my next entry.

Last Monday, I had eight young ladies come to the house for English Club. I hope they all return. But one never knows from week to week how many will attend. I thoroughly enjoy English Club and hope to continue helping Kathy when she returns next week from the U.S. Please continue to pray for that endeavor.

Faith, my first grader who arrived in October.
My entire class: Carter-12, Grace-9, Faith-6.

Last week, I had several opportuniites to practice riding my scooter. Little by little I am gaining confidence. My only "worry" now is crossing over two lanes of traffic in order to make a right hand turn. Yes, I said right hand turn. In Indonesia they drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Left hand turns are a piece of cake - I only have to watch one lane of traffic. Right hand turns are the hard ones. I am learning all the back roads that keep me from having to cut across the dreaded two lanes. :o)

I have had three English club meetings so far. Unfortunately, the second one was poorly attended: only one girl came and she had to leave shortly after arriving because she had a terrible cough. Last week four girls came. I hope for a better turnout tomorrow. I will only have two more English clubs at my house before Kathy returns and takes over again. I will probably continue to attend; I am enjoying it. The girls are so sweet! Two of these girls come to my house on Fridays to tutor me in Indonesian. They don't laugh too hard at my mistakes. :o) The word for hair is rambut and rambutan is the name of a fruit. Also if you want to say "your hair" you say rambutnya. You can guess where I am going with this, right? Yes, I said that I really liked this lady's new style of fruit. I keep praying that God will give me the gift of tongues. :o)

The MAF team will gather on Thursday evening for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We will even have a turkey; not an easy item to find here in Kalimantan. As you gather for your Thanksgiving remember to thank God for the small things - things like electricity, being able to understand the people around you, driving your car in a sane environment, consistent internet etc. Don't take the small things for granted. :o)

Little Red Scooter

My new method of transportation while in Tarakan. I'm still not proficient in its use so have to depend on the goodwill of my fellow MAF team members.

The little school I teach at is called Peningki Hill School. Since I am the only staff member at the school, I get to decide how many days off we get. I decided to take off last Friday, October 30th. Teacher in-service day. :o) I actually got to do something fun. I went to Balikpapan. Due to the oil in Balikpapan, a lot of Westerners live there. So the town has a lot of amenities that Tarakan does not have. For starters a really nice hotel. I spent two nights in Balikpapan relaxing. It was great.

Tomorrow it is back to school again. It will also be my first day to be in charge of the English Club. It will be interesting to see how we cope - I don't speak Indonesian and their English is weak. It will be good for both parties.