This is my life: Today I tried to sleep in
I don't know if you've picked up on it yet but we live really close to our neighbors. Actually, our house is part of a family plot of property - our neighbors are also our landlords - and we live right in the middle of this Javanese family full of brothers and sisters and grandparents and babies and kids of all ages.
There's almost always something interesting happening right outside our window...we've learned a lot of culture just standing at the sink or by our dining room window where we can see their front porch and observe their familial interactions. We don't understand much of what is going on because they speak Javanese, but it's still rather entertaining and educational. If we aren't watching what is going on, we're at least hearing it through windows we keep perpetually open to let in a breeze.
All we wanted was to sleep in a bit on a Sunday morning. Sean and I were both shivering but too lazy to figure out where our comforter had disappeared to. Paige had crawled into bed on Sean's side early in the morning hours, as she typically does these days. I felt cramped and cold but determined to power through and get a few extra winks.
And then the crying started. Loud and desperate right next door. We heard lots of Javanese babble, the grandpa next door's laughter and attempts to soothe what was apparently a very upset baby.
We laid there and listened to it, trying to sleep a little longer in vain. It occurred to me as I laid there that we never hear that baby crying like that. Ever. I could hear the attempts of different family members to soothe and calm the baby but the crying continued. Again, I've never, ever known an Indonesian to let a baby cry so long and hard.
Finally, curiosity got the better of me and I rolled out of bed and padded to the kitchen window where I could peek out into the yard next door.
Ah, yes. It was as I suspected. The baby's father was holding him tightly while the patriarch of the family carefully and methodically shaved every last baby hair off that little baby head with a small orange plastic razor.* For obvious reasons, this cramped that baby's style and he was none too pleased with the morning's turn of events.
The girls and Sean were soon up too and after a few minutes of observation of the affair going on next door, Sean filled up the water kettle to heat up our water for instant coffee. Brooklyn disappeared to our room to pick out a movie, Paige and Madison following after, hoping to finish a movie before we head out for church.
Thus began our Sunday.
*According to Javanese culture, at some point in a baby's first year all hair that was in the womb must be removed as it is still considered unclean and will not be as pretty or thick as the new hair that will grow back after.
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| The view from our dining room window - just doing a little maintenance work on somebody's bike. |
All we wanted was to sleep in a bit on a Sunday morning. Sean and I were both shivering but too lazy to figure out where our comforter had disappeared to. Paige had crawled into bed on Sean's side early in the morning hours, as she typically does these days. I felt cramped and cold but determined to power through and get a few extra winks.
And then the crying started. Loud and desperate right next door. We heard lots of Javanese babble, the grandpa next door's laughter and attempts to soothe what was apparently a very upset baby.
We laid there and listened to it, trying to sleep a little longer in vain. It occurred to me as I laid there that we never hear that baby crying like that. Ever. I could hear the attempts of different family members to soothe and calm the baby but the crying continued. Again, I've never, ever known an Indonesian to let a baby cry so long and hard.
Finally, curiosity got the better of me and I rolled out of bed and padded to the kitchen window where I could peek out into the yard next door.
 |
| The view from our kitchen window |
Ah, yes. It was as I suspected. The baby's father was holding him tightly while the patriarch of the family carefully and methodically shaved every last baby hair off that little baby head with a small orange plastic razor.* For obvious reasons, this cramped that baby's style and he was none too pleased with the morning's turn of events.
The girls and Sean were soon up too and after a few minutes of observation of the affair going on next door, Sean filled up the water kettle to heat up our water for instant coffee. Brooklyn disappeared to our room to pick out a movie, Paige and Madison following after, hoping to finish a movie before we head out for church.
Thus began our Sunday.
*According to Javanese culture, at some point in a baby's first year all hair that was in the womb must be removed as it is still considered unclean and will not be as pretty or thick as the new hair that will grow back after.
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