Tuesday 16. Aug 2005

August 1 , 2004

Back to August again. This is the beginning of my second year here. There have been a lot of changes over the past year -the natural ones with Su, the kids and me all getting another year older, and the lifestyle ones which is mostly the ongoing construction of the new house that is increasingly frustrating as it gets closer to completion. But, the last few days have seen the introduction of another situation that unfortunately is part of the reality of the world as it exists today.

A few days ago we received information that there was a terrorist threat against the company that I work for here in Sumbawa. All expats were ordered to move from outside of the mining company to inside the townsite. Su and the kids are staying in the hotel on the beach where we have been living the last year; I'm living in townsite in a house that I'm sharing for the duration with one of the teachers who lives over at the hotel. It's far from an ideal situation, but one of those things that happens oveseas, particularly when you live in a potential hotspot for terrorists.

What's important to understand is that the terrorists who proclaim that they are acting in the name of Islam are not acting according to the rules of life for a Muslim as laid out in the Holy Koran. The overwhelming majority of Muslims just want to live their lives like everyone else in the world - going about the business of raising kids, earning a living, and enjoying their lives as much as their circumstances permit. The kind of situation that we are in now hurts the local Muslim residents of the surrounding villages as much as it hurts the expats who live here. The rhetoric and actions of these small fanatical groups create a false image to the non-Muslim world about what Muslims are like, how they think and feel, what the basic tenets of our religion is.

August 14, 2004

We're coming up on the halfway mark of the first term and ,as usual, one of the key things is how the house is coming. That's usually what I end up talking with folks about here. Well, the house is coming although still too slowly for me. The roof is almost done - the roofing crew is just doing the beams in the kitchen which is the last part of the house that doesn't have a roof. Then we need the floor to be put in and doors and windows and electricity and running water. Actually the house does look fairly large although I'm comparing it with the three rooms in the hotel that we have been living in for the past year.

I put a little guestbook here so you can leave a message here for us if you are having trouble reaching us by email. Thanks for the messages in the guestbook. I like hearing from you all.