SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2008
Gabi was all set to celebrate her birthday party on Saturday morning, when we had to frantically call those who were planning to come and tell them to stay away from the area since the road had been destroyed.
Since we had all the decorations already, and we were sitting around the house waiting for news, we decided to have a low-key party to eat the cake that had been made the night before and to allow Gabi to open her presents. In addition to the great cake, Tracy had also found a cute horse-balloon that looked like it was walking.
Members of our neighborhood kept gathering every two hours or so to pass on updates. By about 1 pm, we realized that the access around the landslide had been closed due to safety concerns. There was another walking exit, but it was apparently quite steep and not recommended for children or the elderly.
It was surprising how difficult it was to get accurate information due to the fast changing situation. With no electricity or land-lines, we were very grateful for cell phones, but realized even relatives in the States probably had better information that we did.
At three o'clock we realized we should try and get out - that the government was recommending an evacuation; without electricity and with water running low, it was time to move. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the exit point, those in charge had closed it, stating that they were bringing relief supplies in, and that there was only room for one-way traffic on the steep jungle trail.
In the meantime, it started to pour, certainly making a treacherous situation even worse -- especially at the incident site.
A little after 4:30 we got a text message from a neighbor saying that the trail had been opened, and we quickly set out. It was very wet and Gabi quickly soured on hiking through a mud-slogged trail. Rania was in a backpack, and Reeve was hiking with some neighbors, the McCutcheons. The trail then got quite steep, but there were steps and LOTS of people on hand to help. After getting to the top (about 10-15 minutes only), there were lots of ambulances and relief personnel available to help, and they gave us ride to the Giant, the supermarket in our area. A few minutes later, we all piled into Doug's dad's car, and we had officially been evacuated.
We arrived at Doug's parents house, and benefited by the generosity of some neighbors to get some spare clothes for kids and for ourselves. We were exhausted, but relieved to be safe.
Hopefully this was the last time we'll ever have to utter the words, "Party canceled due to landslide."
The kids were very excited to open their presents, though Rania was more excited about her brother's Ben-10 gifts. Can't quite get used to a 2 year old girl talking about "Dark Vader" and "Upgrade" and "Me like Yoda."
Even though we are still a bit displaced, we had a fabulous time celebrating Gabi's birthday. With Juvy's fantastic help and grandpa's amazing assistance, we came home from work, and a cake had already been baked. And Gabi got to open lots of her presents. 
Gabi even got an additional little surprise, when two days later, we retrieved her special present from Auntie Carrie from our house. (Access to our house is still a bit limited due to one way traffic.) How exciting to have a HORSEY music box that is also a jewelry box. Now Gabi only has to protect the great gift from her younger sister -- who also loves playing with it. 
After registering with the police below the incident site (on Jalan Wangsa 13, across from the mosque), we were able to turn left on Jalan Mulia 1/1. The short bridge over the drainage site was easy for any car to pass. There was walking access over the rubble and very muddy at that point (see photo left) on Jln Bk Mewah 1. From there, you could see quite the damage still. 
(The top of the track, looking down.)
(The start of the track from J Bk Mewah 2. You can see a bit of a two track bridge across a stream.)
Despite the craziness and trauma of the previous day, we made it to the Christmas Pageant at our church. We had missed the previous day's rehearsal, so weren't sure what roles our kids might have. So here is a progression of the pageant, a fitting metaphor of our sinful nature. 
Once Rania saw that her sister was surviving as a sheep, she decided to be a sheep. . . for a while. It was a rough job for the shepherds, because in addition to hearing the proclamation from the angels, one sheep kept wandering all around the stage -- and back to mommy in the pews -- and then back to the stage. 
Just before dawn, Doug walked down the hill to where the police had blocked access to the area. What was there, defies the imagination. 
We were incredibly impressed what it was like to have adult conversation. Instead of just talking about work, or being worried about kids, there were so many rich conversations about places to visit, life on the farm, memorable moments, stories from the Great Depression (from parents & grandparents, of course!), the Philippine Diaspora, Kenyan Politics, and so much more. Wow!
Much of the great conversation was because the kids were happily occupied -- largely thanks to their friendship with Rex!
We were excited to get a call on Friday that our rugs had been cleaned (see last week's post from the rug guy.) Javed and his brother also brought a few rugs for us to look at. It wasn't quite the show from the previous week, but we were hoping to find a nice fun, rug for the kids room. We ended up quite enamored by a Chobi -- a rug from Afghanistan, but actually made in Pakistan (due to so many Afghanis fleeing their native land.) 
You can also barely see (in the above picture) the reinforcements on our front door to keep the stray cats from peeing on our nice rug. Not sure if it is making us feel like we are in a cage -- or keeping the cats out -- or both, but we hope it will do the trick.
One of the great middle school traditions is ISKL is the Thanksgiving dinner at outside. The administrators provide the turkeys, and everyone pitches in. The kids have a great time running wild around the campus -- but thankfully some teenage kids (and wonderful teachers) help keep an eye on them.
It is amazing how much easier it can be when there is a friend to show around. Suddenly, the fun of antagonizing sisters is completely diminished. 
It has been fun having our Christmas tree up. Last year we didn't have one at our house here -- so it is especially fun this year. Having picked up a used tree from some ex-pats who were moving back to the States was an extra bonus. 
Brian pulled out his surfboard, and Rania might have a future on the ocean waves -- but might have to lose the floaties, first. 
