Simple joy..
Here’s the latest updates from Overseas Volunteer Program (OVP) missionary, Alicia, who has been serving in Pondok Hayat Orphanage in Surabaya since 23 Nov last year 
Hello once again, everyone! Here is my latest post on my adventures in Surabaya. Not many new things have happened since my last post, so this will probably be quite a short one.
First of all, school has started again here, and I am back to my usual schedule of helping out at the Living Stones and Pelita Permai Schools, as well as helping the children at Simo with their schoolwork. Although I really enjoyed the break I got during the holidays, it feels good to be back teaching and spending time with the school children, especially those attending the Pelita Permai School.
One big difference (to me) at Living Stones School, however, is that the Pre-K1 class which I help out in has gotten smaller since the last term, due to the fact that two out of the five students were adopted during the holidays. Somehow, it just does not feel the same without the two other students, but other than that, everything is pretty much back to usual.
Overall, the children seem to be glad to be back in school to study, which is something that I found really surprising. From my experiences back home, I would have thought that most children would have been dreading the first day of school. However, to my surprise, I found that most of the children that I saw and work with seemed genuinely happy to go back on the first day of school.
As always, the children at Pondok Hayat and Simo have been up to their usual antics, playing around and just generally being a lot of fun to be with. They never fail to amaze and amuse, especially with their creativity at finding solutions to their ‘problems’. For example, one of the toddlers came up with a makeshift ‘toilet’ so that he could relieve himself anywhere without making too much of a mess on the floor. Really, the children are just a lot of fun and never fail make life here interesting for me.
When I was here, I had the privilege of attending the engagement party of one of Ibu Liyana daughter. Ibu Liyana is one of the board members for Pondok Hayat and also the founder of the Pelita Permai Schools, and I was very surprised that they would have thought of inviting me to the party. I definitely did not think that I would have such an opportunity given to me, and I was not prepared for it (e.g. I had nothing very formal to wear). However, the caretakers at Simo foresaw that I would have that problem and even bought a formal top for me to wear, even giving it to me to keep. Their kind gestures were really unexpected, and I really thank God that I have been given a chance to meet and stay with such wonderful people during my time in Surabaya.
On a side note, I will be flying back to Singapore for a few days today to reapply for my visa and also for Chinese New Year. Although I have been enjoying my time here a lot, I have really missed home as well. I am really excited to be back, and I am also excited to see what God is going to do in my remaining time here after I get back.
Alright, that is all the updates I have for now, and I hope to have more good updates to share with everyone soon.
