Day 1: Detours to Malang

Have you ever had to pay someone to lead you through a detour?! That's what we experienced on my way to Malang. An entire city was flooded by mud because a company wanted to drill for oil and in their digging, they opened a hole that has since been spewing literally TONS of mud each day.

I'd never seen a street flooded by mud, let alone a whole city! On some streets, the mud covered the top of the door ways. People had retrieved some of the roof tiles. People of the neighborhood don't want to leave because if they leave, there is no guarantee they will be reimbursed for their property. So they stay around and help people get around the traffic jam by leading them through detours, charging tolls along the way. And if you dare try to take the detour without a guide, know that gangs are on the lookout.

We left Surabaya at 12 noon. Arrived home after 5 p.m. They say it used to only take 2 hours. I saw Cyndi and Josiah today!

Day 2: Sunday. Woke up before 4 - the call to prayer comes through the loudspeaker from just over the wall and across the Wesley soccer field. Yay ipod! I can plug it in and eventually fall back asleep. If the morning chant didn't last half an hour, I probably could have fallen back asleep without the help. But it's a good time to get some reading done.

Spent the whole day traveling via motorcycle; Jennifer took me around town. I went to ROCK, an Indonesian celebration this morning at 8. We spent the afternoon shopping at MATOS (Malang Town Square) and setting up my room. And the english celebration was tonight at 4 - literally up the street from our house. I got my hape (hop-A = cell phone) number set up. We ate at Wendy's for dinner: cheeseburger, fries and Coke! Pretty well adjusted to the time. People sleep around 8-9 and get up at 4-5. Much to learn!