Ugh

After multiple phone calls and two previous trips to the office,
hoping to avoid problems, I still ended up having to buy a new plane
ticket home!

So frustrating!

We spent over 3 hours at the airlines office and over 6 hours on the
road. Good thing I wasn't driving!

Well, it's set. I will finally be home in California on Thursday,
July 10th. It will be worth it.

Polehan Cards

A few weeks ago, the kids at Polehan (the after-school program) made cards! Here are some of their creations! Profits will go toward helping these families, providing scholarships for these kids to go to school - books, uniforms, and school supplies.

Amazing Race

I've spent most of my weekend event planning. A definite hobby.
1) Amazing Race, Charis: May 9 and 16.
Inspired by the tv show, where teams compete on a scavenger hunt around the world, Kaylor, Donny and I are creating an end of the year party around Charis. For now, we have many brainstormed ideas for 7th and 8th graders. We'll come up with the clues tomorrow. I'm really excited to see this come to life!

Swim-A-Thon

2) A Day at the Pool: May 10. We're hosting a Swim-A-Thon to fundraise for a creative arts camp! A team of 12 will visit kids in Kalimantan and Bali! Juliana and I were able to coordinate a lot of the details yesterday. It will be especially fun to hang out by the pool before many people go home/away for summer vacation.

How many laps can YOU swim in an hour? We only have an hour to swim as many as possible. It will be a good workout.
Want to sponsor me for the laps I swim? Leave a comment.
- 100 Rupiahs, 1 cent
- 10,000 Rupiahs, $1
- Flat Rate

Weird American.

This afternoon, Ibu Darmi pointed out that I used a fork to eat my
rice, beef and broccoli. It seemed to fascinate her. Indonesians
usually use a spoon as their main eating utensil. Or, yes, in the
villages, they use their fingers. That's fun too, especially when
it's fried chicken.

I learned this early on. But I guess having been here for nearly 10
months, I didn't realize that I'm still just used to certain
preferences. It does makes sense to eat rice with a spoon. Or to
shovel it into your mouth with chopsticks when the bowl's at your
chin like when I'm at Chinese restaurants or my grandma's house.
Ahhh, delicious Chinese food...

Babies

There always seems to be a season of baby births that come into my
various circles, all around the same time. This week, three so far!
(Two boys and one girl) And news of two due in August.

On this end, I have one more month with baby Clara and her fun
parents. Speaking of which, Donny's staying home with Clara. And
Kaylor, Brenda and I are having a girls lunch in an hour! So I'd
better get going on coordinating a little more for Illuminate,
Indonesia and my various projects. Happy Hump Day!

MATOS

MAlang TOwn Square
Rode my motorcycle to the 3 story mall tonight!!! Sounds lame, but
it's the furthest I've driven, other than through the paddy fields up
by the waterfall, which I actually prefer. (It doesn't have the
street traffic.)

Things to send

With my personal time here rapidly approaching the 10 month mark,
here are some tangible things that we could use and love:
- art supplies (card stock, construction paper, stickers, Elmer's glue)
- children's books (Bi*l stories are great!)
- "treasure chest" items for student rewards (little things from the dollar store)
- curriculum ideas/resources (all ages)
- water balloons
- American snacks
- iTunes
- personal letters
- homemade movies

Thanks for making this so much fun! It's great to be able to share
some of our favorite American things with friends! I met a friend
last night who just had pizza for the first time! And that's
Indonesian Pizza Hut!

Cheap Thrills from Home

Magaines, Mexican Food seasoning packets (burritos and fajitas!), and
new American candy.

There's something fun about getting letters and pictures! Gotta love
it!

Off to search for iTunes movie rentals...

Diligence and Joy

They worked with their mentors and each created a portfolio of lesson plans. They had a competition and today, I was one of the judges. In 3 weeks of training, they had just 2 days to pull these together and each teacher filmed a report of their final portfolio.

We had our awards/closing ceremony banquet. What an intense 3 weeks it must have been; that was just one day for me!

Unexpected

I thought I was going to have a "normal" Friday. Study with Fathye and Juliana at 8:30. Eat lunch at home. Study language for a couple hours. And have dinner with friends.

But I got a call last night for some last minute help. It amazes me how my interest in art is simply reflected to others as a gift.

6 teacher-in-training came from Kalimantan. Teacher aprons were made for them, but needed some color. So, this morning, I got to do an art session! Each teacher chose a theme for their classroom and incorporated it into their apron.

In our down time, we're laughing and singing. That really is a way of life for them. It was refreshing to see them again!

On Top of the World!

Some of the greatest feelings: - When someone says they love you, without the expectation of hearing it in return. - When you're actually riding a surfboard on the ocean waves, or even just lying on the board on the water, watching waves come in. - When you're lying on the beach beneath the stars on a clear night. - When you're riding a motorcycle and the wind blows against your face. - When kids surround you with generous love. - When colors come together in an aesthetic and creative way.

Generosity

So many things have been donated: card stock, scrapbooking papers,
paintbrushes, stickers, used crayons, anti-bacterial ointment,
decorative ribbon, gauze and medical tape.  Sometimes, when I've
requested things, they come in abundance!  

But how little faith I have because it takes me a little while to see
just how these things are pre-organized.

Through various encounters and perfect timing, I'm meeting people who
could use each of these.  I've seen a single bottle of eye drops find
its perfect man in need.  I've seen reams of card stock come in just
the perfect amount for various projects!  Extra gauze and medical
tape was an abundance for my medical needs, but I met Ibu K who has
breast cancer, and could definitely use it more than myself! (See
"Katri" December 17, 2007)

And just when 4 boxes of markers are on my desk waiting for a home, I
find out that they are being requested by the teachers who have came
for training!  They leave on Friday - talk about perfect timing!

Anyway, there's a power outage at Kaylor and Donny's house. They
went to get take out for dinner and brought me some! Here's a
glimpse. It's nasi goreng (fried rice). Check out the packaging!
They wrap it in a wax paper.

Living in the Present

As much as I think I live in the now, I feel today that I don't. I
realize so much more after the fact. Things I wish I'd done
differently. Things I said, but shouldn't have. Or should have, but
didn't. Things that I'm barely realizing now, months, even years
from those moments.

Why am I so slow?

Filming in the Living Room

SPRING is here. They're filming in my living room. Actually, in
most of the bottom floor. It's a good set up for lighting and big
enough for their equipment and all of the crew. So I'm restricted to
the TV room. What a pity - there's a Bionic Woman Marathon today. A
couple of them are enjoying/sampling some American snacks. It's fun
to share!

Car Accidents

What is with me?  

Yesterday, I took a Blue Bird Taxi to the airport.  Their taxis really are blue!  They are the most reputable company here.  

Everyone seems to tail gate here.  The car in front of us slammed on their brakes.  My driver was quick to respond and for a moment, I felt relief.  We didn't rear end the burgundy car in front of us! 

But then, a car turning into our lane rubbed up against our side, smashing their signal light, denting their door, and both, our and their, fenders.  Everyone was safe.  We didn't deal with police.  My driver got cash.  We were on our way in a matter of minutes.  My meter kept running.  It was about $.35.  I wasn't going to fight him about it.  Besides, he didn't make me pay for the airport toll - which is $.30.  He was really apologetic and didn't seem to understand that I just wanted to make sure he wasn't injured.  

Well,  I didn't think I was accident-prone, but maybe I'm prone to accidents.

prone |prōn| |proʊn| |prəʊn|

adjective:  likely to or liable to suffer from, do, or experience something, typically something regrettable or unwelcome 

Anyway, accidents are definitely unwelcome.

Things in Lombok

The Novotel



Shells on the Sand



View at Breakfast



Mom and I at the Spa!

Cheap Thrills

But I finally caught a few of my cheap thrills on camera. I can
finally share them with you!
Indonesians are generally really skinny. An Indonesian friend went to
America where she saw people who were 300 and 400 pounds. It was
stunning to her, I'd say she's about 95 pounds herself.
Secondly, it's tropical weather here. Generally, people wear short
sleeves and light-weight pants.
Then I noticed the pedestrian crossing signs in this country. They
simply make me laugh. Not only do the signs look like they're either
fat people or wearing winter coats, but they are various signs!
There are about 10 different signs, and we've begun to give titles to
some.

Pasar Minggu

So this morning, Iin, Mom and I went to Pasar Minggu (Sunday
Market). It's just like Farmers' Market in the middle of the
street. Our friend, Dion, makes and sells sand art! We went to
Bunga Bali for lunch where we met Karen. And then Mom and I went
around town, only to be caught in the rain. Here's a random picture
of a fruit stand. The red things are called rambutan, "hairy fruit"
- "rambut" means hair. It was an adventurous day!

Yes, that's my Mom!

We took 4 bikes out to Batu today. Here's my brave mom with Ayub!

Tropical Plants

Lydia, Ayub, David, my mom and I went to Selecta. There's a beautiful garden of tropical flowers! And we could see a great view of paddies! Then, we'd hike a little through the back "forest" and into a semi-cave.

The Legend of Coban Rondo

(Cho-bahn Roan-doh) This waterfall is in Batu - the city next door, about 1 hour drive up the mountain. The moral of the story is to listen to your parents, like almost every other Indonesian legend I've heard.

Sweet Grilled Corn

payung - umbrella, also a strip of warungs.
warung - a small, Indonesian sit down restaurant
jagung - corn
bakar - grilled

We went to payung to eat jagung bakar. It was delicious!

Bakso

After a great adventure, it started to rain. So we headed back
home. We ate bakso near home. To end the Indonesian experience, we
ate bakso - a popular Indonesian food. Reminds me of "fishballs"
back at home. Or steamed meatballs in soup.

Curtis came over for soto ayam, my favorite Indonesian dish. He
introduced us to kalingkeng, an Indonesian fruit. And Mom and I just
finished watching The Royal Wedding. I love watching old American
movies, especially with tap dancing! A pretty great way to spend a
Saturday!

The Waterfall

Check out our show!

TK (tay-kah) Kindergarten and first grade:

2nd grade:

My mom, the Hula Instructor:

3rd-4th grade:

5th-6th grade: