The last couple of days have been really great! We have had a really great time with friends and workers here. We have had to start saying good byes, because The fasting month begins tomorrow and a lot of people don't want to hang out with us because it is a time to be with family. I don't want to leave some of them, but yet I am so excited to see my family and friends again. There are some things I just can't wait to do as soon as I get back, but somethings I will just miss terribly.
For example, I won't miss being able to wear my shoes wherever I go so that the bottom of my feet are not constantly black. I won't miss the smell of things burning all the time . I won't miss the smell of the bathrooms or houses, It's like an ammonia smell. So strange but it is everywhere. I will miss the smell of J- co doughnuts.... SO amazing. I won't miss having to put my shoes on every time I go in the bathroom because it's wet. I will miss the helper looking at me like I am absolutely crazy when I walk out of my room when I first wake up with all my hair on top of my head and my pajamas. I will miss trying to use my little bit of Indonesian along with motions to the helper to communicate. ( you would think that once she said the same thing several times I would learn it) I won't miss falling asleep to toxic bug spray or the mosquitos eating me up. ( IF YOU EVERY COME HERE YOU CAN NOT BRING ENOUGH BUG SPRAY). I won't miss wearing the same 5 outfits for 2 months, but I will miss the fact that it doesn't matter what I look like every one still tells me I am beautiful. We will miss eating with out hands, despite how dirty they might be. I won't miss never having a hand towel to dry them off with. (They never have things to dry your hands off with ). I WILL NOT miss smelling Durian every where I go. I will miss being able to play at the petting zoo when we go to the supermarket. I might miss the call to prayer being blasted in to my room every morning at 4 am. I won't miss picking out the bones off my chicken. A nice chicken breast with zesty Italian dressing would be truly amazing. no bones, no heart, no liver, no galbladder, no breaking it legs. That will be so nice. I won't miss brushing my teeth with seperate water. I won't miss tofu, but I will miss soybeans
These are only some of the things I can think of right now, I know it probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but It will once I get back.
This morning we were able to meet and fellowship with people literally from all around the world. We had people from, Indonesia,Germany, New Zeland, Switerzerland, and America all in the same room. It was so incredible. It was so nice to be around people who were taller than me again. They were so tall. SOOOO tall and get this.. They had white skin. It's the small things. I am actually taller or as tall as most of the people here which is so strange.
Love you all,
Cayla
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
The countdown begins
Wow! Can you believe that we have been gone for almost two months! The thought of that is absolutely crazy. My Father is doing a mighty mighty mighty work in this place, and you both know where there is a hero there is always an antagonists. It is certainly that same way in this situation! I feel completely overwhelmed by everything that has gone on. So overwhelmed that I was chosen to come here and share my life with the Indonesians. So overwhelmed that I am able to see the harvest, and eagerly planting new seeds for the next season. Wow. My heart is so full. .... Seriously. Please be talking with your families and fathers and everyone urging them to share the news of the things that are happening on the other side of the World! It is truly amazing. My Father has been BY MY SIDE the entire time and I think that has been one of my favorite things. I can go on and on and on but I can't say much more right now..... except PLEASE be obedient to the things your Father is asking you to do. Please. It's worth everything you could ever have to give up. That doesn't mean that it is easy, but worth counting the cost.
I am going to try to give you a recap of everything that has been going on for the last week. I think that is the last time that I have sent out an update. Last Friday we had a normal day and then spent the night at the Rukko. I was not feeling really good, so I went to bed early. The next morning I woke up with a pretty high fever and was pretty much toast for the rest of the day. I was a little scared because I thought I might have dingy fever, but then when I started feeling better, I knew it would be smooth sailing. (Talking about answering requests fast). Sunday, I was still not feeling super great but able to function. We spent the morning together and just resting. We got a phone call asking us if we would like to go to the S's house to spend some time with an Indonesian friend. We jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house and to be with him , so of course we went. We spent the afternoon talking and singing songs together.
That night the K boys came over and we had a great time with them playing while there parents went out on a date for their 18th anniversary! We also got a special treat from McDonald. I love those boys so much. They are so sweet spirited and are a great example!
Monday morning, we had our last Monday with the Brimob police. It was a bitter sweet parting, but all good things must come to an end. Some of them were icky so we were happy to leave, but the most part were so kind and eager to learn. They even put together a sweet little concert for us and sang. We have encouraged them to come to the library to keep practicing so tonight we will see if any of them come! As soon as we were finished with The police we hopped back in to the car and headed over to a school to teach at an English club. It was a good experience. ( Trying to be positive) It was so hot and the kids did not speak a lot of English so it was really hard to get things done. Also, It was the beginning of school so they didn't listen well. I am sure that the next time they go they will be better behaved. They were sweet though. By the Afternoon, We were all pretty wiped out from the heat and being sick so we rested.. I think.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all pretty similar. We woke up, got ready, and headed out to the Library to spend our day talking with people. There aren't usually a lot of people there, so a lot of the time we just spend time with the workers. I played Hang man with them for a long time one day and we had a lot of fun. I also had a sweet conversation with a girl named Tres something. ( I am just writing this so I will remember to tell you about it when I get home). On those evenings, We spent time organizing all the things that you sent with me to give to the Orphanage. We bought a lot of things with Your Money and had TONS of toys to give to them. So we had to organize it all and package it up for them. It took a bit of time.
Thursday Afternoon, We finally got to go to the Orphanage. It was such a long awaited time! Oh and the best part was that It was an all GIRL orphanage. Oh my gosh, I wish I could tell you every detail, but I can't. So I will just highlight. A lot of them are refugees from a war that is going on, so a lot of them aren't even from Indonesia. They looked so sad at first, but once I got them going their shells cracked and they had the biggest smiles. I played and taught them songs, and games, and all kinds of things for like 3 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, We had a little situation because they told us they only have 30 children, but once we got there they told us 55, and then changed it back to 35 . BUT we only had 30 bags. M said.. what were you thinking you didn't pack extra bags.. and we said, Well we thought that they knew how many kids they had haha. Anyways, P and Rachel did an awesome job of re organizing it and buying more stuff while A and I kept them entertained. Our Talents fit so perfectly in that situation. We had such a blessed time, and we are hoping that we can go back next week.
Today (Friday) We woke up really early and went with our doctor friend to her clinic and got to tour her facility. It was such a great time. Rachel and I took Aids test, and you would all be thankful to know that we were both NEGATIVE. .. I was a little scared at first because I didn't see them change the needle in the sticker, so I was a little freaked out because I thought, what if you give me aids in the process of testing me for aids, but when I asked they changed it. :) We had lunch with her... and now We are back at home for an hour of so until we have to go to the Library for the night. Tonight, We are having Joke night at the Library and a little going away party for us! It should be a great time.
This is the kicker. Next would can either be a really great week or a not so great week it all depends. Monday Ramadan starts, which means fasting starts, which also means EVERYTHING changes. So we might have a lot of chance to hang out with people, or no one will be able to hang out. We are still trying to work around this, so you can be talking with the Father about that. We can potentially have some great moments.
" The Reality of the path we follow could never become greater to me than right now, It is so amazing that I have been found"
Would love to keep hearing from you! Miss you all so much!
Love
Cayla
I am going to try to give you a recap of everything that has been going on for the last week. I think that is the last time that I have sent out an update. Last Friday we had a normal day and then spent the night at the Rukko. I was not feeling really good, so I went to bed early. The next morning I woke up with a pretty high fever and was pretty much toast for the rest of the day. I was a little scared because I thought I might have dingy fever, but then when I started feeling better, I knew it would be smooth sailing. (Talking about answering requests fast). Sunday, I was still not feeling super great but able to function. We spent the morning together and just resting. We got a phone call asking us if we would like to go to the S's house to spend some time with an Indonesian friend. We jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house and to be with him , so of course we went. We spent the afternoon talking and singing songs together.
That night the K boys came over and we had a great time with them playing while there parents went out on a date for their 18th anniversary! We also got a special treat from McDonald. I love those boys so much. They are so sweet spirited and are a great example!
Monday morning, we had our last Monday with the Brimob police. It was a bitter sweet parting, but all good things must come to an end. Some of them were icky so we were happy to leave, but the most part were so kind and eager to learn. They even put together a sweet little concert for us and sang. We have encouraged them to come to the library to keep practicing so tonight we will see if any of them come! As soon as we were finished with The police we hopped back in to the car and headed over to a school to teach at an English club. It was a good experience. ( Trying to be positive) It was so hot and the kids did not speak a lot of English so it was really hard to get things done. Also, It was the beginning of school so they didn't listen well. I am sure that the next time they go they will be better behaved. They were sweet though. By the Afternoon, We were all pretty wiped out from the heat and being sick so we rested.. I think.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all pretty similar. We woke up, got ready, and headed out to the Library to spend our day talking with people. There aren't usually a lot of people there, so a lot of the time we just spend time with the workers. I played Hang man with them for a long time one day and we had a lot of fun. I also had a sweet conversation with a girl named Tres something. ( I am just writing this so I will remember to tell you about it when I get home). On those evenings, We spent time organizing all the things that you sent with me to give to the Orphanage. We bought a lot of things with Your Money and had TONS of toys to give to them. So we had to organize it all and package it up for them. It took a bit of time.
Thursday Afternoon, We finally got to go to the Orphanage. It was such a long awaited time! Oh and the best part was that It was an all GIRL orphanage. Oh my gosh, I wish I could tell you every detail, but I can't. So I will just highlight. A lot of them are refugees from a war that is going on, so a lot of them aren't even from Indonesia. They looked so sad at first, but once I got them going their shells cracked and they had the biggest smiles. I played and taught them songs, and games, and all kinds of things for like 3 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, We had a little situation because they told us they only have 30 children, but once we got there they told us 55, and then changed it back to 35 . BUT we only had 30 bags. M said.. what were you thinking you didn't pack extra bags.. and we said, Well we thought that they knew how many kids they had haha. Anyways, P and Rachel did an awesome job of re organizing it and buying more stuff while A and I kept them entertained. Our Talents fit so perfectly in that situation. We had such a blessed time, and we are hoping that we can go back next week.
Today (Friday) We woke up really early and went with our doctor friend to her clinic and got to tour her facility. It was such a great time. Rachel and I took Aids test, and you would all be thankful to know that we were both NEGATIVE. .. I was a little scared at first because I didn't see them change the needle in the sticker, so I was a little freaked out because I thought, what if you give me aids in the process of testing me for aids, but when I asked they changed it. :) We had lunch with her... and now We are back at home for an hour of so until we have to go to the Library for the night. Tonight, We are having Joke night at the Library and a little going away party for us! It should be a great time.
This is the kicker. Next would can either be a really great week or a not so great week it all depends. Monday Ramadan starts, which means fasting starts, which also means EVERYTHING changes. So we might have a lot of chance to hang out with people, or no one will be able to hang out. We are still trying to work around this, so you can be talking with the Father about that. We can potentially have some great moments.
" The Reality of the path we follow could never become greater to me than right now, It is so amazing that I have been found"
Would love to keep hearing from you! Miss you all so much!
Love
Cayla
Friday, July 22, 2011
Homestay
Everything is going really well on the other side of the world. I think that the last time that I updated everyone might have been last saturday, almost a week ago. The quick run down of the days in between are as follows. Saturday night we went out with a lot of friends and sang karaoke which was really fun. Saturday was had a house gathering, and a couple of people from the team had to go out of town for various reasons so we the rest of us spent the afternoon at the mall and furniture shopping for the K family. We had a great time (as always). Monday we visited the Police men again and then came back home and packed for our trip. We had movie night with Prisk and Andri two of our favorite teenage girls, and then off on the road we went. We were going to a place about ten hours away, and everyone told us it would be cool there so we were so excited. The plan was for us to stay with an Indonesian family for two days and a night just to get a little more culture experience. Well, Let's just say it was full of culture.
After traveling all day, we finally arrived in PA and met Espi. We thought that we were going to be staying in a city, but once we got there we found out we had another 40 minute drive out. (which actually turned into 2 hours). You could probably imagine that after two hours, we were not in a city anymore, but surrounded by village after village. OH and by the way, when I say Village I am not using that word loosely but in every context. So we arrive, and the road that her little house is on is not big enough for our car to drive down. So we unpack and carry all of our stuff to her house. By this time everyone realizes that someone new is in town. Little did we know, we were the first white people these people had every seen. We meet up with her family and they invite us in. So we sit down and are talking (except we aren't really talking because no one speaks English so we just smile). AS we are chatting our little lives away I see someone walk in carrying the dreaded fruit.... yep. you guessed it was durian. I Wanted to cry, because I knew that I was going to have to eat it. There was no getting around it . They were all staring intently at us. So they slice one.. then they slice 2 and another and another. Before I knew it there we were sitting with atleast 9 halves of durian in front of us. So We dug in. I was praying that simple phrase that Peggy taught me. Lord Ill gulp it down if you keep it down. Rachel and I were sitting across the room from each other so I look at her and notice she is trying to distract herself from the durian and I made eye contact with her and smiled with me eyes (you know in that really nice way) and told her there was no getting around it. So we ate a little and it was really nice to see her gag in front of everyone.. Made my day. Then we continue with mangos, avocado juice, duku, rambutan etc. When we ate all we could, I looked out the door and there stood almost the whole village at the front door trying to get a look at us. wow CULTURE SHOCK. We went outside and took pictures for about 2 hours.. Then it happened.
It was time for B and G to leave. I watched them drive away in there kijang and I thought I might fall on the ground and scream and cry as loud as I could, but I held it together. Espi knew a little English but she couldn't understand us so that made for an interesting time. We walked around the village with all the little Asian children following us it was so sweet. We walked around saying hello and everytime we met a group of people and told them we were from the us they would say OOOOOOOH AHHHHHH. It was hilarious. We Eventually made it back to the house we were staying in and Espi asks us if we would like to take a bath. Rachel and I looked a little funny at each other and thought well, its only like 5 o clock so we passed. Then she went to take a bath followed by her mother, father, brother, and aunt. By 6 o clock everyone had their PJs on and I thought hm... maybe I should shower and put my pajamas on because that is what they are doing and after all I do want to be culturally correct. So I ask Espi, Could I take a shower ? She says of course and hands me this towel... It was a little damp (actually like soaking wet) and I put it all together they all had used the same towel. EVERYONE and now it was my turn... So I said a quick prayer and asked him to put me in a bubble so I wouldn't get any disease and hop right in. Except It wasn't a shower.. That's what you were thinking right? Nope. A Bok. It's like a big tub of water and you dip water out and pour it over yourself with a little bucket. and it's in the same room as the squatty.. So it had to be clean right?
I managed to get clean with some forever Sunshine body wash and St Ives face wash. It seemed to act as an all in one cleanser. Then I make my way back in to my room where I find a host of ladies waiting on me. I tried to communicate that I was going to be changing, and I thought they might leave, but instead they decided it would be okay if they all cramped in really tight and just shut the door. I did a really good job of changing all my clothes and holding a towel up at the same time. I am sure that whole village knows about the white girls.
( Rachel is going to fill you in on the sleeping part or lack there of sleep part of the night)
We have been told that most Indonesians sleep with the light on, out of fear of evil spirits. We had been preparing ourselves for sleeping with the light on, but we were by no means prepared for the long sleepless night ahead. There was a twin size bed in the room that the three of us, Cayla, Espi, and myself, shared. It was to our great disappointment that the hammock-looking thing hanging from the ceiling was actually a mosquito net. (or mosk-queee-to, as they like to pronounce it here) The entire night Cayla and I hugged the wall laying horizontally, legs dangling off the bed; meanwhile our dear LITTLE friend took up 3/4 of the bed. Thankfully we were able to turn the light off, as Espi told us the light would only make the room hotter. This was difficult to believe, as we were sleeping in a sauna with no windows, a closed door, cement walls, and silk sheets. Somehow a renegade moskqueeto managed to join us under the net. He bestowed us with countless little itchy bites throughout the night, but we were unable to get the benadryl stick out from under the net. We slept a couple minutes and lost at least two pounds just from sweating. The next morning Espi brought us our first breakfast in bed. It was fish crackers. Now please understand that this family, especially Espi, did their best to provide only the best of food and conditions for us. Indonesian and American culture is so very different that it made the stay challenging but very educational for the two of us. That being said, the fish crackers resembled the taste of cardboard and the lumpy fried unknown item . . . well we are unsure as to its identity and resemblance. After we were ready for the day, we were offered a second breakfast. Rice, fish soup, and chicken. The rice was the best I have eaten yet. The fish head was still in the soup, its eye looking straight at us every time we were served more. The chicken was absolutely delicious, but spicy enough that we no longer needed the sauna room. Even Espi found the chicken too spicy to eat. She would later offer us lunch and was kind and thoughtful enough to wash the chicken with water to tone down the spice for us.
We went to meet the head of the village who needed to grant us permission to be in the village. He was very disgruntled as the last foreigners some twenty odd years ago had neglected to request permission to stay there. Cayla, through some translation help from our very smart Espi, was able to smooth things over. (Cayla is now telling the rest of the story). After he made us write down every piece of information about ourselves in his little notebook we hopped back in our land rover from the 80s car and headed to the swinging bridge.. Eh The things I do.. I hate bridges. Anyways, We had a fun time there and headed back to E's house to grab our sutff. When we arrived there were atleast 10 other guys in our living room area who had decided they were going to go to the tea plantations with us. So they all crammed in the car... It was a tight squeeze. Twleve of us all together. They were all smoking, eating durian, burping durian, shooting snot out their noses, along with a little hint of BO.. perfect recipe for a long day in the car. We drove to a couple waterfalls and they were so extremely beautiful. Hiked a little bit on the mountain where all the tea plantations were, and then visited a few more waterfalls.
The whole time we were walking this one guy kept telling us that we walked really fast, and I preceeded to tell him that if he didn't smoke he too could walk as fast as I could. He refuted, but I insisted and after we were finished the first thing that he did was light another one up. Genius. The last waterfall that we went to visit, turned out to be one of the most comical things in my life. The bridge was broken so we climbed down on the rocks to see the fall. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great view so the Indonesians and I convinced Rachel to cross the rough river and go to the waterfall. She thought it would be okay because she could just hold her skirt up and it wouldn't get wet.... well. The water was a little deeper, a little faster... the rocks a little sharper and slippery than she had first thought. She ended up falling and the men had to drag her across. I have never ever laughed so hard in my life. It was a great day.
One of the things that we learned was that they like to take rests. For example, when we had been in the car almost an hour they would say.. we must stop and take a rest, so naturally we said okay.. We got out stretched for 10 or 15 minutes and then got back in the car. We literally went around the curve and there the waterfall was. I don't know why they couldn't have waited just another 10 minutes, but that is the culture and it happened all day. On our way back home, we had an array of tasty (sarcastic) snacks Tofu... etc. When we arrived we pulled in to the hotel where B and G where and they didn't believe it was us when we pulled in and everyone was smoking and there were so many people in the car, but then we emerged from the depths. We had a blast that night telling stories.
The next day, we drove home and on the way stopped and taught some English at some schools, which is always a blast. The kids are so fun to be around. I think I laugh as much and they do. We arrived home late thursday night and were welcomed home by a nice meal at Pizza Hut ( where they make you balloon animals). I don't think the servers at PH in the states are that talented, but I could be wrong.
That long story basically sums up the highlights of the past week. There are so many other things that I would love to share but it is simply too long. It was one of the hardest and uncomfortable things I have ever done, but worth every sec for the purpose.
On that note, there are several people here who may one day get to meet my father. Please be thinking about that and knowing that dreams can come true. Also, Our energy levels need to stay pumped up for the last couple of weeks. We still have a lot to do. I have some sort of cold going on and I am not feeling super great. There is so much going on! I miss everyone the most right now! Keeping my sight on Mcghee Tyson on Aug 11! Be there or be square!! Love you all! Would love you hear from you and there are a lot of new pictures on Facebook!
see you soon
Love,
Cayla and Rachel
After traveling all day, we finally arrived in PA and met Espi. We thought that we were going to be staying in a city, but once we got there we found out we had another 40 minute drive out. (which actually turned into 2 hours). You could probably imagine that after two hours, we were not in a city anymore, but surrounded by village after village. OH and by the way, when I say Village I am not using that word loosely but in every context. So we arrive, and the road that her little house is on is not big enough for our car to drive down. So we unpack and carry all of our stuff to her house. By this time everyone realizes that someone new is in town. Little did we know, we were the first white people these people had every seen. We meet up with her family and they invite us in. So we sit down and are talking (except we aren't really talking because no one speaks English so we just smile). AS we are chatting our little lives away I see someone walk in carrying the dreaded fruit.... yep. you guessed it was durian. I Wanted to cry, because I knew that I was going to have to eat it. There was no getting around it . They were all staring intently at us. So they slice one.. then they slice 2 and another and another. Before I knew it there we were sitting with atleast 9 halves of durian in front of us. So We dug in. I was praying that simple phrase that Peggy taught me. Lord Ill gulp it down if you keep it down. Rachel and I were sitting across the room from each other so I look at her and notice she is trying to distract herself from the durian and I made eye contact with her and smiled with me eyes (you know in that really nice way) and told her there was no getting around it. So we ate a little and it was really nice to see her gag in front of everyone.. Made my day. Then we continue with mangos, avocado juice, duku, rambutan etc. When we ate all we could, I looked out the door and there stood almost the whole village at the front door trying to get a look at us. wow CULTURE SHOCK. We went outside and took pictures for about 2 hours.. Then it happened.
It was time for B and G to leave. I watched them drive away in there kijang and I thought I might fall on the ground and scream and cry as loud as I could, but I held it together. Espi knew a little English but she couldn't understand us so that made for an interesting time. We walked around the village with all the little Asian children following us it was so sweet. We walked around saying hello and everytime we met a group of people and told them we were from the us they would say OOOOOOOH AHHHHHH. It was hilarious. We Eventually made it back to the house we were staying in and Espi asks us if we would like to take a bath. Rachel and I looked a little funny at each other and thought well, its only like 5 o clock so we passed. Then she went to take a bath followed by her mother, father, brother, and aunt. By 6 o clock everyone had their PJs on and I thought hm... maybe I should shower and put my pajamas on because that is what they are doing and after all I do want to be culturally correct. So I ask Espi, Could I take a shower ? She says of course and hands me this towel... It was a little damp (actually like soaking wet) and I put it all together they all had used the same towel. EVERYONE and now it was my turn... So I said a quick prayer and asked him to put me in a bubble so I wouldn't get any disease and hop right in. Except It wasn't a shower.. That's what you were thinking right? Nope. A Bok. It's like a big tub of water and you dip water out and pour it over yourself with a little bucket. and it's in the same room as the squatty.. So it had to be clean right?
I managed to get clean with some forever Sunshine body wash and St Ives face wash. It seemed to act as an all in one cleanser. Then I make my way back in to my room where I find a host of ladies waiting on me. I tried to communicate that I was going to be changing, and I thought they might leave, but instead they decided it would be okay if they all cramped in really tight and just shut the door. I did a really good job of changing all my clothes and holding a towel up at the same time. I am sure that whole village knows about the white girls.
( Rachel is going to fill you in on the sleeping part or lack there of sleep part of the night)
We have been told that most Indonesians sleep with the light on, out of fear of evil spirits. We had been preparing ourselves for sleeping with the light on, but we were by no means prepared for the long sleepless night ahead. There was a twin size bed in the room that the three of us, Cayla, Espi, and myself, shared. It was to our great disappointment that the hammock-looking thing hanging from the ceiling was actually a mosquito net. (or mosk-queee-to, as they like to pronounce it here) The entire night Cayla and I hugged the wall laying horizontally, legs dangling off the bed; meanwhile our dear LITTLE friend took up 3/4 of the bed. Thankfully we were able to turn the light off, as Espi told us the light would only make the room hotter. This was difficult to believe, as we were sleeping in a sauna with no windows, a closed door, cement walls, and silk sheets. Somehow a renegade moskqueeto managed to join us under the net. He bestowed us with countless little itchy bites throughout the night, but we were unable to get the benadryl stick out from under the net. We slept a couple minutes and lost at least two pounds just from sweating. The next morning Espi brought us our first breakfast in bed. It was fish crackers. Now please understand that this family, especially Espi, did their best to provide only the best of food and conditions for us. Indonesian and American culture is so very different that it made the stay challenging but very educational for the two of us. That being said, the fish crackers resembled the taste of cardboard and the lumpy fried unknown item . . . well we are unsure as to its identity and resemblance. After we were ready for the day, we were offered a second breakfast. Rice, fish soup, and chicken. The rice was the best I have eaten yet. The fish head was still in the soup, its eye looking straight at us every time we were served more. The chicken was absolutely delicious, but spicy enough that we no longer needed the sauna room. Even Espi found the chicken too spicy to eat. She would later offer us lunch and was kind and thoughtful enough to wash the chicken with water to tone down the spice for us.
We went to meet the head of the village who needed to grant us permission to be in the village. He was very disgruntled as the last foreigners some twenty odd years ago had neglected to request permission to stay there. Cayla, through some translation help from our very smart Espi, was able to smooth things over. (Cayla is now telling the rest of the story). After he made us write down every piece of information about ourselves in his little notebook we hopped back in our land rover from the 80s car and headed to the swinging bridge.. Eh The things I do.. I hate bridges. Anyways, We had a fun time there and headed back to E's house to grab our sutff. When we arrived there were atleast 10 other guys in our living room area who had decided they were going to go to the tea plantations with us. So they all crammed in the car... It was a tight squeeze. Twleve of us all together. They were all smoking, eating durian, burping durian, shooting snot out their noses, along with a little hint of BO.. perfect recipe for a long day in the car. We drove to a couple waterfalls and they were so extremely beautiful. Hiked a little bit on the mountain where all the tea plantations were, and then visited a few more waterfalls.
The whole time we were walking this one guy kept telling us that we walked really fast, and I preceeded to tell him that if he didn't smoke he too could walk as fast as I could. He refuted, but I insisted and after we were finished the first thing that he did was light another one up. Genius. The last waterfall that we went to visit, turned out to be one of the most comical things in my life. The bridge was broken so we climbed down on the rocks to see the fall. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great view so the Indonesians and I convinced Rachel to cross the rough river and go to the waterfall. She thought it would be okay because she could just hold her skirt up and it wouldn't get wet.... well. The water was a little deeper, a little faster... the rocks a little sharper and slippery than she had first thought. She ended up falling and the men had to drag her across. I have never ever laughed so hard in my life. It was a great day.
One of the things that we learned was that they like to take rests. For example, when we had been in the car almost an hour they would say.. we must stop and take a rest, so naturally we said okay.. We got out stretched for 10 or 15 minutes and then got back in the car. We literally went around the curve and there the waterfall was. I don't know why they couldn't have waited just another 10 minutes, but that is the culture and it happened all day. On our way back home, we had an array of tasty (sarcastic) snacks Tofu... etc. When we arrived we pulled in to the hotel where B and G where and they didn't believe it was us when we pulled in and everyone was smoking and there were so many people in the car, but then we emerged from the depths. We had a blast that night telling stories.
The next day, we drove home and on the way stopped and taught some English at some schools, which is always a blast. The kids are so fun to be around. I think I laugh as much and they do. We arrived home late thursday night and were welcomed home by a nice meal at Pizza Hut ( where they make you balloon animals). I don't think the servers at PH in the states are that talented, but I could be wrong.
That long story basically sums up the highlights of the past week. There are so many other things that I would love to share but it is simply too long. It was one of the hardest and uncomfortable things I have ever done, but worth every sec for the purpose.
On that note, there are several people here who may one day get to meet my father. Please be thinking about that and knowing that dreams can come true. Also, Our energy levels need to stay pumped up for the last couple of weeks. We still have a lot to do. I have some sort of cold going on and I am not feeling super great. There is so much going on! I miss everyone the most right now! Keeping my sight on Mcghee Tyson on Aug 11! Be there or be square!! Love you all! Would love you hear from you and there are a lot of new pictures on Facebook!
see you soon
Love,
Cayla and Rachel
Friday, July 15, 2011
A Perpeptual State of Emergency
I don’t know where to being, I feel like it has been days since I have talked to you all and so many things have happened that you need to know. Fair warning.. This could be really long.
Monday morning we went back to the police station and started teaching on Directions. That was an adventure in itself. We had so much fun and they were in good spirits and ready to learn. I felt like I could let me guard down a little bit because they respected us more and did not just see us as American Girls. We joked around and actually had them walking around on a little kids playgroud practicing, which looked rather funny in there official uniforms. After we came back home we were spending the day with I and L and there family. We took a walk to the nursing school that is behind their house. We talked a long time and they said that we could come back in a week or so and actually visit in the classrooms to see how they do things. I think could be a really cool opportunity. That night A good friend of theirs came over, who is also a nurse, and she had some way cools stories about all the work she had done. We really enjoyed our time with her. Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early to go on the River. It’s called the Mussi river and a college club had invited to take us out so they could practice their english with native speakers. We had a great time. The boats were so slow and the waves that the other boats were making compared to our boat looked like a tsunami and we were always wondering if we were going to sink.. haha but we did manage to make it. We took the boat ride to a famous Island in the city where we are. It is a big tourist attraction. When we first arrived, we saw some children digging through the trash who lived on this island and it broke my heart. I wanted to give them some food so bad, but it was not a good time and I didn’t want to be rude to the people who were feeding us lunch. When we got to the other end the children were there and sitting close by, so Rachel went up to them and started talking to them and kind of playing a little game and they loved it! We ended up playing with them for a good 45 minutes and just talking to them.. So adorable. They stole my heart. SO quickly. I just had happened to pack a few extra granola bars in my purse that morning so we split them between the six of them. We had a blast. They group that we were with were also so kind to them. They gave up some of their lunches and gave to the kids, It could have been really akward because people tend to be a little possessive of us (white people) when we are with them, but they all just loved on the kids as much as we did. It was so amazing. So we left them knowing that they had plenty to eat that day. The college students themselves were a blast! We sang songs to each other, one guy cornered me and sang me a love song by muse.. and it was all together a great time. We sang Christmas songs and things like that. Rachel threw her cucumber on the ground at lunch and the chicken literally almost pecked our feet to death trying to eat it. Scary moment. The river trip was mostly an all day trip. By the time that we got home , The K family was over and took us out to dinner, mostly because they love us so much ( ha ha ). They have three boys who are some fun! We have a great time with them. We got back late, so mostly we just said good bye and went to our room. Wednesday morning we got up, packed and headed out to another city that was about 7 hours away. This is where the realy good stories begin.. We drove around the city for about an hour picking another lady up, then we went back to the taxi service and got another driver who could take us to the city. He was not as nice as the first driver. As soon as he got in he turned the air practically all the way off, turned the emergency flashers on ( so we joked and said that we lived in a perpetual state of emergency) , and all the music off.( I was sitting in the front seat) Then he plugged his phone up to the charger thing and this one song started playing over and over and over. I thought seriously, if I have to listen to the same song for 7 hours that will not be okay. Well, what I didn’t know was that the music would be the least of my problems.. About three hours in to the trip, Rachel asked G , What city are we in.. and she said that we were in the same city that we started out in... Crazy, but then the driver started burping.. like not just one time. They were huge belches like almost on a time schedule. Every couple of minutes he would do it. AND THEN.. he would sit there and smack his lips like it tasted so good. It was so nasty. He did that the whole rest of the time. Then I started getting hot so I turned the air conditioner up and he would turn it back down and I turned it back up, and then he turned it back down. The last time he looked and we and spoke some harsh Indonesian words at me, and I assumed he was saying not to do that. Well, Then G text me from the back and told me that He said we wouldn’t have enough gas to make it there if we turned the air up. Good grief. It was so hot. I was like well I mean, we could always hook him up the engine, because he seemed to have plenty of gas in him. So on top of all this, about half way there he begins to start driving really fast on really curvy roads and doing crazy things. So G asks him if he is tired and he obviously says, No I just have leg cramps. So She said why don’t you pull over and take a shower so that you can wake up and stretch and he says no.. Well then he like starts slumping over the wheel. G keeps talking to him, but then he gets irritated that we are talking to him, so he tells her to stop because he needs to concentrate. So meanwhile, between the burps, the falling asleep, and the same music playing over and over.. It was nothing but completely interesting. G told us to click it or Ticket so we did THEN.. The Indonesians in the Back actually buckled up... which tells you that it truly was bad haha. So we finally made it there at like 6 30 or 7 after leaving at 1030 am. We have such a great time with the Hosts! Everyone came over even the NPs. WE sang and then stayed up until 2 am just talking. It was a blast and good time of Encouragement I think for them as well. The next day we went out to eat with a girl who wanted to meet Americans, and then we went to their English center and spent like five hours. We played jungle Uno, which I will teach you all about when I get home, blast! Then we went back to the house and ate dinner. While we were eating, one of the guys we were visiting said “ I am going to have a visitor” and we were just like okay.. that’s fine. We didn’t really think anything about it. Then He gets there and we are all like Whoa.. seriously. He was the best looking Asian I have ever seen. SO we giggled for a long time about him and then went upstairs. Well somehow through a series of events He found out that I was the one who thought he was cute, but really it was all of us. So The guy told him that we were going to be going to the zoo the next morning. So we joke about it, that he will show up at the zoo the next morning, but I never actually thought that he would show up. He did. !!!and We apparently had this little date and the zoo, He was so sweet. I felt so bad that it all played out that way, because i just wanted to be his friend, but I don’t think he thought that. Regardless, he ended up coming to lunch with us and back to the house and waited there until our driver picked us up to take us back to our city. Who knew. He told me he would always be waiting for me in that city. Talk about heart wrenching. I didn’t even like the guy and my heart felt bad, I can only imagine two people who are really in love and they have to say goodbye. oh my, I got so caught up in the date that I forgot to tell you about the zoo, They had the only Sumatran tigers born in captivity on the whole island . They will still babies and only like 5 months old! SO cute, and those birds that we fed at the other zoo with our hands, They had them in cages like 10 feet away from us because they are so dangerous, and we had fed them with our hands.. pretty funny. They also, let us hold some bunnies and this other thing. I can’t remember what is was called, but it was about 100 pounds. It looked kinda like the ROUS from the Princess Bride. It was cute ( Ill post pics on FB). It was a great trip to the zoo and it was a lot nicer than the one that we went to before. After the trip, it was time to come back home. The ride back home was a lot less entertaining, but still had some burping involved. Every time he made a gross sound like smacking his lips I would do it too and mimic him out loud. We almost combusted into laughter several times, but managed to hold it together!
It is good to be back in town where we are a little more familiar with things, but It was such a fantastic trip. We met some really incredible people ( cough Alex Cough) haha. They were so kind to us.
Today is Saturday and tonight we are going to be going to karaoke. It should be fun, We will potentially have some really great opportunities! So please think about us :)
I hope you enjoyed this.. I left out so many funny things, but there was just too much to talk about.. Just ask me when I get back to TN :)
See you soon
Love,
Cayla
Monday morning we went back to the police station and started teaching on Directions. That was an adventure in itself. We had so much fun and they were in good spirits and ready to learn. I felt like I could let me guard down a little bit because they respected us more and did not just see us as American Girls. We joked around and actually had them walking around on a little kids playgroud practicing, which looked rather funny in there official uniforms. After we came back home we were spending the day with I and L and there family. We took a walk to the nursing school that is behind their house. We talked a long time and they said that we could come back in a week or so and actually visit in the classrooms to see how they do things. I think could be a really cool opportunity. That night A good friend of theirs came over, who is also a nurse, and she had some way cools stories about all the work she had done. We really enjoyed our time with her. Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early to go on the River. It’s called the Mussi river and a college club had invited to take us out so they could practice their english with native speakers. We had a great time. The boats were so slow and the waves that the other boats were making compared to our boat looked like a tsunami and we were always wondering if we were going to sink.. haha but we did manage to make it. We took the boat ride to a famous Island in the city where we are. It is a big tourist attraction. When we first arrived, we saw some children digging through the trash who lived on this island and it broke my heart. I wanted to give them some food so bad, but it was not a good time and I didn’t want to be rude to the people who were feeding us lunch. When we got to the other end the children were there and sitting close by, so Rachel went up to them and started talking to them and kind of playing a little game and they loved it! We ended up playing with them for a good 45 minutes and just talking to them.. So adorable. They stole my heart. SO quickly. I just had happened to pack a few extra granola bars in my purse that morning so we split them between the six of them. We had a blast. They group that we were with were also so kind to them. They gave up some of their lunches and gave to the kids, It could have been really akward because people tend to be a little possessive of us (white people) when we are with them, but they all just loved on the kids as much as we did. It was so amazing. So we left them knowing that they had plenty to eat that day. The college students themselves were a blast! We sang songs to each other, one guy cornered me and sang me a love song by muse.. and it was all together a great time. We sang Christmas songs and things like that. Rachel threw her cucumber on the ground at lunch and the chicken literally almost pecked our feet to death trying to eat it. Scary moment. The river trip was mostly an all day trip. By the time that we got home , The K family was over and took us out to dinner, mostly because they love us so much ( ha ha ). They have three boys who are some fun! We have a great time with them. We got back late, so mostly we just said good bye and went to our room. Wednesday morning we got up, packed and headed out to another city that was about 7 hours away. This is where the realy good stories begin.. We drove around the city for about an hour picking another lady up, then we went back to the taxi service and got another driver who could take us to the city. He was not as nice as the first driver. As soon as he got in he turned the air practically all the way off, turned the emergency flashers on ( so we joked and said that we lived in a perpetual state of emergency) , and all the music off.( I was sitting in the front seat) Then he plugged his phone up to the charger thing and this one song started playing over and over and over. I thought seriously, if I have to listen to the same song for 7 hours that will not be okay. Well, what I didn’t know was that the music would be the least of my problems.. About three hours in to the trip, Rachel asked G , What city are we in.. and she said that we were in the same city that we started out in... Crazy, but then the driver started burping.. like not just one time. They were huge belches like almost on a time schedule. Every couple of minutes he would do it. AND THEN.. he would sit there and smack his lips like it tasted so good. It was so nasty. He did that the whole rest of the time. Then I started getting hot so I turned the air conditioner up and he would turn it back down and I turned it back up, and then he turned it back down. The last time he looked and we and spoke some harsh Indonesian words at me, and I assumed he was saying not to do that. Well, Then G text me from the back and told me that He said we wouldn’t have enough gas to make it there if we turned the air up. Good grief. It was so hot. I was like well I mean, we could always hook him up the engine, because he seemed to have plenty of gas in him. So on top of all this, about half way there he begins to start driving really fast on really curvy roads and doing crazy things. So G asks him if he is tired and he obviously says, No I just have leg cramps. So She said why don’t you pull over and take a shower so that you can wake up and stretch and he says no.. Well then he like starts slumping over the wheel. G keeps talking to him, but then he gets irritated that we are talking to him, so he tells her to stop because he needs to concentrate. So meanwhile, between the burps, the falling asleep, and the same music playing over and over.. It was nothing but completely interesting. G told us to click it or Ticket so we did THEN.. The Indonesians in the Back actually buckled up... which tells you that it truly was bad haha. So we finally made it there at like 6 30 or 7 after leaving at 1030 am. We have such a great time with the Hosts! Everyone came over even the NPs. WE sang and then stayed up until 2 am just talking. It was a blast and good time of Encouragement I think for them as well. The next day we went out to eat with a girl who wanted to meet Americans, and then we went to their English center and spent like five hours. We played jungle Uno, which I will teach you all about when I get home, blast! Then we went back to the house and ate dinner. While we were eating, one of the guys we were visiting said “ I am going to have a visitor” and we were just like okay.. that’s fine. We didn’t really think anything about it. Then He gets there and we are all like Whoa.. seriously. He was the best looking Asian I have ever seen. SO we giggled for a long time about him and then went upstairs. Well somehow through a series of events He found out that I was the one who thought he was cute, but really it was all of us. So The guy told him that we were going to be going to the zoo the next morning. So we joke about it, that he will show up at the zoo the next morning, but I never actually thought that he would show up. He did. !!!and We apparently had this little date and the zoo, He was so sweet. I felt so bad that it all played out that way, because i just wanted to be his friend, but I don’t think he thought that. Regardless, he ended up coming to lunch with us and back to the house and waited there until our driver picked us up to take us back to our city. Who knew. He told me he would always be waiting for me in that city. Talk about heart wrenching. I didn’t even like the guy and my heart felt bad, I can only imagine two people who are really in love and they have to say goodbye. oh my, I got so caught up in the date that I forgot to tell you about the zoo, They had the only Sumatran tigers born in captivity on the whole island . They will still babies and only like 5 months old! SO cute, and those birds that we fed at the other zoo with our hands, They had them in cages like 10 feet away from us because they are so dangerous, and we had fed them with our hands.. pretty funny. They also, let us hold some bunnies and this other thing. I can’t remember what is was called, but it was about 100 pounds. It looked kinda like the ROUS from the Princess Bride. It was cute ( Ill post pics on FB). It was a great trip to the zoo and it was a lot nicer than the one that we went to before. After the trip, it was time to come back home. The ride back home was a lot less entertaining, but still had some burping involved. Every time he made a gross sound like smacking his lips I would do it too and mimic him out loud. We almost combusted into laughter several times, but managed to hold it together!
It is good to be back in town where we are a little more familiar with things, but It was such a fantastic trip. We met some really incredible people ( cough Alex Cough) haha. They were so kind to us.
Today is Saturday and tonight we are going to be going to karaoke. It should be fun, We will potentially have some really great opportunities! So please think about us :)
I hope you enjoyed this.. I left out so many funny things, but there was just too much to talk about.. Just ask me when I get back to TN :)
See you soon
Love,
Cayla
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Carseats, motorcycles, and compassion..
Hey! I hope everyone is doing okay! I am sorry that I have not posted in a few days, but there really hasn't been a whole lot and we have been kinda busy.. so here goes! Thursday we went to the movies to see a movie called Beastly, It was so amazing. It is based on the story of Beauty and the Beast. I was really the only one who liked it but regardless My heart fluttered through the whole thing. Thursday night we stayed up really late in the morning so Friday we slept in and then spent the rest of the day at the Rukko. Friday nights are big time , because a lot of people come and we just talk and play games. I remembered a lot of people from the week before and we had good conversations and played a lot of games. Saturday morning we woke up early and picked up another family and all took a trip to Pet Street- Pasar Burang ( sp?). We fell in love with a new animal called a Slow Loris (Cus Cus ). We are still working on a plan to bring one home with us while we are here. It is always a little sad when we go downtown because you see a lot more people who are beggers, crippled, or MR. It is so sad because we really don't do a lot to help them, because the city really wants to discourage it so it does not become a huge problem. There are MAfia kids and they come to you asking for food or money, but if you actually give it to them they do not get to keep it. It goes to the men who own them. It breaks my heart. I just want to take them all and keep them safe and feed them. It is truly a life that no child should have to know. Also, It is a little difficult because American or white people tend to stand out more, so you have to watch your surroundings very carefully and be on guard. I feel like It's really hard to show the Love that we have there because you can't be too friendly, but you don't want to seem mean either. Somehow Our Father can make it connect. I have seen some sights here that I just completely break my heart in 5 million pieces. Also, a lot of smells that I could have probably lived my whole life without knowing they existed. Anyways, Sorry that was a little bit of the rant.. moving on. After Pet street, we went back to the Rukko. I spent my afternoon talking to them and just making new relationships, while Rachel went with one of our friends to find a Tailor to make her this traditional Outfit. We came home and napped because we were so tired! Last night, Several people came over to our house for a movie night! You will Never ever guess what we watched. Andy Griffith. They loved it so much, once they figured out the accents. We watched three episodes. One of the ugys that I had been talking to at the Rukko came over and brought me my favorite food here.. I think he might have a crush.. haha SO sweet. This morning we went to a fellowship and then I met up with a friend and she took me around the city.. We actually went and Watched Beastly again! It was still just as good. Then the real adventure began. She took me around the city on her motorcycle. It was the wildest thing I have ever done. I thought it was insanity driving in a car... and then I got on a motorcycle. It was so much fun! I was a little nervous at first, but then I just embraced it. I figured they do this here all the time and I have only seen like two wrecks, so we will probably be okay. Sure enough we were. At one point, one of my knees were touching on side of a bus and the other knee was against a car.. while we drove..... over a bridge.. CRAZY!. I also noted to many babys just in their monther's arms and squished in between their parents asleep. I guess there are no carseat laws.. Picture to come. I would get back on a motorcycle in 2 seconds! It was a blast!! While we were out we went to a temple. It was kinda a mix of a Buddhists and Chinese tradition temple. They were burning incense and inside were little stations with the gods placed on them and the people came up and burned incense up to the god and asked for whatever they needed or wanted. They had numbers on them because there were so many the people get confused about which one to go to and in what order. I had a little bit of time to Share, but it was small things. I talked to my Father a lot while I was in there and just asked him to help me remember what He wanted me to say. Me and The girl hosting me talked about it for a while afterwards. I really wanted to just shout and tell her it was futile and the real good news, but in time her heart will be ready to meet him.
Please be thinking about Rachel, she has not been feeling well for the past couple of days. Today she started taking an Antibiotic so hopefully tomorrow she will be feeling a lot better. We have a really busy week ahead of us, and we need His strength.
Side note- taking some big doses of humility and learning how selfish I truly am and how evil my heart is. Please be continuing to think about that. I would listen intently to "the helper" and respond with obedience. Continuing to ask for my heart to be broken for the people here.- Compassion
I think that pretty much sums everything up. Tomorrow we go back to teach the policemen directions.. interesting times. I miss you all ! :) Love you!
Cayla
Please be thinking about Rachel, she has not been feeling well for the past couple of days. Today she started taking an Antibiotic so hopefully tomorrow she will be feeling a lot better. We have a really busy week ahead of us, and we need His strength.
Side note- taking some big doses of humility and learning how selfish I truly am and how evil my heart is. Please be continuing to think about that. I would listen intently to "the helper" and respond with obedience. Continuing to ask for my heart to be broken for the people here.- Compassion
I think that pretty much sums everything up. Tomorrow we go back to teach the policemen directions.. interesting times. I miss you all ! :) Love you!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Yesterday we went to the police station and helped teach a lesson of English to about 50 policeMEN. So when we got there, we were four white women being stared at by 50 men. They asked multiple times if we were married. It was a little intimidating. But they worked hard with their pronunciation and it never hurts to make friends with the police. Afterwards, we ran out to the market with the workers. Wow. We could smell the durian from far away along with several other of the worst smells we have ever smelt. . We both found a couple of bargains.
Today was a lot of fun! Funny moments and memories for life were made. We started out the day going to the zoo ( Aka Torture Museum). The first animal we met was this bird. It was huge! We learned that it could kill you in one kick! We probably got a little too close.. but who really knows what too close is when there aren't really any fences more like baby gates. Next we went to the Crocodile. Poor thing. It was huge, It was probably 15 feet long atleast. Everytime we went to the animal cages or fences or baby gates the so called zoo keepers would come over and aggravate the animals just for us. It was awful. They kept poking the croc with a stick and it would snap. It was soo loud and powerful. We were all hoping that the croc would bite the man or something just because they were so mean to it. We fed it some peanuts and moved on. The next cage was the orangutang. It was really funny. It would stick its arm out to us and wanted us to give it peanuts, but not just one. So We gave him the whole bag and he dumped all the peanuts out and then ripped the bag open and put it on his head like a hat. So hilarious. He has spunk. Then he just wanted us to give him more peanuts. Then we saw some more monkeys and fed them peanuts. All the Indonesian people were having a better time looking at all the white people than the animals. It was like a two for one kind of deal for them. Then we moved on to the bears. They were a little smaller than the bears that we have at the Knoxville zoo, but still bears. They were kinda upset all except one, and I actually went right up to it and fed it some peanuts right out of my hand. (Apparently at this place they assume that all animals eat peanuts. ). How cool is that? I feed a bear out of my hand! SO COOL!. The other animals that were there were Hamsters, bunnies, pigeons, a tiger cat, bald eagles ( which were in the same cage as the vultures) Monkeys, Alligators, and chickens ( We think that they chickens are just raised to feed the other animals). All in all it was such a crazy time there. We felt bad for the animals but felt better knowing that we had fed them a whole lot of peanuts by the time we left. Next, We went to the mall and spent some time getting some groceries with everyone and eating lunch. Rachel and I along with G and J always have fun playing in the seafood/ meat department (AKA the petting zoo)with the crab and eels. We always pick the Crabs up and dangle them in the air just because we think it is fun. It is kinda like there own little petting zoo in the market, except they have more of a variety of animals and are probably treated better than the ones at the zoo.
The parking spots here are very tight and so people often volunteer themselves to help drivers in backing out into the road. Today we had a man help us out of our parking spot who directed us in a strange manner. Video of us reenactment to follow. He was not looking behind our car at all. He just basically stuck his head in our window with his arms crossed across his chest, a cigarette in one hand and waving at nothing in particular ( It was probably the best part of our day, but you just kind of had to be there ). We came back home and ordered cheese pizza with pepperoni- turns out there is no such thing as straight up pepperoni- but when the six pizzas arrived, we had thousand-island-and-potato-salad pizza. Not so great. Thankfully G had made spaghetti as a backup plan. Seems this sort of mix-up happens often.
I ( Cayla) Finally got RacheI back from the first Roach incident. Tonight, the cat ( bruce) chased a live roach all the way under her dress. I just ran away silently and didn't tell her until she felt it crawling on her.. ( Another one of the best moment of the day). The boys concocted this tarzan looking swing out of hammocks and tied them to the tallest banister and we took pictures and swung and climbed up that for a long time! It has been a great day and we are looking forward to working in the library tomorrow. Two of the tcks are headed back to America tomorrow and we would ask you to keep them in your thoughts so they will make it back safely!
Miss you!
Cayla and Rachel.
Today was a lot of fun! Funny moments and memories for life were made. We started out the day going to the zoo ( Aka Torture Museum). The first animal we met was this bird. It was huge! We learned that it could kill you in one kick! We probably got a little too close.. but who really knows what too close is when there aren't really any fences more like baby gates. Next we went to the Crocodile. Poor thing. It was huge, It was probably 15 feet long atleast. Everytime we went to the animal cages or fences or baby gates the so called zoo keepers would come over and aggravate the animals just for us. It was awful. They kept poking the croc with a stick and it would snap. It was soo loud and powerful. We were all hoping that the croc would bite the man or something just because they were so mean to it. We fed it some peanuts and moved on. The next cage was the orangutang. It was really funny. It would stick its arm out to us and wanted us to give it peanuts, but not just one. So We gave him the whole bag and he dumped all the peanuts out and then ripped the bag open and put it on his head like a hat. So hilarious. He has spunk. Then he just wanted us to give him more peanuts. Then we saw some more monkeys and fed them peanuts. All the Indonesian people were having a better time looking at all the white people than the animals. It was like a two for one kind of deal for them. Then we moved on to the bears. They were a little smaller than the bears that we have at the Knoxville zoo, but still bears. They were kinda upset all except one, and I actually went right up to it and fed it some peanuts right out of my hand. (Apparently at this place they assume that all animals eat peanuts. ). How cool is that? I feed a bear out of my hand! SO COOL!. The other animals that were there were Hamsters, bunnies, pigeons, a tiger cat, bald eagles ( which were in the same cage as the vultures) Monkeys, Alligators, and chickens ( We think that they chickens are just raised to feed the other animals). All in all it was such a crazy time there. We felt bad for the animals but felt better knowing that we had fed them a whole lot of peanuts by the time we left. Next, We went to the mall and spent some time getting some groceries with everyone and eating lunch. Rachel and I along with G and J always have fun playing in the seafood/ meat department (AKA the petting zoo)with the crab and eels. We always pick the Crabs up and dangle them in the air just because we think it is fun. It is kinda like there own little petting zoo in the market, except they have more of a variety of animals and are probably treated better than the ones at the zoo.
The parking spots here are very tight and so people often volunteer themselves to help drivers in backing out into the road. Today we had a man help us out of our parking spot who directed us in a strange manner. Video of us reenactment to follow. He was not looking behind our car at all. He just basically stuck his head in our window with his arms crossed across his chest, a cigarette in one hand and waving at nothing in particular ( It was probably the best part of our day, but you just kind of had to be there ). We came back home and ordered cheese pizza with pepperoni- turns out there is no such thing as straight up pepperoni- but when the six pizzas arrived, we had thousand-island-and-potato-salad pizza. Not so great. Thankfully G had made spaghetti as a backup plan. Seems this sort of mix-up happens often.
I ( Cayla) Finally got RacheI back from the first Roach incident. Tonight, the cat ( bruce) chased a live roach all the way under her dress. I just ran away silently and didn't tell her until she felt it crawling on her.. ( Another one of the best moment of the day). The boys concocted this tarzan looking swing out of hammocks and tied them to the tallest banister and we took pictures and swung and climbed up that for a long time! It has been a great day and we are looking forward to working in the library tomorrow. Two of the tcks are headed back to America tomorrow and we would ask you to keep them in your thoughts so they will make it back safely!
Miss you!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Festivities!
The past two days have been full of cooking!!!!!! Yesterday we spent the day with I and L and we went to the mall. We ate some interesting food. Rachel got this stuff called gado gado. It was tons of vegetables filled with this really sweet peanut sauce that was kinda like peanut butter. She really did not like it, so instead she bought something else. I had rice and beef that was ssooooooo sweet. I ate it though. Also, this corn,carrot, and celery. It was interesting. Then, we went to the grocery store and bought all of the things that we needed to cook our fourth of july feast! By the time we got home it was already 5 pm and we still hadn't started cooking. We spent the rest of the night cooking (everything from scratch) Baked beans, Mashed potatoes, Hamburgers, potato chips. I made peach and Apple cobbler which were a pretty big hit I might add. We came home late and then had some fun deep discussion with B and G. Today, We all gathered and spent the day "fellowshipping" and reading out of our favorite book. I ended up singing for everyone and playing piano. ( I thought it was interesting , but they really enjoyed it. We are know I am not Casey Roberts) After that, we ate and spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and talking about life. Mafia, Asa, and Fruit Game, are all quickly becoming our favorites.. We met a lady who is a doctor and she said that one day we could come to her clinic and watch and maybe help a little! Won't that be really cool? Tomorrow we are going to teach policemen how to speak basic English. In a couple of months, This city will be hosting the Sea Games which is like the olympics for Asia . Everyone is building new hotels and everyone is trying to get ready for them! SO that is what we will be doing for the next couple of mondays! I hope you all have a wonderful Fourth of July!! :) Love you all and have more updates soon :)
Friday, July 1, 2011
The Ending to Week 1
I would like to start out by saying that this post should be a little more organized since we are more rested!! We hope that you are all doing really well , and Rachel and I miss you very much!! We are just going to make a tag team effort to cover the last three days with you (Wed, Thurs, Fri). So here it goes!
Wednesday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to go to a English school. They were having their final exam projects ,and we were asked to come watch and "judge" their English skills. It was very interesting. We arrived at 7:15 in the morning and stayed until maybe 1:00pm. Who knew the word intermission does not exist in this place. It was very fun. Some of the students were required to give a demonstration speech where they cooked their favorite meal, and some performed a drama with a group of other kids. The kids were so so so sweet to us and their English was so good. They said that they had been practicing for months because they heard Bules were coming ( that is us). It was rather comical because their drama including music selection from the following artists; Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Selena Gomez, and High school musical. We got a good laugh out of that. After it was finished we had our photo session.WOWWOWOWOWOW. I don't think that we have ever smiled for that long or that much. Our faces were actually cramping . We think within maybe 45 minutes the camera clicked maybe 500 times. It was so hilarious.. and good for our self esteem. When we got back home we have already made their facebook profile picture. Then the school administration took us out to eat to a really nice place where we had lobster, fish, tofu, and some other things.. Turns out Tofu is really popular here. Ick! Even when we were eating the school teachers were sneaking their phones out and sneaking pictures of us.. so cute. Then we went to the mall and shopped. FUN! We met another Bule.. he was from England.! Cool accent. We also had our first experience with public transportation and crossing the street. We got into this hippie looking van ( SO SKETCH haha), and practiced our language skills with a girl that just happened to be sitting in front of us. Poor girl! She seemed to enjoy it though. When we stopped to get out, we weren't really sure how to open the door to get out, but no worries because the nice motorcycle people ( like 10 of them ) who followed us took care of that . They really just wanted to take us for a little spin, but we declined. Instead, we decided to play frogger while crossing the street. Enough said. When we got home it was time for all the other families who just arrived to come over for a party. It was so fun! We really enjoyed spending time with I and L and there kids, and this new family with their 3 boys. We played a lot of games ( video to follow). We stayed up really late and slept in the next morning. Thursday, all the kids came back over to our house and we just played games and hung out all day . That night we went to I and L's house for L birthday ! So fun! Thursday night we spent the night with our native friend. That was..... full of interesting moments and giggles (rachel and I ) that couldn't be contained. ( Sooo bad ).It was the first night we spent in a non western household. We woke up really early. ( cough rachels fault cough) We spent the morning cooking a traditional meal. We took water from a well,washed dishes outside in buckets of water, and introduced mashed potatoes to our friend (Paula Deen style of course) all in one day. By 12pm we were Exhausted after cooking for three-ish hours. We ate the lunch ( pictures to follow) and now we are spending a few moments relaxing before we go to spend the evening in the Ruko (library). It is a big night for them there. We chopped vegetables and ground them up with um.. I can't think of the word, but you use it in Chemistry and it is like a bowl and then a really heavy stone you crush stuff up with like from a long time ago. Way fun! We are having a great time, but we miss everyone a lot! We love you so much . We ask that you would be lifting up a family that just moved here .They are trying to find a house to stay in and it is proving to be very difficult! Talk to you soon! LOVE YOU ALL
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