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