MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We had a Christmas Eve party at our house last night.  It was great fun.  We got started late because a bunch of us had to work until 9pm.  I made eggnog from scratch (and bought a nice bottle of rum to go with it) and banana bread as well.  We got a lot of smoked salmon from my parents, so we opened the big box of salmon from my mom, and had that with cream cheese and ritz crackers.  We also had a bunch of other snacks that our friends brought.  The salmon was incredible, and a few a our guests that had said they didn’t like salmon changed their minds after they tried some.  Billy bought a santa hat and some reindeer antlers, which got passed around throughout the night.  We had a Christmas playlist setup on my laptop, and had that running all night.  I think fun was had by all, and our last guests left at almost 6am!

Here are some of the photos:

Melanie and I (with antlers)

Billy and I with Mel and Srishti

Billy and Russell with Srishti and I trying to squeeze into the shot

Me with my boss, Adam

Me with Rosie and Nia

I hope everyone’s having a very Merry Christmas, and trying to stay warm and dry.

Feeling loved, but far from home…

It’s funny how sometimes living so far from home you’ll go through periods where you think about people, but aren’t really homesick, but other times you’ll be in a place or situation and just miss your loved ones so much.

Today I received two packages from my Dad.  I was at work, and one of my friends from the front desk walked into our teacher’s room with two packages for me, as I was busy making winter-y snowflakes to liven up the teachers’ room.  I should’ve been planning my lessons, but I was in early so I was having a little play time.  Billy’s parents also sent a couple of packages last week.  It’s nice to have something to look forward to opening at Christmas. 

We’re planning to have a little get together at our place on Christmas Eve.  There are so many other teachers here that don’t have any family in Indonesia, and we thought it’d be nice to get together and celebrate. I’m planning to make some Christmas goodies, and we’ll have a little potluck thing.  We’ll be getting started pretty late, as many of us have to work until 9pm on Christmas Eve.  But that’s okay, since we get a full week off for Christmas and New Year’s.

Last year at this time my Mom was on her way to Indonesia.  It was so nice having her here, and it’ll be different this year not having any family with us.  Billy’s parents did however tell us that they’re planning to visit in March or April.  It’ll be great to see them and show them around town.    I wish I could get my Dad and Step-Mom to visit, too. 

Onto something else… when I was in Bali with Billy, Lonnie and Eve a while back I dropped my camera.  It still works now, but the zoom is a bit messed up.  I’d been thinking about buying a new camera for a while, and this gives me an excuse I guess.  I don’t know when I’ll get around to buying it, but I want to get a nice one with a better zoom than mine had.  There are so many times when I’m out here that I just stop and realize how beautiful and warm the people are.  I’d really like to capture some of the images I see, and share them with you.

On Friday night I ended up staying up REALLY late with a couple of friends, Russell and Melanie.  We did some karaoke with Billy and our friend Srishti, went back to our house for a while, then headed up into the hills North of Bandung.  We missed the sunrise, but ended up hanging out in a field with an incredible view of the mountains and Bandung beneath them.  The morning sun was warm and bright, and we rolled up our pant legs to feel the warmth.  Birds were singing, cows were mooing, sheep were bleating, and children in their starched uniforms were walking to school.  I really think that was an experience that I won’t forget. There were so many shades of green in the fields and farms, it was almost overwhelming.

I remember thinking that my friend Angie would’ve been so excited, and would’ve probably snapped some amazing photos of the scenery.  I’m never out of Bandung that early in the day.  The light is so bright, and the colors so vivid.  You could even see some of the points in the mountains nearby that were steaming.  It’s easy to forget that we’re surrounded by mountains here, as they’re often out of view due to the pollution.  When you see them clearly in the mornings they can be quite awe inspiring.

I know I say this a lot when I post on my blog, but I’ll try to be better about updating this.  Sometimes it’s just hard to remember everything that’s worth writing down…

Back from Bali

We had a great time in Bali, and came back to Bandung yesterday.  I think Lonnie and Eve are just boarding their plane now to head back to Seattle.  We had a lot of fun with them while they were here.  I just wish I’d had time off work while they were in Bandung, so we could’ve checked out the city together.  Oh well.

We left Friday morning from the Bandung airport and had a short layover in Surabaya before heading on to Bali.  We decided to start with a few days in Ubud.  We got to Ubud and had lunch, then Eve and I relaxed in a little cafe while Billy and Lonnie went out exploring and found us a hotel.  The hotel was nice with lots of Balinese Hindu style.  It also had a great swimming pool, which Eve and I used a lot.  There were lots of birds, and it was just off Monkey Forest Road.

We went to the Sacred Monkey Forest one of the days, and the next day we did a walk through Ubud’s rice paddies.  We got a bit lost on our walk, but we had a great time exploring.

After three nights in Ubud, we struck out for a beach.  We’d looked at the Lonely Planet Guide Book a lot, and  Billy suggested we check out a nearby island, called Lembongan.  It sounded like a tropical paradise.  We had to take a boat from Bali.  It was a nice little boat, but it was kind of insect-like.  It had pontoons and three arms on either side that lead to the pontoons.  It gave the look of a big skiing bug.

On the boat trip we saw some little flying fish. That was pretty cool.  At first we thought they were little birds just skimming the surface of the water, then we saw them disappear into waves.  They were small, probably no more than 6 inches long, and they could fly for quite a distance, but never very high off the surface of the water.

We got to the island, and the boat let us off by a bunch of small fishing boats and seaweed farmers.  It wasn’t all that inviting.  We met some locals on the beach that insisted they new a better beach to stay at on the island, so we got on the backs of their motorcycles and they took us to Dream Beach.  It was a small beach, with a restaurant and just a few little beach bungalows made of woven bamboo with thatched roofs.  We ended up staying there for 3 nights and really liked it.  The water was cool and clear, and the waves were at times pretty  rough, but we had a lot of fun playing in them.

We rented a couple scooters while we were there so we could check out the rest of the island.  We did a snorkeling trip one of the days, and had an amazing time.  I think it was the nicest snorkeling I’ve experienced.  The water was so clear, and there were so many colorful fish and coral of different kinds.

Yesterday morning as we were about to leave Dream Beach we walked down to the beach for the last time, and saw a giant sea turtle on the beach.  There was a guy from the Nature Conservancy checking on it.  He took a photo of Eve and I with the turtle.

We took the boat away from Nusa Lembongan, back to Sanur on Bali.  We had breakfast and lunch there, then went to the airport.  Lonnie and Eve flew from Bali to Jakarta.  Billy and I flew from Bali back to Surabaya and Bandung again.  It was sad to say goodbye to Lonnie and Eve.  We had so much fun with them while they were here.

But it’s good to be home to cool, breezy Bandung.

Lonnie and Eve are here!

My step-brother, Lonnie, and his wife, Eve, arrived in Bandung yesterday. They landed in Jakarta on Sunday, and spent a couple days exploring the city before hopping a train to Bandung. They stayed in a hotel near our house last night. We picked them up last night after we finished work, and took them back to our house to hang out and talk about their plans for the rest of the time they’re in Indonesia.

I think they’ll be staying in our spare bedroom for a couple nights, then heading off to Batu Karas, the beach Billy and I love so much. When they come back from the beach we’re going to spend some time in Bali together.

Great time at the beach!

We returned from our beach trip yesterday. We had a fantastic time, and I didn’t break any bones this time. We went with a bunch of other teachers from our schools, and there were eight of us total. Billy did an excellent job of organizing the trip. Everything went smoothly, and a great time was had by all.

We left Bandung at 11:30 Friday night, and arrived at Batu Karas beach at around 5:30 in the morning. We were exhausted, but the beach was deserted, and felt like it was our private beach. We had some breakfast and checked in to our hotel early. We stayed at the Java Cove Beach Hotel again. We love that place, and the owners are incredibly nice.

The first day we did some swimming and drinking, and just relaxed. The second day I had surf lessons with my friends Gabrielle (from Australia), and Melanie (from Canada). None of us had ever surfed before, and it was cool having the support of our friends if we had any problems. It was hard getting the surfboard out to the waves, as there’s a strong current that just pushes you back to the beach. But, after we got through the whitewater (with the assistance of the instructors helping us), we had a lot of fun. I stood up several times with the instructors’ help, and a couple times all on my own. It was thrilling. Even though I’d been working out, I was really sore for a couple of days after the surfing lesson.

The next day, we went to nearby Pangandaran beach. It’s a much bigger beach, and although we like it, we prefer Batu Karas. Billy organized an Angkot (public mini-bus) to take us all there and back. We had some lunch and a couple drinks in Pangandaran, then the girls and boys split up. We girls hopped a little fishing boat over to Pasir Putih (white sand), a wildlife reserve, and the boys swam on the beach, and just hung out around town. We had an hour in Pasir Putih before the boat took us back to Pangandaran. We saw two different kinds of monkeys, and had a nice time walking along the beach collecting seashells and coral. The sun set as we were leaving Pasir Putih, and the driver of our boat pointed out the gigantic bats that were flying out over the water. They must’ve had a wing span of about 3 feet. Incredible.

We met back up with the boys, and headed to the Pangandaran fish market. There are probably a dozen restaurants with fresh seafood on ice. You choose which fish you want, tell them if you want it grilled or fried, what kind of sauce you want, and they weigh it and cook it all up for you. We had one really big grilled fish with a spicy sauce, 2 crabs, and a kilo of fried calamari between 6 of us, along with rice and water spinach. We were all stuffed, and I think it cost about $5 each for the feast. Nothing beats fresh seafood!

We got back home yesterday around noon.  We missed most of the holiday traffic, and stopped for a nice breakfast on the way home.  The whole trip was a great success, and I can’t wait to go back to the beach again.

Beach Trip Digital Scrapbook

I put together a digital scrapbook with some of the photos from our beach trip. I did this with Photobucket.com’s new ScrapBlog application.

Beach trip!

We’re going to the beach for a few days with a bunch of our friends.  We have a week holiday for the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.  Billy organized the beach trip, and there are 8 of us going.  We’re all really excited about it.

I decided I’m going to try surfing while we’re there.  It’s a nice little cove with gentle waves and soft sand, that’s supposed to be perfect for learning to surf.  I’ve been working out a lot over the past month, trying to prepare myself, and of course make sure I look good in my swimsuit.  ;o)

Don’t worry about me.  I won’t go on any “banana boat” rides this time around, and I’ve already warned our friends to avoid them.

I’m going to take my camera with me, so I can post some photos when we get back.

I survived my morning classes!

I’m no longer doing the early morning classes.  Woohoo!  My schedule now is teaching from 2:30 pm to 7:30 pm Monday-Friday.  I have a good mix of adult, teen and children’s classes, too.  It’s so nice to be back to a normal schedule again.

Yesterday our school had our annual Spelling Bee, so we had to “work” on Saturday.  It’s not normal work…  we basically just had to show up and be on the stage for a little while.  Billy was a judge, and I was a scorer.  Billy got to say “correct” or “incorrect” to the contestants.  It was kinda fun, and we didn’t have to be there until around noon, so it wasn’t bad.

After the Spelling Bee, I went to a salon with my friend Srishti.  I’ve been feeling bored with my hair lately, and needed a change.  Here’s the result of our salon day:

I’m still not a “morning person”

Over the past few weeks I’ve been going to another school in the mornings to teach English to 3rd and 4th graders.  Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I’ve been getting up at 5:45, leaving the house at 6:30, arriving at my school at 7:00, and taking a small school van to another school that’s about 1/2 hour from my school.  I get to the other school at 7:45, but don’t start teaching class until 8:15.  I teach 3rd grade English for an hour 25, then I have a short break before an hour 25 of grade 4 English.  Even though it’s early in the morning, the classes have been pretty fun.  It’s a National School, and all of the lessons (except Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia, I think) are taught in English.  There are little signs up all over the school campus saying “English only”.  Even on the playground the kids speak English.  It’s quite different from my usual school in that way.

Tuesdays and Thursdays I don’t start teaching until 4:00 pm.  It’s been a bit difficult to adapt to the staggered work schedule, and I feel tired a lot.  Fortunately this is just temporary until the other school finds a permanent English teacher.  I keep reminding myself that one of the reasons I wanted to be a teacher was for the variety.  And this has definitely added some variety to my schedule here.

This past weekend was 3 days for us.  Indonesian Independence day was on Sunday, so we got Monday off as a holiday.  I was really happy about this since Mondays are my early morning days.  Woohoo!  I don’t have to get up early again until Wednesday.

On Sunday we went to the Sheraton to swim with some of our friends.  The hotel is about a 10 minute walk from our house, and the pool is really nice.  It’s surrounded by palm trees, and has a little island in the middle of it with more palms.  It’s really relaxing, and the people that work there speak English.  It was a beautiful day.  I can’t believe that after living here for over a year, that’s the first time Billy and I have gone swimming there.

Sunday evening I got together with 3 of my girlfriends here, and we had dinner at a house that two of them share.  Our newest teacher, Mel, taught us how to crochet.  They had an acoustic guitar, and took turns playing songs.  We all sang along.  It made me realize how much I’d missed having girlfriends here.  Last year I only had one other ex-pat girlfriend, and she lives about 30 minutes away.  It’s nice having friends that are just a few minute walk from me.  They’re artsy people like me, and it’s fun having other people to create things with.

Anyway, that’s about all that’s new with me.  Hope everyone’s doing well.

Cheers!

Life’s good…

It’s been a while since my last post.  Sorry I haven’t written anything for so long.

I’m feeling really comfortable on my motorcycle now, and enjoying the freedom.  I’ve gotten pretty used to the unpredictability of other people on the road, and pedestrians that’ll randomly dart out in front of me.

We’ve been having a great time here, hanging out with other teachers.  We’ve had several new teachers join our schools in the last few months, and they’re all really cool people.  We’ve got a couple of Americans, an Australian, a Nepali-Englishwoman, and just yesterday I met a new teacher from Canada

Every weekend we get together with our friends and fellow teachers.  We have a lot of barbecues and potlucks at each others’ houses.  Most of us live in the same neighborhood, within walking distance, and it feels like we have a better sense of community now than we did last year.

I’ve done some gardening on our balcony over the past couple of weekends, too.  My jasmine plants are doing well, and I started some bell peppers from seeds I got out of a pepper I bought at the market.  It’s blooming like crazy now, and I’ve got 3 tiny peppers on it.  I also put up some string-lattice stuff on one end of our balcony, and I started some moonflowers and cardinal creeper flowers from seeds to climb it.  Last weekend I removed part of a makeshift flower bed that our landlady had made on our balcony.  In the remainder of the “flower bed” I took out a bunch of the plants, and put in new soil.  I’m starting cuttings in it now from my jasmine plants.  When they get rooted I’m going to share some of them with our neighbors and other teachers.

I’ll try to take some photos of the balcony to post later.

Hope everyone is doing well.