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.
Filed under Living in Bandung | Comment (1)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…
Filed under Living in Bandung | Comments (2)