First Christmas in Indonesia

It's 2 days after Christmas and I still don't feel like it's already happened! haha I guess that's what happens when you live in a place that feels like July year round! This Christmas was a lot different, but it was really great!! Christmas Eve, I attended a church service and then went back to Lisa & Danny's house and stayed there to ring in Christmas Day with them. We woke up, opened some gifts, had a really special, delicious breakfast(thanks to Lisa!) and enjoyed the day. Even though it's more of a Thanksgiving tradition, later that day I even got to play a game of football!! It was a blast!!
I know I've said this before, but the Pierce's have definitely become like family here and I am so grateful for the way they graciously open their home and include me in their family. Thank you guys for making Christmas so special!
The day before Christmas, I received a package from my sister and Christmas night I got to skype with her as I opened it. I know it's not cheap to send a package, so thank you, Katie, for sending that! It was so special to receive it and to be able to open it with you.

It was full of special treats from the States...it was fun to open!

Being in another country, it's funny how little things that are out of the ordinary become so special:
- During breakfast, we ate french toast casserole(with real maple syrup!!) and even had bacon...I savored every little bite...and almost licked the plate clean :)
- While opening a gift from the Pierce's I opened to see a box of pasta, and got really excited! To that Lisa laughed and explained they only used it as a box, but there's something else in there
- Opening up the package from my sister and getting really excited to open deodorant and vitamins...Imagine how excited I got when I saw the peppermint chocolates and christmas candles!! :)

This Christmas was so special, and not just because of the gifts, talking to family, or eating great food. It was special to take time to reflect on what Christmas is all about. The birth of Jesus that has changed the world for eternity and has impacted my life forever. As I have sang Christmas songs and reread the story of Jesus this season, I have been filled with thankfulness to Jesus, who came to Earth, lived and served those around Him, died for our sins and then overcame death. In a world filled with sadness, uncertainty, and darkness, I am very grateful to be able to celebrate the One that gives Hope.

Christmas Fun in Batu!

A few days before Christmas, my friend, Widya, invited me to go with her to her home in Batu(45 minutes from Malang). She invited me to come to the Christmas service her church was having. We left Thursday morning, spent the day at her family's house and then went to the service later that night. It was fun to experience the service at her church. They had dancing, singing and a sermon. I was all ready to see how much of the sermon I could understand. As the pastor spoke, I was feeling really discouraged because I only understood maybe 10% of what he said. I quickly realized he wasn't speaking in Indonesian...it was Javanese(another local language on the island of Java)! That made me so relieved to know that it wasn't because my Indonesian is horrible...although it would have been nice to understand the sermon :)

Widya with her little cousin...she is such a cutie!!

We went on a little walk around her grandfather's house. It was absolutely beautiful! And...Batu is cooler(temp. wise) than Malang. As they would say here...Enak!

At first she was really shy and afraid of me, but she warmed up a little...I think because I had a camera :)

At the service the kids sang during worship, too.

They were soooooo cute!!!

There were also two little girls who did a traditional dance in traditional dress. I wish it were a better picture! They were really good!

It was so fun to spend more time with Widya, meet her family and friends, and see where her home is! Thanks for inviting and including me, Widya! :)

Christmas Fun with Friends

It's almost Christmas and with the weather and surroundings here, it hard to remember it's December! I've really enjoyed celebrating the Christmas season here and have even been able to do some favorite traditions, like watching Elf, decorating Christmas cookies and listening to music. The best part has been being able to do some fun traditions with new friends here. Last week, Lisa and I invited my friends from my kos to Lisa and Danny's house for dinner and to decorate Christmas cookies, something that's very common here :). It was a blast!! I think the girls had more fun being entertained by Mary and Luke :), but it seemed like they had fun decorating too!

This was pretty typical the whole night...Mary or Luke in the middle of all the girls :) The entertainment for the night!

Mary and her biggest fan, Icha :)

The girls with all the goods for decorating...yum!

It was so funny watching Mary decorate the cookies...she liked using all the colors, at once :)

Abhe & Pungky with their masterpieces!

The crew in front of the Christmas tree...Merry Christmas from Indonesia!

New Food Friday--Putu

One of the more unique things about Indonesia is the way they sell food. Sometimes they sell food on something called "kaki limas," which comes from the fact someone(2 legs) is pushing a cart that has 3 legs(5 legs :)). They sell anything from Bakso to sate to something called putu. This week's new food is called "putu." It's a steamed ball of rice with brown sugar in the middle and with coconut sprinkled on the outside. It's delicious!!!

This is what they look like when they're cooking. They steam in little pipes on the cart.

And the finished product...so yummy!!

This new food is one of my new favorites! Definitely a good find :)

New Food Friday...

My new food for Friday isn’t exactly what I was thinking of trying this week, but I was at the grocery store here and every time, I pass by this new product and every time it makes me laugh. After the 10^th time passing by it, I decided to give them a try. Onion cookies…not exactly the first thing I would think of to combine, but ya never know. Heck, it managed to get manufactured, right?

Well, I tried it and it’s almost as bad as the name sounds. Looks like a cookie, tastes like an onion. Sad to say, I couldn’t even finish one cookie.

A Trip to the Pasar(Market)...

One thing I've wanted to explore more of are the markets in Malang. There's an abundance of outdoor markets that sell various things, some that are daily and also one that only happens on Sunday. One of the markets that people here go to all the time to buy what they need is "Pasar Besar." It's an indoor market where about 100 vendors sell everything from clothing to foods and spices to kitchen items. I went this past Saturday with a couple friends and am determined to go more often. Some things are a lot cheaper there than stores. It's also a great opportunity to practice language! :) Some of the things people say sometimes really make me laugh...I came away with a quote of the day from this trip. Almost daily, someone will comment on my height(it's just expected living in a country where the average height of a woman is 4'10''). But Saturday at the market I walked by 2 women sitting down and one of them just stared at me and said "Wah, besarrrrrrr!" which is translated to "Whoa, big!" Thanks...really know how to make a girl feel great! :)

These green beans were so cool looking! Not sure what they're called...

Sharon mastering her skills at bargaining :)

I started smelling something and then we turned the corner and saw all the meat. Never seen anything like it!

Not sure if you can tell, but this guy sells spices by whatever amount you want. It smelled soooooo good! A nice change after the meat section.

On the way home, it started pouring out(almost daily occurrence now during rainy season)...me sporting my poncho :)

A Saturday Morning Adventure!

One thing I've been making an effort to do since being in Indonesia is finding and writing down things that I love about here. That way when I get homesick, instead of focusing on what I miss about Boston, I can think about things that I love about Indonesia. I want to be able to love things about my new home, too. :) So far I have found some great things I love about Indonesia. There is so much to do in Malang, because it's a city, but sometimes I really miss being outside in the fresh air and open space. One thing I love is that 15 minutes outside the city are hills and farms. This morning I went on a joyride with my friend, Faith, out of Malang. We drove on a road toward one of the mountains and within 15 minutes were surrounded by farms and rice paddies.

Here are a couple views from along the way as we drove...it's too hazy to really see Malang, but it's down there!

As we kept driving, we even hit orange orchards!! The flowers blooming on the trees smelt amazing too!

Where we stopped before turning around...we could've kept going forever! A little pic of the mountains in the background.

Me at the top on my ride. "I get 70 miles to a gallon on this hog"...Dumb & Dumber anyone? :)

Thanksgiving Indonesia Style

My first big holiday in another country was a lot easier than I expected to be away from home and family and friends. There were so many things that made this year special and so many things I am thankful for. I wanted to list a few things I’m thankful for:
- For one thing…being in another country. I am constantly amazed that I am living in Indonesia. Pretty often, the realization of where I live will hit me and I can’t believe God has given me the opportunity to live here. I’ll be riding on my motorbike and all of a sudden think “I am in Indonesia…this is crazy!!”
- For my motorbike! I know, that’s not very deep, but it is one of my favorite things here. I love riding it!! J
- For my family and friends who have made it possible to be here.
- For the friendships I’ve made since being here.
- The place where I live...the kos really feels like home and it is a huge blessing that I feel so comfortable around the girls at my kos.
- For the Pierce’s(the family I moved here with from Boston). They have become like family to me. I’m so grateful for their friendship, the way they’ve opened their lives and home to me, and of course for their kids—they are the most precious kids and are pretty entertaining, too! J
- For the community here in Malang from the U.S. It has been a huge blessing to connect with people from the states. A group of families got together Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving. It made it so special to be able to be around families, give thanks, and have dinner together.
- For the teachers and staff at KPN. I would never have survived here without them! Haha They have pretty much done everything for us even before we got here. They set up our visas, helped us with setting up our life when we first moved here, told us all the necessary things we needed to do, and continue to help with anything that comes up here. They’ve also been our teachers for language and culture here.

On Friday, we got the opportunity to host a dinner for the teachers, staff and students at KPN to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was so fun to be able to share with them one of my favorite holidays and have them experience something from my culture after they have shared so much of their culture with me. It’s pretty fitting to celebrate Thanksgiving with the group of people I’m so thankful for here. We were able to find a turkey here and it was my first time ever cooking a turkey by myself! I’m happy to say I didn’t burn the turkey and it was a success! J There were about 40 people at the party and we only had one 13 pound turkey, but everyone did get to taste it! Haha All but 2 of the Indonesians had never tasted a turkey before, so it was fun to see them try it. They loved it!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but Lisa was able to get a couple shots of the layout on the table and everyone together. Thanks Lisa!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving...happy holidays from Indonesia!!

Trip to Surabaya

Well, I did it again...I slipped on posting on my blog. The past couple weeks have kind of gotten away from me! I got sick last week, which seems to be the new tradition every month. So needless to say, there wasn't anything exciting to blog about with that unless you want to see pictures of the outline my body made in my mattress from laying on it so much :)
This past weekend I went to Surabaya with the Pierce's. We want to start making regular trips up there, since we've moving there in July next year. We want to start making connections with people, get familiar with the city, and look at different areas of the city we will want to live in.
This was our first trip together up to Surabaya since moving here in July. It was great to go and spend some time in the city where we'll be living after this year. We stayed and visited with some friends who helped us find and look at some neighborhoods around their house. Since we were trying to schedule the day around the Pierce's kids and nap schedules, we didn't get a ton of time to drive around, but it was still a pretty productive trip. Considering I had no idea what Surabaya had to offer or what different neighborhoods looked like there, it was helpful to start forming some pictures of it.
Of course, halfway to Surabaya, I realized I forgot my camera back in Malang. However, I did manage to take one picture in our time there with my phone...

One of the highlights of the trip...fieldtrip to Starbucks! It was just a little taste of home and I actually started tearing up when I walked in hahaha

Surabaya is such a big, spread out city and it seems overwhelming when trying to picture living there and getting to know my way around there, but I know it will happen. I really enjoyed spending the weekend up there, getting to know some of the people we met there and forming some relationships. It was good to ask them and hear what they love most about the city and living there. I can't wait to go back again, and next time, I WILL remember my camera. :)

After the Rain...

We are definitely in rainy season...it rains almost everyday and when it does, it downpours. This can last anywhere from 20 minutes or go all day and night. I have definitely found myself in sticky situations wanting to wait out the rain, but needing to just go for it. I guess "sticky" isn't the right word...more like wet situations :) The poncho that I own means well, but has yet to do it's job as I ride on my motorbike. I try not to take it personally when a car passes by and completely drenches me with a puddle.
There are times when I love the rain, though, like when I can just stay in and read! My favorite part about the rainy season is the morning after it rains. The air the clearest I've ever seen it here! There are mountains that surround Malang, but I never really knew it or saw the mountains until rainy season. I went out this morning and took some pictures from my favorite place...the roof. 

As I was on the roof this morning, it reminded me of how events in life can be. We will go through seasons that are hard and in the moment, it's hard to see ahead or look past our current situation. Everytime I have a "rainy" day or hard season, usually I have difficulty seeing past it. But going through it seeking God and seeing how He works in the situation, I gain clarity. I gain clarity, not only about the situation or what God was doing in it, but clarity of God's character---on His faithfulness, comfort, healing, provision, sovereignty, etc.

This is Mt. Semeru, which I had never seen from Malang until a couple weeks ago!

New Foods Friday--Pecel

This isn't quite a new food to me anymore, but it is hands down my favorite dish here and I definitely eat it at least once a week. It's a campur(mixture) of veggies(bean sprouts, green beans, and other greens) that are steamed, topped with a spicy peanut sauce and served with tempeh, chips and of course...nasi(white rice)! Usually here it's a meal that's served for breakfast or lunch. So, I get a lot of strange looks when I want to eat it for dinner. I'm still trying different places to see which one makes it best and the best part is it's usually only 5,000 Rupiah(about 60 cents!).

Good thing my friend, Lisa, was with me today...I started eating and completely forgot to take a picture--it's just that delicious. I would've eaten it all before I remembered!

Sunday Market!

Every Sunday there's a huge market that's set up outside with vendors selling pretty much everything--food, clothing, shoes, toys, gifts, household items, etc. Last Sunday I went with my friend, Lia. The market opens around 5:30am and is open through the afternoon. We left for the market at 5:30am and I am so glad we did!! It was pretty quiet when we got there and easy to walk through, but as we were leaving at 7:30am, it was packed!! I had a lot of fun seeing what is there to buy, trying new foods there and getting to interact with the vendors. I even attempted to bargain on a pair of sunglasses I bought, just to see if I could do it(we've been learning how to bargain in class). When I asked the price the vendor said 20,000 RP(which is only $2.50). It was so cheap, but I still wanted to just try so I said, "Wah, mahal ya??(Expensive, ya?), to which Lia said, "ummm no actually that's pretty typical." haha well I guess my first attempt to bargain was a flop, but I'm sure I'll have more opportunities.

There are so many of these tents set up with different vendors at each one. It probably goes on for about 1/2 mile.

Smile Lia! We sat down and I tried her favorite breakfast...bubur ayam(chicken porridge)

Our first stop...fresh orange juice! We made friends with Yenny, the vendor, and her husband. They were so nice!

One of the many food vendors with all the food set out...it seemed like you could get anything there!

New Foods Friday!

Pecel? Bakso? What the heck is that?? I've tried a lot of new foods since being here that I had never heard of before coming to Indonesia. I thought it might be fun every Friday to post something new that I've tried and post pictures of it, too.I know that my time right now it's Saturday, but it's still Friday in America, so it still counts! I definitely already have some favorites(and ones that I wouldn't mind never trying again :)), but it'll be fun to try something new each week! My first new food that I'm posting is called Dragon Fruit(Buah Naga) and is definitely one of my new faves!

I almost felt bad cutting into it, because it's so cool looking!

Inside it's filled with little black seeds like a kiwi. It's not super sweet, but is really refreshing...which is great with all the hot weather we've had!

Meet some of the kosmates!

I have been really slacking in my blogging attempt. So sorry! I am new to this, so I’m still learning the ropes. I am making it a point to update this thing once a week, even if it’s just something small! I’ve realized(from what some of you have told me) it’s the daily life experiences you want to hear about, too. So, I’ll be updating more frequently…you can hold me accountable to that! J

I figured an appropriate place to start is where and who I live with. I made a post before about my kos and what it looks like, but there are no pictures of who I live with! I live with 10 other girls from all over Java. Most of them are still Mahasiswa(university students), but there are a couple that are already graduated. They are a fun group of gals!

Me with Abhe(left) and Lita(right)

Smile Abhe!

They came to visit me when I dogsat Bimo for my friends, Kalyn and Tony. Bimo had a rough night...hopefully we can visit him on a better day :) 

My favorite place we've gone together...a coffee place where you sit at low tables outside. They have yummy drinks for so cheap! 

These aren't pictures of all the girls, but it's what I had at hand. I will post more soon! They have shown me all around Malang, some great(and really cheap!) places to eat and hang out, and have taught me a lot about culture. They do, however, remind me all the time how long I have before I will be fluent in language. When we hang out in a group, I just listen to them talk to each other in amazement. They talk so fast!! Maybe one day, I’ll get there…maybe. J

Selamat Liburan!

Last week, Monday-Wednesday, I had off from Language school, because it is the biggest holiday of the year in Indonesia. Last Tuesday marked the end of Ramadan, also known as Idul Fitri. The people of Indonesia who are Muslim have been observing Ramadan for the past 30 days. It is the month of fasting for them, where they fast during the day and break fast together at night. Idul Fitri occurs at the beginning of the next month(when the next moon is sighted) and the Muslims will meet together early in the morning for a time of communal worship/prayer, followed by celebration with friends and family.
During the week of Idul Fitri everything shuts down and people go home to where they are from to celebrate with family and friends. My kos became a ghost town as the girls went home to their families...I am very happy to have them back again! :)
The morning of Idul Fitri, Lisa and I wanted to experience what the prayer time was like. We decided to drive around on our motorbikes and found a mosque nearby. We left around 5:30 am and prayer began around 6.

Outside the mosque that we drove by. There were so many people that came to worship, they filled the street, too.

Trek to Bromo!

Last weekend, I got to experience the Bromo sunrise. My friend, Sharon, and her friends visiting from Korea were going to Bromo to watch the sunrise and invited me to come along. What a treat to be able to experience this! We left at 1:30 am on Saturday night/Sunday morning and drove the 3 hours to the lookout point. We went back and forth watching the sun rise to the east of Bromo and taking in the view of volcanoes Bromo & Semeru. It was gorgeous! It was amazing to see how many mountains/volcanoes are surrounding Malang from the view we had.

Bromo & Semeru from the lookout point right before the sunrise

After the sun rose, we got back in the car and made our way down the lookout point on the very winding, narrow road. We drove through the valley, which looked like a desert, covered in ash from the eruption that occurred back in January. We drove to the base of Mt. Bromo and got to climb the stairs up to the top of Bromo to look down into it. This is something they have just recently opened back up after the eruption and is accessible to the public. There were so many people going up and down Bromo! Some were sightseers and some were regulars who make offerings into Bromo. The offerings is a Hindu tradition that is made regulary and there are many Indonesians who take part due to the Hindu population nearby Bromo. 

Everyone lined the brim of the volcano…it made me so nervous to watch kids run along and skirt in between all the people, with nothing protecting them from falling down either side of the volcano! Below are some pictures from the base and from the top of Bromo.

Looking down from the top of Bromo...there are steps to climb up.

This is a pic that Faith took...it made me crack up when I saw it!
Surrounded by Indonesians...do I stick out of the crowd much??

Looking down into the caldera. Before the eruption in January, there was no gaping hole. It was completely covered and only had cracks with steam coming up. Now it is a big hole that puffs every 10 minutes. It kind of reminds me of something from Star Wars :)

On the way back to Malang, the man driving took us to a waterfall. The surrounding land is so mountainous and the Tengger people who live there use every single piece of land they can for agriculture. This was a picture of the way they farm the land. I have never seen anything like it before!

Most of the crew that went...Faith is m.i.a.

The waterfall we hiked to see on the way back...so pretty!

It amazes me how different the land is here in each place you go. In 10 hours, we went from the city in Malang, to the mountainous and desert-like terrain of Bromo, to green, hilly farmland, to the lush forest where the waterfall was.