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