Cruising the Kampung

Wanting to get out for a bit this afternoon, we, as a whole family, went out walking on some new roads through our kampung...or neighborhood.  Brooklyn spotted these fungi and asked what they were.  I told her they are basically mushrooms, with a twist.

Growing on the same log as the yellow fungi above were these bizarre clam shaped fungi.  Brooklyn asked if we could eat them and I told her probably not.  I wouldn't want to find out.

While Becca and I talked with a local shop owner (most anyone will talk with us) this man came walking down the street with nearby Merbabu Volcano seen in the background.  I have seen him numerous times in our kampung hauling numerous things; bamboo, wood, hay, etc.  You can tell by his thin body that his job is as hard as it looks.

Berjalan-jalan

Went for an afternoon walk with Madison today to get rid of a little cabin fever.  Always fascinating to see new things on familiar routes.  The above picture isn't in great focus, but shows a common position around here.  I cannot squat like that, my knees don't bend that far.  I guess with practice they would, but I'm fine with always wondering.

I noticed what I thought was a dead leaf upon a larger leaf, and after further looking into it, the "leaf" was a tree frog.  Walking through the nearby woods always yields something to see if you keep your eyes open for it.

Madison thought this dragonfly was "pretty!"  So, I had to get a picture of it.  This one was a small one.  I have seen them as big as my hand here, as well as the beetles.  I have not had a chance to get a picture of either of them yet.  Wait till I can find a good backdrop to a wood spider...they're bigger than my hand!

It melts a dad's heart when his daughters get along and look out for each other.  Brooklyn was waiting and watching with Madison on the front porch before Madison's ride arrived to take her to her playgroup yesterday.

Local Plant Life

Brooklyn declared to me this morning that these are her favorite flowers as we walked to school.  I would agree with her.  They are pretty cool, just converted dirt, water and sunlight...really?!  Evolution...whatever!  They are called heliconias.

There are many aquatic flowers here as well.  It is all we can do sometimes to keep Madison or Paige from picking these...and getting all wet in the process.

Idul Fitri 2010, Central Java Indonesia

This past Thursday evening 40 days of fasting was coming to and end and a 3 day party was getting ready to start.  Around 10pm all the surrounding neighborhoods paraded down our street with homemade drums, large paper mache "floats," fireworks, and lanterns.  We sat on our bench on the front porch and watched hundreds of people walk by our house as they celebrated the ending of Ramadan.  The night continued to be filled with fireworks and the HUGE noise from bamboo cannon.  Imagine about ten 12ga. shotguns going off at once, only a few feet from your front door, and you can begin to hear what the bamboo cannon sounded like.  I'm surprised our windows didn't blow out!  You could actually see the concussion wave of the explosions.  They also ignited many homemade bombs, built of palm reeds and gunpowder.  They will get your attention when they go off!!!

Friday we had a few scheduled places to be.  Per tradition, most Indonesians open their home and visit all of their family and friends. Some stay for only a few minutes and then leave; others stay for hours.  We were invited by both of our helpers to eat a whole meal with them.  In the above picture, the young woman in the black shirt and pants is one of our helpers.  Her name is Ibu Kusni. (Ibu is essentially the word Mrs. but always used to address a woman)  She and her husband live with her parents.  After sitting in their front room eating snacks with her dad, we were soon invited into their "living room" to partake of a huge spread of food laid out on the floor.  Tradition here has the guests eat as much as they can while the hosts actually leave the room.  We sat around on the ground wondering how to eat this elaborate lunch while our hosts just lurked around the corner.  It was beyond humbling to be shown such respect and honor, but it wasn't the last time we would feel that way over the course of the weekend.

After eating at helper #1's house, we were invited to helper #2's house for dinner, Ibu Tutik.  Once again, they pulled out all the stops and had a large assortment of food.  Although we had a table to sit around at this house, the floor was still dirt.  The tradition of serving a large feast and then disappearing as your guests eat also proved true at this house.  Again, we were humbled as our hosts were giving us the best they could afford.

Saturday evening we were invited to one more home to eat.  This family has been incredibly gracious to us.  Pak Jono (pak is essentially the word Mr. but always used to address men) has already been priceless in helping me with my language learning.  A few times a week I will go over to his house and he always has a patient and encouraging ear as I struggle to communicate the simplest things.  He and his wife have showered us with love and gifts already on numerous occasions.  Yet again as we ate our meal, we were humbled to realize the type of food we were eating, and the honor of being invited into their home to share it.

We have never experienced any holiday like this one.  It would be comparable to an American Thanksgiving and Christmas all wrapped up into one.  But even that description fails to portray accurately what this weekend has been like.  Tomorrow, we will both begin school again; I will start unit 2 and Rebecca unit 1.  We are excited to start school again and we are already blown away by how fast our time is going by here.

A Few Scenes from around the Neighborhood

A few times already people playing instruments have graced our property.  They play a little jingle and then we give them a little "tip."  Only one string on this man's guitar was even wound tight enough to vibrate, so it was the same note over and over.  Kind of comical really.

We had a lot of walking to do yesterday as we visited a few families celebrating Idul Fitri.  (more on that in a later post)  One of the things we love about our area are the numerous "Jalan Tikus," or mouse roads.  We would think of them more as shortcuts or little trails.  Regardless, they are a good way to see people and things that you wouldn't otherwise if we just walked on the roads.

These children live on one of the Jalan Tikus that we often frequent.  They are oftentimes just playing outside all by themselves, goofing off like most kids their age.

While visiting with our next door neighbors yesterday afternoon, one of the family members asked me to take a picture of grandpa so all future generations could know who he was/is.  They want me to buy a big frame and give it to them with his picture already in it to hang on their wall.  The respect and honor for family in this culture is vastly different than ours.  Right next door to us, children from the age of 2 on up to the 78 year old grandpa pictured above all live under the same roof.

When you're in the mood for the all American meal while living in Indonesia, why not try Aroma Brand Pork Wienerly.  Yes, it is as good as it sounds, in fact, even better.  Coupled with some freshly made hot dog buns delivered straight to your door (really) it made for a memorable meal.  The best part is...I even learned a new English word...Wienerly!  Go ahead, say it 5 times fast.  Wienerly, Wienerly, Wienerly, Wienerly, Wienerly!  Ah, now you feel better right?!  And you thought we were just learning the Indonesian language.  This is what we call a "bonus" word.  Next time you're at Sonic Drive In, don't ask for a Chili Cheese Coney, ask them instead for a delicious Chili Cheese Wienerly.  Selamat Makan!

Neighborhood Tidbits

This weekend Brooklyn has had a friend at the house so we went for a walk for ice cream this afternoon.  As we walked to the store, we came across a man that has a pet Buffalo Snake.  At least that is what he called it.  We had a good time letting him crawl around and the girls had a blast holding him.

Of course, we were causing a lot of commotion which drew in a crowd from the neighborhood.  Even some of the local children were not comfortable with this snake.  He was very benign however, and didn't seem to mind receiving so much attention.

Brooklyn had a fun time holding this snake.  She kept remembering the time we found a snake in Colorado and showed it to her grandma inside of her house.  It's always fun to hear grandma scream like that!

Even though Brooklyn loves animals, this snake did get a little too curious for her taste.  But, she handled his curiosity well and gently put him on the ground to slither away.

Finally, we made our way to the toko (store) and bought some ice cream cones.  Right now in our busy and crazy life, it is the little things like ice cream cones and memories with exotic animals that are fun to experience...the little moments of life.  I LOVE the little moments of life...

A Trip to the Temples

This past Sunday we were invited to accompany some friends in the afternoon to some Hindu temples about an hour's drive from our house.  This kind of trip is right up our alley, and we signed up right away.  We had a great time and marveled at what life must have been like for those that built and worshiped at these temples over 900 years ago.  They were built in a valley high up in the mountains.  All 9 of them had a unique shape and were scattered over about a 1 mile trail.  It was nice to be up a little higher elevation and enjoy some cooler air and some awesome views.

My blonde princess enjoying her daily time in fairylandia.  The valley behind her is where we live about 2-3,000 feet below.

This is looking across the valley from one temple to a few others built on the other side.  No doubt that the people were in good shape that lived there.

This is one of the 9 temples that we walked to.  More pictures of our trip can be seen on my photo album.  Rebecca is going to explain a few of the other pictures.  As she mentioned in this post, our Sunday was very full.  Stay tuned for more from her...