A Little Flora and Fauna

This colorful caterpillar was actually dangling from a tree and he hit me in the leg as I passed by on the Piglet.  Looking down, I saw that he actually stuck to my pants.  Of course I have to get a picture of the stowaway.

Once again, another water lily.  This one was in a garden pool at a restaurant that we ate breakfast in yesterday morning.  They don't make those in Colorado!

The Much Requested Picture...

Really...there is a scooter under there!  Yes, we do get out and about on our "scooter van", aka, "The Piglet."  It isn't quite a posh ride with all 5 of us on it, but it gets the job done.  And yes, we do wear helmets.  Becca and Paige aren't wearing theirs so we could pose for a picture.  Nothing like feeling all 125cc's roaring trying to get all 5 of us moving, it is a thrilling experience!

Membolos

Membolos-"truant, cut, to play hookey."  Ah yes, a new word for me...a good word...a useful word.  With all the news of the nearby Mt. Merapi erupting what is a guy to do?  Go to class, or, play hooky and go see the volcano that is only 15 miles from my house as the crow flies.  (It was my friends fault, he invited me)  So, my friend and I got on our trusty steeds, the Piglet in my case, and took the morning off to go see all the "action."  

For an article on the recent eruption, click here.  The above photo shows Mt. Merapi in the background.  We saw very little activity today, but my sunglasses and the front of the Piglet were covered in a thin coating of hujan abu or ash; literally translated as grey rain.  The trip was beautiful as we traveled through the Asian countryside full of small farms growing their livelihoods on the slopes of the fertile volcanoes.  We did finally stop in a town called Selo located on the slopes of Mt. Merapi to get a bite to eat and talk a bit with the locals.

In the photo above you can see the volcano in the background as well as my lunch hanging from the door post.  We ordered sate kambing, kind of like goat shish-kabobs.  Little did we know, as we ate lunch we were talking with several unique people around our small table.  Finally, after asking them some questions, we learned that they all work for several of the major newspapers and radio stations in the country.  They had come to Selo as well to see the "action" but since there wasn't much to see today why not interview the foreigners for a good story?  I'll try to keep an eye out to see if our comments get published.  That would be interesting.  Until then, I won't be membolos"ing" for a while.  I don't want to get in trouble!

Taking the Piglet Through the Countryside

Since we are still on break from school this whole week Becca and I jumped on the Piglet (our scooter) and went up to the mountains yesterday.  It was a great ride and we saw many awe inspiring landscapes that we had never imagined before.  Above is a picture of Mt. Merbabu (the one I tried to climb) on the left and Mt. Merapi seen on the right.  Mt. Merapi is the most active volcano in Indonesia and is currently belching smoke and ash.

 We made our way to a water fall that was a few kilometers off the beaten path.  After getting lost a few times, we asked enough questions to finally get to the water fall.  It was a beautiful landscape.  Notice the little village built right at the top of it.

While enjoying the waterfall, we were privileged to have a clear day to see all the way down to the valley below where we live.  It is a stark climactic contrast from the rice paddies and swamps of where we live to the cool mountain villages.  It almost had the feel of fall; cool, crisp air, and warm sunshine...almost.

What is any Sean and Becca trip good for if we don't take a picture of ourselves.  You can see the waterfall in the background.  We were both laughing that we both felt saddle sore after getting home.  Three to four hours on a scooter...I mean a piglet... can make you tired and sore while maneuvering in third world traffic on third world roads.

Climbing Mt. Merbabu

This week we are off from school as we are between units.  Therefore, I thought it might be a good idea to make an attempt at climbing nearby Mt. Merbabu, an extinct volcano before rainy season really begins in earnest.  There are several ways to climb it, and we chose to begin at night with the hope of being near the summit for early morning.  So, me and 3 other friends got on our scooters and motorcycles at 12 am on Tuesday morning and rode for about 40 minutes to the nearby volcano.  We soon met up with our guide and began our climb.  The picture above was taken part way up the mountain at about 4:30 in the morning of the valley below where we live.

The above picture was taken about an hour later after the sun came up.  Long story short, we were unable to reach the summit of this volcano...this time.  It was a hard climb, and we all learned a lot on how to come better prepared for the next time.  We were about 2000 vertical feet short of reaching the 10,000 foot summit.  Many people told us how cold it would be near the top, and we definitely verified that.  When your body is acclimated to living in a tropical climate, 45-50F degrees with high humidity and high winds can really become dangerous and eye opening.  Although we didn't make it to the top, it was still a great time and some great memories were made.  Maybe I'll have another chance to make an attempt on the summit another time.

Another Day at the Pool

This past Sunday we made it back to the pool after church before the rain began.  We hope to be able to get our girls more comfortable with swimming during our year here.  We also bought an underwater camera case before coming here which has been fun to experiment with.  Maybe some day I can use it on some coral reefs.

The pool we like to go to has no lack of beautiful gardens on the grounds.  This one is complete with goldfish in the pond and flowering lilies.

A Few More Scenes from the Neighborhood

I call these hairy cherries.  Every tropical country we have lived in has their own name for them, but here in Indonesia they are actually called correctly...Rambutan...derived from the Indonesian word for hair.  They taste pretty good, you can read more about them here.  There are numerous rambutan trees here.  This picture was taken on the campus of Brooklyn's school.

While walking to school the other day I had my camera out and this Bapak (grandfather) asked me to take his picture, just for the pleasure of doing so.  He didn't ask for a copy or anything.  The people here continue to amaze me!

Also while walking to school the same day, this young man was already out and about selling his children's balloons.  I saw him later in the day and his stock was definitely a little smaller.