An Arachnid Viewing...

Last week I headed out with the girls to see what there was to see...and mostly just get them out of the house before mommy blew a fuse. (4-6pm seems to bring the worst out in our girls) The above spider looks and moves a lot like a crab.  It is about the size of small paper clip.

This isn't the best picture because my shooting light was fading.  But, it still shows a very bizarre specimen of spider; about the size of a half dollar coin.

I wonder if the spider above and the spider below are a similar species, or perhaps male and female of the same species.  The had very similar shapes, yet very different colorations.  They are about as big as a man's hand.

You might think that I like spiders since I posted a few pictures.  This couldn't be farther from the truth.  They give me the willies, and I don't particularly like them.  However, I am always astonished at how our Maker put so much detail and purpose into something so small.

The Guitar

I have seen that most males in Indonesia can play the guitar.  Upon asking our teachers about this, they said that it is an unspoken rule of sorts that all men are expected to try to learn to play guitar.  Even if you don't like it or possess any talent, you can say you tried.  Because most males try to play the guitar, many are very good at it.  It isn't uncommon the walk down the street to hear some youth trying to pick his way through a rhythm from one of the latest songs from America.

Bath Time

Most Indonesians take two baths a day.  The first one in the morning at about 4:30am and a second around twelve hours later.  How they keep their kids clean after their second bath when there is still daylight is a mystery to me, yet their kids stay clean.  Most do NOT have hot water, and even in the tropics a cold bath is still very much cold.  This little girl was bathing in her front yard, for all that passed by on the street to see.

The Squat

You are not a real Indonesian unless you can squat on your haunches for hours at a time.  I can't even bend one of my knees that far due to a knee surgery from high school.  The last time the heals of my feet touched my butt was 15 years ago.  Both men and women alike, young and old, can sit like this forever.  They talk like this, work like this, eat like this, and a few other things as well.

To Smoke Or Not To Smoke

An interesting subject here on the island of Java is the local mindset in regards to smoking.  Women DO NOT smoke, unless they are willing to endure enormous social ridicule.  I have seen ZERO women smoking here. Men on the other hand is a totally different story.  Most high school boys I see are already addicted to the tobacco/clove cigarettes.  The one benefit to having cloves mixed with the tobacco is it releases a slightly more pleasant smell than just tobacco alone.  I know very few men who are non-smokers.  The rest are hopelessly addicted to the stuff.

Watching Life Pass By

On an afternoon walk through the neighborhood, you will find many people out on their porches watching life walk or drive by.  Most are VERY cordial and happy to chat for a while.

Just Around the Corner

Just around the corner from our house you will see this one, and many others just like it.  It is almost as though the neighborhood grew around them and their farms of yesteryear.  As we learn the dynamics of the different families in our neighborhood, it is interesting to learn that usually the "founding fathers" live in the old, wooden homes while their children live right next door in nicer, newer, brick or concrete homes.  The home above presumably has dirt floors and a fire pit in the middle of the house for cooking.  There is no chimney either...the smoke just wafts up through the ceiling and through the tile roof.  They say it helps keep the bugs down.

A Few Creepy Crawlies

The girls and I went out walking through the neighborhood to see what kind of "wildlife" we could find.  There is always something to see.

This spider was about as big as my hand.  We see this species everywhere here.  I think they are called wood spiders.  Stay tuned throughout the rest of the week for some more sights of people from our neighborhood.

Neighborhood Pickup Game

While riding the Piglet around town yesterday with Paige, we happened upon this soccer game at the nearby soccer field.  It always amazes me how well they can play without shoes.

The other thing that amazes me is how many of these little guys can already ride a motorcycle.  Instead of riding their bicycle to the park, they ride their motorcycle.  Most Indonesians know how to ride a motorcycle around town before they are ten years old.  Supposedly, as long as they don't go downtown, they won't get a ticket.  

A Few Sights Around Salatiga

In the mornings after the girls are all at school Becca and I try to go for a walk a few times a week before we hit the books and do our homework.  As we stroll through the neighborhoods the "collision of technology" that we see everyday still collides with our paradigm of what the world should look like.  At least it is beautiful.

I have been meaning to get a picture of one of these in operation for some time and I finally had my chance.  While riding the Piglet around town with Paige we happened upon a sawah (rice paddy) and saw this man and machine in operation.  I have no idea what to call this thing, other than a mud-making-rice paddy-smoother outer.  It's really loud too!  It is basically replacing the work that would otherwise be done by a team of water buffalo.

Just like any public works project, there has to be a few men just sitting around watching the other guy work. These two men were happily talking away right next to the sawah that was getting prepared for planting.  They only spoke Javanese so my communication was limited.  However, he knew enough Indonesian that he told me to wait until he put his hat on to have his picture taken.

A Trip to the Hills

We are on a 4 day break from school right now so Becca and I took advantage of the "free" time and took the Piglet on a drive through the country the other day.  The above picture shows nearby Mt. Sumbing and Mt. Sundoro in the distance, both volcanoes.

Becca recently redesigned her blog with this photo of an orchid.  With all the green we saw I had to keep reminding myself that it is truly February...somewhere...but not here.  Click to read her blog and see more pictures and stories from our little jaunt.

We drove to a place called Ketep Pass.  From there, you can see the pass itself and the two large volcanoes that created it, Mt. Merapi (seen above) and Mt. Merbabu (seen below).  Most of the recent activity from Mt. Merapi is hardly notiable now, due to the rains washing all the ash away and allowing life to return to normal.  If you click to enlarge on the above picture you may be able to see some of the charred trees in the lower right corner that will never come back to life.

Mt. Merbabu is also the same volcano I tried to summit a few months ago and failed.  Maybe a second try is in the works soon!?

If you were to turn 180 degrees from looking at Ketep Pass and the two stunning volcanoes of Mt. Merbabu and Mt. Merapi, you would seen Mt. Sumbing and Mt. Sundoro again.  I think Mt. Merapi is the only one that is currently active.  Central Java, Indonesia is truly a beautiful place!