Late Night Reflections of a Weary Traveler

It is now 12:30am in Flagstaff, Arizona. Yes, I have arrived safely home after about 36 hours of travel. It’s rather chilly and I can’t sleep. What better to do in the midst of jetlag than snuggle up with a nice cup of tea and some of my mom’s amazing English toffee and update the blog?
Today, the last 36 hours, has been full of God’s provision. Now, when it comes to travel, especially travel abroad, I have the tendency to panic with worry about something…or everything going wrong. The night before departure, I sat at the kitchen table going over every “worst-case-scenario” that could possibly happen. Appropriately enough, my dad had sent me an email that morning by Max Lucado about worrying only about the problems that today holds because the strength for tomorrow’s issues will come tomorrow. How appropriate. All that worrying did nothing but increase my stress level and made it easier to forget how he has provided in the past. Emily and I left Bandung at 4:00am on Friday for Jakarta. My flight was to leave at 9:15am and hers around 11. We arrived at the airport at about 6:30am. There was no line at the ticket counter and no problem with my reservation. I made my way to the immigration counter where there was a man whose sole purpose in life is to make worry-wart bules nervous by taking two extra minutes to check her passport and visa. He let me by, and I spent about fort five minutes chillin’ in a rather empty airport until my flight for Hong Kong was to leave. The flight to Hong Kong went very smoothly. Got to spend some time reflecting on the past semester and dreaming about what God has planned for next semester. I arrived in Hong Kong, went straight to Starbucks, got a little lost, but eventually found my way to an excellent people watching spot near my gate. The stretch from Hong Kong to L.A. is the longest of my journey- 12 hours. Those 12 hours are rather torturous when the in-flight entertainment system is down. Without any movies or television to pass the time, I spent the majority of the 12 hours sleeping and reading. It was pretty rough, but praise God that I had a little more leg room because of an empty seat next to me. I made it through the long flight and in the end the crew felt so badly about the technical difficulties that we got about $50 worth of vouchers out of it. We landed in L.A. at about 1:30pm, and my flight to Phoenix, leaving from Terminal 1 on the other side of the airport, was to leave at 4:00pm. While I stood in the customs line watching the one attendant work slowly through the 30 people in front of me, I figured it was about time to tap into that strength for the issues of the day. From what I could see it was going to be a miracle if I made my flight to Phoenix. About 2:30, I had made my way through customs, had successfully collected my luggage and was on my way to the final leg of the journey. It was a rather perilous trek through parking garages and dodging some scary L.A. drivers, but I made it to the ticket counter for Southwest. Because I had a luggage cart I was able to get into a shorter line and avoid a little bit of Christmas travel craziness. God was so good, he provided the strength I needed exactly at the moment I needed it. The remainder of the trip went well until I arrived in Phoenix and couldn’t find my family. Without a cell phone or way to contact them I wandered through the arrival gate looking for them. They had gone to the wrong arrival gate and ended up running into me on their way to the pager thing. Not exactly that Hollywood arrival with hugs and tears, but that’s the Evans Family for ya.
I am so happy to be home…or at least I will be when the jetlag/unconsciousness wears off:) Tomorrow is already a full day: I have to get my visa stuff sent off asap (be praying for that when you get a chance), I am getting my hair cut, and meeting up with my roommates.
I am sure more updates are to come from the Evans Family Christmas 2007:)

Happiness is...

...a little bit of rain, Ella Fitzgerald singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," a Peppermint Mocha, and laughter with good friends.
Have you ever experienced anything you wish you could just bottle up and keep forever? I have had the privilege of experiencing many times like that: long chats with good friends at Campus Coffee Bean, walking across Cottey Campus on a fall morning, road trips to Denny's with Sara Groves in the background, worship at sunset up at the peaks. Moments like that help put life back into perspective. Life can be chaotic, stressful and even painful at times, but praise God that he provides moments of complete contentment. This afternoon was one of those moments.
I have been done with student teaching for about a week now. My days have been filled with various odd jobs around the school. I have sat in on the ESL classes, getting a taste of what next semester holds. I visited third grade yesterday, spent some time in the high school Spanish class this morning and helped with the first grade Ancient Egypt play this afternoon. Tomorrow and Friday I am helping with the Christmas program. Although the odd jobs have been fun, it has been hard phasing out of the fifth grade. That's been my place for the past three months, and now I have to work on moving out of there. On top of the transition with that, the homesickness and stress with the return home fast approaching has resulted in a rather worn out Molly in need of some chill time.
Some of the elementary teachers have made it a weekly ritual to go to Starbucks after the staff meeting on Wednesdays. The plan is to go and work, but it usually ends up with all of us chatting. With all of the stress that the end of a semester can bring the Starbucks crew has dwindled to two or three. I have only gone a couple times, but this afternoon I knew that I was in desperate need of some new scenery and a Peppermint Mocha. In fact, I don't think I have ever looked forward to a Peppermint Mocha more (oh the joys of culture stress) :) Lindsey and I had to ride through the rain and some crazy traffic to get there, but the end result was well worth it. We splurged and got a cheese bagel and a piece of Oreo cheesecake to share along with a peppermint mocha and a hot chocolate. The other teachers who had come were Becky and Donna (Kindergarten and Preschool teachers). We had all brought something to work on, but ended up chatting for about two hours. We laughed about the funny things our kids had said that week, spoke with excitement about our plans for Christmas break, and soaked up the festive atmosphere that this Indonesian Starbucks provided. It was a little slice of heaven:) The combination of the air conditioning inside and the rain outside made it feel a little like winter time. The Christmas music and Peppermint Mocha made me feel for a second like I was back in the states. I have traveled to some pretty spectacular places and been rendered speechless by God's creation, but nothing compares to a good cup of coffee and good conversation with people you love.
Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the music, I love the traditions, I love the Peppermint Mocha, and I love the memories, stories and laughs that I associate with this holiday season. As I look forward to returning home in two weeks to add some more memories to this time of year that I cherish so much, I am also thankful for the people God has placed in my life here in Indonesia.

Filling in the Gap

This week, my student teaching is coming to a close. I am giving a test in Social Studies and a test in Bible and on Wednesday I am officially done teaching in the fifth grade. In the last month and a half or so I have been working on figuring out what next semester will hold. After the jungle trip, I determined that I wanted to pursue returning in the spring to be a substitute and help with all the details of the move. A couple weeks ago, I was called into the principal’s office and offered a part time position teaching Middle School and High School ESL. I have accepted the position and will be returning to Bandung January 8^th. I am so excited, but still can hardly believe that I have my first real job. God has been faithful in his timing and is currently working out every stressful detail that comes up. A year ago, I was trying to wrap my mind around the fact that He was sending me here to student teach, and now I am calling this place my home and the people that I have met here my family. God is good, and I am excited to see how he uses this next semester to shape and mold my character. As far as in the fall, that is still up in the air until December decisions are made and we know what positions are available, but as of right now I am hoping to return in the fall.

In the last few weeks of this semester before I return to the states for Christmas, I will be working on taking care of the details that go into me being an actual employee here, and would really appreciate your prayers in that. I will also be doing some more observation in the other elementary grades and begin spending some time in the ESL classes to get a feel for what I will be doing next semester. It is hard to believe that this semester is almost over, but it is amazing to see how much I have grown because of the experiences I have had.

Snakes on a Plate

The following post may cause some of you to lose your lunch.

Reader’s discretion is advised:)

In past years my Thanksgiving celebrations have included the usual: turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and of course the occasional spat in the kitchen. When living overseas, they advise that you try not to recreate your traditions from home, because they usually end in disappointment. I was realistic enough to not set my expectations for this Thanksgiving too high. A turkey in this country can cost up to $100, and we don’t get any time off of school for the holiday anyway. The group of singles that has become my family this semester decided we would not attempt to recreate any traditions, but instead come up with a brand new one. In years past, people have tried to venture outside the box, eating turkey made out of tofu or enjoying a feast of Mexican food instead of the original Thanksgiving spread. Never before have I heard of anyone stepping this far out of the box. Thursday November 23, 2007, Jennie, Lindsey, Emma, Emily, Donna, Alyssa, Aaron and I ventured out in search of a restaurant that serves cobra...yes the snake. After a bit of an adventure and asking some locals for directions, we finally arrived at NAYA. I was expecting an environment similar to that of Indiana Jones with dim lighting, snake skins hanging from the ceiling, and maybe a snake charmer in the corner with his flute. It turned out to be a rather regular looking restaurant that just happened to have a cupboard in the back full of cobras awaiting their culinary destiny of being fried up and served with rice. We had heard from a fellow teacher that you could go in the back and actually see the snake that would eventually become your dinner. After ordering, we asked the waiter if we could and he agreed to take the eight bules (boo-lays) with cameras in hand to the back to see the snakes. We entered the small room next to the kitchen. To the right was the cupboard full of mesh bags that were full of 15-20 snakes. In the middle was the chopping block, or a stump on which the head of the snakes were removed. On the floor were two buckets: one for the guts and skins, the other for the actual meat of the snake. One of the men whipped out one of the three-foot-long cobras that, in the minutes before its death, hissed at jabbed at the hand holding it tight. He then put the cobra’s head in a vice-looking thing and with a large cleaver chopped off the head. The head was still moving as they squeezed the blood from the body of the snake into a cup. It really was a gruesome sight that I could hardly stomach. I did get pretty good pictures though. When we returned to our table, we were presented with two small shot glasses that contained the blood that had just been squeezed out. The blood was set on the Lazy Susan in the middle of the table and made its way to everyone. Aaron downed one of the glasses in one swift gulp while the rest of us squealed and gagged as we choked down a tiny sip. I was the last one to take a sip and after a few minutes of working to break down the mental block similar to what I had with the spicy woof woof, I was able to take a taste. The room temperature and the thickness made it difficult to convince myself I was consuming something other than blood. In the end, it tasted kind of like cough syrup. The actual snake wasn’t too bad, it wasn’t that good either. It tasted like chicken but the texture was more like fish. It was difficult to enjoy a meal after (1) witnessing the decapitation and (2) drinking the blood of your main course. We all sat there silently replaying the gruesome scene we had witnessed and questioning what the heck we had just eaten. I am pretty sure this is the most insane thing I have ever eaten! With the exception of Aaron, we had all gone in there sure we were not going to drink the blood, but darn that peer pressure, we all gave in and exceeded our personal limits of adventure eating!

Sunburned yet Satisfied

The full time portion of my student teaching experience came to a close last week and as a celebration Charity, Kelly and I took a long weekend trip to Bali. Who would have thought I would every use that phrase in my life "weekend trip to Bali?!" Anyways, we left Thursday morning and returned Sunday evening. It was four days full of total relaxation, some major Christmas shopping at the markets, and some of the best food I have had since I have been in Indonesia. We stayed in the Aston Bali, a really nice hotel with a private beach, an incredible pool and a yummy European breakfast. The first day we went and had lunch at the Bali Deli, where I got the first turkey sandwich I've had since August. We ventured into the markets for a little bit, where you have to barter with the merchants and try not to get ripped off. I was totally overwhelmed and nearly on the verge of heat exhaustion...I thought Bandung was hot and humid! That evening was the highlight of the trip. We got picked up from our hotel and went to Sharky's, a seafood place right on the beach. We got there right at sunset and were seated outside. It was absolutely gorgeous. Then, we got to go pick out our dinner. They had fresh fish, prawns and crab just waiting to be cooked up on the grill. We got Red Snapper, Prawns, and crab. It was so yummy! Then to top it all off, there was a group of Indonesian men playing all kinds of instruments playing mostly cover songs. The majority of the people at this rather romantic dining establishment were couples, so the songs that these guys were singing were sappy love songs. As they made their way towards our table, I couldn't help but wonder "what kind of songs to you sing to a table of single women?" Well, they ended up serenading us with a rather painful eighties song like Every Rose has its Thorn or something. It was really funny.
The next day we went up to Ubud, a smaller town in the mountains with more shopping, more great restaurants and a monkey forest. One of the families from school hooked us up with a car and a driver to get us up there which was really cool. On our way up we got pulled over by the police, saw a very large, smelly chicken truck, and stopped at one of the Hindu Temples. The temple was really beautiful and elaborate. In the Hindu religion there are hundreds of gods that they worship, and they have people whose job is to prepare the offerings for all the gods according to their preferences. About mid-morning the streets and steps of businesses will be covered with these small offerings. It was really interesting to see. The monkey forest was quite the adventure. In my attempt to give bananas to only the monkeys who I thought deserved them, I got attacked by who I deemed the "Banana Bully." He wouldn't leave me alone, I guess I was waiting for him to say please or something, but because he was bothering me, I refused to give him my last banana. That ticked him off, so he jumped and tried to snatch it out of my hand. I freaked out, screamed and ended up throwing the banana at him. I was a little traumatized and ended up learning my lesson:) It was pretty cool to see them so close up though. The remainder of the weekend was spent near the pool, reading, listening to my ipod, and people watching. Even in an attempt to not even be in the sun, I still got sunburned...it's inevitable I guess:) I had a great time, and my next trip to Bali is going to include snorkeling and maybe para sailing!

Pajamas, Rain, Field Trip, Rain, Fairytales, Rain, and Holiday Cheer

Oh my it has been a while since I have updated you all on my life in the tropics. I recovered nicely from the Jungle Adventure, and was excited to take on five weeks of full time responsibility. The past few weeks in the fifth grade have consisted of lots of reading. October was I Love to Read month where all the kids were reading every minute they got a chance. they were all striving for the first goal of 2400 pages so they could go to dessert with the administrator. My class as a whole read about 24,000 pages! Because of I Love to Read month, we got to do a Pajama day on the 26th where the entire elementary got to come to school in their pajamas and read books all day. It was so much fun. We moved all the desks back in our classroom, and brought pillows and blankets so we could comfortably indulge in some literature of our choice. At the end of the month, instead of celebrating Halloween, we have Story Book Day. This year's theme was Fairytale Fun. The elementary teachers dressed up as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...I was Doc. My kids did a hilarious play called Cinderella Bigfoot. It was hilarious!
Earlier that week, I led my very first field trip. We went to Premier Plaza, a nearby grocery store to finish up our Digestion/Nutrition Unit. I split the kids up into "families" of four, and gave them a budget of Rp.40,000, similar to that of a Kampung family. I challenged them to make up a menu for a well-balanced and healthy meal using only the hypothetical amount. We went to the grocery store to price the items, and to see if they would have stayed within budget. It was a little crazy, but they had fun. They were all able to stay within budget after making some changes to their menus. It was a fun field trip and I think a rather eye-opening experience especially because a lot of them are businessman's kids who don't ever really go the the grocery store.
Also this month were Report Cards! We have been working all semester to recreate the elementary report cards, and a couple weeks ago we finally sent them home. This was a task that I was not looking forward to, but we figured out a system, and were able to get them done without having to stay at school until all hours of the night.
As only two weeks remain of me teaching full time, we have moved on to some fun units. In Social Studies, we are learning about the Renaissance, which has required quite a bit of studying on my part since history is my worst subject. We are reading a novel called Frindle together in literature circles and in math, I am attempting to teach measurement which is turning out to be a rather dry unit. I can't believe it, I have made it through the toughest part of this experience. Next week, to celebrate and relax a little, Charity, Kelly and I are going to Bali for a long weekend...it truly is a rough life I lead here in the tropics. I am looking forward to the food that awaits us there along with some good souvenir shopping.
Rainy season has most definitely arrived, which makes it a little easier to imagine fall weather here. It rains pretty much everyday after lunch and into early evening. Coming from the desert, I was not prepared for this kind of precipitation. It is really intense. One must leave the house with all rain gear they might possibly need, because there is no telling when the clouds will open up and you will get soaked head to toe.
The holidays are quickly approaching and the dates have been set in the house for decorating, cookie baking and Christmas music! Although it is difficult when there is no snow, and I am wearing capris and flip flops to work, it is nice to know that we can at least create the illusion of a "White Christmas."

Some Final Thoughts...About the Jungle

In the craziness, laughter, and challenges physically, there were moments where I had to pause was reminded first that I was actually trekking through the Sumatran Jungle, and second, that the God who created the breath-taking views that surrounded me is the same God who has me in the palm of my hand, and knows not only what these next few months hold, but also has planned what I will be doing next semester. One can do a lot of thinking while they are drenched in sweat, dehydrated and physically spent. Since I found out I was coming to Indonesia about a year ago, I viewed January as a huge drop off. I knew I was coming here, and that was great, but I had no idea what my future would hold. Now, January is still an unknown, but God is faithful and I can see that he is slowly filling in that gap. As I continue to pray for guidance in what exactly I should do next semester, I have to pause once again and bask in the peace that passes all understanding and praise Him that he is not a God of worry and chaos, but he rather the blessed controller of all things.

Chapter Five: Welcome Back Jungle Trekkers!

We spent the evening just hanging out with one another, we attempted Phase 10 once again, and I was able to redeem myself from the previous pathetic attempt. We laughed a lot and reflected on the amazing day. The next morning, we had breakfast, packed up and headed back out on the path we had taken only 36 hours before. Around 10:00am we boarded another Jungle Bus to head down the mountain to the Tiara Hotel in Medan complete with a pool, hot showers and plenty of towels. The ride down was not nearly as painful as the ride up was. It was really cool to get to see the scenery during the day. The road was just as bumpy, but this was time also ridden with cattle, children with air guns, and a pig. It was the holiday for the local people, and every year at this time, the little boys get a new plastic gun. They were everywhere: on top of buses, and in the middle of the road. We safely arrived in Medan after a long three hours.Our first destination in Medan, unfortunately, was a Crocodile Farm that Pak Barhum recommended. It cost only 50 cents to get in and see groups of thirty crocodiles stuffed into 12X10 foot shallow pens. It was one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen. I have no doubt that if our friend Mr. Steve Irwin had really been on the trip with us, he would have been appauled at this sight. At the Crocodile Farm were also other animals including puppies, some monkeys, and a couple snakes. We left that place a little traumatized and rather speechless.There is nothing that compares to walking into an air conditioned hotel after a couple days in the nice humid jungle. The Tiara Hotel was an excellent way to finish up our trip. That night we went down the street to a huge fancy mall. We walked around and did some window shopping, then decided it was time for dinner. We decided to try out a Korean Restaurant. After a twenty minute wait, we were seated at a round table in the back corner, and within minutes the waiters were bombarding us with trays of food for us to choose from. It was extremely stressful, and they kept coming throughout the entire meal. It was very good food, my favorite dish was the soft shell crab.The rest of the night was spent playing Phase 10, we were determined to get to Phase 10. There was a lot of laughing, some trash talking, a little bit of bullying, and a lot of storytelling. At 1:00 in the morning we had finally reached Phase 10! We would be okay if we never saw that game again:)

Chapter Four: Indonesian Bubba, Extreme Trekking and a "Compliment," with a cherry on top!

There are hardly words to adequately describe the trekking experience. It was kind of like extreme hiking, steep slopes, slippery rocks, huge trees, twisting vines, enormously large ants, orangutans swinging in from all places, waterfalls, flowers, not to mention the interesting men who were our guides and the humidity that truly took our breath away. I have never sweat more in my whole life, Lordy it was hot! For the scenery and the experience though, it was worth it. I took some pretty nice falls and got pretty dirty and gross, I felt like a true Jungle Trekker, and sort of even looked the part (Abby you would be proud).

The nine of us were in the hands of three jungle men. The lead guy, whose name none of us could remember, had long black hair, a gotee, and a cigarrette in hand at all times. He wore a shirt with the sleeves cut off, cut-off shorts and flip flops. Fortunately he knew English, so he was able to tell us about the orangutans as well as the different plants and other animals in the forest. Quite the knowledgable fellow. I would say he is the Sumatran equivalent of Bubba, the maintenance man at the Sea Scape Resort. At the end of our journey, the most perilous section, I was bringing up the rear along with Jungle Man. I forgot until we hit the steep slope heading down to the river that I have a slight fear of heights, ok, a pretty significant fear of heights. Which apparently can make the fear of slipping and falling to a painful death a little more scary. During the 45 minutes we spent repeling down the mountain with nothing to really hold on to but roots and vines, my heart was pounding and the pressure to find the right footholds was made greater with Jungle Man telling me the whole time "Slow is best, ya? You go down backwards, ya?" Nonetheless, after eight hours of intense hiking, good stories, friendly visits from the orangutans, and indescribable views, we had successfully reached the river that would take us back to the Jungle Inn.

Never before have I wanted to go swimming so much, what a refreshing end to such a long journey. After a couple spills on the rocks, some splashing around and nearly getting swept downstream by the strong current, we got into the rafts that turned out to be inner tubes tied together. Funny story: I was aware, prior to my arrival in this country, that I was going to stick out. Not just because of the white skin, but because I would tower over 3/4 the population. Up until the moment we took our places in the raft, I hadn't faced too much discrimination, some stares, yes, but no blatant comments. I had planned to ride in the two person raft with Jennie. As I began to jump on, one of our guides ran over and said, "No, you go in the other one. You too big." It didn't end there. I got up and moved to the other raft and began to get in behind Emma, and once again the same guide said, "No, no. You sit here, you have special figure, must sit here." How does one respond to that, especially with the language barrier it was clear he wasn't meaning to hurt my feelings or anything. He wasn't aware of what he was saying, which allowed me to maintain a laid back attitude and respond with a "Well, I'm gonna take that as a compliment...praise God I have a 'special figure.'"

Finally, after we were all situated in the rafts, we headed down the river hoping to beat the storm cloud that had began to form as soon as we got out of the jungle. The rapids were true white water rapids. The ride was amazing! Definitely my favorite part of the day. It was about thirty minutes before we were back where we started earlier that morning. To top it all off, at the entrance to the reserve was a mother orangutan with her baby. That was one thing I was hoping to see before the day was done, and it was a perfect ending to an amazing day.

Chapter Three: Breakfast- Complimentary Creepy Crawlies and Sour Bean Milk

I awoke the next morning to find a nice giant spider in the bathroom, a bonus that they failed to inform us was included with the room:) After dousing myself in 100% deet and sunscreen and donning my polka dot bandanna, I was ready to tackle the jungle. Every jungle trekker needs a good breakfast to fuel them for the treacherous journey ahead of them. Good thing the Jungle Inn puts extra protein in their pineapple juice, yep there were some nice little orange bugs in my pineapple juice, but no worries because risk-taking Molly laughs in the face of swallowing unidentified insects. After breakfast we headed down to the river to go to orangutan reserve. We had to take a canoe across the river. It was hooked to cables, and was navigated by a man in his skivvies. Quite the sight at 8:00am in the morning, but also a rather nifty way to get across the river.

When we got to the other side it was breakfast time for the orangutans. There were a couple in cages when we first entered the reserve. We hiked further into the jungle to a platform where a dominant female name Suma was coming to eat. She was quite the character, giving us the eye every once in a while as she at her 25 bananas and dumped out her cup of sour bean milk. We found out later that she was pregnant which explained some of her moodiness and...eating habits. I had watched a show on Animal Planet a month or so ago on which Steve Irwin visited this same place. In honor of him, Emma and I had fun adding commentary to the amazing creatures we were going to observe. I will try and get footage of that, as humiliating as it will probably be:)

After visiting Suma, we separated from the rest of the tourists and embarked on our eight hour trek through the Sumatran Jungle.

Chapter Two: Swiss Family Robinson with a Hippi Twist

We took a bus up the mountain for almost three hours.
Nine teachers
three very interesting guides
no AC
four wheeled drive road
no leg room
anti-motion sickness pills
Indonesian music
rooftop riding

This is what made this particular leg of the journey unforgettable. When we finally got to Bukit Lawang and were dropped off by the bus, our friendly guides took us on a "10 minute walk, good for body." It was more of a twenty minute hike back through the Kampung until we finally reached the Jungle Inn. Jennie split us up by birth date, two to a room. Alyssa and I got the best room. We had read on the blog about a room that was literally built into the side of a mountain, with a balcony and a hammock right next to a waterfall. That was exactly how it was. The Jungle Inn is by no means a four star resort, although Pak Bahrum would beg to differ, but it is a pretty awesome place.

It really looks like the house on Swiss Family Robinson, fully equipped with jungle men playing guitars and singing Pearl Jam. It was 12:00am when we arrived at the Jungle Inn and we were scheduled to begin the day at 7:30 that morning. That night I fell asleep to the sound of the waterfall wondering/fearing exactly what the "jungle trek" would entail.

Chapter One: Christmas Trees, Tears and Shrink Wrap

This trip came at the best and worst time. The combination of being sick the weekend before and missing out on two whole days to get up for the following week and starting my first week of teaching full time made for one of the most difficult weeks since I have been here. Lessons were tough, the to-do list was long, and my energy level was low. I left school on Thursday burnt out, discouraged and about ready to quit. God is good though, he knew that I needed not only a break away from school to recharge, but an adventure that would challenge all the things I never thought I was cut out for.
We successfully left the school at 11:45am on our way to Jakarta. Jennie planned to use various discriminating tactics to make sure the taxi rides and room placements were random. So all the tall people rode in one car, and the shorter people in another:) The ride to Jakarta was really fun. We agreed to try only to talk about school unless absolutely necessary. This provided for quite the conversation in the vertically blessed taxi:) We talked about everything from car accidents to Christmas Trees! Praise God for hardly any traffic, we were able to get to Jakarta in about 2 1/2 hours, which got us to the airport with about three hours to spare.
While waiting for our turn to check in, we sat on the floor near a machine that shrink wrapped luggage. It was rather fascinating to see the items that people wanted shrink wrapped, still not quite sure what the purpose of that was, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
In the three hours we had to wait, we filled the time by playing the game Phase 10. Who would have thought that that game would have become a theme of the trip, and the bane of my existence. Seriously, it was awful. The object of the game is to get through ten phases of card combinations, if you don't, then you collect points throughout the game for cards you have left over. Apparently, the object of the game for Molly was to fail miserably and rack up more points than all the other players combined. It took about four or five rounds for me to finally make it to Phase 2.
We were able to check in without any issues, and got on the plane without elbowing too many Grandma's in the process. On domestic flights there are no assigned seats, so it is a free-for-all when the lady announces that the plane is boarding. We ended up sitting relatively close to each other, and the majority of the flight was spent resting up for the crazy bus ride that awaited us in Medan.

Coming Soon: Chapter One of the Sumatran Jungle Adventure

We have safely returned from the Sumatran Jungle with some bug bites, some sore muscles, and hilarious stories galore! From the physical challenge of trekking in the jungle for eight hours and getting to see some of the most breath-taking views of God's creation to the hilarious moments and amazing conversations with with my brother and sisters in Christ, this trip changed my world. Stay tuned to the Sumatran Jungle Adventure Series!

Insert National Geographic Theme Song Here

The jungle adventure begins tomorrow afternoon. As soon as that clock hits 11:45am, nine anxious teachers will be piling into taxis on their way to Jakarta to catch a plane that leaves at 5:55pm for Medan on the island of Sumatra. We will then all pile into one...yes one...van and head four hours up the mountain to The Jungle Inn. The next morning we will eat breakfast before we go watch our distant relatives chow down on their breakfast at the Orangutan Reserve. After feeding, we will embark on a six...yes six...hour "jungle trek" in hopes of seeing more of our distant relatives. You may think the adventure ends there, but it most certainly does not! At the end of our "trek" we will be white water rafting down the river back to the orangutan reserve. After one more night at The Jungle Inn, we will head back to Medan, but not without stopping at the crocodile farm first:) Saturday night we will stay at a hotel and head back to Jakarta on Sunday morning. That is the itinerary, and you may be asking yourself "why in the world is Molly Evans going on a trip like this?" I have been asking myself that same question...and the answer is because Indonesia has turned me into a risk taker, and I live with an adventurous roommate who is very persuasive:) Plus, I am an Evans and adventure...or disaster in some cases... is inevitable on any vacation, so why not take a chance in the jungle?
I hope to return on Sunday with amazing pictures and tons of hilarious stories. Please be praying for safety and health for all of us who are going:)

Recovering from what felt like death...

If you all were readers of my blog from Ecuador, you probably remember how sick I got. I was certain that nothing would top that horrible experience, but I was wrong. Friday after lunch I started to feel pretty nauseous, and then by the end of school was hardly able to think I felt so gross. The rest of the evening consisted of me getting sick almost every twenty minutes...not exaggerating. It was awful. I don't get sick very often and I especially don't get the upset stomach kind of sick, but this most certainly tops the charts. I had heard of a lot of people in the past having to go to the hospital due to dehydration after an extreme case of Bandung Belly. I was almost sure that was going to have to be me, because there was nothing left in my body, and just the thought of putting something in it made me get sick. That night I got a little bit of sleep, and the next day felt a little better, but still couldn't keep anything down. Spent the day on the couch watching a marathon that could have been called "Random/Awful Movies from the 90's." This morning I feel a lot better. Pretty weak because I have nothing in my system, but much better. I have never been that sick before in my life, and hope that it was the first and last time I have to experience it.
In other news, this past week was great! I took over almost everything except Language Arts. All my lessons went well, I think the fifth grade has finally figured out a routine that works. Next week I start my six weeks of teaching by myself...kind of scary, but I will be fine.
Also, this Thursday we head to the Sumatran Jungle to hang out with the Orangutans. We have all been taking our Malaria meds, and are ready for what will most definitely be an adventure!

Everything is an adventure...even bowling:)

This is the story of how, what should have been, a regular group outing to Indo food and pool became a night full of spicy food, Southwestern souvenirs, crazy traffic, drive-by serenades, near death experiences, and bowling.
Aaron, Emily, Jennie, Lindsey and I had originally planned to go to out to dinner at an Indonesian restaurant and then play pool afterward. Little did we know what the night would hold. Dinner was successful, spicy, but successful. We left the restaurant to head up the hill to a possible place to play pool. When we walked into the food court/mall, I got a little taste of home. Right there at the entrance was a collection of Southwestern Souvenirs for sale. Good heavens, you would have thought you had walked into the Trading Post on your way to the Grand Canyon:) I have never been more tempted to buy a canteen in my life:)
When we walked up the stairs to where a game of pool should have been waiting for us, we were reminded that during the month of Ramadan any place or activity that promotes things like drinking and smoking is closed down. We then attempted at plan B--finding another pool place...plan C finding another pool place...plan D sit in the middle of the road for ten minutes and try to think of something to do on a Saturday night. Finally, we decided on Plan E: go bowling downtown! We ventured out in search of the bowling place that turned out to be a mall near downtown. The combination of the insane traffic and attempting to follow the fearless leader of the pack made for quite a perilous journey. Lindsey and I were nearly hit by a car two or three times. While stopped at a light, we were serenaded by a group of college students asking for money. Now, when you are in a car you can roll up the window, lock the doors, but when you are on a bike, it is rather awkward. How does one react? All Lindsey or I could do was laugh:) We safely reached the mall, and headed up the stairs attempting to follow the signs to the bowling place. After three flights of stairs, we entered a narrow corridor resembling the setting of a horror movie. We finally came to a door with the sign for the bowling alley, but ended up entering through a side entrance. What a sight--five white people all of the sudden appear through the back door of the bowling alley, so much for being subtle:) As if we hadn't stuck out already, we ended up having to borrow socks from the bowling alley to wear with our bowling shoes. These weren't plain white socks, no, no, no, these were red and pink socks. The game of bowling was successful, as usual I had my spurts of athletic ability getting two or three strikes, but ended up with the fewest points. It turned out to be a really fun night, full of laughter, a couple near death experiences, and really great material for my blog. I am realizing that everything here is an adventure, especially when you least expect it:)

Welcome to Reality...

It has been a rather long week and a half, hence the lack of a post lately:) I guess you could say that the honeymoon phase of my adventure has worn off for the moment, and I am starting to slip into a routine here in the tropics. As my responsibilities grow, so does the stress level, but I am working on taking it day by day. For the past two weeks I have been teaching math to our 14 perfectionist fifth graders. My lessons have been going really well! I also got to create the final project for the Maps and Lakes of the World Unit. The students had to discover a new make believe country, and then create an expandable map that includes a map, a list and description of the resources and features of the country, a description of the people and why I should visit their country. They turned out really well, these kids are extremely creative! I am getting more comfortable in the classroom, the students are getting used to having two teachers in the class and I am learning so much. This week our Yearlong Plans were due, along with the revised copy of our "Parent Friendly Curriculum," and report card templates. The elementary teachers have been working hard to create "Parent Friendly Curriculum" to post on the school's website, we also are redoing the report cards to make them more elementary grade friendly. So basically the past couple of weeks have been full of curriculum. It has been a long process, but I have learned a lot about standards, benchmarks, learning expectations and measurable objectives--the nitty gritty stuff that teachers do behind the scenes:) We got it all done though, turns out that Charity and I make a pretty amazing team!!
I haven't had much adventure lately, but I did take my first Ojeg on Wednesday. An Ojeg is the motorbike taxi, yes, Molly rode on a bike with a stranger and survived. Last night we went to the boys soccer game and then to a Chinese restaurant where you can order the all you can eat and order everything on the menu if you want. The catch though, is that if you don't finish all the food, then you have to pay the individual price of the dishes you order. It was really good food, and don't worry we were able to polish off everything:) After dinner we headed up to the indoor ice rink, where I decided that the Indonesian onlookers were not ready to see Molly Evans ice skate. I guess I haven't fully recovered from the fall (and embarrassment) of 2003...Alli, I think you were the only one who was there for that:) Anyways, Becky, Melinda, Tobin and I went to shop and get coffee instead.
Today, I have been working in the classroom trying to get the Social Studies projects graded and my lesson plans written for next week. I have been really productive and my introverted side has had a chance to recharge:) Next week we get to go on our first field trip to a lake about 2 and 1/2 hours away. It should be interesting:)

Little Bit of Poetry and Some Lessons Learned

This week during literacy centers, Charity had me run the center on poetry. We went over shape poems, haikus and limericks. I never realized before how fun limericks are. As a small group we wrote a limerick together. Here are two examples:

Billy the Buffalo lives on a boat.

His best friend in the world is Chunky the goat.

They eat spam from a can,

and drink hot spicy jam

That burns as it goes down their throat.

Eating fried chicken makes Frederick quite happy.

Although after a meal he behaves rather slappy.

Dancing around

and making strange sounds,

His performance deserves a loud round of clappy.

I had so much fun writing these with the students. They are so creative!

This week is Spiritual Emphasis Week. We have chapel everyday with special speakers that have traveled here from the states. The elementary kids are learning about "Building a Foundation of Faith." I am loving it, our speaker, Karen has been talking about how a strong foundation consists only of Jesus Christ and nothing else. She read this amazing book today called Sydney and Norman. It is about two pigs. Norman is one of those perfect pigs that always looks put together, is on time to work and has always done well in everything. Sydney on the other hand is a mess. His house is a mess, his clothes are a mess, and he can never seem to do anything right. One day both pigs get a note from God asking to meet with them. Norman is certain that God is going to tell him how wonderful he is, and Sydney is just sure that God is going to tell him how disappointed he is in him for missing the mark again. Norman walks into his appointment with God, and God says "There are three things I want to tell you: 1. I love you. 2. You are not a great as you think you are. and 3. Your pride makes others feel bad about themselves." Norman is totally in shock, he doesn't expect God to tell him that and walks home with a heavy heart. Sydney comes into his appointment fifteen minutes late with his shirt hanging out and a hole in his pants. Sydney cringes as God smiles and says "Sydney, I have three things to tell you: 1. I love you. 2. I love you. 3. I love you." Sydney can't believe that God would love him despite all of his imperfections. Sydney wakes up the next morning a little more content, and Norman wakes up a little more humble. By the end of the story, I was in tears. Isn't it cool though, when God uses something like a children's book to soflty remind your heart of his love, mercy and grace?

God has shown me so much in the last week. I am in the midst of some anxiety with the increase in my responsibilities fast approaching. This week I took over math, in a couple weeks I will take over Bible and Language Arts, and in about four weeks I will have full control of the classroom for six weeks. Yesterday, as Charity and I were mapping all this out, I nearly fell out of my chair. Although I was on the verge of a breakdown, I had to remind myself of Deuteronomy 31:8 "The LORD himself goes before you, he will not leave nor forsake you. Do not be discouraged, do not be afraid." I have to constantly remind myself to take it day by day. A month ago, I was terrified thinking about taking over just one subject but he has gone before me this week and math has gone really well. I have a choice to make when it comes to worrying, I can choose to be hard on myself and wallow in anxiety, or I can choose to rely on God for the strength and ability to teach. In the last two weeks I have been convinced that not only is teaching a ministry, but it is the ministry and the purpose to which I have been called. If this is the purpose to which I am called, then that means God's going to do his work through me, which means that I have nothing to worry about. In my weakness and feelings of inadequacy he gives me strength and ultimately, it is him who receives all of the glory, not me.
Please be praying for all the staff at BAIS though, as Ramadan is fast approaching and can be a really dark time spiritually.

Hi My Name is Molly...

Ok, so I am not sure what happened to the former version of Molly Evans. You all know her, the one who rarely took a risk without weighing every feasible thing that could go wrong, the one who was on the other side of the spectrum when it came to spontaneity. I am telling you she has disappeared and this new Molly has taken her place, a Molly that embraces adventure (even if it means she may not get a shower for a couple of days), who "doesn't even trip" when she can't use her hairdryer in the morning due to the danger of the house blowing up, and jumps at the chance to taste unappetizing foods like spicy woof woof and durian. You will believe me when you hear about the trip that she has chosen for the group to go on for Idul Fitri weekend ( the end of Ramadan in October, we get Friday off). Eight of the BAIS staff will be going to the jungles of Bukit Lawang. We will hopefully leave on Thursday October 11, right after school to catch a plane in Jakarta that night to Medan. From Medan we will take a three to four hour non-air-conditioned bus ride to The Jungle Inn (kind of sounds like the Sea Scape Inn). The Jungle Inn has nice rooms, from what we hear on the blogs of those who have stayed there before. There is only electricity sometimes, and there is no hot water. The morning after our arrival we will get up at 7am to go to the orangutan park to view the feeding time for about three hours. We will then proceed, with a guide, on a six our hike through the jungle. Be aware that on this hike, it is very likely that we will run into wild orangutans and maybe some tigers and snakes. At the end of our hike we will then take a raft or tube, we aren't quite sure exactly what mode of water transportation we will be taking, but somehow we will go back down the river to the start of our hike. The rest of the day we will be relaxing, or possible recovering from orangutan attacks, back at the inn and leave the next morning to go back to Medan to stay in a hotel with showers so we are not totally dead when we return on Sunday evening. Yes, I chose this trip, why? I am telling you, coming to Indonesia I must have left my former uptight, control freak self in Flagstaff. I am really excited for this trip. It should be amazing! Mom, dad, don't worry, I'm gonna be fine!
In other news, this week I totally bombed a math lesson, well, not totally, Charity and I were able to salvage the period in the end. It was not good, not good at all. But what are you gonna do? I also had the opportunity to sub in the 4th grade class for the afternoon, talk about a challenge. I was happy to do it, but totally scared out of my mind. I have only been observing a teaching a lesson here and there, I have never had a class to myself! I know God allowed that to happen for a reason though, and I am pretty certain that he is going to throw me into scary teaching situations like that more this semester. I also got to experience being on the other side of an Open House for the first time. Charity and I split up the presentation and got to know the parents a little bit. It went really well!
Happy to report that our electricity is back to normal. We can have more than one light on in the house and not fear that the roof will catch fire. It was pretty scary there for a while, and we fried a couple CD players in the process, but we are alive and well and our house is still in one piece.
I am having a blast getting into the school routine and laughing through all of the craziness with my awesome roommates:)

Birthday Festivities!

Ok, so seriously one of the funnest birthday parties ever, aside from that fifties/Grease party I had when I was in elementary school:)

On Saturday, some of the girls took me to sushi where I tried fish eggs for the first time...cruchyish. Then we went over to the gelato place we visited during the first week I was here. They have this amazing menu selection where you can choose eight flavors and it feeds like four people. I got to choose the flavors, and unfortunately, if you want a colorful display on your cool ice cream plate you have to choose yucky flavors. Ours was rather boring looking, but it tasted great! The flavors were almond, hazelnut (my new favorite), coffee, tiramisu (everyone hated this flavor), white chocolate, Oreo, lychee (an Indonesian fruit that tastes a little like fruit cocktail), and mint chocolate chip. It was so much fun. Then we went to the movie store where I bought a couple movies for like $7--it's a beautiful thing:)

On Sunday afternoon was my fruit party. Jennie and Lindsey worked hard to make sure nearly every fruit available in the city of Bandung was present at the party...including Durian. Ever since I knew I was coming to Indonesia, Charity has been telling me I have to try Durian and how awful it is. Everyone that I have talked to hates Durian, not even Indonesians like it. It is a giant green spiky fruit that when cut open, the pulpy fruit inside smells close to rotting flesh and kind of has similar consistency. Hotels and other malls prohibit the stuff from being in their building "No Smoking, No Food or Drink, No Durian!" To be honest, this was the fruit I was most excited to try last night because everyone talked about it so much. So, they waited until the end to bring it out, because it would stink up the whole house, and I grabbed my fork while people got out their cameras and anxiously awaited my first bite of Durian. The yellowing flesh was rather slimy in texture, but the taste...it is terribly hard to tell you what it tastes like, because it tastes like something I have eaten before, but it should not be the flavor of a fruit. It kind of reminded me of seafood casserole. I actually took three bites in an attempt to place the flavor and everyone was impressed. Most people can't get past the smell of the stuff and they say that after three bites you're supposed to love it. I can't say that is the case for me, but I am glad that I tried it. It really was probably the worst tasting thing I have ever put in my mouth:) The fun didn't end there though. Last weekend, while Jennie and I were participating in one of our favorite pastimes--grocery shopping--we came across century eggs. I thought they looked rather awful, the thought of even purchasing an egg that's 100 years old made me nauseous. Joking, Jennie said she would get it for my birthday, starting a new BAIS Staff Birthday tradition. Well, turns out she did purchase them, and whipped one out after we had all suffered through the Durian. A century egg a duck egg preserved in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rice straw for several weeks. The finished product has the consistency of a hard boiled egg with a pale, dark green colored yolk, and the egg white is black. It took a while for me to put a piece of it in my mouth. I couldn't get the Fear Factor episode out of my head where they had to eat the rotten duck eggs. It really didn't have any taste, it was the appearance that was worse than anything.

Weird foods and all, I had a wonderful 22nd birthday. Although I was away from some of the people I love the most, it was so cool to feel loved by so many people that I only met three weeks ago:)

Charity and I have started our second week of school off on a pretty good foot. I feel like we are really getting to know the kids and they are getting to know us. I get to teach a math lesson tomorrow morning that should be really fun.

Hope I didn't gross you out too much with my stories:) Abby...no gagging!

Row Row Row Your Boat (the video)

Here is the video of the song we created at the hot springs using the glass bottles. It is pretty dark, but you really just need the sound on to hear our lovely rendition! Enjoy:)

Happy Birthday:)

Today, in Indonesia, I am 22 years old. In the states I am still 21. Weird how that works:) I have been away from home before on my birthday, so it hasn't been to hard to be away from my family and friends today. It certainly helps to have amazing people here to make me feel loved! Yesterday, Charity and Kim made brownies for our class. The only candle we had was a table candle from Charity's house...oh the life of a missionary:) The kids sang to me and the brownies were amazing!
This afternoon, some of the girls are taking me to a really yummy gelato place at the fancy new mall where Carrefore is. They have a selection on the menu that allows you to choose 9 different flavors of gelato...my kind of dessert! Then we might go to a movie afterwards. By the way, you can go to a movie here including popcorn and a drink for like $3, kind of makes you sick that we fork out close to ten bucks in the states:)
Tomorrow is the big shindig- Jennie, my awesome roommate, has planned a fruit party. She has purchased nearly every fruit available in the Bandung area for me (and the other new people) to try. Thirty five people have RSVP'd, good heavens I have never felt so popular:) I am excited, there are some pretty crazy looking fruits in this country. Many pictures will come of tomorrow's festivities.
Thank you for all of the birthday wishes.

Tough Week

God is so good about humbling His children. This week, it was my turn:) This week I was lucky enough to be suffering from a case of Bandung Belly as well as a head cold. As tough of a transition this week has been, it was even more of a challenge when I wasn't feeling so hot, but God is good. He gave me the strength to get through the day and allowed the sections of class that I was in charge of to go really well. I am still not feeling 100%, so if you all could be praying for me I would greatly appreciate it.
In other, more exciting news, I have stepped way outside of my food comfort zone this week. Mr. Brian McArthur, I did this one for you:) Hendri, one of the national staff who helps with visa stuff, loves to introduce the brand new staff to "spicy woof woof." Yes, dog. He brought a package to school yesterday and I had told Jennie that I would be willing to try it. During lunch, Emma and I stared a the rather unattractive meat sitting on the plate for a while trying to get up the courage, and get past the picture of our own "best friends" back home so we could try it. I sat there for about ten more minutes and determined I couldn't do it unless Charity cut a piece for me and through it on my lunch plate, for some reason I just couldn't get myself to touch it. Finally, Charity picked off a piece for me and in a spurt of bravery I took a bite. It was terribly spicy, but really just tasted like beef. I will never try it again, but for your entertainment I sacrificed:) That has been the strangest thing I have ever eaten, and the strangest thing in Indonesia so far. I am told there is a snake restaurant, where you pick out the snake you want to eat and they chop off the head and cook it right in front of you. Fortunately, I am not a huge fan of snakes, so probably won't have such a hard time taking a bite:)
Thank you all for your prayers for my health, hope you all are doing well!

First Day Report!

Today was the first day of school. I could hardly sleep last night because I was so nervous. Charity and I agreed to meet up early so we could pray before staff devotions. I got the school around 6:30am. After devotions at 7:15 we went back to the classroom to wait for the new 5th graders to arrive. There are a total of 14 students, 5 girls and 9 boys. They are a diverse bunch, but should be a fun group of kids. The first day doesn’t give a very good impression though because they are all rather shell shocked coming into the oldest elementary grade classroom. Then again I was rather shell shocked today too:) Being the first day, our schedule was full of get-to-know-you activities, going over rules and procedures and getting back into the swing of being in school for six hours a day. Tomorrow we will start teaching the subjects. My responsibility for the next couple of weeks is to mainly observe and assist every now and then. After lunch today I got to read a book to them, The Brand New Kid by Katie Couric, and tomorrow I am going to run “Parts of Speech Bingo!”
I am really excited to get to know the students better. I learned so much today and I know that this semester holds a lot more!

Greased pole, motorbike ride, Row, Row, Row Your Boat:)

Today was mostly spent watching men attempt climbing up a greased bamboo pole--quite a sight to see! After almost three hours, they finally made it to the top where there were presents waiting to be distributed. The teachers also got to participate in the festivities.

Now, onto the most exciting adventure of the evening. Due to the first day of school being on Monday and the long week of orientation we all endured this past week, Jennie decided to plan a trip up to the hot springs. The group included just about all of the singles and three married couples, there were 15 people in all. Eight of us rode on motorbike and seven rode in a taxi. Now, I couldn't take pictures without losing my life so my picture painting rhetoric will have to suffice:) I got to ride with Lindsey on the back of her bike. (Yes, grandma Molly, as some of you like to call me, rode on the back of a motorbike today!) Lindsey likes to go really fast, but she is a good driver. The other day we had a couple of close calls. Let's just say I have learned a lot about trust:) The trip was expected to take about an hour going up a curvy mountain highway. Keep in mind there are no rules really when it comes to driving a bike through busy Bandung traffic, we get cut off and sometimes cut people off--it really is great fun as long as I am tightly gripping the back handle:) It was about 5:00 when we headed out, which meant we would be heading up the mountain just at sunset. Once I got past the fear, I got to enjoy the breathtaking view of the sun setting over the rice paddies of Bandung with the wind blowing in my hair. It was truly exhilarating! The whole time we are driving up the mountain I am thinking "Holy cow, if my parents knew what I was doing they would flip:)" and "I am so fortunate to get to see something so beautiful, seriously the best student teaching experience ever!" I am pretty sure the drive up the mountain goes pretty high on the list of the most amazing things I have ever done:)
The hot springs part was nice and relaxing too. Kind of embarrassing, but funny nonetheless, we all got drinks from the snack stand and in boredom figured out how to play "Row, Row Row Your Boat" using our glass bottles filled with various amounts of water. A video on YouTube should be appearing shortly:)
Today was awesome, I got to experience some pretty cool things. I am so fortunate to be here in Indonesia. It has only been two weeks, but I have gotten to experience so much. Can't wait to see what these next four months have in store.
My next post will probably be reporting the First Day of School! One of my most favorite days of the year; I have had my first day of school outfit picked out for weeks:) Please keep Charity and me in your prayers as we start off this semester.

Pictures!

Happy Independence Day!

August 17th is Indonesia's Independence Day. At exactly 10:00am on August 17, 1945 Indonesia proclaimed their independence, but did not legally become indepedent from the Netherlands until December 27, 1949.

Over the past couple weeks the streets of our neighborhood have been decorated with flags of various colors including red and white in celebration of Independence Day. The Kampung's (neighborhoods where the nationals live) do a bunch of activities including climbing up a greased bamboo pole to get presents:) Today, Charity and I went to Starbucks to talk teacher stuff and on our way to getting an Angkot to take home the road that is usually bustling with traffic and people was nearly empty and there were no cars. Except near the mosque, there were a bunch of people sitting and standing listening to what sounded like a sermon. It was really interesting. Later, Jennie, Lindsey and I went to visit our Jaga, Pak Ade and his family. In their Kampung, all the children dressed up in various costumes. His daughter, Pani, got to wear a very fancy gold outfit and rode her elaborately decorated bicycle. It was so cool to get to see where he lives and interact with all the kids. We took a lot of pictures and they really enjoyed that. We didn't get to see a whole lot of the activities, but the national staff from BAIS is having a carnival at the school tomorrow, there I will get to experience all the games and stuff they do. Very exciting!

A week of encouragement and learning!

I have made it through orientation. This week has been full of long meetings, moments of encouragment, moments of stress and a lot of long hours spent getting the class ready for next week. I have been telling my co-workers that I have learned enough in just the past two weeks to write a book. I am so lucky to get to participate in all these meetings and preliminary preparations for the school year. I would guess that a lot of my former classmates are not getting exposed to this kind of stuff. I am also fortunate to get to experience working in a school where almost all of the people I work lwith ove the Lord. In the past, school has always been the place where I had felt the most spiritual oppression. Here, I am refreshed and encouraged by the fact that we are all on the same page spiritually. For example, today we did a prayer walk through the campus, praying for safety on the playground, growth in our classrooms and protection from the enemy. It has also been amazing to see God make it clear to me that this is the exact place I am supposed to be at this exact moment in time. This is what gives me hope when I think about the stress, struggles and low times that this semester holds. As much as I may struggle, I know that he is bigger and will not only carry me through it, but in the process strengthen my character and further sharpen me for my purpose. Praise God that he is in control and that I don't have to worry!

New pizza flavors and a day of pampering!

Today I went to lunch with Becky. She is the kindergarten teacher from Colorado and my "big sister." We went to this pizza place near Ciwalk. She had me try a banana blackberry pizza. It was actually really good. Tasted kind of like dessert, but it might just be my new favorite flavor!
After lunch Emma and I were feeling adventurous and in need of some relaxation so we decided to go all by ourselves to SetiaBudhi (the international grocery store/shopping complex) to get coffee, a Cream Bath and a pedicure. A cream bath is this deep conditioning hair treatment thing that includes a shoulder massage. Unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of massages, I tend to be a bit ticklish (Alli can attest to that:)). Every time I flinched it made the lady laugh. The cream bath and pedicure were exactly what we needed before this intense week of orientation begins. We hailed a taxi all by ourselves and made it back to Complex Lipi (the name of our neighborhood). I was so proud of our successful trip:)
All the old teachers are back, and this week is full of fun meetings about policy, curriculum and year long plans. Fortunately, Charity and I have our room almost all the way set up, which means we get to work on lesson plans! I get to start off with a geography unit on the Lakes of the World which includes a field trip to a lake near Bandung!

Pictures!

Beautiful Rice Paddies.
Superheroes at the mall at CiWalk.
Gecko in the Durham's house.
Near downtown Bandung.
My house.
My bedroom before the paint.
My Bathroom with the weird shower.

Earthquake!

So, apparently there was a pretty big earthquake last night that hit around midnight off the coast of Java near Jakarta. My roommate said she was nearly knocked off her bed, but me...I didn't feel it. I woke up this morning and she told me I should probably notify people back home that I was alive and well because they will probably see it on the news. Wish I had a cooler story like I had to hide underneath something, but no. While the rest of the country was scrambling for shelter I was tucked into my bed not realizing the earth was shaking:) Everyone is fine, we haven't heard of any damage anywhere. There are probably more on the way, maybe I will be awake for those:)
In other news: my room is painted, thanks to my amazing Jaga. I got to try brocculi juice yesterday and it was quite tasty. My bites are healing up quite nicely, and I think I have gotten used to the time difference without a lot of jet lag symptoms. Today we are doing some more training and then hanging out at Ciwalk, an outdoor shopping mall with giant paper mache disney characters hanging off the signs...pictures will follow:)
Hope you all are doing well! I love getting your comments:)

Visitors, Showers, Helpers and Carrefore!

Sorry I haven't written in a while, we haven't gotten the internet in our house set up yet. The past couple days have consisted of real Indonesian food, shopping, church, and settling into our new living spaces. I really like the house that I live in. My roommate Jennie is awesome. She teaches high school science, is from Kansas, and loves eating adventurous food including sushi! I am really excited to get to know her better this semester.
So far I haven't eaten anything too crazy. We went to a hole in the wall outside the neighborhood for authentic Indonesian cuisine. I was expecting to get sick from the looks of the kitchen, but the food was very good, I especially enjoyed the pineapple juice. We had an amazing chocolate dessert on Sunday similar the Molten Chocolate Cake at Chili's (what a relief to know that I won't have to live without that for four months:)).
One aspect of living in this country that I am not sure I will ever get used to are the visitors in our house. These visitors include geckos, cockroaches, mice, and rats. The geckos are everywhere, yet they move so fast that I haven't been able to get a picture. They are actually pretty cute and eat the cockroaches and mosquitos. The cockroaches like to come up through the shower drain, so I brace myself for creepy crawlies every time I step foot in the bathroom.
Speaking of the bathroom, the shower is another thing that is extremely different from the states. Some have the enclosed bathtub like you see in the states and others simply have the shower head in the bathroom, meaning you stand in the middle of the bathroom and take a shower. Of course mine is the latter, but it actually is not that bad, you just have to make sure not to get everything in the bathroom soaking wet.
Every house has two helpers: a pimbantu and a jaga. The pimbantu does everything around the house--cleaning, cooking, laundry etc. She irons all my clothes and even makes my bed everyday. Her name is Ibu Nancy. She's a cute older lady that comes up to about my hip:) The jaga is our night watchman/handy-man. He hangs out outside our house at night, and during the day will repair any electronics that aren't working, build anything we need him to build or paint. Sometime this week he's going to paint my room:) I was telling my mom she needs to move here so she can watch HGTV and then ask her Jaga to do what she just watched. It is really nice having them and we get to support their families.
Yesterday we took a trip to Paris von Java, a huge shopping mall 15 minutes from the house. I was worried I wouldn't get to shop for the next four months...little did I know that Bandung is shopping central! This mall was amazing! They have great restaurants, and every store imaginable including Carrefore, the Indonesian equivalent to the Super Walmart. Talk about overwhelming. We were there for a total of four hours because the Durhams and the Emily's had to get everything to set up their houses. I got a few essentials including a hair dryer, some picture frames, towels, and a new cell phone. Funny story: so when setting up my cell phone the clerk asked for my Kitas, or police registration card. I don't have one of those yet, so she grabbed the police registration card of one of the other store clerks and entered his number. So, my phone is registered under some random guy who works at Carrefore. Apparently this is a common occurrence--to get a driver's license you pay money for someone else to take the test for you and if they pass you get a license:)
I am still loving it here. Charity and I are getting the classroom set up. I helped put up some bulletin boards today--kind of a pain, but they turned out nice. I have gotten quite a few mosquito bites including one that blistered exactly like the one I got in Ecuador...weird. Mrs. Durham is a nurse and has been making sure that I wear more bugspray:) Tomorrow we are doing some more shopping at an electronics market where I am hoping to get a coffee pot so I can start enjoying the coffee here!
I hope you all are doing well!

I have arrived!

After an exhausting 39 hours of travel I finally arrived in Bandung, Indonesia last night. Praise God for his provision--when I arrived in Los Angeles to meet Charity we were expecting long lines at the ticket counter and through security. There was no line at the ticket counter, the guy got us really good seats on the plane and some of her bags were overweight, but they didn't care. It took us about ten minutes to get through the security line and we were at our gate in no time. I ran into Brian Sun, a friend at NAU on his way to Fiji, what a small world!
The fifteen hour plane ride to Hong Kong was...long. The plane must have been made for shorter people, because I could hardly fit. So that made for a rather uncomfortable attempt at sleeping. Charity on the other hand slept rather well. We landed in Hong Kong at about 4:30 in the morning. I got my first international Starbucks!
We met up with the Durham Family in Hong Kong, the father, David, will be teaching high school science. Him and his wife Kim have four kids--Grace (14), Emma (12), Jeff (9), and Abby (3). They are the cutest kids, I became Abby's playmate right away!
The plane ride from Hong Kong to Jakarta was only about 6 hours, so it wasn't too long, but just as uncomfortable because I am so tall:( We arrived in Jakarta at 1:00 in the afternoon. We all got stamped and were allowed into the country. Praise God we all got our visas ahead of time because the line to purchase visas was terribly long. Everybody's luggage arrived (29 in total!!) and the customs people only had me put my carry-ons through...weird:)
The final leg of the journey consisted of a four hour bus ride to Bandung--although we were all tired we were forbidden to sleep so that we would be able to sleep through the night and avoid jet lag. This country is absolutely gorgeous! It is so different from anywhere I have every been or seen. Rice patties cover the landscape, even in the middle of crowded Jakarta. There are goats everywhere, kind of like the dogs in Mexico, they wander the streets and hang out on the side of the highway in Jakarta. It is a third world country so the poverty is apparent as well as the wealth. On one side of the highway you can see high rise apartments and fancy shopping complexes, on the other side are hundreds of shanties built on top of each other. The other aspect of this country that is significantly different is that it is a predominantly Muslim country. There is a Mosque on almost every corner and each of them have large speakers at the top that announce four times a day the call to prayer. The funny thing is though, that they are not all in sync, but go off within minutes of each other. I heard it for the first time last night around seven and it kind of sounded like cattle, a moaning sound. So you can hear the guy through the speakers, but then you can also hear the people actually praying. It is really fascinating.
We went to the grocery today for the first time this morning with Sarah and Zoe, wife and daughter of Joey the principal. I was rather overwhelmed, and had received a nice welcome basket, so I just followed Charity around while she got groceries. They had some interesting things, but actually a lot of things we have in the states. Can't wait to purchase some coffee!
Tonight I get to move into my house with Jenny and Lindsey. I live really close to the Durhams, the new teachers Emily, Emma and Erin, and the Beeson's! We have already done a lot of walking, so I will definitely be in good shape when I get home.
So far, I am just trying to take it all in, I can hardly believe I am here, but I am excited. Thank you guys for your prayers, God is really going to stretch me these next four months. Please leave a comment and I will write back as soon as I can! I love you all!

Welcome!

Last July I spent five weeks in Quito, Ecuador and used a blog similar to this one to keep people back home updated. Once again, I am fortunate enough to travel to a new culture outside of my comfort zone. This time I will be working in a classroom of fifth graders at Bandung Alliance International School. I will be fulfilling my student teaching requirement for my elementary education degree from Northern Arizona University.
Here's the story: During my experience in Ecuador, I determined that I wanted to student teach abroad. NAU offers a program in which you can student teach through the Department of Defense on a military base in Europe. About the time I was in the process of filling out my student teaching application, Charity LaMertha, a missionary supported by Grace Community Church who has been teaching in Indonesia for four years, was in Flagstaff on furlough. I was telling her how I was looking into student teaching in Europe, and she said that there may be some opportunities through her organization to student teach abroad. She expressed her desire to have a student teacher, and that she would be returning to Indonesia next August (the exact semester I would be student teaching). It just seemed to fit. She talked to her principle and I talked to my advisor and thus started the process.
I really had to sell the idea to the administrators at the College of Education because only two other people have been allowed to student teach in a country at a school other than what NAU offers. I had to research whether the school was accredited, the curriculum they use and prove that my experience there would be comparable to student teaching here in the states. They agreed to take the risk and allow me to student teach in Bandung, Indonesia.
Bandung Alliance International School is located in Bandung, Indonesia about an hour and a half outside of Jakarta. The school is owned and run by the Network of Internation Christian Schools, which is an organization that goes in and takes over international schools that are struggling, spruces them up and provides them with qualified teachers. They have schools all over the world, including South America which could turn out to be a my next destination:) I will be living with two other teachers in a house three or four minutes in walking distance from the school.
I am excited for this adventure, but terrified at the same time. Those of you who know me, know that I have a lack of confidence when it comes to teaching, and on top of that I will be in a completely new culture on the other side of the world very far outside my comfort zone! I am excited that you all are interested in staying updated on my trip, and I would greatly appreciate it if you used this as a reminder to be praying for me as I take this huge step of faith. Despite my nerves, I know with all of my heart that I will be in the center of my Heavenly Father's will.