Congratulations, Molly, you're now an adult...

My lack of posting should give you a hint of how crazy my life has been since arriving back in Indonesia. I was able to enjoy a couple days of playing and relaxing before school started. The morning after I arrived Jennie, Aaron and I visited the orphanage we had taken presents to in December, and the culinary adventures once again commenced. The head guy was raving about this fruit that he claimed was worse that Durian. As he was telling us about it he asked one of the kids to run up the street and buy some for us to try. It wasn't nearly as bad as durian. It is called Jenkol and tastes kind of like a turnip. It leaves a terrible taste in your mouth for hours after eating it. We were warned never to eat too much because it would cause kidney stones...yikes!
Emily's birthday was on the 10th, so last weekend we celebrated by racing go carts at the Bandung Super Mall. It was so fun, and I actually didn't do so bad...turns out the Grandma Boat (my Buick LaSabre back home) was good practice for speed racing. I got third place. This mall was pretty amazing, there is a whole carnival type thing on the top floor with a roller coaster that only costs a dollar to ride. It was really fun. We then went to a Sundanese restaurant, that also turned out to be a culinary adventure. It was set up buffet style where you pointed to the foods you wanted to try. The fun part was that none of us really had any idea what we were choosing to eat. Special items included cow skin, salty fried squid and snails. The cow skin was jiggly and salty, and not very good. I didn't try the salty fried squid, but I heard it was hard and very fishy tasting. I was excited to try the snails, because I had passed up the opportunity when I went to France about 12 years ago. They weren't bad at all, in fact, they tasted fine. Not sure I would choose to eat them again, but they weren't nearly as bad as I would have thought. No worries though, we were able to cleanse the palate with some yummy cappuccino cheesecake afterwards.
This week I started my first real job. I teach two classes a day: high school ESL first period and middle school ESL seventh period. I have ten students total, nearly all of which are Korean. They are a lot of fun, and I am learning a lot...the English language has quite a bit of rules:) On Monday I was worried about having enough to do during the time that I am not teaching, but that problem was quickly solved. BAIS is moving to a new campus that is currently under construction. Right now, we are in the process of recruiting new students as well as developing a plan of attack for the big move out there. On Tuesday, Jennie (my roommate and one of the high school science teachers) and I were given the task of organizing the three open houses that will occur this week as well as that plan of attack. Our evenings and free periods have been full of developing a plan for these open houses and getting enough people to help and making sure that it all comes together on Wednesday and Saturday. This has been quite the challenge, but also really fun to be a part of something so important for the school. I have learned a lot about how to best utilize the organized/perfectionist/linear/practical side(s) of my personality. Luckily, Jennie and I work really well together. The big productions will be Wednesday evening, Saturday morning and next Wednesday afternoon. Please be praying for these open houses: that they would come together, that people would be come to them and that ultimately God would be glorified through them.
I feel like I arrived in Bandung and hit the ground running here this second semester, and God is constantly teaching me to trust him in all things. Thank you for your prayers as I continue on my teaching adventure here in the tropics!