rafting

Rafting. The idea seemed easy enough.

We pile in the Toyota Kijang and head a few hours to a very quaint mountain town. We only got lost a few times however we missed the morning excursion.... and so we do what seems to be no big deal in this country. We wait. And wait. And finally it's our turn to go. We pile in a truck that used to transport goats and head up the mountain. We had to make a crucial stop first and get some extra fuel to add to the gasoline tank to make the truck "strong." I was beginning to regret our decision to go rafting at this point. The truck skidded a few times and Josh looked at me and said "Betty, are you prepared to jump out of this truck if it starts rolling backwards?" Oh, boy. We did make it up the mountain after a few close calls. What was supposed to be a 20 minute hike looked like they were expecting us to go down this gorge- one that Bear in Man Vs. Wild would have to climb down in a survival situation. So me in my flipflops, and Josh in his even less hikingish flip flops go on down with these 'Guides.'

TO BE CONTINUED...

Kids say the darndest things

I've recently started teaching English to a group of kindergarteners and play school kids once or twice a week. I thought you'd enjoy their version of "wheels on the bus"

The doors on the bus go open and shout, open and shout, open and shout....

The bell (not horn) on the bus goes beep beep beep

The wipers on the bus go swiss swiss swiss (the 'sh' sound doesn't exist in this language)

The people on the bus go up and dawn, up and dawn

Another cute moment was when I asked if drinking milk was healthy.

Betty: Is milk healthy?

Children: Yaiss, I dooo !!

They still remembered from the previous week the question "Do you like milk?"

And the funniest moment of the week.... students were very enthusiastic and really wanted a turn putting the transportation stickers on the poster of the town. So they proceeded, with their hands in the air, most of them standing on their tippy toes, to shout (and I mean yell) I, I, I, I

.... at first I was very confused but then realized they meant to say "Pick me, Pick Me" It honestly sounded like a bunch of seals. I, I, I, I

TOO cute!

Writing a Scary Story

We did an activity in my English class. I started writing a "scary story" with a sentence. Then we passed the paper around and each student added a sentence to the story. I've left the spelling and grammar as it was written.

I walked up to the old house and knocked on the door but no one answered. While I wait someone answered, there was a rush wind suddenly came. The door suddenly opened with a heavy sound. And oh may God, how surprised am I , when the door was open I saw a little girl inside. She looked pale and sad, even I could see tears on her cheeks. I was scared. I walk close toward her, slowly because I want to know more about what can make her feel like that. She asked me to walk with her to go inside the house. I answered Thanks and I follow her inside the house and “hang out” with her until the sunshine recurred.

Birthday Party

I guess the English Teacher part of me never goes off duty during our time in this hot city. My birthday party being a good example of that. We played games like "telephone" and "simon says." (You know, now that I think about it, it sounds like I had a party with a bunch of 5th graders- where "simon says" and "telephone" would be very appropriate- and not with some twenty-something year olds ..... can someone sign me up for some social orientation upon our arrival back home?)

Anyway, the silly games were a hit. We played all the way until we had a winner- it's kind of tricky to get adults out in the game of simon says. The fried chicken tenders (along with sambal/ hot sauce) and birthday cake disappeared a lot faster than I thought they would and the room was reeeal crowded.

These pictures are of the groups during the games - yes, they are animals. To be specific, they are chickens, elephants, lions, and monkeys. I think everyone loves a chance to act like an idiot every once in a while, after all.

They bought me a t-shirt with a becak and all signed their names. What a clever idea and great friends God has given me!

Camping

Beautiful Country

English Class at home