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

The van-bike

The family vehicle/ mini-van looks a lot different in this country. It looks remarkably like a small motorcycle. We've seen families of 5 on one. It's pretty extraordinary how people get from point a to point b. (Any momma's absolutely freaking out thinking about your 9 month old hanging out like this? Or grandmas for that matter? hehe) I could never imagine our nephew Jayden not being secured with the 4 buckles in his "consumer reports approved, fireman recommended," carseat in the back of the four door car.

Wow. Nothing like this sweet family to make me realize how much we have. We read the story about a man who built bigger barns to fit all his stuff this past week. Are we building bigger barns or are we giving away our resources?

Who put shaopei in the freezer?

We had a great volunteer team come from OK and one funny thing they did while they were here was to strategically hide their extra copies of passport photos all over our house. I've found one in in a power outlet, the light box, the freezer, the trashcan, the bathroom wall, in between pages of books, in cabinets, and I'm told there are still more to come. It's been hilarious to find little faces smiling at us in the least expected places.

"Vols"

Volunteers, they rock our faces

They give away their time

They could be doing other things

Like saving up their dimes,

working on their education,

Vacations by the beach,

Hanging out with friends all summer

instead they came to reach.

They worked and taught and loved a lot

especially the food

they drove becaks on crowded streets

with a good attitude

the sweat just poured from 8 to 5

as they did their work

they culture exchanged and exchanged

they used a spoon instead of a fork.

The moment we hated the most

like the end of a great vacation

taking them to the place we had dreaded

the airport, the destination.

Saying goodbye and wishing well

i meant every sentence

when i said that i hope to see you again

in may of two thousand elevence.

So this is a jackfruit...

Who knew fruit grew from the actual trunk?

Josh Squared drive becaks

What a cozy ride!

When I first saw this picture I thought surely that the boys had set up the accident and took the picture just for kicks. But in actuality, he most-definitely crashed the becak and one of our volunteers ended up on the ground. You can see how concerned our Indonesian friend was about Andrew's well-being. Yes, he is laughing his head off.

Yup, I just scrolled up and laughed once again. Every time. Never fails!

Happy 4th of July!

Luwak for dinner

We had a wonderful few days in the mountains of Bali. One of our stops was at a Kopi Bubuk warung (a special kind of coffee resto-type)

As we were leaving, we spotted this young man with a gun leaving the restaurant on a mission to kill- something. So.... Josh being the curious one he is, followed him with the camera. This is what be brought back up the steep mountain. It's a luwak and they're actually very famous for their choice of coffee beans. They eat the "best beans" and then yes, after they've been eaten, some poor soul chooses those beans from the luwak waste and the coffee sells for about $8 bucks a cup. DELISH!

But this Luwak was just going to be dinner! :) They're good to eat, according to this handsome Indonesian man. I love the picture Josh got!

Day at the Beach! That lighthouse is no Cape Hatteras!

Go-carts, grilled corn, and laser tag - a WINNING combo!

Josh raced go-carts and placed 1st. Ireally enjoyed this grilled corn- though Josh was a little more cautious since he chipped his front tooth a few months ago playing futsal. We played laser tag at a place called "Batu Night Spectacular" (Batu is the name of the town, and well... you can see how spectacular it was!) Unfortunately our team lost - I think it was my fault- I kept going out into the open and got shot a lot! We were thankful that no one fell and got stitches during this round of laser tag though! (shoutout to the HSBC youth!)

Josh's first -and doubtfully his last -Football Game - also known as Soccer

Josh had a chance to go to the Persabaya Futbol game. This is the VIP section....... they had seats rather than concrete steps to sit on and there was a chain-link fence separating them from the more "enthusiastic" fans. (Phew) The score ended up being 0-0 but he had a great time!

Sweet Indo Engagement "Party"

One super hot Sunday morning, we attended our friend, Art's, traditional Javanese engagement party. We met the Guffy clan at their home, jumped in the car with them, and headed to our friend's house about five kilometers away. Once we got there we followed two bemos (short, narrow vans with bench seating around the perimeter) to the destination - our friend's fiance's house, about 20 kilometers away. It was a neat little ceremony and we're certain that our friend really appreciated us being there. It's rare that anyone other than family attend these events. It was time well spent.

Photos: (Note: the stuff the folks (and I) are wearing is as formal as a tuxedo in the States.)

1 (satu). When you're done eating, your plate goes di bawah meja.

2 (dua). Dessert. Enjoying cinnamon flavored water with ice cubes, fruit bits, and jello cubes in my best batik shirt.

3 (tiga). Betty listening carefully to the MC.

4 (empat). Key dudes. Left to right: Family spokeman, Art, Art's dad.

5. (lima). The food brigade. (Soto Ayam - kind of like chicken and rice soup.)

6. (enam). Art's mother presents the fiance's mother with one basket of several containing gifts of who knows what.

7 (tujuh). Three Muslim ladies; three different jilbab models.

8 (delapan). The spokesman for Art's family addresses the party. Don't ask me what he said.

9 (sembilan). Art gives a necklace and ring to his bride-to-be via his mother. The engaged couple are not supposed to touch one another per tradition.