Wedding Reception

"Ka Ka photo photo Kamis tigabelas." Some hand motions and then "Ka Ka photo photo Kamis tigabelas." That is how we got invited to the wedding in the village. At least we thought that is was going to be a wedding. We were needed to take photos of the happy couple and their family and anyone else that wanted a picture.

Some kids we teach English to on Tuesday.

The happy couple and maybe their moms. I am not really sure.

More of the happy couple.

Some old women I danced with in the street. I am a whole head and a half taller then them.

Very yummy fermented black rice. Brittany got to take all the pictures. I got to eat the fermented black rice and starchy white stuff and dance in the streets with the old women. I clearly got the better end of the bargain.

Many Birthday Celebrations

When you turn 25 I guess that means that you need to have lots of birthday celebrations. In my classroom we had cupcakes and I tried to have the kids sing to me. After school Brittany and I went to the village. We talked about birthdays and then we had cupcakes with the kids.

The kids colored cupcakes and then we put them on a calendar that we brought.

After the village we met everyone from school for pizza. I thought that was the end of the celebrating. The Saturday after my birthday Brittany, Helena, and Michaela captured me and we spent the night in Jakarta at Lindsey's apartment. In the morning we got all dressed up and went to a really fancy brunch at Hotel Mulia. It was a great way to celebrate my 25 years of life.

Brittany and I at the brunch table.

Lindsey, Michaela, and I waiting on the couch in the bathroom to go home.

Holding the Hotel Mulia teddy bear's hand at the concierge as we collect our bags.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Indonesia this year. We celebrated on Sunday because we had to work on Thursday. I was in charge of the turkey. I don't want to toot my own horn, but it was pretty delicious. Brining and Basting is the way to go.

There were 24 adults and 4 kids in my little town house. It was a squash and a squeeze but we managed to fit. Two of my very good friends not from Sentul came out as well. We wanted to get a picture because we looked good together in our colors. I was in the middle, and then they wanted to be in the middle, so we all had to take turns.

Here is a picture of everyone else sitting around the table.

My face- all over Sentul

I am on a billboard for school, advertising an open house that we are having. It was pretty funny to drive past the places where the banner is and to see myself. I kind of liked it. There is also a new smaller banner in the marketing office. I am on that to. This is so you can see how famous I am. You should feel privileged to even be reading this blog.

Kokonut High

I was in the high school play this weekend at my school. They needed a few more actors so I volunteered to help out. I was a high-society mom that was upset that my daughter was at the school. I thought that it was an unsafe environment for her to be at.

Everyone said that they would never want to be the teacher of my child. I guess I got kind of angry a couple of times. Don't worry, I was funny a couple of times too.

Yojakarta

I had the opportunity at the last minute to go to Yogajakarta over the long weekend. It was a great chance to get away for a couple of days. We did some shopping, went to Borobudur, Merapi which exploded in 2010, and to Prambanan Temple. We made lots of new best friends wherever we went.

Wasteful Worship

This past week in church we read the story of the woman who poured nard on the feet of Jesus and wiped her hair in the nard as a way to worship Jesus. The bottle of nard was worth a years wages, and some people scoffed at the waste of money. Jesus did not consider it a waste because He was being worshipped because of it. We were then challenged to be wasteful worshippers this week. An orphanage that my church sponsors came to sing and share what is happening in their lives. They also are trying to get sponsorship for the year to be able to cover school costs. As a church we bought them all new mattresses last year. We are in the process of raising money to buy them new bedding to go on the mattresses. A couple of us decided to take them out to KFC after the service as a form of wasteful worship. This is what it looked like.

Funny Google Search

We have a 4 day holiday coming up next week, and I am trying to figure out where to go. I found a semi-cheap ticket to Solo, Indonesia which is in Central Java. Before I bought the ticket I wanted to find out what there is to do in Solo. This is what my google search came up with.

Can't you get a gun the same place I bought my shoes?

This was the question that Scott posed over dinner last night. Brittany and I saw a rat in my backyard last night, and we decided that we needed a gun.

Don't worry- it looks like it can do some damage but it is just an air gun. We might practice with pop cans first, move to cats, and then go for the rat.

We also bought a yoga ball last night. This is Brittany with both of our exciting purchases from the evening.

If anyone has any hunting tips, I am open to suggestions.

Soy Milk... Sort Of

I tried to make soy milk. Some of Brittany's students were going to make it. I thought, I can do that. I should just make my own. Silk is so overrated. Here are the steps that I took to making it.

Step 1: Buy Soy Beans aka Kacang Kedele.

Step 2: Soak beans over night.

They will look like this after a good soak overnight.

Step 3: Throw out the bad water. Rinse the soy beans.

Step 4: Smash the beans in a blender.

Step 5: Squeeze the smashed beans using a clean dishrag to get out all of the liquid.

Step 6: Boil the liquid with a little bit of sugar and vanilla. Stir constantly.

Step 7: Let cool and drink up. Or in my case add a little bit to smoothies because it is too thick to drink. It is more the consistency of pudding.

Math you 28:20b

Matthew 28:20b "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." I asked my students to write their memory verse for the week in their books. I was working with one student and I told him to write down Matthew. He wrote Math you.

Brittany's Birthday Bowling Bash

Brittany had a birthday and we decided to celebrate with a bowling party. We split everyone up into teams and had ourselves a little bowling tournament. Afterwards we went to Dominoes for some pizza.

Every team had to wear matching outfits. There were prizes for best dressed, highest points, lowest points, and most enthusiastic. Brittany and I won the lowest points prize. It was a little sad.

When the lights go out

The power went out today after school. I had some grading that I wanted to get done so I decided to put on my head lamp. It is hard to see but the lights are out in the picture, and I am only using my headlamp to see. It was sometimes hard to see what was written on the paper because of the glare from the light, but grading was accomplished.

Leonard

Brittany and I went to scope out a bowling alley in Bogor so that we can go next week for her birthday. It took a little bit of time to figure out how to get there. We ended up hiring an angkot to take us there. When we got there we started figuring out what we would need and how much it would cost. Then we met Leonard. He became my BFFL (Best Friend For Life). We wanted to call for a taxi so Leonard took care of it. We waited for about 30 minutes and the taxi did not come. We decided that we would take Ojecks back to the mall and then try to get a taxi or take the bus from there. Leonard whistled and hollered for ojecks until he found some. He then got them to lower the price and told them to be safe. While we were waiting for the taxi Leonard told us the proper technique to use when we bowl. Brittany and I are going to try it out next week and see if it gets us a turkey.

Just call me Martha Stewart

Except for the part about going to jail. I have been working hard to be very domestic over this long holiday. I have hung up pictures.

Filled my freezer with baked goods such as bread, cinnamon rolls, muffins, and cookies.

Built a fan, and used it to cool off.

Planted flowers and plants in my backyard.

I also bought a new lounge chair for my backyard and I have been reading and relaxing as I catch some Vitamin D.