Lion Rock

Ain't no rock, gonna cry in my place, as long as I'm alive I'll glorify His holy name. Day 3 in the Sri took us to Lion Rock. As you can see it is a big rock that used to have a palace on top of it. It is a pretty good defense mechanism. I would not want to climb to the very top of that rock just to attack someone. I would be too tired by the end of the climb to beat up anyone. It was a beautiful day as we climbed to the top. There is not much left of the palace today, but you can still see some of the walls and stairs that are remaining. The view was amazing from the top. There is not a lot around the base of rock, which is great to see that it has not been developed too much. A lot of grass and surprisingly lakes as well. Once we had taken in the sights we climbed back down, that is what you have to do. What goes up must come down my mom always says.
Climbing up the big rock. Had to stop for a photo.
At the base of the rock there are lion claws. I think that might be why they call it Lion Rock. Just an idea I had.
The view from the top.

Stupas, Structures, and Shrines

Day 2 in the Sri took us on adventures learning about Hindu and Buddhist religion. We took tours of old ruins that were filled with stupas which is a dome shaped structure that has a Buddah inside of it. We walked though many different temples and old structures that used to be towns, monasteries, bath houses, and crematoriums. As we were walking through the museum learning about the different religions and gods, I decided that it would be a lot easier if Buddhist and Hindus would become Christians. We were learning that there were tons of different gods all for different reasons. Some gods have turned into other gods because their father came back from someplace and got mad at them so he turned them into a pig. It is all pretty confusing. It seems simple to me, God is the only one that created the whole entire universe. God sent his son to come to earth in the form of a human to live among us, and die for us to save us from our sins. This was a great reminder to think about as Easter was drawing near.
Buddha waiting for enlightenment.
Photo shoot in a temple ruin.
The gang infront of a stupa.
The sign said don't walk on the wall. I was being risky and took a step on the wall anyway.
Another photo shoot in a temple.

Shit happens...So make paper

On arrival in Sri Lanka our first stop was an elephant dung paper making factory. How resourceful right? Elephants dung is very fibrous because they eat grass and vegetation. Thus making great paper products. We walked through the factory and learned the steps that it takes from poop to paper. It is actually quite beautiful. After we walked through the factory we watch the elephants parade through the street to take a bath in a nearby lake. It was a great way to start off the trip.

Tax Dollars at Work

This weekend I went up to Puncuk to stay at the American Ambassador's house (I have connections). I went with Lindsey and her parents who are in town for a couple of weeks. We went to Taman Safari and then to the house to stay the night. After being stuck in traffic for a while we finally made it up to Taman Safari. We bought 18 bunches of carrots and were on our way to feed some animals. We received a special guided tour of the crocodiles because we were from America. We had really wanted to see the Komodo Dragon but they were working on the exhibit. I had told the man that was there, and he gave us a tour of the crocs instead. I guess he thought that was as close as it was going to get to the Komodo. We also saw the Wild West Show which is my favorite part of Taman Safari. We thought that we had planned it perfectly to head up the hill to head to the Villa but we did not. We waited in a parking lot for about 2 hours before the police opened up the road to let us go up the hill. They were going to make us wait for another hour but I think that my smooth talking skills made a difference. We were on our way through tea fields up to the American Embasssy weekend home. There we had dinner, sat but the fire, and snuggled under the covers to sleep in the clean mountain air. It was a little piece of America in the middle of Indonesia. We woke up bright and early to watch the sunrise over the mountain. We had some pumpkin muffins and coffee for breakfast and went on a walk through the woods. We found the place where the measure the siesmic activity from the volcano Genung Gede. From there we got back into the car and headed back down the mountain through rice patties, banana trees, and bumpy roads. It ended up taking 4 hours to get back home because we took the scenic tour through Puncuk and Cibubor. It was great because our visitors got to see a lot of Indonesia. The whole drive I was thinking that God makes beautiful things. The landscape is phenomenal. All of the terraced rice paddies and as many palm trees as you can imagine. Beginning our trip in front of my house.

Carrots, Carrots, and more Carrots.

Waiting to go up the mountain.

My BFFL's the Police.

As I was getting ready for bed I consciously turned out all of the lights because I thought of my parents and their hard earned tax payer dollars. I did not want them to have to pay more money because I left the lights on over night in the Ambassadors guest house in Indonesia.

A little slice of heaven at the Villa.

Outside the gate of the villa before we begin our walk.

Lindsey and I on our walk. I would like to thank all of the loyal tax payers of America, because of your faithful giving, you helped to make my weekend a weekend to remember.

Cookies with Grade 6

I had three of my grade 6 girls over to bake cookies. I am their mentor for their final junior school project. They are learning about poverty and are doing service work to raise money to buy school supplies for a school in a village close to one of the girls houses. They wanted to come over to my house really badly, and I was not going to just let them just come over, they had to have a good reason. They came up with baking cookies to sell to raise money for the school supplies. Baking is right up my ally so I said that would be a great idea. They came over on a Wednesday after school around 2 and did not leave until 5. We made 2 batches of brownie, 2 batches of no bake cookies, 2 batches of easy peanut butter cookies, and they decorated many many sugar cookies. I think that they raised around $80 which was not bad since we only spent $15 on supplies. They need to raise a lot more money to buy school supplies but we are going to think of a different way to do it.
They often said, "Wow this tastes really good." or "Oh my gosh this is so yummy." I told them that they could taste one of everything that we made. I think that there was more tasting going on then that, but that is what baking is all about. They wanted to know where I learned my mad baking skills from, I told them my mom and grandma taught me everything I know.