A little bit more vacation...

This is our last week of freedom before the real work starts. We’ve spent our 3 weeks meeting too many people to count, exploring Caruban, talking, sleeping, and sweating.

School starts Monday. Unlike schools in America, the teachers do lesson plans and such AFTER school starts. So weird. So when Monday comes, we're pretty much just going to show up and meet our students. We plan to do some games for introductions but it should be pretty relaxed.

Daniel and I both cut our hair. It was funny to see the red and blond in contrast with the black hair all over the floor. My hair is the shortest its ever been. I wouldn't say it's a beautiful “do” but it's easy. I literally wash it and let it dry naturally. Throw on a headband or a clip and I'm done. The haircut cost 8.000 rupiahs = $1.00!!! This place is sooo cheap.

Last week, our friend Lusianna took us to Sarangan. It's a lake in the middle of the mountains. It was beautiful and actually a little chilly. At Sarangan, we hiked to a waterfall, and ate Sate Kelinci (Rabbit kabob's) which are delicious! There is also speedboat rides and horseback riding but we saved that for the next time we go.

We got our first exposure to the dreadlock crowd of Indonesia. Last weekend all the Vespas in Java gathered in Caruban to show their stuff. Vespas, young and old, were there and some looked more like small bamboo shacks, than a motorbike. Almost every owner of a Vespa had dreadlocks. There was a reggae concert too, and everyone danced (or really more or less hopped around) but it was a lot of fun.

We missed watching baseball and seeing fireworks for the 4th. We celebrated by going to Madiun city (about 30 minute car ride from where we are). We had hoped to see a movie but the only ones they had were in Indonesian with no subtitles so we decided it wasn't worth it. Instead we ate an average attempt at Indonesian pizza, and then went to the grocery store and bought some peanut butter. Hahaha, it was intense!! Just kidding.

Daniel is reading our lonely planet and already starting to brainstorm on some pretty intense hikes and camping. We are hoping to make it to Bali sometime next month for our first "get crazy" vacation with the other volunteers.

On a really cool note, the teacher of our bible study mentioned how she had been praying for some help. She's been leading the group for 2 years and the kids can be pretty exhausting. Laughing all the time. So she was really thankful her prayers have been answered that not only does she have help now, but she has 2 native speakers. (The bible study is in English and Bahasa). The same prayers were answered for us. We needed a church and some friends, and found them both in the first week. God is Amazing.

One final note, we joined a hiking group. They meet 2xs a week and go on a little hour walk every time. Then everyone goes to a warung for a light snack and tea. It's really well organized and they loved us joining yesterday. The leader of the group was really funny. He told me he had a bad heart because of too many drugs and women! Hahahaha! And he almost made it to the end because I was walking with him. In my head, I started to go over CPR in case he keeled over right then and there.

Please keep us in your prayers for the start of school. It's going to be different, exciting and exhausting all at once. We miss you all :)

A group of volunteers created the following video to document the local culture. The title is spot on.
"One Day in an Indonesian Village"