Thanksgiving

I love to improvise, I think that's why celebrating holidays overseas is my favorite. 

I grew up in a little town in Indonesia. Making traditional Christmas and Thanksgiving meals took a lot of work on my mom’s part. One year (I don’t know which holiday it was for, let’s say Thanksgiving since it works so well in my line of thought) my parents decided to have turkey. No big deal right? Butterball turkeys in the open market, right? Well, perhaps we named him Butterball, but I don’t think so because the live turkey running around our back yard was not that fat. Maybe we named him Beanpole. But he had to be caught, killed, de-feathered and gutted, well you get the picture. I don’t remember my parents ever deciding to do that again. I suppose that’s why having turkey is not a big deal to me. Chicken is just as good, thank you.

But it's not always overseas. Sometimes you have to improvise in good 'ol United States too. One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories in Texas is the time I ate at a Chinese restaurant with my Grandmother. The restaurant was empty, since everyone else in Dallas was at home eating turkey and dressing. Grandmother and I had a quiet and relaxing Thanksgiving dinner with no cleanup. If you love cashew chicken and a plate of rice, you can't beat that deal.

A third favorite memory is the year Kris and I lived in Eritrea and I invited my two English students to our house for Thanksgiving Dinner. They wanted to help, so I made all the "fixins" and they brought zighini: the traditional super spicy chicken dish. Maybe not quite the traditional turkey, but it worked. In retrospect, it was a bad idea to invite just the two of them because one was my closest friend and the other was a married man whose wife lived in a different city. Honestly, I think the two of them liked each other, so it didn't help that I invited them over and it was like a double date. That should have been super awkward for me, but I think I didn't even realize how weird that was until it was too late. It was still a fun day with yummy food. 

This memory probably explains why yesterday, after twenty years of never attempting to replicate it, I decided to make injera: a tricky-to-make-but-yummy-to-eat Eritrean bread. So yesterday, while preparing for our big Thanksgiving celebration for today, I was also attempting to make a sourdough starter for injera. It's sitting on the cabinet fermenting today. A grey stinky mixture, slightly less than it started out because who knew that the yeast was so potent? And the whole wheat/rye mixture grew like a giant wet blob and spilled all over the cabinet. But I only lost a portion of it and the rest is safely back into a larger container and rotting (oops I mean fermenting) on the counter-top.

This evening, while eating a “proper” Thanksgiving meal with all the accoutrements, I’ll be smiling as I think of the turkey running around our back yard in a little market town in Indonesia, I'll be remembering Grandmother sitting across from me in a booth at the Chinese restaurant in Texas, and I’ll be reminiscing a make-shift Thanksgiving dinner in Eritrea (and wondering if my gray blob of fermenting dough is getting a life of its own again and if it will have taken over the kitchen by the time we get home tonight). I’ll be feeling thankful for the Thanksgivings that were traditionally perfect and all the ones that were perfectly un-traditional.

And I’ll be thankful…so very thankful…to have celebrated each one.

 Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy First Day of School!

credit www.maryrvogt.com

The other day I sat with three other moms at the lunch table. One mother who sat across from me lamented how long it took her clothes dryer to dry her laundry.

"I think the heating element is broken," she said. "It takes 90 minutes to dry one load!"

"That's nothing," I replied. "Mine takes an hour and a half!"

Awkward pause.

The mom beside me said, "I'm so glad you aren't homeschooling your kids anymore!"

No kidding. It's a wonder they pass their math classes at all. Obviously get their math skills from their dad, not their mom.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

A Thousand Words

I love to write.

But I think the saying is true:

A picture is worth a thousand words

It would take me at least that many to capture what some artists and photographers can capture in a picture.

Last weekend I purchased some amazing photos from a talented photographer and I can hardly wait to have them printed and framed.

The hardest part about the purchase was picking which ones I wanted the most. You can check out more photos by this photographer on his Facebook Page Josh Wells Photography.

Isn't it amazing how the Lord gives each of us characteristics and talents that are unique and are obviously from Him? They aren't always what we thought they would be but if we take the time to ask Him, the Lord will show us how to use our gifts for His Glory.

When Horizontal is Vertical

You know the story. There are two brothers.

The older one works hard. He's strong, he's tan, he probably wore the world's first overalls. Cain, the successful farmer. He's a man's man y'all.

The younger son sits around a lot. Sure he walks a bit, and flicks a stick around. He sits in the shade. He plays the world's first harp because it's boring to sit in the shade all day. He's Abel the able shepherd.

One day Cain decides to give God an offering. I mean, since God created all of his harvest anyway, why not give Him some of it. Abel decides to do the same thing.

Both of these guys give God an offering but only one of them is accepted. Do you remember who?

Abel's offering is accepted and Big Brother Cain's is not. That really chaps Cain's hide. This is not ok with Cain.

God speaks to Cain. God warns Cain that his heart is not right. God even gives Cain a pep talk. Cain does not listen.

Cain let's his own personal problem with God rupture his relationship with Abel. He must have become obsessed by his anger toward Abel. Finally, Cain actually kills Abel, his only brother.

God punished Cain for the murder of his brother. The story in Genesis 4 documents Cain's response, which borders on the absurd. He says that his punishment (for MURDER mind you) is too much for him to bear. I am amazed at God's patience with Cain.

When I read the story of Cain and Abel, this is what strikes me: our broken relationships with others often are the result of our strained relationship with God.

When we hit a rough spot in a friendship, are we quick to inspect our own hearts and our own relationship with God? Or are we quick to blame or compare or get angry?

This week I am thinking a lot about this. When my horizontal relationships (with friends and family) are suffering, it is mostly likely because my vertical relationship (with God) needs some attention.

What do you think?

T9 You're Killin' Me!

OK, I may not be a digital citizen, but I know how to SMS y'all. I even use T9 to predict the word and help me type faster. But I do not have a smart phone...on several levels. And even when I try to go into my "dictionary" to "teach" my phone a new word, it will not remember it. In addition to being an SMS idiot, my phone does not like me to edit. So I spend a lot of time fighting with my phone, trying to get the little cursor in just the right spot. It takes a lot of energy and patience y'all. I'm supposed to use this cute little stylus that looked so fun in the store.

So here is my glossary for all my friends out there who receive SMS messages from me. Can you please just do me a favor and post this somewhere so you can decipher my messages? I promise if we agree to do this, I'll gain about an hour or so to every day.

1. When I am talking about my husband Kris, I do NOT mean Krishna, no matter what my phone says. Seriously? Why on earth does my phone know the word Krishna?

2. "Woohoo!" is now Wmmgmm! Please just know that I am celebrating with you.

3. While I am sometimes meek, I am "Jana" not "Lamb"

4. My phone does not like to "PTL" so can we just call it "Rules"?

5. And when I think something is really gross, please just let me say "Yukon".

6. If something is "yum" let's just agree to call it "zuo".

7. And if I will get back to you quickly, I'll tell you that I'll get you the information "ARCS"

In honor of Cyber Monday, I need some friends to feel my technology woes. Seriously, does anyone else have this problem?

End of the School Year

How lucky I am to have something

that makes saying goodbye so hard. 

-A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

It's the end of the school year. Just like every school, some students are leaving, moving away, and some are staying. But I think that international schools are pretty unique in that there are SO many who leave, both teachers and students. It is an emotional time for almost everyone, even if they don't show their emotions. Not only is the entire Senior Class graduating and spreading out all over the world, many of the faculty, staff, and other students are moving far away as well. 

Next year will be different. We all disperse for the summer. Many of us will return, but it won't be the same. New people will be here. A new year means more than just new books, new paint, new schedule. New for international schools means new teachers, new staff, new students...all who will be going through culture shock. New is good. But new is also different.

How blessed our family is to have made some good friendships. That's what makes saying goodbye so hard. But it's worth it, and we look forward to the new and the good that God has for us next year. 

If you are saying farewell, be thankful to have had the special friendships that makes saying goodbye so hard.

A Hearty Hike

It's Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai to all our Chinese friends! Because Chinese are the majority on our island, there is lots of celebrating going on today. We hear lots of firecrackers and see lots of red lanterns hanging outside houses and shops. The boys have the day off from school so Kris and I decided we should go on a hike today. The good news is, we could begin our jungle hike right from our very own neighborhood! We had the idea last night and ended up with a group of about 17 by 9 O'clock this morning. It's a pretty good hike up and over the hill behind our neighborhood. When there was a break in the jungle, we could see the city and the ocean. Beautiful! We ended up at the Botanical Gardens about two hours later. Thankfully, one from our group had the foresight to get the guys to drive several cars up to the gardens and park them so we could drive home. The final part of the hike was about 1,100 steps, so you can imagine we were not interested in hiking back home!

Here's the view of the city and ocean from the trail.

Hiking a STEEP part of the trail.

Made it to the Botanical Gardens!

And here we have a two gray monkeys.

In Our New Home...Not For Long!

Five weeks...that's how long we've been in our new home. Five weeks of unpacking, organizing, getting to know our new island and just settling in.

One week...that's how long it is before we take our suitcases BACK to the airport and fly away. I'm praying for "No Madness" during this season of "Nomad-Ness."

We are headed to Texas where I hope I'll find my sanity. Perhaps it's waiting for me in a basket of warm tortilla chips with a large bowl of salsa beside it. That's where I'm thinking it is...which is why we have requested lunch at El Fenix on the way home from the airport.

We have a few mixed feelings about the next five months. We are beyond excited to see our State-side family and friends again! We are looking forward to the opportunities to meet with partners in various cities and churches! We are a little reluctant to leave our new home that we just spent five weeks setting up! But you know what?...that's a good spot to be in. The Lord has already been providing so much for us here. It will be fun to return in January. And we know He has so much already lined up for us during our time in the good 'ole USA. So who wouldn't rejoice about that!?

God is so good! How has He shown His goodness to you lately?

How Are You?

You know what a TCK is, right? A TCK is a third-culture-kid, someone who lives in a country other than his or her passport country. Because of this dual culture, he or she often has a unique "third culture" that is not 100% of either one that they have lived in. I am definitely a TCK. I have never been 100%  a part of any culture. That's cool, I don't mind that. I like it. But here's the deal: as an adult I've added a few more cultures to the mix by adapting to life in several additional countries. The result? Comedy.

The other day I was inviting an Asian friend into my home. I hadn't seen her in awhile and was very happy to see her again. "How are you!?" I asked, very happily.

"I am fine. How are you?"

"Oh, I am fine. I am so happy to see you! Come in!" I ushered her in, "It's been so long since I have seen you! How are you doing?"

"Fine," she replied. My, it was good to see her again.

"So, how are you?" I asked happily. She sort of grunted. Oh dear, something must be wrong. "Oh no, what is wrong?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Well, I asked how you were and you sounded like something was wrong."

"Oh, no," she replied, "Nothing is wrong, but why do you keep on asking me how I am doing?"

Clash of cultures, none of which are mine! I was using my North African way of greeting with my Asian friend. I haven't lived on North African soil for over three years and all this time I've been greeting people this way because after so many years there, it came naturally. I didn't even realize I did it. Thankfully, my gracious friend found humor in my explanation and we spent the rest of the afternoon asking each other, "By the way, how are you?"

Note to self: I only ask Asians ONE TIME and then think of something else to talk about. OK, got it...I think.

A Late Christmas Greeting...

Getting ready for Christmas...making cookies!

And here are the finished products...

After several busy Christmas activities, we enjoyed dinner as a family on Christmas Day!

And now to get ready for a visit from our church. 

Selamat Hari Natal! (Merry Christmas!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

(it's not too late to say that is it? I am only a week or two late)

Fun Words Part 2

I had fun reading your comments on the blog and Facebook about Fun Words. Since word clouds are my new favorite thing, I made a word cloud out of all the words you and I thought of! Enjoy!

Word cloud made with WordItOut

Thanksgiving Feast: Cross-Cultural Style!

We had a great Thanksgiving Day, celebrating with many other fellow-workers. My friend Barbara is my guest blogger for this post! You won't want to miss her story "behind the scenes" at our Thanksgiving Meal. It's hilarious!

Last week a friend and I had the privilege of cooking 
Thanksgiving dinner for 120 Americans.... In the simple 
kitchen of a hotel two hours outside of our city.   Nine 
turkeys were ordered from a local importer and baked prior 
to the gathering along with plenty of pecan and pumpkin 
desserts – pecans thanks to some care packages from the 
US,  local squash was boiled and mashed to substitute for 
cans of pumpkin.  Two gallons of celery, sage (brought in 
my suitcase last year), onions and parsley were cooked and 
frozen ahead of time along with pan after pan of corn 
bread in preparation for making dressing.  But, even all 
this work done in advance did not prepare me for cooking 
in the hotel kitchen!  My friend and I have promised to 
never speak about the hotel kitchen’s cleanliness (um… 
lack of cleanliness…) with another person.  So, I won’t 
even mention all of the living creatures we encountered. 
 Nor will I mention the fact that the kitchen did not have 
a single wash rag or towel.  I won’t even mention that the 
same sink of dirty brown water (straight from the river??) 
was used all day long to “wash” dishes from breakfast, 
lunch, snacks and dinner for more than 300 hotel guests….. 
 Let’s just say, the entire experience was a cultural 
experience and was not for the faint of heart!  (Note to 
self…. Give family an extra dose or two of de-worming 
medicine ASAP!)

The kitchen equipment was mostly what I would call big 
“camp stoves” and woks the size of hula hoops.  Everything 
was giant sized and perfect for cooking for a crowd…. If 
one is a giant!  The pot they provided me with was so tall 
that it came up to my nose when sitting on the burner for 
cooking.  This was going to make stirring the gravy a 
challenge!  So, I asked the kitchen staff if I could perhaps 
use a smaller pot since I was too short to stir this one. 
 (Understand that none of these Asian men were much taller 
than my 5 foot 4 inches!)  After the men had a little 
pow-wow about how to solve my problem for me…. While I was 
trying to deny my urge to go grab and wash a dirty but 
smaller pot that I had spotted on the floor… the men came 
up with a solution they were satisfied would solve my 
dilemma.  One man disappeared out the back door of the 
kitchen and reappeared with a satisfied grin on his face 
carrying two bricks.  He deposited these two bricks on the 
floor in front of the stove, demonstrated how I should 
place one foot on each brick, and assured me that these 
bricks would make me tall enough to stir the pot.  Of 
course!  And, to think that I would have changed pots when 
there was a much better solution at hand.  Yes, I cooked 
for several hours balanced atop these bricks that were 
thoughtfully provided.

As I cooked, I was able to answer many questions for the 
hotel’s kitchen staff.  I noticed they would gather into 
 pow-wow sessions and then send a chosen delegate to ask 
me a question and report back with answers. Sometimes that 
pow-wow would all need to gather to explore a particularly 
interesting situation – like opening a can.   When opening 
the cans of cranberry sauce, the entire staff gathered to 
“ooooh” and “aaaaah” over the process.  The conversation 
went something like this….. “What is that” “Can opener.” 
 “It is fast!”  “Yes.”  “Did you bring that from America?” 
 “No, I bought it at the mall here.”  “Look how that opens 
cans!  That must be something new!”  “Ya, it’s really 
helpful.”   The most common question asked was, “What is 
that??”  Answers to that question included Turkey; Mashed 
potatoes; Dressing; Gravy; Cranberries……  But, thankfully 
I was also able to tell them about how Thanksgiving Day is 
a time to thank God for all his blessings and provision. 
 Hopefully they will remember the message of Thanksgiving 
even longer than they remember the amazing can opener. 
 And, by God’s grace , I pray I was gracious, kind and 
thankful while cooking a huge meal, on a tight schedule 
with an audience of local men watching, questioning and 
“helping".

Thanksgiving: We Thank the Lord for So Many Things. Here Are Some of Them!

Word cloud made with WordItOut

Round Two

I found more pictures from our adventures in Africa/Middle East. I couldn't resist posting another trip down memory lane...

Boat ride on the White Nile...Kris is the one with the picture on his T-shirt.

Making Jabana (or boon...Beja coffee...double yum!) Here he is pounding the coffee beans.

But before that he roasts the beans over the fire.

Piled in the car to go on a picnic. Can you tell which one is Aaron? :)

Seth is checking out the White Nile with a family friend.

One of Aaron's first friends in the desert: a little Libyan boy next door. They couldn't communicate with words, but they had no problem playing together anyway!

Meeting a nice couple from Saudi Arabia. That's newborn Joel in the blanket I am holding.

Downtown Khartoum.

Riding a bike in a jallabeeya. Talent at it's best!

Pushing a broken down truck off the road. Yes, that's a road!

Woah! Wait, this lady is walking in front of her husband! Women's Lib!

The Mogran. Where the Blue Nile meets the White Nile. See the two colors of water?

Common desert scene.

I love that there is a truck parked outside!

But why ride a truck when you can ride a donkey cart! Yee haw! You think maybe these 2 donkey carts are playing chicken? Wonder who won.

I bet you know what this says!

Airport Road "back in the day"

I'm on the left. Wow, can you say "slicked back hair"? That pony tail is tight!

Double yum (except for the green slosh on the right, I don't do slimy very well).

Hee hee! That's Seth when he was a little tyke! This is our weekly visit to some good friends across town in the desert.

Attempting to pose for the camera with our little friend "Apple"

Home Again!

We're back home again!  We went from the slopes of an active volcano to the shores of a beautiful tropical island.  We enjoyed yummy food, excellent friendships and received quality Bible teaching.  We survived ice cold splash baths, an almost broken arm (Aaron), very little sleep the first week, and no one got sick!  We camped out, roasted hot dogs, hiked, played capture the flag, did crazy relays, sang, flew on airplanes, walked on the beach, went to a water park, spent time with friends, spent time in prayer, hugged a lot, worshiped, posed for crazy pictures, watched a baptism in the swimming pool and paid a lot of money to eat some crazy good cheese cake.  It was a great 2 1/2 weeks.  

I didn't take very many pictures, which is unusual for me.  But I couldn't resist this picture in the airport.  There was an "unattended bag" in the waiting room...does it look suspicious to you?  LOL

And then we came home.  Our cat was so happy he meowed himself hoarse and didn't get his voice back until the next day.  Now it's time to get ready for summer guests!  My sister and her family arrive in 6 days and my parents arrive in 13 days...WOOHOO!  I am trying to clean the house up.  I was aiming for neat and clean, but I think my style for house decor is "Early 21st Century Clutter" so I'll just have to embrace the inevitable and put my efforts into things like laundry and keeping the dishes washed.  

So, if you rummage through items in your shelves that you haven't looked through in awhile, what do you find?  Dust?  Maybe a little bug like a cricket or silverfish?  Well, now, how about hatched lizard eggs?  That's what I found.  Awesome, lizards are setting up homes in my shelves.

Perhaps I need to say that my home is "Early 21st Century Clutter with a Jurassic Twist."

The Plight of the Spaghetti Sauce

Yesterday a friend of mine went to the grocery store.  She had her eye on a jar of imported spaghetti sauce.  Yum!  Actually, she had seen the jar sitting on the shelf for several weeks and had tried several times to buy it.  But when she got to the check out line, the jar was not registered in the computer and therefore could not be purchased.  As the expiry date on the jar approached, my friend continued to try to buy it.  Into the shopping cart the jar would go.  Up to the cash register it would ride.  Across the scanner it would skim.  No beep.  The cashier would key in the number on the bar code.  No beep.  The cashier would tell my friend she couldn't buy it.  The jar would be returned to the shelf.

So yesterday my friend had a new idea.  After the usual trip to the cashier where the jar of spaghetti sauce did not register, she smiled sweetly and said to the cashier, "I would really like to buy this jar of spaghetti sauce.  How might I purchase it?"

"It's not in the computer, so you can't," replied the cashier.

"Yes, but it is on the shelf.  Surely there is some way I can buy it?"

"We don't have permission from the home office to sell it yet, so we don't have the price."

Anger and frustration doesn't work well here, you understand.  It only scratches your own itch and accomplishes nothing.  Everything should be addressed with a smile and politeness.

"Do you have a manager on duty today?"  asked my friend, in her sweetest voice and with a pleasant smile.

"Yes," replied the cashier, confused.

"May I speak with him?"

Baffled as to why this lady would want to speak to the manager, the cashier agreed and called for him.  My friend explained to the manager the plight of the jar of spaghetti sauce.  "I am a foreigner living here in your city.  You have this nice brand of imported spaghetti sauce that I would like to buy."

"Oh, you cannot buy that sauce because we don't have permission from the home office to sell it."

"Can you call the home office to find out the price?  Because I am willing to buy all the jars you have on the shelf."

"Oh no, we can't do that."

"But then you will never sell the ones you have and then the home office will never send more sauce because it did not sell well..." nothing... "So how could I purchase this sauce?"

"You can't."

"But it's on your shelf."

"But we don't have permission to sell it."

"So this means that, even though your store carries this nice brand of imported spaghetti sauce and I can see it on the shelf, in order to purchase it, I would need to fly to the capital city and buy it there..." smile... "So why do you even have it on your shelves if I can't buy it?"

Within minutes the manager had a a group of employees go to the pasta aisle and remove the yummy jars of imported spaghetti sauce!  There!  Problem fixed!

So, today I began to think about a spiritual lesson to take from this funny situation (or frustrating?).  Are there things in my life that I put on display, but never access?  Like faith.  Do I have faith?  Well of course I do.  But are there situations in my life that require faith, and even though I say, "Well of course I have faith!"  have I been in touch with the Lord so closely that I am ready to use it when the situation calls for it?  Or do I carry a bunch of great attributes to show off on the shelf, but don't know how to use them when the rubber meets the road (or should I say when the bar code hits the scanner?).   But if you discover this is true in your own life, don't pull it off the shelf for pete's sake!  Learn how to use it!

Have I stretched the analogy too far?  Maybe.  But I'll tell you, next time I walk down that aisle of the grocery store and see that empty spot where the imported jars used to be, not only will I giggle to myself, I'll also re-evaluate myself and make sure I am in touch with the "Home Office"!

Easter

Easter celebrating began earlier this week with egg decorating! I had to buy "kampung eggs" because they are whiter than the other choices.  Kampung eggs are from "ayam kampung" which is apparently a smaller chicken (that lay smaller eggs) that are raised in the kampung (village) rather than some chicken
farm.  My other choices were:  regular chicken eggs (brown and hard to dye, although we did try a few), duck eggs (large and greenish blue, why bother to dye eggs that are already an Easter color, right?) and pigeon eggs (tiny and white with black spots, again, why bother decorating eggs that were layed decorated!)  Anyway, we had a good time decorating with Aunt K and then we ate boiled eggs for breakfast throughout the week! 















On Sunday morning we enjoyed fellowship and worship with our 
Indonesian brothers and sisters.  What a blessing! Yesus bangkit!


And then we enjoyed more fellowship and yummy Mexican food 
with friends!  YUM!




 We have been reading the events leading up to the first Easter as a family in the evenings, so on Easter evening we wrapped up our Easter celebration by reading the beautiful happy story of Jesus resurrection!

Because HE LIVES I can face tomorrow!

Because HE LIVES all fear is gone!

Because I know HE holds the future,

and life is worth the living just because HE LIVES!

What's Your Text?

We are having a cultural exchange!  Friends from Texas are visiting us.  We enjoy seeing our life through their eyes.  They enjoy the things through our Third Culture Kids' eyes.

We enjoy things like this:

Kris says, "Do you want chicken, beef or goat?"

Chris M. says, "Wow.  I have never been asked that question before!"

They enjoy things like this:

Pastor Todd says something like, "Joel, you should preach for us.  Do you have a text?"

Joel responds, "I don't have a phone."

We've also enjoyed a visit from Grandma.  Kris' mom spent the week with us and we have so enjoyed her!  So that's what we've been up to this week.  Lots of laughing, lots of experiences, lots of memories.

So, if I had to choose a text for this week, I'd choose Psalm 116:7, "Be at rest once more, oh my soul, for the Lord has been good to you."

Long Time Friends, New Memories

What a blessing to reunite with dear friends from our previous country of service when they came for a visit!!  The boys jumped right back into a very special friendship!  Let the craziness begin :)

The life of a TCK often combines good ole silliness with amazing scenery and places!  Here is Mount Merapi, an active volcano that erupted 6 months ago, leaving alot of ash and desolation in the midst of beautiful rice paddies and palm trees.

Then we went to Borobudur, an ancient Buddhist temple.  We saw these three cute little rice farmers :)

Borobudur is a stone temple built on a hill.  It is huge and pretty amazing.

This is the "sleeping Buddha" mountain range.  Squint and use your imagination and see his head on the left and his belly on the right.

Making fun of the sign...

You just think they were jumping for the picture.  Actually they were just so happy the tour was over!

And now for some excellent local food...

What's a tour in Indonesia with out being swamped by students who want to "practice their English" and, oh yea, take a few pictures too.

Later, in a mall, the boys discovered an interesting animal show...

And back to the hotel for some more fun hallway games!