Photo Catch-Up

So, I'm really sorry about not updating sooner! We ran into some small problems with our internet, so it wouldn't run fast enough to allow us to update. There's so much that has gone on the past few weeks. So instead of explaining it all in words, I thought I'd take you on a photo tour.

"Rumah di Pak Josh dan Ibu Amber"

The "street" we live on.

Take a trip downstairs... watch out! They're steep!


Welcome to our living room.


Here's the central room. We repainted. Here you can access the office, our bedroom, and a guest bedroom. Yes, we have a spare bedroom... so come visit!


This is our bathroom. Here's our shower...


and here's our bathtub.


Our bedroom.


This is our "bathroom" sink. It's not located anywhere near the bathroom. It's outside. On the left side is a set of stairs that leads down to our kitchen that we don't have photos of yet.


This is our backporch that overlooks the valley.


How's the view? You might be able to spot a fisherman or two down there.


Here's a stray cat that lives on the neighbors roof. He's parallel with our faces as we come downstairs to get to our front door. I don't think he appreciated the "photo op".


Photo Tour number 2

"Indonesian Independence Day"

August 17 begins a party that lasts for one full week. Each neighborhood puts on a festival for the people that live there. They play "traditional" Indonesian games. You'll see on our tour that the "traditional" games have the same or similar games in the States.

This game we don't have, but we should! They tie water balloons to a clothesline, blindfold the participants, spin them around, and the first to bust the waterballoon wins.


This is a greased pole. The pole is stuck deep into the ground and is greased up. It's SO slick. The object is to climb to the top of the pole (as a team) to reach the prizes up at the top.


What's a festival without a good ol' sack race?


Tug-of-War


So close to the top of the greased tree!


The object of this game is to be the first to eat the rice cake off of the string.


Our new friends (aka language tutors) have made us feel so welcomed!





Story Time:

I (Amber) really wanted to play one of these games. So, I signed up for the break the waterballoon game. I was playing with a few other women. We all line up while the volunteers blindfold us....



They spin us around.



The sad thing is they only spun us around twice! I was completely lost. I had a game plan... "OK, take a few steps in front of you and bust that waterballoon." Notice where I am and what direction I'm going.



Oops! My helper guides me back.



So after everyone picks themselves up from laughing so hard, we all try again! Unfortunately, I was the only lady that didn't bust the balloon.



Final Photo Tour
"Kitchen Adventures"

We don't have an oven in our kitchen. The people living in our neighborhood have these ovens called "Kampoung Ovens". This is a very unique invention. It's a metal box that sits on top of your stove burners. The burners heat up the inside and creates the same effect as an oven. Our house helper and friend taught Amber how to make brownies using the oven. After the first try, the results are in. Everyone agrees the brownies will need some work, but they still get a thumbs up and an "A" for effort!



When making a smoothie or milkshake while living in Indonesia, always first check the blender before doing anything! We got a small surprise in ours. This is a cicak (pronounced chee-chuck). This little guy lives in our kitchen and eats unwanted mosquitoes and other critters. We have no idea how he got in here! The lid was closed. There was no access point for him!





We really hope that you enjoyed the photo tours! Again we're so sorry it's taken us so long to update. We love you all. Thanks for being interested in our life here and sharing the journey with us!

-J & A