catching up

wow today was soooo much fun.. we have to make a community map of our village for the Peace Corps.. it was really neat because we walked to places that we usually dont venture too. we walked down this one alley on the main road running through the village and saw all these neat houses.. feels very indonesian.. met a lot of people and took some great pictures.. we then went to the police station to do something else the Peace Corps wanted us to do.. get the 24/7 hotline number.. it was really funny walking into the station.. there were all these police officers and they just starred at us.. we got to meet someone who we think had a high position and we got pictures with him and we had several pictures taken of us on cell phones and with numerous cameras as we were talking to this guy. It was interesting..

Next three of us decided to go down to where Daniel and I live and walk up the road to see what lays beyond our village.. it was a nice uphill walk.. at first i didnt really want to walk that far.. im really not an uphill kind of person and the fact that it was hot didnt help.. But after awhile i got used to it and we got pretty far up and had a decent view of the big mountain that is behind our village.. We all have decided that we want to try and climb this mountain if we get the chance but we’d have to find a good time to do it.. i think its going to take at least 6 hours to do the whole thing.. maybe more.. but youd have to do it early in the morning because usually around 1 or 2 it starts to get cloudy and you cant see the mountain anymore..

oh my gosh there is some chanting going on tonight.. not sure where its coming from, if its coming from the mosques or not but its a tad bit annoying.. it just sounds like rambling.. but im sure he is saying something.. it could almost be like a native american chant.. i have never heard this before.. hopefully ill be able to sleep through this if it doesnt stop.. ohhh indonesia..

but back to my day.. after we explored, we went to see if we could use the internet to check our emails and go online a bit but when we got there the place was packed with children playing computer games.. it must be the thing to do for some kids to come and play games after school.. eh.... but moving on.. after waiting about a half hour, we met up with some other volunteers and our cultural expert Eka and went to Malang to go buy some batik clothing.. It was a very easy angkot ride there and we first stopped at a store that sold cloth.. Some of the stuff in this store was soooo pretty.. Other stuff.. ehh.. but it was interesting to look at all the cloth and see what the prices were.. of course the nice cotton stuff was about 100,000 per meter.. which might not be that much US but.. i didnt have that much money on me to buy some.. Daniel got a nice batik shirt and the another volunteer, Angela, got some really pretty light weight batik with a bird print on it.. Shes going to try and find a tailor to make her a shirt.. I figured i would wait a bit before i went down that road but I would love to do that..

Next we went to a mall.. I am never going back to this mall.. it was hectic.. usually malls are annoying (for me) to be in.. this was just crazy.. we walked around to several places trying to find a place to buy batiks but we couldnt find anything that we liked..after walking around for 2 hours and not finding anything we finally went back to the first place we looked at in the mall to try and find something in the mass of mens batik shirts.. finally.. we found some.. i like the shirt i got though there were some other styles i would have liked if i could have found them.. I guess in Batu they have a better selection in shirts and the like.. Our cultural guide Eka always wears the cutest stuff and everyone wants what she has haha.. As we were leaving a lot of people started to comment on my growing sunburn.. I had noticed throughout the day that i was a little red.. and then i was getting redder.. it wasnt until we got on the ride home that i looked and yeahhh.. im super red.. i have the most awesome farmers tan and i will probably have it now for the next two years.. right now im in bed but im so warm that i probably will not need to use my blanket tonight.. im generating enough heat.. haha

when i got home everyone in my family commented on my sunburn they laughed when they saw my arms haha.. now I am merah (red) and putih (white).. haha My host mother called me multicolored.. yes i guess thats me.. My sister helped translate something from my host mom and my mom said that she really liked me and that i was very beautiful (sunburn and all.. ) it was really nice of her.. i am really coming to enjoy my family here.. it still cant replace the people i left back home but im starting to feel better about being here. more welcome and a part of the family..

I finally brought out my camera and got some photos of my family.. i of course look like crap.. im so red and being next to their brown skin makes me look even worse than I know I am.. oh well.. i have 9 more weeks to get a better picture.. haha..

Wellllllll I gotta get to bed.. the chanting is still going.. looks like it may be a long night for me..

love you all :)