update for a week..

so i gotta write this down or im gunna forget it all.. i know i have been slacking on getting this blog entry written and every time i go to start this.. i give up.. which is kind of where im headed now.. haha

so to start..

friday i ended up going to a wedding.. well more of a reception.. but it was pretty neat.. the bride and groom were all dressed up in this really elaborate dress.. it was pretty neat.. we didnt really stay long.. just long enough to have some food.. i was like the only one who ended up shaking the hand of the entire wedding party.. haha but it was fun..

then on saturday we (Mary Ellen and Daniel and I) decided to go on an adventure to Batu.. it was prettyyyy interesting.. we went to the new town square.. it was really big and it would probably have been a lot more enjoyable if there hadnt been sooo many people there.. i swear half of Batu was out.. apparently there was going to be a parade and people were just lining up hours before it started.. it was intense.. some woman was really interested in getting daniels picture.. it was pretty funny.. i don think i was really taking the picture right so she had to keep walking back to have me take it again.. ohhh well.. we walked around for maybe 45 minutes and then i had my fill.. we alllll know i cannot stand crowds.. haha

so then we decided to walk back to the terminal and maybe do some shopping on the side streets if we saw a shop we liked.. Mary Ellen ended up seeing a sign for Batik so we went down this side road to see if we could find this shop.. we all thought the sign was wrong because it looked more like it was an alley with houses and there was no way that there was a shop but we found it.. it was attached to this really nice house and they had some really nice stuff inside.. i immediatly saw this fabic and it like drew me in.. the people were soo nice and even though i think i was over charged a little it was too much.. so it was nice.. i got probs a total of 4 or 5 meters.. so hopefully my mother can figure out something to do with it.. the owner of the store ended up coming out to chat with his.. his wife even fed us haha.. they were really nice people..

so then we continued our walk back to the terminal to catch an angkot back to our village.. we finally got to the station and went to sit in this angkot.. we sat for probably 30 to 45 minutes before the driver spoke to us.. he asked us where we wanted to go and kept insisting on taking us to malang which.. we didnt want to do.. i kept saying my village name but he kept shaking his head.. finally he was like 50,000 for the 3 of us to go to Malang.. and i was like.. im walking.. this guy just doesnt get it.. and we already get overcharged for stuff because we arent indonesians but that was just ridiculous.. so we got out and walked home..

it really wasnt that bad of a walk.. it kinda sucked though because it was getting dark and we had to rush back to get home.. on the way back we stopped at this graveyard that i have been dying to see.. i know it sounds a little morbid but we had to pass by it every day when we went to school to teach and it is just filled with all these graves that are chinese.. so i had to investigate.. it is huge! it goes back so far and i think mary ellen and daniel got a tad weirded out by my fasination with it all.. ohhhh wellll.. haha so then we continued our walk down and let me tell you.. i was probably almost hit like 20 times.. people just drive soooo close to you on the side of the road.. i was a little afraid for my life.. haha.. i dont really want to die on the side of the road in indonesia.. notttt high on my list of things to do here..

soo we finally get home.. im dead tired but i gotta explain the whole thing to my ibu.. she couldnt believe we walked all the way but i mean.. once we started walking there was no going back.. we had to do it.. and it only took like 45 minutes.. so id say it was a good walk over all.. so as soon as i got home i took a mandi, ate and then went to bed.. then the next morning i woke up at like 330.. that was hell.. it was so cold and i had to take a mandi and oh it was miserable.. i took a half mandi.. i didnt even attempt to sound like i was taking a real one.. it was just too cold and too early to be messing around with the frigid water..

so around 430 my ibu and i walked to daniels and then daniel and i left to go wait for the car that was going to take us to UMM.. we waited about 15 minutes.. everyone here runs on indonesian time so we coulda been late and we wouldnt have missed the car.. so we picked up some other people in beji and then went to UMM to meet up with the rest of the group that was going to Pulau Sempu.. we only had to stay at UMM for about 30 minutes and then we packed out for the 3 hour ride..

i have to say in america.. i never really get car sick.. but here.. its bad.. one of the girls in the cars ahead of us had to take a break from being in the car because she felt so sick.. and i think stopping for that five minutes did me in.. once we started up again i was so ready to hurl.. i was in the back seat with erin and daniel and i felt so bad i was taking up so much room because i was trying to find a position in which i wouldnt feel so sick.. but i guess they didnt mind too much so thank goodness for nice people haha.. but finaly we made it but of course its POURING.. its raining so hard that none of the boats are leaving the shore for the island.. it was decided that if the rain didnt let up by 9ish that we would turn around and head back.. i was not looking forward to that..

thankfully it stopped raining a little after 9 and we were able to go over to the island.. this had to be done in groups of 11 though.. anytime we have to cross over water we have to have life jackets as a precaution.. so since right now peace corps only has 11 we had to go and then wait for the same boat to come back with the life vests.. it didnt really take that long for the boat to come back from the first trip and luckily i was on the 2nd trip.. by that time the sun was starting to come out and it was getting pretty hot.. so we get on this boat that doesnt really look too safe but it manages to get us to the island in one piece.. of course we couldnt find the first group of us because they wandered off so the captain had no idea where to drop us off.. long story short finally the group popped out of the woods and we went in towards the beach and then we almost tipped.. it wasnt really scary just shocking because we really came close to tipping and the only thing i could think of was my camera getting wet.. stupid thing to worry about when the boat could land on my head..  but whatevs..

so we got on shore and got right into the water.. it was glorious.. so i swam around for awhile talked to some people and ate my lunch and had a reallllllly nice time relaxing.. half of the group ended up leaving to go try to find some other beach but i decided to stay and soak up the beach that we landed on.. i can always come back to this island.. so i wasnt really too concerned about tromping in the warm jungle.. sooooo yeah i got burned.. even though i put on sunscreen.. and now im peeling.. gotttttta love it.. its so hard to keep my skin hydrated here.. oh well.. cant win all the time.. i just hope it ends soon..

but anyways the day was nice and we ended up going home around 330.. i lost one of my flip flops.. not really sure how it happened or where it ventured off to since i left my flip flops in the car.. but whatever.. today i ended up buying some more and maybe these wont give me blisters.. but it was a fun time and i got to hang out with people i dont really get to see that much..

sorry this is so long.. i just havent had time to type up anything this week and if i dont do it all now ill just forget and not want to do it..

soooooooo this past week was the last week teaching.. thank god.. i enjoyed it and the students were really nice but.. after 3 weeks and trying to create lessons without really knowing the level of the students was pretty hard.. the last day of teaching this week was awesome.. we talked about advertisements and we had the students make their own and they are just soooo creative.. maybe ill take a picture of some of the ones that i took with me.. made me happy that one of the lessons really worked out.. it even ended up being the lesson that someone from peace corp came to watch.. so it was a pretty big success.. at least for the week..

ummmm.. yeah i got some pictures of the school and some of the students so hopefully i can get those up.. im pretty much the same color as some of the students so i blend in quite well haha.. all i need is a uniform like them and you might not be able to pick me out!

welllllllllllllllll this week is the last week of language and then next saturday is the language test final.. so this week will be full of studying.. kinda sucks since my birthday is this week and ill probably have to be studying.. notttt that there is anything super fun i could be doing instead.. i have to throw this in here but hannah is slackiiinnngggg on the bday card mail.. shes the only family member i didnt get anything from :( this birthday is just gunna suck now :((( im joking nanners :)

welll i gotta get going im tired and i gotta get up early tomorrow :( at least the early days are done though for the most part..

oh! i gotta give a shout out to two of my very best friends.. Dani and Adam I love you both so much and i really wish that i could have made it to the wedding.. you are both so awesome and we are just going to have to celebrate when i come home! I love you guys and i wish you a long and happy life together :))))

so peace out everybody!!

love you all :)