So today Krystal, Hannah, my friend Faiz and I went to Mojokerto to see a giant sleeping Buddha and some Majapahit temples. The Majapahit were people who lived around central/east java and have left a rich history and many many things to see. They were I believe Buddhist but I could be wrong. I kept getting conflicting information and at the moment I am too tired to look it up myself.. So if you are curious.. you should know how to use google :)
Anyways so we took a bus and.. it was again one of the worst experiences.. Had to stand almost the entire time and some woman pretty much puked on Hannahs foot without moving Hannah or even saying "I'm sorry.." Just not a good day for meeting polite Indonesians.. Or so I thought! But finally we get to the stop and we hop off and are of course harassed by drivers asking us where we are going and if we need a ride and the usual. Finally we get to this lake which is pretty cool. It used to be a swimming pools for kings but now people just fish in it..
So after seeing the lake we continued on our way to the museum where we could learn a little more and see come objects that have been taking from historical sites, which bother me a little but it was still cool seeing the stuff. We got to see some tombstones and a variety of things from buildings and temples. While there we also ran into a group of elementary kids on a field trip.. And while they were cute.. We did get a lot of stares.. But they were good sports when we turned the camera on them. They loved it ha. We got to see some excavation sites as well where houses used to be and I think maybe some roads. Not really sure what it was we were looking at because of all the signs this was the one that did not have any English.. Go figure..
After leaving the children and the museum we then ventured to a place where they used to have meetings. I am not really sure if I believe that it is the original structure or not but it was pretty neat with all the carved wood. Now I believe the military uses it as a meeting area because there was something going on there. We also saw a statue of one of the heroes of Indonesia. Not quite sure what his name was or what he was famous for but apparently the little temple that is at the back is dedicated to him. Before we walked through the archway we had to say something to the gods or to him. It was weird but I did it anyways.. It wasn’t really all that exciting so after snapping a few pictures, getting stared at by a billion people (notttt close but.. you know..) we moved on.
The next place was about 3 kilometers away which wasn't too bad of a walk
but it was getting hot and we had to keep stopping to make sure we were
going the right way. On our way there a bus filled with children passes
us and it was the same bunch of kids we saw at the first place. We
waved and made faces and then continued to walk. Finally we made it to
the next place and lo and behold the kids are at this place too..
Whatever right? So we went and walked around and saw what I think was a
temple but could have been part of a palace (sorry I know I am not doing
my job keeping things straight..) It was pretty cool.. got a few more
pictures of the kids and then went to find Faiz who decided to sit down
in the shade. She actually started talking to the teachers who were with
the students and somehow it came up about giving us a ride. At first I
think we were all a little wary but after standing for a few more
minutes and thinking about walking in the heat we decided these kids
weren’t so bad. We started chatting with them and Hannah made some
friends haha. Of course there was a huge language barrier but that didn't
stop like three little girls from following her. It was cute. So then
it was decided! We were going to join this SD (Elementary school) on
their ride around. I think we made their day. 
So finally we get to the next place and this used to be a scented pool area for the royalty. I think I am getting this right. Its almost like the bath houses in Rome.. Really not much happened here but it was still pretty neat. We chatted with some of the students and again Hannah found herself surrounded and I thought it was hilarious. We then got back on the bus and went to the last stop which was a Heroes graveyard. Which sounds a lot cooler than it was since we weren’t Muslim and we couldn't go in and see anything.
So we sat around while the children went to pray and go see the tombs and afterwards talked to some of the boys and met this really cute kid who called himself Raja. Raja means king in Indonesian. He was adorable. He is the little kid in the green hat in some of the before pictures. We walked back to the bus with some of the kids and Faiz told us that the kids and the teachers were so excited because people kept asking them why they had Americans with them. I think they were very proud. Once we got back on the bus we sat and waited for the students to make the walk from the tombs to where the bus was parked and I couldnt help thinking about missing children. How would they know if they had all the kids. No one was doing a head count. It kinda shocked me but I think they made it with all the kids. So thank god for that. Finally it came time for use to leave (once we got to the main road) and it was kinda sad. I really fell for those little kids. We shook the teachers hands and yelled goodbye to the kids who yelled back too. It was nice. As they drove away we waved to them and got to hear them cheering and saying goodbye. It was just awesome.
The last stop on our trip was the sleeping Buddha which really was the whole reason we went out today. By this point we were all tired and getting a little red (Hannah....) but we powered through it. It was pretty neat seeing the Buddha. We werent able to get too close since the inside fence was closed but it was still pretty neat. All along the bottom and at various places in the compound were murals depicting the life of Buddha which was awesome that I could tell (thank you OU Buddhism! You are finally coming handy!) They had a number of other statues there as well so we had a busy time walking around.. We managed to walk through it all pretty fast though. I think we were just tired and ready to go home.
So then we walked to the main road, waited for like 15 minutes, hopped on a bus and came home. I can honestly say this was one of the BEST days I have had in Indonesia since coming to site. It was the prefect day after the horrible bus ride in the morning. I can almost forget that happened ha.
Anyways tomorrow I move, Wednesday late afternoon we head out for the east coast and then friday we go to Bali. Should be a fun week. Cannot wait to get away and just relax with my friends and spend Christmas on a beach!
So! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year just in case I dont get on here before then!
I am so blessed to have everyone in my life and I could not have made it through this past year without the support of my amazing friends and family. Thank you soo sooo soooo soooooooooo much.
as always
I LOVE YOU ALL :)
