Over and Out

So we're off to the small islands tomorrow which means this will be the last post for a bit.

Be not afraid hahaha, it'll be fine. We're surrounded by experienced professionals, and loving locals so...yea there's not much else I can say to comfort those who would bother worrying except that I feel safe here. Example: We had to go on an excursion scavenger hunt to take pictures and I had to ask directions to the next spot. When I asked a man on a motorbike where to go he just shrugged and told us to follow him. In the states I would never for a minute trust anybody who would say "just follow me" because in our culture nobody has time to lead anybody anywhere. Here however there is tons of time for shooting the breeze and leading people places. One of our guides told me something very basic that I think everybody should know, "we walk slow enough so that we can talk while we walk."

I dunno if you've ever tried it, but she made me try it. First of all it is DIFFICULT for me to walk slow, second of all to be able to carry on a conversation comfortably you have to be walking especially slow.

So, while I am away, walk slow my friends. Walk with each other and walk slow.

Much love, be back in a few days or weeks I might not want to come back actually.. (just kidding mom, sorry that wasn't funny).

PEACE YA'LL!

Beh Che Sssss

I don't think I actually described much about Indo other than the fact that we didn't die on the way over.

First off driving is absolutely gnarly and terrifying. Today we went to the BCS mall (sound it out and it sounds an awful lot like beaches which sounds a lot like something else which is absolutely hilarious). On our way to the BCS I felt like I was running for my life across the street. Frogger times 20 because that's how many of us were sprinting and dodging cars. On the way home our guide just got tired of waiting and started walking toward the middle of the street pausing as traffic passed (yikes).

Tis hot and muggy and I couldn't be happier. We spent most of today learning bahasa and our trip to the mall was meant to get us out into the Indo world learning how to converse with people. Em and I were followed out of a supermarket by two guys in the instant soup section. People are very friendly and extremely amused by our lack of conversation skills. Can't say I minded too much I thought it was absolutely hilarious the way both parties struggled with filling awkward pauses, but it was all in good fun.

What else what else..... I think we get a free night so we're going to go adventure in our neighborhood.

P.S. being a white chick in this country is very amusing. Kids stop, point, and say "Bule!" (white person) and then run away giggling. One young boy was forward enough to lean back in his chair and say "Hey Ladies." Love it Love it.

Ben wants the computer I'm out.

We Made it!!

After a flight delay in LAX we missed our connection in Hong Kong to Singapore so we got to spend the night in a super ritzy hotel right next to the airport in Hong Kong.

Let me tell you, it was SWEET. Em and I went on an adventure and discovered that there was a buffet serving all kinds of glorious food. Unfortunately we didn't get to actually explore in Hong Kong but that hotel left a very good impression.

Oh by the way we made it safely to our destination and lost a day in the process...or did we gain a day..... I have no idea. I haven't been here twenty four hours and already ate a pepper that was WAY to hot for me, I'm not sure how I'll survive.

Other than that everybody is safe and healthy, a little whacked out from our bizarre sleeping patterns (or lack thereof) but all in all in good spirits.

I want to go to sleep right now.... so.... yeah...

Love you all WE MADE IT! And I'll try and update as soon as I can.

Peace Love and Granola

Have you ever rode an elephant in a real elephant situation?

In two hours I'll be sitting or standing in LAX airport people watching and probably being thoroughly stressed out.  OK I probably won't be stressed but Lauren will, but I'm saying it now IT WILL BE OK, DO NOT PANIC!

This morning I woke up and spoke with my mom on the phone on Em's driveway.  There are people sleeping EVERYWHERE in the house (even the backyard) so the driveway was the best bet.  While I was sitting there I noticed the house across the street had been TPed.  What an American thing.  Em lives in suburbia-ish and on the phone it was business as usual with my  mom.  I'm really curious to see how my perceptions of stuff like that changes after I come back.

We did all the most USA things last night, went to Target, the Dollar Tree, over heated a car.  It is amazing to me that we have all these things, these items, available to us and all we can think about is how to get the lowest price.  Strange huh? 

Any who Em's familia has been such a blessing on this trip.  Their hospitality and love is absolutely amazing.  Jan and Kevin have three kids, Rob, Em, and Michael, and all three are leaving home base within weeks of each other.  Rob to Virginia, Em to Indo, and Michael to Ukraine.  I am so amazed by their willingness to just let their children go out into the world.

Well it is now 7:34 am so I should go grab some breakfast.  Note to self take Dramamine and get ready for one heck of an adventure!!

P.S.  Goal: Keep an eye out for all the subtle and major differences in our culture and Indonesian culture but notice the consistent presence of God everywhere.

P.P.S.  Even the crabby airport lady who isn't making life easy is a child of God, so be nice.

Two Days

You would think that with two days left til Indo I would be so excited and stoked.

Not so. A few weeks ago we discovered that one of our team members' passport got rejected. After trying to resend it, the damn thing won't get here in time. This is one of the most frustrating times I've ever gone through. As soon as I found out that she wasn't going a torrent of curses came flowing from my mouth as I drove do the hill crying. Now if that's how I felt when I found out imagine the gut wrenching feeling that she felt when she found out.

I'm trying real hard to see the silver lining right now it is not as easy as it sounds. There were supposed to be seven, not six, seven. All the anticipation leading up to this trip has turned into anxiety about how to take care of crap before we fly out. I know it isn't my fault but I feel like if I had pushed a little more, tried a little harder we would've gotten the passport.

Blah, well anyway this blog is now going to be dedicated to Indo updates (although I'm not too sure how many I'll be able to make...)

Happy trails, call my mom if you miss me, because she misses me already.

Much love all.

The Last Day

Today was my last day of work before Indo and it couldn't have been better.  The shenanigans that went on today made me realize how much I'm actually going to miss the Physical Plant family.  

Things to remember about today:

 ~Dresser dumpster dilly-dallying.  "Phil Baker could have just thrown these down from Page with his pinky."

~ Auto Shop Pop- "Hey I haven't seen you all day Vitaliy!" "I know I'm avoiding you so I don't have to hug."

 ~Wet Switzerland and Turkey soccer- "Look how nice that field is..."

~ Chased by Peter and Mike- *THUD**THUD* "Holy shit!!"  "Mike flew out?!"  "Gimme my nutty bar."

 ~Phil and Graham- "It's your last day?" "I wrote it on the calendar..."

 ~Picking Vitaliy up from the observatory after his party- "I had a dream with you in it Kaleb, 

and you told me that Westmont was racist."

~Two O'clock Break- "Peter! What are you doing?"  "I'm switching my blog information." "... and you're getting paid how much more than we are?" "I haven't decided if I'm getting paid."

 ~Kaleb & Kirra Pole Crash- "TOM BEVRIDGE IS RIGHT OVER THERE!!"

 ~Branch under cart- "What the heck was THAT?!" "It's just... wedged in there."

 ~Big line at the dump- "You want this cup?" "Nah."

~ Graham mows all day long- "Sing, sing I don't know the words to this part of the song."

 ~Moments with Domingo- "Ees hot."  "He stood in the mud and said "uh oh!"."

~The breaks don't work- "Hey wait.  Why is Kirra driving?" 

~Giving Ricardo a ride- "Give Larry a ride he's old like me." "Si, put Larry in the back."  "Hey, that's discrimination."

I'm gonna miss these guys so much.  Everybody keeps telling me I'll get over it once I'm in Indo but I just don't know about that.  There's something so endearing about the reckless abandon with which our days play out.  We're not so obsessed with the clock that we can't find time have fun now and then and get ourselves in ridiculous situations.  Those are the best kind of memories from work incidents, the ones that probably wouldn't have happened if not for the silly mood you were in.  The best part is, there's always time to stop what you're doing to talk to each other.  LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!

Gotta love working at Plant Plant.

Kodachrome

So I'm listening to Kodachrome by Paul Simon and could not stop laughing because it reminds me so much of Larry.  Larry who seems to revel in the past while loathing the present.

Ok maybe he doesn't loath the present, but he certainly does favor the past.

"If you took all the girls I knew when I was single

Brought them all together for one night

I know they'd never match

My sweet imagination

And everything looks worse in black and white"

Now I'm wondering, would the girls be better than he imagined or worse?  I think they'd be worse, it seems like we (being silly humans) have a tendency to elevate people and things to such a degree of amazingness that when we look back on them we think "Holy smokes how is it that I survive without that person/thing?"

Maybe I'm being ridiculous right now but I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people who know exactly what I'm talking about.  Wouldn't it be nuts if we could just what the song says though?  Bring all those elevated things or people together and realize that they aren't actually all we build them up to be.  Not to say that people who are remembered as being wonderful aren't, just that they probably aren't nearly as perfect as made out to be.  

This is probably just stress and pent up gobble-dee-goop talking...  Sometimes you just need to blab to figure out what it is you're actually thinking.

Indo in five days.  Holy crap.

A Sterilized Street

Really?  A sterilized street?  It is discovering that crap like this, or rather lingo like this is still used by people.  I was lurking it on my friend's Facebook pictures of a trip to the Middle East and came across a caption that said "A sterilized (no Palestinians allowed) street in Hebron".

Really? Sterilized?  I am so furious I could scream. I sort of did after reading that but still....  The worst part is that language like this is used all the time by all sorts of different people but I just choose to focus on the positive places where this isn't said.  No wait I found something even worse, people KILL other people because of lingo and ideas like that.  I just UGGGHHH I'm so frustrated at the world we live in.  

What I don't get is why people are so quick to accept grace but never quick to be graceful towards others.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I'm Uptight

I'm uptight and I like to be on time.  I think it is a sign of utter disrespect when people are late to stuff and make others wait.

I can't help it, I  like to be punctual.

My bad.