February Festivities

These first 10 pics are at a village up north. We went there with a friend while they were celebrating Muhammed's birthday. Basically, all your family gets together and you beat rice, listen to traditional music, offer some sacrifices, and eat...A LOT. :)

These boys were so stinkin' cute!
It was a day of rice beatin'. Grab a bamboo pole, play some traditional music, and beat away! Seems like a great stress relief :)
An old school mosque that is used for holidays and special religious events.

Such a beautiful village!

Rina and I in the traditional clothing. It's basically just a pretty sheet wrapped tight. Being an amateur sheet-wearer, I forgot to spread my feet out wide when they wrapped the bottom sheet so I ended up having to do a little penguin walk, barely moving one foot in front of the other. haha..leasson learned! :)

Sporting our traditional attire :)

On their way to beat some rice

More rice beating. Every group of rice beaters wore a unique hat or bandana. Girls will find any excuse to accesorize! :)

I got a flat tire about 2 hours into our trip on the way there. Thankfully, there was a mechanic right down the road!

Before the mechanic, I tried to air up my tire with this machine at a nearby gas station. We couldn't really figure out how to work it and were wondering why everyone was giving us weird looks. Turns outs it's a fire extinguisher. Who knew? :)

This is a historical pic I found of the local people. It was taken a long time ago, but the people here look and dress about the same. Not much has changed :)

My new friend, Jack. He has a bad case of TB and wasn't able to get meds because of some loopholes in the health system. We found a doctor who would write us a prescription and took him the meds this Thursday. Remember him and and ask that he can make a full recovery.

Teaching my friends how to take a blood pressure..future nurses for sure!

Beautiful village down south where Jack lives.

My feet after a 20K walk. Note the infamous Chaco strap tan :)

My friend, Lynchee, really wanted to play basketball for her 15th birthday. These are my girls at the court showing off their mad shooting skills. We decided to give Johnny and June up for adoption. We visited them the other day and they seem pretty happy..and fatter. I think their new parents remember to feed them.

My friend Malea's brand new baby girl! So cute...so much hair!

Only in Singapore.

When did McDonald's get curly fries? Is this universal? I am so disconnected! :)

In honor of Tom Yum soup lovers everywhere.

Watch out for those...raised zebras?