The Chronicles of Novakia

Ramadan is here! Fasting from sunrise to sunset means life is more laid back this month, evidenced by this becek driver taking a snooze. (Beceks - a bike with a buggy attached - are a common mode of public transportation in my new city. I was happy to hear they don't use horses here. I see less road burns and bruises in my future!)

This statue was outside a hospital downtown. Interesting...

Fishing and swan boats..fun!

Popular hang out place on my new island

TURKEY! This is a rare find, but I found this guy at a historical Fort of all places. We can't buy turkey here and many of my friends don't know what they are. One girl asked me last week, "Is this a turkey?" It was a picture of a sea lion. Ha. Nice try :)

I spent a week at an organic farm learning how to farm a la natural. They were really into living life simply, which meant eating organic rice and vegetables three times a day. After I got back, I immediately went to the kitchen and ate a big plate of meat. Vegetarianism is not for me :)

It was an educational experience. One of my teachers was like the Steve Irwin of the plant world. He would give a brief commentary of every grass, weed, and plant out there and then eat a big mouthful. It was awesome...very entertaining!

Random, but these food vendors are very common. The health department in the States wouldn't approve, but the food usually isn't too bad, depending on how long its been sitting out :)

A monkey pretending to sholat (pray Muslim-style)

Monkey with a weird mask

And monkey cruising the streets on his motor bike

Caleb's first Wendy's cheeseburger!

Dig in little bro, you won't be seeing another cheeseburger for quite a while :)

I was shocked with 3.5 Million volts of electricity (voluntarily)...and I survived!

Well, me or Amy Novale according to the certificate. They were close :)

I went with Matt and Kelly to Science City in Singapore. They needed a volunteer during one of the shows so I figured what the heck. They put me in a giant bird cage and sent a huge bolt of electricity my way. It was really cool, but sadly my camera died just before the sparks so no pics to proove..sorry!

Saw these at a mall and asked the sales guy to demonstrate. I could definitely see myself bouncing around town in a pair of these. Maybe with a broken limb or two but nevertheless...

Andi's Birthday!!!

Boxed cake mix = Yum

Caleb loves his rice!

Kelly and Matt at Science City..good times!

Matt on a platter

Kelly and I having a little fun with Matt during his coma sleep

After all, what are sisters for?

Kelly might have enjoyed it a little too much :) Love you Matt!!

One of many hard goodbyes. Saying farewell to my sweet friend/former language teacher

One last night with my fam'

You may remember me asking you to pray for a friend with a bad case of dengue fever a while back. This is her - healthy and doing great! Thanks for your prayers!

One last hike on my island! Matt went too. His first overnight hike and my last...for a while anyway :)

The End!

Americans usually cradle babies in their arms, but here we carry babies (and teddy bears) in slings.

Hanging out with the girls

Our friend owns a pottery business and showed us this type of drinking pot that the king used to use to make sure no one could poison his water....

The pot doesn't have a lid, but if you turn it upside down there's a "secret" hole where you can pour in your water.

Then you slowly flip the pot back over and the water stays in without pouring out the
bottom. It's kind of like that magic trick with the cup that keeps refilling. I was entertained :)

When someone gets married there is always a parade. The bride and women lead the way and the men follow, usually playing drums and making loud music of some sort. Friends and family join in the parade and bravely walk down the busy streets as motorcycles and cars try to get by without hitting anyone. It's always an interesting experience

Playing pick-a-boo with Caleb, hands down the cutest white boy on the island :)

I caught a few boys climbing my tree and cutting off its branches to make sling shots. I think they thought I was going to be mad at them for killing the tree, but I told them I didn't care as long as they cleaned up their mess. It wasn't long before all the neighborhood boys were at my house making sling shots. The tree was pretty, but I can understand the importance of a good sling shot. This is a few of them posing with their new weapons...very intimidating :)