Rinjani

Juni Joys

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 :)

The island we went to for our annual meeting is really touristy and they have a Mexican restaurant....delicious!

Found this sign outside of a restaurant. It says, "Stop!!!, Eat Lunch, Yuukk!!!"

Hmm, I think their slogan could use a little work

Wind surfing. I haven't had a chance to do this yet, but it looks really fun! Maybe one day... :)

The view from our hotel room...beautiful!

May Days

This is the boy I mentioned in my update with epilepsy and cognitive delays. He is super cute and makes me laugh. He was shy when we first met, but last time I visited he came running to me, gave me a big kiss on the cheek, smiled, and said in a Ray Charles-y kind of voice,"Oh Yeeeeeaaaahh" It was awesome :)

Working hard in the rice fields. No tractors or big machinery here, I think this is about as technical as it gets.

We typically have crowds of curious students at the door wanting to "survey" our classes. I think they're cute, my friend thinks they're a distraction. She usually wins :)

I see this cigarrette ad all over the place. It has two messages: "smoking can cause heart and lung disease, impotency, and complications during pregnancy" and "go ahead" Maybe it's just me, but I think I'd have my marketing people rework this one..

Chillin' at a village leader's house after school

Another pic of Mr. McSmoocherson

Why is this sweet, little girl biting on a piece of cotton, you ask? Well...

One morning I walked into a classroom packed with screaming, giggling elemetary school kids huddled in a big circle...

I made my way to the middle to find a dentist giving 15-second check-ups to the kids one by one. So basically you sit down, open up, and cringe as some stranger pokes around inside your mouth with a dirty, pointy object...About every 3rd kid the doctor says "cabut" and the kids go wild. The doc stands up, reaches, in, and yanks out a tooth. No pain meds. No words of comfort. Just a lousy piece of cotton and 50 of your closest friends laughing in your bloody face.

One of several Dental Day victims...

It's been raining a lot lately. This is (was) a driveway...

And the front yard become a decent sized baby pool

Leny is looking a lot healthier these days. All that soy milk does the body good :)

Kelly and I have an amazing knack at getting caught in the rain ...always without rain gear and usually far from home. Sometimes we stop and take rain showers, but this particular day we finally remembered to bring jackets. At least, Kelly thought she was bringing a jacket. It turned out to be a giant, thin plastic sack with strangely cut holes. Less than 5 minutes after she managed to tame the plastic beast the rain stopped, the sun broke through, and we had to pull over again so she could get it off . Poor Kelly. Maybe we should just stick to rain showers. :)