My Birthday!

WOW! What a fabulous birthday I had! I can sure say I was spoiled silly! My friends really love me here! My birthday celebration really lasted for the full 24 hours! 12:06am on April 25th, I began to received text messages on my phone. The night before my birthday, Mantju insisted on spending the night and waking up early to pray with me. So 5:15 in the morning she's knocking on my bedroom door..."Wake Up Birthday Gril!" She forces me out of bed and we take a walk around my apartment complex. Then at 6:30am we walk back to my apartment and I open my door to find my two friends, Angel and Sisil, standing there yelling "Surprise! Happy Birthday!" They had decorated my apartment and made me a fabulous breakfast with rice, eggs, vegetables, fruit and meat! It was delicious! Mantju, Angel, and Sisil, had the whole thing planned so well, I never suspected a thing! I was so shocked and encouraged the rest of the day... I couldn't stop smiling! They played a cd of birthday songs and got me a "Hello Kitty" cake. And so began the best birthday in Indonesia!





Then, when I got to school, all of my students had brought me a present. Allegra had also brought me a cake, an oreo-cookie cake! We played a guessing game about "Ms. Vail" - which they loved! And we had donuts and cake and opened presents! We even got some fun glasses, you'll see in the pictures! What a day at school! I don't think we did any "work" at all!





For dinner I planned to take all of my friends in North Jakarta to Pizza Hut. Tradition in Indonesia is that the birthday girl treats everyone to dinner. So I chose Pizza Hut because it was easy and its a nice restaurant. You might be laughing... but really, look at the pictures. Pizza Hut is gorgeous! So it ended up being about 20 of my friends who met at Pizza Hut. And for 20 people we ate pizza, salad, and chicken wings for 40 dollars! How great is that!










After dinner we had to go to Kareoki! I love kareoki! And to top off my birthday celebration all my friends from Central Jakarta showed up for Kareoki with me! The girls surprised me! So that was lots of fun! I have many pictures and video clips of kareoki!






Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me at the kareoki place!






Two of my friends from Central Jakarta stayed the night at my house on Friday night after kareoki. And then Saturday another friend took me to dinner and a massage. And two friends stayed the night with me on Saturday. Then Sunday, my co-worker had me over for dinner (Indian Food - delicious!) It was a celebration weekend! I feel so loved and taken care of here!

Indonesian Week

Every year International Schools celebrate the country that they reside in. Obviously we reside in Indonesia. So we had Indonesian week. This week we celebrated the culture of Indonesia and dressed up in Indonesian traditional dress. It was so fun!

My Space and You-Tube Banned in Indonesia

Just a few days ago the governement of Indonesia banned the use of sites such as "My Space" and "You-Tube" due to an anti-Islamic video. The article is quite interesting. I will let you decided on your political opinions. So here is the article if you are interested.










Article from newspaper:
JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia has blocked access to YouTube, MySpace and
other websites showing an anti-Islamic film that has sparked
widespread protests, Internet providers said Tuesday.

Indonesia's main Internet providers said they had acted on a
government request to block websites showing the film.

The move came after the communications minister last week wrote to the
file-sharing site, YouTube, asking it to remove the 17-minute film,
"Fitnah," made by far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders.

"We apologise, we have for the time being blocked sites and blogs
which carry 'Fitna,' at the request of the minister for communication
and IT," Internet provider Speedy said on its website.

Speedy said it had stopped users accessing eight different sites,
including blogs that carried the film.

Another provider, Radnet, told users it was "temporarily closing
access" to YouTube and MySpace, a popular social networking site, at
the minister's request.

The film features imagery of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New
York and the 2004 Madrid bombings combined with quotes from the Koran,
Islam's holy book.

The minister wrote to Internet providers last week asking them to
block access to sites that carried the film on the grounds that it
could "disturb religious and civil harmony at a global level."

Muslim groups here have held several protests outside the Dutch
embassy in the capital Jakarta.

Most have passed off peacefully, but last Wednesday dozens of members
of a Muslim student group attacked a Dutch consulate building on
Sumatra island, burning a flag and breaking down the gates.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has banned screenings of the film
and barred Wilders from entering Indonesia, the world's most populous
Muslim nation with some 90 percent of its 230 million people following
Islam.

Water Dancing!

Mimi, Asien and I went to Grand Indonesia (another mall in Central Jakarta) to watch a movie and then we walked around the gigantic mall. Every hour on Saturday they have the "Water Dancing." The fountain shoots off water to the music! It's really fun to watch!

Philippine Email

Hello Everyone!

So much has been going on in my life. Last month my sister took a 2 and 1/2 month trip around Asia. She went to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, then met up with me in Indonesia and we both went to the Philippines. She went to Bali on her own with a friend, and then I took her around Jakarta! Well, I have to say, my friends took her around Jakarta! They planned a whole itinerary for her! They picked her up at the airport, they spent time with her and took her places while I was at work, they even brought her medicine when she was sick. How do I always find the best friends, everywhere I go!

My friends took us to Taman Mini... which, if you read my blog, is a theme park that represents every island in Indonesia. There are about 3000 islands in Indonesia, and I will never have time to see them all, so going to Taman Mini is a 'mini' version of what you'd see at each island. Every island is very different because they all have different cultures and traditions. They even have different languages. It was so interesting to see. Since going there I've decided on a few of the different islands I'd like to visit before I leave Indonesia.

Of course since my sister was in town I got to be a tourist with her! We went to Bogor, a city right outside of Jakarta, for dinner. It was a beautiful restaurant that had a great view of the city. And next we went to the Monas, the national monument.

My sister and I then traveled to the Philippines for my spring break holiday. We were there for ten days. We spent most of our time on an island called Puerta Galera. My sister was not too impressed with the Philippines. We flew in and out of Manila, which is not touristy at all. Its just a big city like Jakarta, that isn't necessarily the safest place for tourists. But we did get to connect with some of the people from my church in the Philippines. That was pretty exciting getting to meet them and share stories. Also I met up with Matt (friend in my church in Tacoma). It was so crazy to see a friend from Tacoma half-way around the world and super encouraging!

Puerta Galera is a diving island. I got my scuba cert there and did many dives. It was absolutely amazing to see the world under the sea! I love it! Its definitely my calling! I got to see Nemo, Dori, sea cupcumbers, colorful shrimp, eels, and a gigantic sea turtle! No sharks, sorry. (Everyone always asks). I have an underwater video of the dive. So some of you may be lucky to view it when I get home!

The diving is great in Puerta Galera, however there really isn't much else to do there. Yet, we did find one tour that we signed up for. It was very neat. It took us to some beautiful waterfalls to view. And then to a place called Paradise, where they made a Philipino barbeque and we met and hung out with the locals. We swam at paradise with the locals, which was lots of fun. And then we went to a village. It was extremely humbling to see the way the village people live. However it was very similar to Indonesian kampuns (villages).

Anyhow, we mangaged to have a splendid time in the Philippines. It was so great to be with my sister. I'm so glad that she took this trip. She will be someone that can relate to some of my experiences here in Jakarta.

Achol at Sunset

Sometimes you have to look hard to find the beauty in this gigantically polluted, over-populated city of Jakarta... But you can find it if you look hard enough in the right places...




Yenny and I.




Mimi and I.


Jeki, Mimi, Asien, Angel.




Maria and Mimi.




Angel on the stern of the boat.


The girls on the boat.

Philippines With My Sister

My sister and I took a trip to the Philippines. We flew into Manila and then took a boat to an island called, "Puerta Galera." The island was beautiful. Its a diving island, and I got my scuba diving certification. It was a very relaxing trip. We spent 7 days on the island then went back to Manila for one night. I met up with some people in Manila and then flew back to Jakarta the very next day.


The boat we took from Manila to Puerta Galera.


The view from our dive resort (El Galleon) in Puerta Galera. I got my diving certification here! I love diving! Its a whole new world under the sea!


The beautiful night in Puerta Galera!


Jen and I celebrated Easter Sunday with an "Easter Dinner" at one of the resorts... it was expensive... but worth it.


This is a "tricycle"... Its a motor bike with a side car... my sister and I rode everywhere in these.


Island of Puerta Galera.


Waterfalls


Hiking up to "Paradise."


This is a our Philipino barbeque! Mmmm Delicious... Chicken, Pork, Fish!


This is Pradise... That was literally the name of it!






Jen, with some of the kids selling things along our hike. They acted as guides and salesmen... They were very sweet and were so curious about us, just like we were curious about them.




Crossing the crazy bridge to the Philipino Village.




This little girl really caugh my attention in the Village.


This is a Philipino Village.


This is a secondary school in one of the Villages in Puerta Galera. Can you imagine your kids going to school here? I can't imagine teaching here. Wow, was I humbled.


We jumped at an opportunity to have Mexican Food in Asia! It wasn't what we'd hoped for... but it did the trick for a little while.


Did you know that they really built Noah's Arc on the beach in Puerta Galera, Philippines?


I make friends everywhere I go...


Who said they give small portions in Asia?
There's actually a funny story behind this pictures.


Guess what I found in Manila, Philippines! Wow!


I hooked up with a few of the people from my church in Manila. This is my new friend, Leah. She took Matt and my sister and I around on Friday, March 28th.


And to end my trip...
Who would have thought I'd meet up with a friend (Matt) from Tacoma half way around the world in Manila, Philippines! CRAZY!