Lovely Little Things

A Love List:

1. A periodic herd of goats that roams the front of the house. 

2. The sheer density of living here.  It is an endless maze of small paths and streets between homes where I can bike and walk through with endless curiosity.  

3.  Walking down the street and a pedi-cab driver I may have met once, if ever, yells out my name.

4. Little kids will, like all Indonesians, shake your hand when you met and when you depart.  For little kids, they bring your hand to their lips and give it a little kiss.  I'm not the kind of person to say this, but that most be one of the cutest things.

5. Teaching kids to play kick the can in a dense maze like village.  Hands down, I had more fun then the kids.  

6.  The conversations I have at stop lights on my bike.  Sometimes people know my name and things about my life like where I am usually going, and I have no idea who they are.  

7. Sometimes things here can look a lot like home...for example a mall or KFC.  However, driving one night and seeing people doing construction by candle light made me realize things are still a lot different.

8. Seeing 3 guys on the top of 25 ft high scaffolding rolling down a busy road.  

9.  My habitual task of buying juice sirsat (soursop in English).  All I do is show up at the juice stand and say the amount of juice I want, they already know the type. The going rate is 25 cents for a big glass of bliss.

10.  Just a warning my sense of socially acceptable space between myself and you when I get back is going to be awful.  If there is a line of people, you have some body part in contact with the person in front and behind you.  Nearly the same thing goes for traffic.    

11. Within the first 5 questions, it is guaranteed that I will be asked by a stranger if I have a girlfriend and if I am looking for one here.  

12. Cockroach killing time in the bathroom.  Best time: 10-11pm. 

13. Dropping words from the Javanese language (as opposed to Indonesian) in conversation to make instant friends.

14. Laughing.  My supervising pastor has one of those contagious laughs. 

15. Three favorite foods.  

Rice/Tofu and Peanut Sauce 

Rice/ Buffalo kebabs and Peanut Sauce 

Rice/ Vegetables/Tofu/ and Peanut Sauce.

Get the theme?

16. Having lots of friends here from families to elderly people, to kids, to pastors to youth.  Then being able to text them and make a plan to meet, talk or play together.

17.  The beach is an hour from my home.  

18. I took the drivers seat of the pedi-cab and drove around a bunch a kids.  No damages....at least physically.  The kids possibly were damaged as they have declined every offer since the first pedi-cab adventure. 

 19. I found a chameleon!  And some kids taught me that the tail functions as a leash when you play with it.  The game is:  avoid it's sporadic lunges.  

20.  Going to the Indonesian island of.......Sumatra.  Right now.  Bye!