the small things, the mood rings, the bracelets and the beads

in the same spirit as brian, i have been meaning to make a post about some of the smaller day-to-day things we are doing here. everyday there are unexpected surprises for us. below are some of the small triumphs/experiences we have had.

1. we have discovered (thanks to our landlord, ibu dewi) terang bulan, which is crazy delicious (enak enak sekali). we enjoy getting the tiga rasa variety, which has keju (cheese), coklat (which needs no translation), and kacang (peanuts). the pictures below show how it is made.

 the menu you order from. we haven't tried it with pisang (banana) yet.

 they put some batter in a cast iron skillet and cook it on a high heat for a few minutes. then they put a lid on it and turn down the heat for awhile.

 the ingredients that go on top of the cooked batter: chocolate sprinkles, peanuts, butter, cheese, and milk. 

 he got the cooked batter out of the skillet.

 he rubbed butter on it and then grated some cheese on top of that.

 next, he put the chocolate sprinkles on.

 the peanuts (which isn't shown) followed. finally, the milk.

 he folded it on top of itself and then cut it up.

2. brian and i have found an outdoor track to run at. we can go a few times each week after the kids go off to school. our neighborhood becak driver can get us to the track in about 10 minutes. so far, we've run up to about 3 miles. pak marno, our driver, waits for us while we run. and then we go back home completely drenched in sweat (brian's previous post proves that). it's an interesting place to run. it's basically a road around a stadium that is used mostly for walking but also some jogging. thus far, b and i have been the only ones doing serious running there. and because it's java, there is no immodest clothing at all. in fact, many of the women are covered completely with pants, long sleeve shirts (or jackets), and the muslim head covering. but there are plenty of others (men, women, and teenagers) wearing long pants and jackets too. as an aside, i've seen monkeys wandering around the track a couple times.

3. our tetangga (neighbor), ibu danik, cooks indonesian food for us three nights a week. that has been a fun and delicious experience. she is a wonderful cook and is willing to cook any indonesian dish we ask for. thus far, we've enjoyed rendang, gulai, chick sate, mie goreng, ketoprak, and ikan goreng. tonight we are having gulai again, which i'm excited about.

4. i am meeting people at church who can help me learn how to cook some indonesian food. last friday, a woman (sister budi) came over to teach me how to make sate ayam (chicken sate). below are some pictures from the event. the actual cooking is done with charcoal--so we could do this relatively easily at home. later this week, i am going to get together with another woman from church, imma, and she's going to teach me how to make the popular indonesian rainbow cake. you see it in all the bakeries here.

 sister budi grinding the sambal kacang with a cobek (mortar and pestle).  

 sonia getting the chicken on the sticks.

 me grinding the sambal kacang.

 getting the grill set up.

 cooking chicken (with w fanning the flames).

 eating the delicious food!

5. we are going to the pasar buah (fruit market) several days a week to get fresh fruit. brian posted some pictures of the fruit we usually get right now. we've also been getting some selak (snake fruit) and rambutans. it's great to have such wonderful fresh fruit.

6. i am meeting twice a week with another woman from church (widap) to study indonesian. she knows english well, and we are talking (so i can practice) and going through an indonesian textbook (so i can learn grammar/sentence constructions/vocabulary). so far, so good. my indonesian isn't great, but it's getting better every day. one of my goals last week was to learn the days of the week, and i have them down now: hari minggu, hari senin, hari selasa, hari rabu, hari kamis, hari jumat, dan hari saptu!

7. we had the missionaries over for dinner last week. one of the elders is from oregon and the other is from the jakarta area. it was fun to hear about and see how much they love serving the people here. we had our first taste of rendang since we've been here this time. it was different, thicker, than the rendang we've had before. but it was enak and pedas (spicy), which the adults liked (the kids not so much). we also had serabi (a rolled coconut pancake), which has quickly become a favorite kue of ours.

8. b and i get to work at home together a lot now. he works from home part or all of the day 2-3 days a week. because of the set up here, we end up both working in our bedroom. one of us works at a little table, and the other one works sitting on the bed. only the bedrooms here have ac, and our room is the only room with a table. so it's pretty fun working together in the same room a lot of the time. it gets really interesting, though, when one of us has a call for work. i sat through an hour call of brian's the other night from about 9:30-10:45pm, and then he sat through my call from 11-11:45pm!

9. this will be the last one, i promise. so my indonesian has been expanding. i was able to get a becak from the kid's school to our home and guide the driver home. that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was. i can say right (kanan), left (kiri), and straight (lurus), and i know enough of the layout here now so that i could get myself home. for me, a major triumph!