Normally we all begin to stir between 6 and 7 each morning and slowly make our way down to breakfast. Breakfast has been a variety of traditional indonesian foods - gado gado (a sort of "salad" of vegetables, potatoes, boiled eggs with a peanut sauce), rawon (spicy beef soup served over rice), krupuk (shrimp chips), as well as some more american foods - toast with Nutella or jam, fruit, yogurt. There are also some really delicious juices here. I've been pleasantly surprised to watch the girls often choose the indonesian foods over the american ones.
After breakfast, I usually gather our laundry for the maids. (I could really get used to this.)
We've arranged a driver to be here each day at 9 a.m. It's typical for many chinese indonesian families to employ a driver on a daily basis. Traffic here really is crazy so it's a great relief to have someone who is experienced in the traffic madness to maneuver us around. "Metro" has been a huge blessing. It's has also been fun (at least mostly fun) to have so much time together as a family while Metro drives us around. He must think we're crazy, attempting to pronounce words we see or snapping pics constantly. I often hear him chuckle at us. We have him until 9 p.m. each day so he has lots of opportunity to be amused at us! :)
In the mornings we often have plans with various family members. Yesterday, August's cousin Eri and wife, Lenny, took us to see a huge bridge that has been constructed to connect the islands of Java and Madura. This bridge is a really big deal because until it was completed, they had to use a ferry to cross the Java Sea from island to island. They treated us to a really fun lunch at a Pizza Hut which was in a huge mall.
Our afternoons usually include some time for rest and are a nice break from the heat. (It's HOT here, and muggy too, but not as muggy as back home, believe it or not.)
Our evenings have been filled with dinner invitations or parties. Last night, we were treated to dinner by another of August's cousins. They decided maybe we needed a break from asian food and took us to a really wonderful italian restaurant. You could have plunked this place right down in the middle of Charlottesville and never have known you were in Indonesia. The food was that authentic.
We have had so much incredible food - indonesian, chinese, fast, and italian. Ironically, one of the many delicious meals we've had was here at this little...well, let's just call it a "road side cafe". :)
(And see those red bottles line up? Those are bottles of kecap manis or indonesian sweet soy sauce. But what's so unique about this kecap manis is that it was made and distributed by August's cousin, Kohdeh, using the same recipe used by August's great grandfather when they started the business back in 1901 in the town of Blitar! So cool!!!)
We're usually pretty tired at the end of the day and are in bed early. It's a nice change since we're typically night-owls back at home.
August's aunt and uncle have been INCREDIBLE hosts. We've been given the entire upper floor (3 bedrooms and 2 baths!) of their home. I can't imagine what it must be like for them to have a family of seven move in with them for two weeks! Yet they are so kind and hospitable. The maids are always smiling as well. Let me tell you, if I were a maid here and seven visitors (and all their laundry) came to stay for two weeks, I would not be smiling. Yet, they are constantly friendly and hospitable. It's very unusual to see a family with more than three children here and most have even less. So I'm sure we are entertaining for them.
We head to Bali today for four days. It's sort of like a mini-vacation in the midst of a vacation. It's just an hour flight from one island to the next. The view from the plane should be beautiful. More later!
PS - Marina, my grammar queen, isn't up yet to proof read this post. So be forgiving as you read! And my apologies for any misspelled indonesian names!!
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