Rainbow Dump Trucks and Dogfood

Hi, it's me. I promised Mom I would write a somewhat coherent blog post 'cause she's been so exhausted (plus she had to sit in the middle seat for our 3-hour drive up here to Malang (from Surabaya)).

My friend Heather suggested I bring a journal to write down my thoughts, and I realized she was probably right; but since I don't have the patience to sit down and actually write a whole entry (unlike her, I'm not a writer), I just took a few notes here and there all day. Here they are; see what you think.

(and yes, I numbered them. I like numbers; it's the way I think)

1. Glad to have about 3 English TV channels; granted, they're Disney, Nickelodeon, and Animal Planet, but hey--it's better than nothing.

2. The ratio of motorcycles to cars must be at least 2:1. Yes, I counted. Also, the white lines on the road (when present) are not meant to be taken seriously.

3. I think drivers must be immortal I've never seen ours eat, drink, or sleep. He drives us somewhere and then sits outside on a bench to wait until we come back out--everyday from 9am-9pm. Sometimes I wonder if we're paying him to have no life.

4. Summary of our driving experience from the eyes of a 2-yr.-old:

"I saw a guy, and I said 'Please don't hit that guy.'"

5. Everyday, I'm realize more that America's missing. Today, it was rainbow dump trucks. Pink, green, blue, yellow.... Oh, and there goes a purple one. Apparently, we Americans have no sense of dump truck style.


6. Yesterday, I met some fruit that had swag.

Rock those clothes, mistah! (*livin' the life as a well-dressed fruit*)

7. In Virginia, we count cows. In Surabaya, we count mosques. Right now we're at 27 mph--27 mosques per hour, that is. (we eventually got up to over 100 in 3 hours)


8. Perhaps I have a preconceived bias against food that stares through my soul....

(I see you.)

...but actually, this was some of the best fish I've ever eaten.


9. The Rules on When It's Appropriate to Honk:


You may honk before, during, and after passing someone, at cars and motorcycles and random people in the middle of the road or when there's nothing at all to honk at, as many times as you feel is necessary, or whenever you feel bored. When in doubt, honk.


10. Instead of waving in costumes of Lady Liberty, we have random ladies dressed up in red and wearing clown masks while dancing in the middle of the street. Be scared.


11. If it smells like dogfood and looks like dogfood, chances are it probably tastes like dogfood as well. Use caution.


12. When all you've heard for the past three hours is an Indonesian lady singing a high-pitched spiritual-chant-type-thing and then you walk into the hotel cafeteria to hear an American pop song, you instantly fall in love with it--even though it might possibly hypothetically maybe be a Justin Bieber song.


13.

Thanks, hotel staff, for letting me know. That's good to get off my chest.


Gotta go... It's almost 10pm over here, and the hotel staff is giving me strange looks. Maybe they think I'm a journalist, with my notebook and pen and laptop!!! Oh, wait... I'm in my pajamas--never mind.


Ah, well. Bye for now; I'll be back later!


I remain your humble and obedient servant,
Marina Grace Cecilia Joan Scholastica


(...not really the humble and obedient part, but I wanted a romantic way to sign out. This works, right?)