Fajita Meat, Water Buffalo Style

So we thought we’d try our hand @ the closest thing to beef here – water buffalo – it tastes like chicken…just kiddin’ – just like beef actually, yummy!

Private Beach

A 10 minute trek over rock & thru tall grass opens up to this gorgeous little bay w/ not a soul in sight…don’t need volume on this one, you’d just hear the wind blowing around. At the very end of the clip, J’s on a rock in the distance waving – a bit hard to see, but go for it. :)

Mie Goreng

We’ve found a great little warung (café) right on the beach where we can order the best mie goreng (fried noodles) in town…all for a total of $3…we’ve come here about 3X in the last week!

Swimming Bay

Well, since E’s pregnant & all we’re feeling especially blessed to live by beautiful places to swim…this former lifeguard’s gonna be swimming for 2 for the next several months! :)

Refuge

Here’s another friend, a litte rhino beetle, that sought refuge in our “not yet screened” bathroom…

Kami Baru Hamil

(WE’RE JUST NEWLY PREGNANT!) We went out to eat to celebrate this new little life at the restaurant with the rickety bridge we blogged about earlier. We are so excited to be three!

Break On Thru To the Other Side

This is one of the guys working @ our place. He’s currently situated in our soon-to-be bedroom. He used a hammer to break thru the cement wall between the bathroom & bedroom to put a door in. Elissa will especially be thankful for this quick exit because…………

Our Daily Bread

This takes on a whole new meaning when getting wheat bread is a 2 hr trip away…we enjoyed our 1st loaf since moving to Aceh – a taste sensation! (Who knew we could ever get so excited about bread?!)

J Hard @ Work

While we have a couple great guys @ our place helping w/ most of the renovations, J’s also busy helping us get setup – what a guy!

Awkward Load Crossing

This guy is crossing a temporary bridge made of tree trunks with three benches tied to the back of this motorbike. The one on top extended out over his head.

Awkward Load

While waiting we took the golden opp to snap another great example of “things people carry” while driving a motorbike.

Rush Hour

We just went to MBO to pick up our new team member, Jos. He’s in front of us on the motorbike in this pix. We were all “stuck in traffic” waiting for more coconut tree trunks to be unloaded to strengthen the bridge…

Big Men In a Little Becak

There’s still a fair # of soldiers around Meulaboh (MBO). We thought this pix of 2 large soldiers riding in a motorized becak all comfy ‘n stuff was pretty funny.

Backyard 'Bow

Elissa was up early writing one AM about how thankful she was for all the beautiful rainbows we’ve seen since moving to Aceh & then, when she looked up, this small one had appeared :) This pix is the back/side view from our place.

Snack Raid

We got the munchies one night so we decided to scour a local shop for sweet things. This is the booty we brought home spread out on our cement floor: Saltcheese Cracker Biscuits, Chew-eez choco, Smiling milk chocolate beans, Apilo Ball, and Marie Saluut. For the most part they were ok, but there was one that was pretty nasty…any votes?

Arachnophobia

This pix was taken in our bathroom which is not yet screened in from bugs…some bigger than others! This guy was about as big as our hand & the 3rd to grace our presence…Jason sliced the first one in half with a broom – half his body literally flew over his shoulder, and the second one is still at LARGE.

Makeshift Bridges

The bridge over this river on our way back from MBO was a little crazy…Elissa was pretty proud of her hubby’s driving!



This pix was taken from inside the CAMA van – the whole left of this “bridge” was a huge hole. Notice the Acehnese man wearing what looks like a skirt to Westerners. Think kilt!

Everything on a Motorbike

On our way back to Calang, we got a kick out of how amazing the Acehnese are – does this motorbike look incredible or what? Funny thing is, when we passed him, he was holding yet another large box on his lap…!



After the motorbike box guy we saw a veggie guy - basically a variation on the same theme. We feel a little wimpy w/ our loads now ;) We’re thinking a fun coffee table book would be “How Most of the Stuff in the World Gets Around: Motorbikes the new beasts of burden” Did we mention we saw a man carrying a +- 5 foot swordfish on the back of his motorbike too?

"24 Jam"

Here’s the CAMA vehicle we’re borrowing for the next several months while the other CAMA couple’s on break. The sign in the background says at the bottom “24 jam” which means 24 hrs, however, there wasn’t a soul in sight at this MBO station when we tried to get gas for our early trip back. This prompted the next pix…



“Kotak Saran” means “suggestion box” – which of course we had…! Then again when I talked to our Acehnese workman about it, he said you can’t expect the station to be open all the time because the workers have to sleep some time. Good point, who wants to pull 24 hour shifts day after day!

This Ain't No Cold Stone...

OK, so back to the present…last week we took a quick trip to the bigger city of Meulaboh (MBO). When ice cream’s now a 2 hour trip away to MBO, we down right celebrate the chance to indulge :)

Cold Stone Creamery

Back in the US, this is our fav ice cream spot. The month before J’s bday, the 1st one opened up in the capital of Indonesia so we took the chance while in Jakarta to pay US prices in our Indo economy. Worth it!

J’s 30th

In all the craziness of moving, we forgot to post pix from J’s bday last month…better late than never! This pix’s taken in front of a intricately carved wooden door in front of a Moroccan restaurant in Jakarta where we celebrated.



If our good friends John & Caitlin (currently living in Rabat) always eat like this, we’re jealous :)



Who’s mimicking who?

1st Week Highlights

Besides our pix, here’s a few highlights since we arrived to our new home on Thurs, Jan 10:

1. Many of our neighbors have stopped over in the 1st few days to meet us & check out the 1st foreigners living in their community :)
2. A Sunday swim in a beautiful cove where the water’s so clear you can be up to your neck in water & still see your feet.
3. Getting our water semi-working! We have a well, but had to install a pump and have been filtering the water temporarily to bathe, wash dishes, etc. until we can get permenant plumbing put in.
4. Our 1st full day in Aceh ended with a walk to the same beach where we spent many mornings in summer of 2005 talking together about moving to Aceh. Not only was there a gorgeous sunset, but a double rainbow directly behind us – the 1st rainbows we’ve seen since moving to Indonesia over a year ago!
5. Tracking down folks to help w/ renovations like fully installing our water, toilet, area for kitchen, etc.
6. Scoring w/ Oreos! This was huge as there’s not a lot of Western foods available here yet ☺
7. Last but not least, E finding an Indonesian coin as she swept out our place before we moved in…the coin story continues!

Crocodile Dundeeish

We’re becoming friends w/ another NGO in town - FHI (Food for the Hungry Int’l). They have a similar work philosophy as our own. They’ve been so great w/ letting us stay at their guesthouse, eat meals with them, drop off laundry, & crash while we were getting our own place setup. In this pix, we were trying to open a can of spaghetti sauce w/o a can-opener…this is can opening Indo style – with a machete! Crocodile Dundee would’ve been proud.

Pier (not so) 1

Here’s the pier! It looks scary but we went single file & then could look out over the ocean @ nite & see a lightning storm across the sky & water…great times!

Date Nite

The best restaurant in our town is a short walk down the beach from our place, called “Panorama” & rightly so – it has a gorgeous view! This pix was taken after we’d taken a jaunt on their ever-so-rickety pier which was affected by some recent big waves.

Butting Heads

So, it’s kinda weird ‘cuz we live at the ocean but there’s farm animals roaming all around (cows, chickens, water buffalo, goats, etc.) The other day a male goat was gutsy enough to come over so we started playing w/ him. We’d push on his horns & he’d push back – he hung around for a good 10 min. just wanting to butt our hands – our new neighbors thought it was quite humorous ☺

Guest Bedroom

OK – so here’s our guest bedroom, same size as the “master” bedroom - if it can be called that! There’s about a foot & ½ on either side of the bed. Fun thing about this pix is that the sheet set was a parting gift to us from our community in Bandung – they are so fabulous!

1st Breakfast

Here’s a picture of our 1st breakfast in our new place – we hadn’t found our smaller bowls for cereal or J’s flops so he’s wearing an extra pair of E’s ☺

Big Centipede

Our 1st nite in Aceh we came across this poisonous centipede – J put his hand by it so we could compare sizes! (Don’t worry, it was dead by pix time)

Fruit Bats

On our way into Aceh, we stopped by Indo’s 3rd largest city, Medan, to buy a few essentials that can’t be found in Aceh. As we were walking on the sidewalk, we came across this cage of bats for sale for traditional medicine– weird! Notice in the background a woman going by on a motorbike in heels…normal here.

2nd pix's a closeup of the fruit bats…they’re actually really cute!

Best U-Tube Video We've Seen in Awhile

Catchin' Up

Well, we've officially left Bandung now & are on our way into Aceh. The last couple weeks have been crazy with moving 'n all so we're just catching up to our blog. Lest we forget, a new year has begun & thus a new month of things to celebrate :)
Jan 2 Happy Mew Year for Cats Day
Jan 5 Fruitcake Toss Day - does this mean pitch or toss to a friend?!
Jan 10 Islamic New Year Day
Jan 21 Not just MLK Day, but Squirrel Appreciation Day too!
Jan 23 National Pie Day - we'd suggest trying a pb pie - excellent
Jan 24 Belly Laugh Day
Jan 28 Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day - what would we do w/o good 'ole BW?

You can find more holidays on brownielocks.com - hope your New Year's was great!

New Year’s Celebration

What’s New Year’s without silliness? L-R: Here’s Raula (well, her back), Della sportin’ some style, Tasha & Neraya (their cousins). No more half smiles and disinterested poses when you give the camera to the kids and tell them to take some pictures! :)

E with Poppy’s Mom

For New Year’s Eve, Arief & Poppy had a wonderful dinner & fireworks at their place. Their family has become so special to us – we’re very thankful for their open hearts to us!

Puffy Paintness

So the day after Christmas we attended a white-elephant gift exchange. Elissa scored with puffy paints which we used shortly thereafter as a fun way to celebrate Heikella (Della’s) birthday a little early. (Della’s far left, sporting the newspaper apron – so cute!)

Final pix with Bandi Fam

Here’s a pix taken with the Pak Bandi family after our goodbye gathering. From right to left: Pak (Mr.) Bandi, Jason, Pak Ahmad & wife Ibu (Mrs.) Rita (Pk Bandi’s daughter), Elissa, and Ibu Bandi – we’re going to miss this family!

Ibu Noneng & her Daughter

Ibu Noneng is such a sweet lady and has been such a help in our home this last year.

Saying Goodbye Sundanese Style

We promise we didn’t pose this picture, but it sure looks like it. Here J is “shaking hands” good bye by clasping both a man’s hands between his own. Elissa is doing another variation on the same theme by shaking a man’s hand with her right hand while holding her right arm with her left hand. Greeting is acceptable with both hands or your right, but nothing should be done with your left hand only!

Pak Bandi & Crew

As E passed by, Pak Bandi asked if J could snap a picture. He asked “Boleh?” – asking J’s permission to put his arm around her shoulder – very precious.

J with Local Leaders

These guys are great – Pak Bandi to the far left & the others are neighbors that lived nearby us.

Beautiful Ladies

The women all crowded into the kitchen together & chatted away – these are great ladies.

Perpisahan – “A Leaving”

A Sundanese tradition when coming or leaving a place is to invite your neighbors in & share a meal together. Here’s a pix of our livingroom cleared of all furniture, etc. & covered with carpets (donated by our neighbors) to make room for our neighbors. Elissa along with some other women are serving the men their food in this picture.

Pak Bandi Rocks!

Here Pak Bandi (right) is helping to guide the wardrobe down with a long bamboo pole. Interesting fact – he’s already retired & still going strong!

Moving Day

Well, we had a wardrobe to return to a friend & since we lived on the 2nd floor with a super steep & narrow staircase, there was only 1 way to get the wardrobe back – over the edge!

Wow!

This is one of our favorite memories from our time in Bandung. About a dozen of our neighbors came over to wish us a Merry Christmas even though most of them personally don’t celebrate this holiday – it was so kind!

Christmas Gift

One of J’s gifts to E was a meal out at Tony Roma’s- yes, it’s in Bandung too! We got a pix on our way out, not even seeing the mural in the background…how patriotic of us ;)