Eko

Eko is the youngest guy in our house, as he is about to finish up high school. Although he's a punk rocker and I'm a country guy, we have a great time together. He refers to my clothing style as "pastor-like." I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not.

All that for Cheesecake

Now that I’m riding a motorcycle, I’m discovering the joys of navigating a city that has more people than the whole state of Kansas. One-way streets, swarming traffic, and hard to read street-signs can easily turn a one hour trip into two hours if your going alone to a place for the first time. This past week I was sent to pick up some special birthday cheesecake for one of the American families that I’ve gotten to know here. In spite of having directions, I missed the place and spent the next 35 minutes wandering around on unfamiliar streets and randomly stopping to ask Indonesians for directions, which at times proved useful, and at times only added confusion. I finally reached my destination and picked up the special cheesecake. A few more wrong turns on the way home added to my scenic tour of Bandung, and eventually I arrived with my prized cargo still intact and still delicious. I’ll have to admit that I’d be willing to drive 2 hours again for cheesecake like that. It was pretty amazing, and the big smile and thank you from the birthday child made it even more worth it.

My Beautiful New Country

When Grandmas Like You

When I stayed with a family in Madiun, my friend Mas Andris' Grandma loved me. She even asked me if she could come along when I go back to America, offering to cook me all the Indonesian food I wanted! That's a hard offer to pass up!

Bandung - One of the World's Densest

A recent newspaper article pronounced Bandung to be one of the densest cities in the world, with an approximate density of 40,100 people per square mile. The actual number, however, could be much higher because this number is based on the official population of nearly 3 million. Most people believe the actual population is possibly more than 4 million. Being located in a bowl of surrounding mountains, Bandung has little room for outward expansion, but every day people are moving here from rural areas with the hopes of find jobs and a better life. With the city reaching its horizontal space capacity, the construction of taller buildings is on the increase. People here have a hard time imagining a land far far away called Kansas, a place where you can drive for miles and miles and see only a few houses, where homes have backyards that are big enough to be soccer fields, and where there are more cattle than people.

Friends in Madiun

I spent a week in a city called Madiun and met a few new friends. This was especially fun because my friend Mitch got to know these folks when he came here this past summer.

Dunia Salju

Who would have thought there could be snow in Bandung? I got a little taste of home by going to an exhibit called "Dunia Salju" (Snow World) at the biggest mall in town. It was complete with ice sculptures, an ice slide, snow-covered trees, and an igloo. The "snow" would probably be scientifically classified as ice, but we had a snowball fight nonetheless. What could be more fun than throwing ice balls at little kids? Even though they give you a coat and gloves, most Indonesians last about 5 minutes before they're ready to leave. I'll admit the first few minutes were a little cold, but after a while I got used to it, and ended up staying inside for more than 30 minutes. I played with a couple American kids who I came with. It wasn't quite the same as being in Kansas, but it did inject some "Christmas spirit" into me, and for a short moment I felt like I was home. Those of you at home: enjoy the real Dunia Salju!