Bali Dancing

Dancing is one of the traditional arts of Bali, and we had a chance to experience that in a first-hand, up-and-close manner. With an orchestra of bamboo xylophones and drums rhythmically beating in the background, the body is supposed to move in some smooth, awe-inspiring way. While the real dancers were quite extraordinary, Mike and my dancing brought awe for totally different reasons. The moves we display in the above photos were not exactly copied from the dancer, but were original inspirations, awe-inspiring for their uniqueness and absolute randomness. At least now I'm able to mark one more job off my list of possible future occupations.

Incredible Bali Incredible beaches such as Sanur Beach with a traditional-style boat
Incredible sunsets, like this one on Kuta Beach

Incredible mountains, like this one next to Lake Batur

Incredible views, like this one from the top of Mt. Batur, a formally volcanic mountain
The incredible animals, like this type of fish that we caught from the ocean

More Pics

Kyle with my good friend Dedi.

Heath and Kyle put their bulging muscles to work fanning the hot coals used to cook sate, a traditional Indonesia food which consists of grilled meat on a stick dipped in a soy or peanut sauce.

Crammed in the back of a Fiat, cruising the streets of Madiun.

Becak Driver

This made for quiet a sight on the streets of Madiun, Indonesia. Its not everyday that you see a white guy getting a becak ride. Even more rare is a white guy doing the pedaling. We rented a couple of becaks and went pedaling around the town, including a jaunt around the town square, drawing our share of strange and curious looks and laughs.

Traditional Market

Rats

Here's the rather large rodent that entered our house and began his mischievous ways. I call him a large rodent because I've never quite seen a rat this big before. I seriously think he could have taken most cats in a fight. But he was no match for our bucket of water, as after several minutes of frantic swimming in the cage of death, he finally gave up. This was a great experience for my friends from Kansas, and just might have made them a little wary about sleeping on the floor, which a couple of us ended up doing anyways.

The Kansas Three

It was a pleasure to have Joe, Kyle, and Heath - three friends from KSU- come and visit me here in Indonesia. For once I didn't feel like the biggest guy around. I'll write and most more pics later, but here a few to get started. L to R: Joe, Kyle, Sigit, Heath, and I the morning after we ate sate (meat grilled on a stick and dipped in a special sauce), stayed up late listening to classical music and talking, and then slept overnight at Sigit's house.
Eight Vietnamese and one Indonesia friend joined us for an overnight camping trip. On the way home we stopped by Kawah Putih, a hot-sulfur lake nestled in a the crater of a volcano.

On Friday at noon we visited one of the biggest and best-known mosques in Bandung in order to see more of the culture and religious practices of the people here. The picture in the background with his family is the leader of this mosque, a man who is known as on of the top religious leaders in all of Indonesia, and who created controversy by recently taking a second wife, in addition to wife number one to whom he is still married (pictured above). We actually met him and talked to him for about a minute, and were invited to his house, but didn't get any pictures with him. Pictured here is one of the teachers under him who showed us around and explained things to us.