Climbing Volcanic Mt. Merapi

Last Friday night, I, along with Rachel, Angie, Jason, Brandt and Tyler headed up the volcano. Now, I have to say that Shane JUST went up 2 weeks ago with about 14 guys, but unfortunately for him.... we don't have the pictures yet. Anyway, I will post the ones from our hike for now. :)

Starting out.....














5 minutes into I am was huffing and puffing... my thoughts kept replaying the idea that I am really too old and way out of shape to be doing something like this! No one to impress that I was young still and my husband was not with me to keep me encouraged. :) The gang DID encourage me, but I called the breaks. :)

Drying out my sweaty shirt....... by Jason



















We enjoyed the warm fires our guides made for us. It allowed us to dry out our shirts! That was a big help. I forgot to mention that it was raining when we got up there. We started hiking at 1 A.M. anyway and waited at the fire for a while til the sky cleared. The stars were BEAUTIFUL!

First light...




























Weary hiker...














(sunrise and me ... by Jason)














Angie & Jason...














Us ladies...... by Jason














The group with Mt. Merbabu in the background.... my favorite mountain view from our home..


















Sulfer plumbs out of the side...














Our guide. :) Had fun getting him to pose. :)














Me with the 'garuda' pinacle behind me and volcanos Mt. Sumbing and Sundoro in the background.














This German guy was one of the very few who climbed with us that night/morning. Jason took pictures for him and I got a few. I LOVE the close up. The atmosphere is so free of dirt and all, it made the picture look like it was a movie set. Very surreal...

























Heading down...
















































Looking back up...














16x zoom back at people at a spot a little above center.... the biggest dark spot you see near the top. It was big and steep. Took us about an hour for that last climb.














Brandt & Tyler














And of course... some flora ! :) (from that last climb part)






































Flora on the way down...








































Sitting at the bottom, enjoying some cultural pictures.
















































...AND I couldn't pass up this picture. Everyone is taking cool pictures for headers and I thought this would make a good one. :) I feel included. heee heee heee

Long Time No See.....

A 'make-do' noise maker for bicycles. :)














Climbing a wall.... feels like me sometimes with no one at the top.. :)














So... the month of August. Where has the time gone!

Well, here in Indonesia, celebrating Independance Day, August 17th is a WHOLE month affair. For some neighborhoods (RT's) it is a bigger deal than others; all depends on the amount of money they have to spend and the man/willpower to put things together.

Our celebrations started on the 1st Saturday of August with a 'Jalan Santai' or leisurely walk. This seems to have been a common thing for neighborhoods as I think almost every neighborhood had one! Each RT is under an area or RW. It seems that one RW or two would walk together.

Here's pictures from ours:
















































After the 'Jalan Santai' everyone gathered for a draw. We each got a slip of paper with a number. Some of the main guys for the RW talked, held the bucket of numbers, gave out gifts and verified the winner's number. (We didn't get anything.) :)






































































































































After the prize draw there were 'Lomba-lomba's' for the kids, and then the teenagers. It was organized by what we would kind of call the neighborhood 'Youth Leader.' :)





















































































Teen/Young Adult v-ball...

























Teens waiting....














...and teens helping.







































Spoon/marble relay:



























Keeping the dust down...














Ice Cream man...





























The second weekend of August saw us helping, observing a ceremony, attending the wedding, and then greeting at a reception that was all a 4 day ordeal. Quite the experience and cultural exposure time. We are very thankful for great neighbors who are willing to give us cultural experience! :) (...will have to add pictures later...)

The 3rd weekend of August I helped the ladies cook for the real rememberance day of Independance. (I will have to get pictures later...) The meeting was at night.

The 4th weekend of August we had our last event. It was a time of giving presents to the kids who won the 'lomba-lomba' time, a few speaches and then live music. Those pictures I will also have to add later.... hey! Object Focus sentence! Ok.... can you tell I've been studying hard!!!???