village life 2

Here are a few pictures from our second stay with friends in Kopeng.  We stayed with two different families and got to join in lots of fun activities.

Washing clothes....

Working in the garden...

Hanging out with friends...

kehidupan desa (life in a village)

Hi everyone, we're still here!  Just been incredibly lazy about updating this blog:-)
Recently we got to do something different and very fun.  Some of our friends from church invited us to come stay with them and see how life in a village works!  This also makes a great opportunity for us to get lots of language practice and new information.  So here are a bunch of pictures from our 4 night stay up on the mountain.

 This is actually a smaller village than the one we stayed in, but the situation is similar.

We stayed with this couple and their 10 year old daughter.

As is typical, the three of us had one bed in one bedroom to sleep in.  The bed was a bit wider than a twin bed, but not as big as a double bed.  Sasch took the outside edge, Ruben the inside bottom corner, and I got what was left:-)  It's not as bad as it sounds, it was so nice to hear only quiet or country sounds all night long!

This is the tradional 'family room' area.  Notice that while the floors are still dirt, they do have electricity and even a TV!  The raised platform is used to hang out, play on, or to eat on. 

Ruben found another use for it too!  My little asian boy:-)

The first day we were there, we got to observe a local election taking place.  (They were running for something like the position of mayor.)
This is how they lined up to enter the building where voting took place.

 Ruben enjoyed the other aspect of the day...a mini carnival!

I enjoyed helping to cook, and learning some of the local recipes. This one is tofu in a sweet tasting sauce, later served with rice (of course).

 Tofu in this country actually tastes good!

Sasch got to help out several people from church in their gardens.  I also got to help transplant some plants one day!  It made me feel right at home as I thought back to my farmstand days:-)

Gardening Asian style!

 

Of course the goats have to be fed too:-)

 

Ruben enjoyed all the quiet paths and streets where he could run free.  He also made some new friends.  This little girl is just a couple months older than him.

 Sasch and I helped her parents make bakso...the local form of meatballs.  The husband then loads them on a contraption on the back of his moterbike and sells them door to door.

I helped put some of the meat mixture in tofu, which was then dipped in batter and deep fried.  Yummy!

 The finished product.

We were only able to stay for 4 nights this time, but didn't want to leave!  Hopefully we'll be able to do it again soon.:-)

Birthday Party!

For Ruben's 2nd birthday we chose to throw a big party! We invited about 25 little kids, and most of them came! (along with their parents)

After a yummy traditional meal of yellow rice and chicken (or pizza, for those who prefered) the kids played for a bit while we got dessert ready.

Everyone sang to Ruben in English and Javanese...

Ruben was a bit overwhelmed by it all...

 He did manage to cope with the help of Buzz...and some ice cream...

 ...and his favorite movie:)

 And when he got to open these before bed, all his troubles were over!

To infinity and beyond!!!

...We headed out for a walk today.  Ruben ran out of the gate and immediately did this...
...Wir sind heute spazieren gegangan. Ruben lief durch das Tor und hat sofort das gemacht...

Guess WHO is his favorite action hero!
Ratet mal WER sein Lieblingsheld ist!

Ruben and Curious George

Ruben decided to take Curious George for a ride :-)

Package from Gramma!!

I apologize for the appalling lack of posting on my part :) No real excuse, time just flies away from me.  We are all doing well, outside of the occasional sniffle.  Rainy season is picking up, and we enjoy the cool breeze that comes with the storms. 
Ich entschuldige mich für diesen entsetzlichen Mangel an Posts meinerseits. Es gibt keine gute Ausrede, die Zeit entflieht mir einfach. Uns geht's gut, vom gelegentlichen Schnupfen mal abgesehen. Die Regenzeit macht sich immer mehr bemerkbar und wir genießen die kühle Brise die mit dem Sturm einhergeht.
It's hard to believe we've already been here close to eight months!  But we are thankful that we are now able to see progress in our language.:) We have enjoyed growing closer realationships with some of the people from our church family.  Ruben loves spending time with them and is always heartbroken when we have to part.  We've already started our holiday season with Thanksgiving, two birthdays, and one Christmas party already behind us and several more Christmas parties, New Years, and Ruben's birthday still to come!

Es ist kaum zu glauben, dass wir schon seit fast 8 Monaten hier sind. Aber wir sind dankbar das wir schon einen Fortschritt in unserer Sprache feststellen können. :) Wir genießen es etwas tiefergehende Beziehungen mit Freunden aus der Gemeinde aufzubauen. Ruben liebt es Zeit mit ihnen zu verbringen und es zerreißt ihm jedes Mal das Herz wenn wir uns verabschieden müssen. Die Jahreszeit der Feierlichkeiten hat für uns schon vor ein paar Wochen begonnen. Thanksgiving, zwei Geburtstage und eine Weihnachtsfeier liegen schon hinter uns und noch ein paar Weihnachtsfeiern, Sylvester und Rubens Geburtstag werden schon mit Freuden erwartet.

Ruben continues to delight us daily as he picks up new words and learns how to do new things. He's finally started using recognizable words again, probably from all four of the languages he hears daily! (so maybe he is saying a lot more that we don't understand!) Some of his most common phrases are:  'Siapa itu'(who's that) 'coba this' (try this), 'go', 'get up', 'tidak boleh'(you may not), 'da'(there, bye, and daddy...depends on context and intonation), 'there you are' or 'there you go'.
Ruben hört einfach nicht auf unser Herz zu erfreuen. Jeden Tag schnappt er neue Wörter auf und lernt neue Sachen zu tun. Endlich benutzt er wieder erkennbare Wörter, wahrscheinlich sind darunter Wörter aus jeder der vier Sprachen die er täglich hört! (Wahrscheinlich kann er schon viel mehr sagen als wir verstehen!) Die am meisten gebrauchten Wörter und Sätze sind: 'Siapa itu'(wer ist das) 'coba this' (versuch das), 'go' (los gehts), 'get up' (steh auf), 'tidak boleh'(darfst du nicht), 'da'(da, tschüss und papa je nach Kontext und Intonation)'there you are' or 'there you go' (da ist es oder bitte sehr).
In the past two weeks we got two big packages in the mail! One from each Gramma! These pictures are from the American package...I don't have ones of the German package because (aside from LOTS of yummy chocolate and sweets) it was mostly presents for Ruben which we are saving for his birthday. 
Thank you Gramma and Grampa and Oma and Opa!
In den letzten zwei Wochen haben wir zwei große Päckchen bekommen! Von jeder Oma eins! Die Bilder sind von dem amerikanischen Päckchen... Es gibt noch keine Bilder vom deutschen Päckchen, weil da (abgesehen von VIEL leckerer Schokolade) zum größten Teil Geschenke für Ruben drin waren, die wir für seinen Geburtstag aufbewahren.Vielen Dank Gramma und Grampa und Oma und Opa!

And a couple bonus pictures of my men :)
Ein paar extra Bilder von meinen Männern :)