The Big 2-5!

During the month of October, we celebrated three major birthday's in the middle school. Mr. Phil turned 60, Becky turned 30 and I turned 25 (and I think 25 sounds like a good age to stay at for awhile). This picture was taken at Mr. Phil's birthday party at the hotel in Karawaci. The couple standing to my left is Ross and Cathy Brown, they are the couple that had me stay with them while I was sick. Mrs. Rebecca is the blond in the very center- she is the head of grade 8 and a wonderful woman to work with. Mr. Phil is the third person from the right. He teaches seventh grade math and science across the hall from me. I was able to meet him and his wife before I came to Indonesia while they were home for the summer and he is part of the reason I accepted the job.
This is the back of the hotel. Every Friday and Saturday night there have a gorgeous buffet by the pool and for around $6 you can't beat it!
On the Friday before my birthday, I came down from the middle school office to my room to find none of my homeroom students there. Then I could hear them running down the hallway singing "happy birthday" to me. They are such sweet students- they brought me a cake and presents and even sang happy birthday in three different languages: English, Bahasa Indonesian and Korean. One of my students even came up in front of the whole class and prayed for me on my birthday-that would never happen at home! :)
I have all the eighth grade expatriate students in my homeroom, a few Australians, 9 Koreans, and the rest Indonesian. They are put in one class because they all have expat. Bahasa. Also, on Fridays we are allowed to wear these blue polo shirts with the bottoms of our choice- I live for Fridays- no skirt!! Here is the cake they bought me. Little did they know, I already brought in J-Co Dough nuts (similar to Krispy Cream but better). In Indonesia, it is customary for the birthday boy/girl to bring presents for everyone else. A little backward! :)

On my birthday, early Saturday morning, Mark, Gary and I decided to join the Karawaci Bike Club on their weekly ride. Little did I know I would be the only female. But, I had an amazing time and showed those boys I could keep up no problem! We did about 40km through a bunch of different villages and a bit of country. It's so amazing how we live in this little bubble and right behind our houses people live without running water or electricity. Indonesia, like many third world countries, is the epitome of the haves and the have-nots. It is amazing how the extremely rich live right next to the poorest of the poor. There is really no middle class- either you have money or your don't. I think the teachers at our school would be the only people who are really middle class.
Anyway, biking through the kampungs (villages) is so fun! There are so many obstacles- you never know what you will meet around the corner- from chickens, roosters, and cows, to women balancing stacks of bamboo on their heads, to motorbikes, to rickety bridges made of bamboo to piles of bricks or rocks...the sky's the limit. I think I will never be surprised by anything again- expect the unexpected! The biking is also great because there is so much up and down-hill, it's just great off-roading!Mark and I are resting across the street from the warung (tiny stores with drinks and snacks) we stopped at for a cold drink. Aren't we looking tough? Well, we're trying to. There are many of these little huts in the kampungs- people rest and sleep in them during the very hot parts of the day (which part is that exactly? I don't know, all parts of the day are HOT!).
After beating my body on the bike trip, I pampered myself with a manicure, pedicure and facial at Royal Beauty- happy birthday to me! :) Going to the salon is incredibly affordable- you'd be crazy not to pamper yourself! To give you an idea, an hour and half full body massage is about $7. Wowzers!