Random Pictures of Town

Today our internet is being cooperative with me so I am going to post a few photos from around town here in Salatiga.  The internet repairman has already been out here twice to fix it, the speed seems to come and go.  We can never get enough speed to watch Netflix :( which is probably good, because we have a new language to study and learn this year. :)  For those of you who would like to keep in touch, we have found Face Time works much better for us than Skype.  Call us!  We would love to chat, or as they say here bercakap-cakap.

Here are a few pictures of our new town (life).

We don't own a vehicle yet, so we get around town mainly by walking.  Language school for Mike and I is about a one mile walk from our house, it is a nice way to decompress after school by walking home (more on that in a later post).  If our family wants to get downtown we hitch a ride on the Angkotak (a little blue buss) which costs 2,500 rp. (about 25 cents).

If we need to travel to a larger city to do some shopping or enjoy some American-ish food, we can hire a driver to take us there in a car.  It is still a bit different to travel without car seats, but half the time there isn't even a seat belt in the car to hook it to anyway!  We won't be able to travel to the larger cities that often, because we are so busy with school; trips like this will probably happen once a month.

The best way to get around town in Salatiga is by scooter.  I was shocked by how narrow the roads are here, they are about the size of a bike path in the U.S.  We are planning on purchasing a scooter in the future, but we are going to observe how the traffic flows here for awhile before we hit the road.  When we need to get somewhere in town quickly, or after dark when the Angkotak stops running, we hitch a ride on the back of a fellow teammate's scooter.  Macie LOVES riding on the scooter and is the biggest advocate in our family for buying one right away.  We purchased some really nice helmets in town here for only $90 dollars (total).  Of course in Indonesia you can ride a bike barefoot with no helmet if you want to (I have seen this on many occasions).

Here is the road in front of our house, it looks quiet in this picture but it is quite possible to get hit by a scooter if you aren't paying attention while walking on it.  We have a good view of the volcano from our house, but it is quite rare for the clouds and haze to clear away for it to make an appearance. 

Indonesians take their badminton seriously, there is a store downtown that sells some pretty nice rackets.  If you want any "street cred" when you show up for a game, you need a descent racket.  Mike and Colton went into town and picked up a racket and net, so we can practice and play in our yard.  We don't have enough yard for a full-sized court because our banana tree gets in the way, but it works. 

There are some pretty incredible restaurants in town, that is of course if you are brave with your stomach.  We have had good luck so far (just don't eat the uncooked veggies).  The phrase, "Lord please let this food be a blessing to my body" takes on a whole new meaning while eating out here!  This picture was taken at a restaurant we went to after church this past Sunday.  It is beautiful if you don't look too closely at all of the trash floating in the water alongside the rice patties.

I know this post was random, but with the culture shock and diving into learning a new language my head is feeling a bit random at the moment.  We are loving our new home and are settling in well, the people in Salatiga are super friendly and they make us feel welcome.