tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25053168277060743432024-02-06T21:19:45.586-08:00The Mercers in IndoDon Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-42320516944108586542011-04-26T03:54:00.000-07:002011-04-26T04:56:28.457-07:00It took 2-3 days before I knew I was on vacation. Vacation for me happens when I spend 24 hours without a single “school thought.” Vacation begins for me when I forget what part of the school year is coming up and what things need to get done. Vacation begins when I forget what day of the week it is. We left for vacation on Saturday and I think on Tuesday, I was finally there.<br />The itinerary was simple enough: fly to an Indonesia island called Sulawesi. Spend four days in a town called Tomohon (volcano climbing and white water rafting) and then four days on a much smaller island called Bunaken, famous for its coral reefs, snorkeling, and diving.<br />We did all that, as the photos will show. It was a good last memory/good experience with Ben before he heads off to college in September. We did lots of card playing and just hanging out together, too. Particularly on Bunaken Island it was a rich experience at the little beach cottages we rented. There were usually 10-15 guests each night and we all took a common meal together for lunch and dinner. It was fun to listen to their various travel tales and languages spoken around the table. On one night we had 2 girls from Denmark, 1 guy from Italy, 2 from Holland, 1 from Brazil, 3 from France, 1 from England, 1 from Finland, and 2 from Spain.<br />The snorkeling was as advertised: 200 feet from shore was an enormous coral reef filled with amazing colors and shapes and fish. Visibility in the water must have been 50 feet or more. Sparkling. And warm…at times even hot! Where the reef dropped off from 10 feet to 60 or 70 feet was this wonderful slow current that just carried you along at about 1 mile an hour, drifting and bobbing effortlessly in the water as this incredible underwater scene just moved across your mask like you were watching National Geographic.<br />And now it’s back to school for the final 7 weeks. Ben has no more classes, only final exams which start in one week. He takes on average one final each day (about 2 hours) for three solid weeks. Each of his courses has 2-3 parts to their final exam…it’s not one single setting for an exam. Looking forward to June 10!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKd4Bcpavv1ycVZU-QIOWLYUM7AZhDRVbnf1VbRrLukvKwbtI2Cpt2qXhNKjVdZl4J052bS2Iu62ebyjmzy05-y3Fnfo0Q_PsvtBeUUuPeoeCQXpQVZLz3Lj7G_xDg4scOAE1nJ0ga-zA/s1600/tropical-fish-screensaver1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599857148365126914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKd4Bcpavv1ycVZU-QIOWLYUM7AZhDRVbnf1VbRrLukvKwbtI2Cpt2qXhNKjVdZl4J052bS2Iu62ebyjmzy05-y3Fnfo0Q_PsvtBeUUuPeoeCQXpQVZLz3Lj7G_xDg4scOAE1nJ0ga-zA/s320/tropical-fish-screensaver1.jpg" border="0" /></a> I didn't actually take this picture, but I did see this fish<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWcQYmm8IQgLR649HkyNuqkegGS6M4yTsCCemCbG1lfepZGnVogCP9i4ay7aw5p32R6rnxhkc0QUTtFy_i2wDUeeG0LDRPIiHcaVgQuxMUEzwyzlB9j6qb7T9ihkSpkUq0h8qlLqo1B0/s1600/lionfish_lg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599857143172711922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 234px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWcQYmm8IQgLR649HkyNuqkegGS6M4yTsCCemCbG1lfepZGnVogCP9i4ay7aw5p32R6rnxhkc0QUTtFy_i2wDUeeG0LDRPIiHcaVgQuxMUEzwyzlB9j6qb7T9ihkSpkUq0h8qlLqo1B0/s320/lionfish_lg.jpg" border="0" /></a> Saw this one, too<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpNhq4eW0OqTJnGZrFgwBITJ2hKC-lKyiGNixM7-_PXOCEAq0cA3Fr_mkjVeriwUxMHGpVcY35aunSEI-jCeHy4lCKjqtorZVRwy6CCEGJo6YIqNiBKy7jGRFBaLaezq8wyicPV-_B-E/s1600/CMP0882.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599857140995364834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpNhq4eW0OqTJnGZrFgwBITJ2hKC-lKyiGNixM7-_PXOCEAq0cA3Fr_mkjVeriwUxMHGpVcY35aunSEI-jCeHy4lCKjqtorZVRwy6CCEGJo6YIqNiBKy7jGRFBaLaezq8wyicPV-_B-E/s320/CMP0882.JPG" border="0" /></a> And this is really a screensaver but this is what it was like<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1mYMQlZQdSWaDJa0UzBT0Emhj0ky91sLJtT0z7LMsnaThmqxCo-Fx-Hs7AkI8ih-p7R6sw4GXOa_8Z0JEub35TEJPxGoGNOCkR6gCUfePpTbwa2Y_EelimFT2d4VNWIhcMj0GfD3iqQ/s1600/2011_0423sulawesi0200.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599855850615729874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1mYMQlZQdSWaDJa0UzBT0Emhj0ky91sLJtT0z7LMsnaThmqxCo-Fx-Hs7AkI8ih-p7R6sw4GXOa_8Z0JEub35TEJPxGoGNOCkR6gCUfePpTbwa2Y_EelimFT2d4VNWIhcMj0GfD3iqQ/s320/2011_0423sulawesi0200.JPG" border="0" /></a> Kayla and two of her "new" friends<br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSFH_rznPkXynNc7EVQuzgfcg5KZ-zW76MOjo1hyMal7bC6qIaEVuUP_5O2dv01JDyz2mdBP-ISiwXstlt9WieLGCR5KesBxB0-5unW_RxO7JlyrrWiFi7h2xPIpMOfvjZ4Lz7Z1wzNM/s1600/2011_0423sulawesi0143.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599855842692989170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSFH_rznPkXynNc7EVQuzgfcg5KZ-zW76MOjo1hyMal7bC6qIaEVuUP_5O2dv01JDyz2mdBP-ISiwXstlt9WieLGCR5KesBxB0-5unW_RxO7JlyrrWiFi7h2xPIpMOfvjZ4Lz7Z1wzNM/s320/2011_0423sulawesi0143.JPG" border="0" /></a> Great diving spot. Good jumping spot, too.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxw4qzeukB7-2cdkTzotyac_W3IPrXNXlT93j9psJ5C8EMrk40gE2u6b9UdEUrnZEjtsGxezaLdSgfUn100qtdPFD1VTBsCf9_U0gCabJwnQih8QT0Iflg0CKV1Z-F7Y3AJtFJyHnNLcQ/s1600/2011_0423sulawesi0139.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599855836466985730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxw4qzeukB7-2cdkTzotyac_W3IPrXNXlT93j9psJ5C8EMrk40gE2u6b9UdEUrnZEjtsGxezaLdSgfUn100qtdPFD1VTBsCf9_U0gCabJwnQih8QT0Iflg0CKV1Z-F7Y3AJtFJyHnNLcQ/s320/2011_0423sulawesi0139.JPG" border="0" /></a> Ben getting some last-second tips<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7c7FooYJYJIp-hZ4NE9EHvzQIbqOqeBiV7FDT48-gbzDX4Ssaj6vzZCv2Cqojh3k42ueh_tuHO5kG05lehtAeH2rP9xekCwozpSM0fywbXnsKM6feOvTIdrTa9KiKMC6Uw52YF-iPbFE/s1600/2011_0423sulawesi0098.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599855832026014226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7c7FooYJYJIp-hZ4NE9EHvzQIbqOqeBiV7FDT48-gbzDX4Ssaj6vzZCv2Cqojh3k42ueh_tuHO5kG05lehtAeH2rP9xekCwozpSM0fywbXnsKM6feOvTIdrTa9KiKMC6Uw52YF-iPbFE/s320/2011_0423sulawesi0098.JPG" border="0" /></a> Our cottages on Bunaken Island<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8IXP3l2_mOx_sd7FSo9xWQ3KiBBbnQZmYoqzwROnMZ15rv1ZNmRQIDOpMcBvE2oDbnNXT9qNSsTyjYycZSz_bkku8sFdYoGy8Huw3XxN3CrgY1l1JtXlGUlPyrBcSeiTXVu1PSPQclc/s1600/2011_0423sulawesi0093.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599846773179530706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8IXP3l2_mOx_sd7FSo9xWQ3KiBBbnQZmYoqzwROnMZ15rv1ZNmRQIDOpMcBvE2oDbnNXT9qNSsTyjYycZSz_bkku8sFdYoGy8Huw3XxN3CrgY1l1JtXlGUlPyrBcSeiTXVu1PSPQclc/s320/2011_0423sulawesi0093.JPG" border="0" /></a> On the trip from the mainland to Bunaken<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3fgSORNhUzVkwKpqpGp19_B15zWtH2c2Nt-Vj2c3YJKGvaBy9EiNAq9opyorcRNIUTvBat5AaVkIbgTJEiuYHg0TRsb58zl0o4eRzvjrqkSCvyIQYqa6TGtl0wGLTvWHcAoh9d-xshOM/s1600/2011_0423sulawesi0062.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599846766164487346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3fgSORNhUzVkwKpqpGp19_B15zWtH2c2Nt-Vj2c3YJKGvaBy9EiNAq9opyorcRNIUTvBat5AaVkIbgTJEiuYHg0TRsb58zl0o4eRzvjrqkSCvyIQYqa6TGtl0wGLTvWHcAoh9d-xshOM/s320/2011_0423sulawesi0062.JPG" border="0" /></a> Halfway point on our rafting trip. Time for a snack<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pBex0YY3aCuggADMcZHpH6izx_fXWdg77Ku48PiTSXZR_zaLNhrVWUEp1dXB86e0h3n-jx5BYKXwsn2zFs3JmCY0tNBS1uesBLROmUlqSC7p7gANTRnLWJeOFhj6cNXUNeN7rEJmw2k/s1600/2011_0423sulawesi0045.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599846759046491970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pBex0YY3aCuggADMcZHpH6izx_fXWdg77Ku48PiTSXZR_zaLNhrVWUEp1dXB86e0h3n-jx5BYKXwsn2zFs3JmCY0tNBS1uesBLROmUlqSC7p7gANTRnLWJeOFhj6cNXUNeN7rEJmw2k/s320/2011_0423sulawesi0045.JPG" border="0" /></a> Great rafting in Sulawesi<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OVPKSa6A-MD9Rt2Sxanq5Zx8WR_DGIv-wdZRPr8gvsbinoCEr5y4VK8CPwMgHN6RdXzKRA5XHpKIBByq9rl07gGOUt-tuLYmREUEu8_obZeN4xGCgCqqGHouJQuw9_kkXVGARxY09Nw/s1600/2011_0423sulawesi0037.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599846750490337826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OVPKSa6A-MD9Rt2Sxanq5Zx8WR_DGIv-wdZRPr8gvsbinoCEr5y4VK8CPwMgHN6RdXzKRA5XHpKIBByq9rl07gGOUt-tuLYmREUEu8_obZeN4xGCgCqqGHouJQuw9_kkXVGARxY09Nw/s320/2011_0423sulawesi0037.JPG" border="0" /></a> Just before the big launch<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVDR7ItIqQ4cPwuFybnWj7iZ15qrPDhfXms8lRbyvpQ9b6qixRU297hrNeRx2wZgfejZWRluezyvYmODC4iZ-XYbPmsw48JVJ0oIarL6RmZ5vncegSa6jqsg4Q0iJYE8uo2GbU4SpzGs/s1600/2011_0423sulawesi0033.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599846745235301618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVDR7ItIqQ4cPwuFybnWj7iZ15qrPDhfXms8lRbyvpQ9b6qixRU297hrNeRx2wZgfejZWRluezyvYmODC4iZ-XYbPmsw48JVJ0oIarL6RmZ5vncegSa6jqsg4Q0iJYE8uo2GbU4SpzGs/s320/2011_0423sulawesi0033.JPG" border="0" /></a> Family photo, April 2011<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-85036381833217273982010-09-19T16:37:00.001-07:002010-09-19T20:31:19.642-07:00Trekking in India and Nepal<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-C9u6Nrj8qKGDyTQZKXUOgkBCEAfxMM-mxd0EucOHLrZNsSfZfA-PkyORgV5Msrf6wuUL8poxCMnEBGSzGHBQ4GtFizIMirHSS7lgiHBZQFbM8fog-fjkNtoe5KIUmdtfU6PXFACHqDY/s1600/india+003.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518832827646153954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-C9u6Nrj8qKGDyTQZKXUOgkBCEAfxMM-mxd0EucOHLrZNsSfZfA-PkyORgV5Msrf6wuUL8poxCMnEBGSzGHBQ4GtFizIMirHSS7lgiHBZQFbM8fog-fjkNtoe5KIUmdtfU6PXFACHqDY/s320/india+003.jpg" border="0" /></a> All ready to go!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguc92d0e_gB1KP1GKlYdu13zJa4xGncnrH1b1TMEoK2QgpQiTA1FPjy4cIjfAAnrCWdVuaiscviKg0M24LSoDCo4pR0xOR_s-X-viHpvL_43ipKR6hmeFi9fXiRzNn2D-8_iNZDev3n3Q/s1600/india+011.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518832817292806370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguc92d0e_gB1KP1GKlYdu13zJa4xGncnrH1b1TMEoK2QgpQiTA1FPjy4cIjfAAnrCWdVuaiscviKg0M24LSoDCo4pR0xOR_s-X-viHpvL_43ipKR6hmeFi9fXiRzNn2D-8_iNZDev3n3Q/s320/india+011.jpg" border="0" /></a>Mother Theresa Home for the Dying in Calcutta<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU15lhxI5SaMLx2LPJDJjBw6TEy1Vvt2Uyh9UNaP1ENisW3hd9T7_gPwsPYHA_KYdXPeFy4vyz5m9vFBTI0kUet2Xnc3QfbdoLC9yvFST7MmZd8sDvnctNffSmjAP6sDnx9h40iHYlWY0/s1600/india+025.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518796935393066290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU15lhxI5SaMLx2LPJDJjBw6TEy1Vvt2Uyh9UNaP1ENisW3hd9T7_gPwsPYHA_KYdXPeFy4vyz5m9vFBTI0kUet2Xnc3QfbdoLC9yvFST7MmZd8sDvnctNffSmjAP6sDnx9h40iHYlWY0/s320/india+025.jpg" border="0" /></a> Hanging out in Darjeeling<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqd2TBYcsmmbsg1ISQ7fca8hJVlbykeR419zsGN7ifUBdrKfNarMx80J6uZcQLE_iZBBHe_6GYz9gcCxJGosIpNFPOiVS6Ok1lAk_Hc5JZ8mQ8MH6d8Wbk-eRkPNoW-xBLVw8cD-HwM50/s1600/india+047.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518796923218908450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqd2TBYcsmmbsg1ISQ7fca8hJVlbykeR419zsGN7ifUBdrKfNarMx80J6uZcQLE_iZBBHe_6GYz9gcCxJGosIpNFPOiVS6Ok1lAk_Hc5JZ8mQ8MH6d8Wbk-eRkPNoW-xBLVw8cD-HwM50/s320/india+047.jpg" border="0" /></a> First day of trekking<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY0W-6IjtvoqOjYQ19DXsEPJdsusboe2DUVobbzn-BBUBUj2RoGGfmenqpDzK-LUQHWW76toCM3R8_M9BHn1vItGXrduzoVBacVDA0u8rfdi5qEFPh9MuPV9NVQH_TJBL14kR33vcHyUM/s1600/india+116.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518796480298307778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY0W-6IjtvoqOjYQ19DXsEPJdsusboe2DUVobbzn-BBUBUj2RoGGfmenqpDzK-LUQHWW76toCM3R8_M9BHn1vItGXrduzoVBacVDA0u8rfdi5qEFPh9MuPV9NVQH_TJBL14kR33vcHyUM/s320/india+116.jpg" border="0" /></a> One of the little villages we stopped in for lunch<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGDvbwWw9iPwSVgx-PIkPkEdOFfFPoTTz44djXRe22E2-3EhRtcpQilO9oYwAu1WQT3ZeBqJYMF1PqWXLpE8ZET4ySZr9b9w3LqgpltR8OcF5wq8yzmdi2rBVAPe_5cDuKuNaAOUT1W4/s1600/india+125.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518796463861771410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGDvbwWw9iPwSVgx-PIkPkEdOFfFPoTTz44djXRe22E2-3EhRtcpQilO9oYwAu1WQT3ZeBqJYMF1PqWXLpE8ZET4ySZr9b9w3LqgpltR8OcF5wq8yzmdi2rBVAPe_5cDuKuNaAOUT1W4/s320/india+125.jpg" border="0" /></a> Watching our Tibetan bread being fried for breakfast<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_073-Jn_JzKwHVnNMSFl0jdBx1e01wL2sOOV_N0hXxf3Am0kn7hLnOi353-XP6dOL7A2KHvPw73DPID3n-oRw3RXrUM8OuiPCA-oVR8T0yYbIyTCSj55N9uGho6C6hG3lga17WhWD28w/s1600/india+055.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518796238509064434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_073-Jn_JzKwHVnNMSFl0jdBx1e01wL2sOOV_N0hXxf3Am0kn7hLnOi353-XP6dOL7A2KHvPw73DPID3n-oRw3RXrUM8OuiPCA-oVR8T0yYbIyTCSj55N9uGho6C6hG3lga17WhWD28w/s320/india+055.jpg" border="0" /></a> Many of our "home stays" for the night looked like Switzerland<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAe0wk0ru09In5tim6HlFwvL_T7Qxq7xQU99m-S5N7iGc6dykGkW8_j0WkkDqqBwUGTTUDjVieIecZstsUot1h_OhUNoOw26xiaaOpp2HQW-OoLGRnZnouobiEgIOw5cR8h45BmHINtjE/s1600/india+058.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518796225975497202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAe0wk0ru09In5tim6HlFwvL_T7Qxq7xQU99m-S5N7iGc6dykGkW8_j0WkkDqqBwUGTTUDjVieIecZstsUot1h_OhUNoOw26xiaaOpp2HQW-OoLGRnZnouobiEgIOw5cR8h45BmHINtjE/s320/india+058.jpg" border="0" /></a> As Ben would say: Just chillaxing after a long day of trekking<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCNMd-KaST1kNia-0H4QXtPOkMBWQJ6Eh8jBsjGsSo7dN_ZH_8ZsaYJerFFjf8IMwp4SNK-SPJfflWAUE6VG5jGHs_GgnDqsumlPvMjr3UXRowXDZLTydD6PkFtdLJXyJEBu5g5v20SM/s1600/india+036.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518795896919926386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCNMd-KaST1kNia-0H4QXtPOkMBWQJ6Eh8jBsjGsSo7dN_ZH_8ZsaYJerFFjf8IMwp4SNK-SPJfflWAUE6VG5jGHs_GgnDqsumlPvMjr3UXRowXDZLTydD6PkFtdLJXyJEBu5g5v20SM/s320/india+036.jpg" border="0" /></a> Just another lunch break<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaB9a6fjFU8MuIWmlc_zhIHsSJ8TEeqP3VNLiJsJ3Fs8JNqMP_gfnGFDho1VgcOnEKYuhpTA3DnC0SvitMW4yxAVl3_bAdB8YITNf6TEUxyzgYr6dIPoCsuJ79i5LkAr_pmzbuV-WRhfQ/s1600/india+022.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518795885752950962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaB9a6fjFU8MuIWmlc_zhIHsSJ8TEeqP3VNLiJsJ3Fs8JNqMP_gfnGFDho1VgcOnEKYuhpTA3DnC0SvitMW4yxAVl3_bAdB8YITNf6TEUxyzgYr6dIPoCsuJ79i5LkAr_pmzbuV-WRhfQ/s320/india+022.jpg" border="0" /></a> Mt. Kangchendjonga, 3rd highest peak in the world, through the clouds<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnmXMD1fCvZNtPTa4gKDBEouoOWnFNkToLJFUDxFsgfzfO10UzWZJizy8OwgBSGvvfOFW-SSwWSa4cUo9cGBAGMiHMBNkq2xOlDziVFtFlpf3mGKLk1tlhmDLt3Qkef63hDFlt07jSBw/s1600/india+071.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518795442646643426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnmXMD1fCvZNtPTa4gKDBEouoOWnFNkToLJFUDxFsgfzfO10UzWZJizy8OwgBSGvvfOFW-SSwWSa4cUo9cGBAGMiHMBNkq2xOlDziVFtFlpf3mGKLk1tlhmDLt3Qkef63hDFlt07jSBw/s320/india+071.jpg" border="0" /></a> Sunrise<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2_llJADyUr6jzRBZk7XUmHht_7cz6po7c4tba1oi_Y_Z7oyyTix24eSamT6OuFYZdHsqv1hPt5Sg3Okvffrt1wAf9r5abuR6jzQ02VsI2uAl2gPgUKoyvEBkCSM1c6jouHz5o0KwDyI/s1600/india+090.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518795434815749794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2_llJADyUr6jzRBZk7XUmHht_7cz6po7c4tba1oi_Y_Z7oyyTix24eSamT6OuFYZdHsqv1hPt5Sg3Okvffrt1wAf9r5abuR6jzQ02VsI2uAl2gPgUKoyvEBkCSM1c6jouHz5o0KwDyI/s320/india+090.jpg" border="0" /></a> Mt. Kangchendjonga in background...at 5:30 am<br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Sometimes nothing seems to go right. Other times, everything seems to go right. This was one of those times. Ben and I spent ten days hiking in India and Nepal for his graduation present and the time couldn’t have gone much better.<br />The area we chose for our trekking was around Darjeeling, a small town perched on steep hillsides and surrounded by famous tea fields. It was a little bit Kenya (Tigoni tea fields) and a little bit La Paz (built into a nearly perpendicular hillside and surrounded by towering snow-covered mountains).<br />First, we needed a 24-hour layover in Calcutta and used the time to visit the Mother Theresa Home for the Dying. Obviously quite a contrast to the next several days where both spirits and thoughts soared.<br />The hiking was a great mixture of culture, exercise, discussion, history, and reveling in the beauty of the scenery. The culture part came from the places we where we stayed for the night. Part home-stay and part youth-hostel we had just enough privacy (our own room) along with plenty of time with the families over meals. Few spoke English so it was mostly smiling and motioning whether or not we wanted more food or tea.<br />The exercise included hikes of 12, 13, 20, and 12 kilometers, mostly straight up and straight down. I think we started our hike at around 6,000 ft in elevation and then went up to around 12,000 ft. at the highest point. Since we stayed in “homes” each night, we didn’t need to carry sleeping bags or tents or food or cooking gear. We traveled pretty light and at 51 years of age, I wasn’t complaining.<br />The discussion times were memorable. Obviously I don’t get uninterrupted time like this with Ben very often and it provided lots of opportunity to talk about all kinds of things. Mostly he spent the time trying to convince me that Frank Zappa is the best musician ever and that Southern California will be lucky to get him if he goes to college there. I spent my time trying to convince him that he should pick a certain college in Michigan and that the Bee Gees were the all-time greatest musicians. I won’t mind losing the music argument but I hope to prevail on the college one.<br />The history part was great for me. I remember as a kid spinning the metal globe I had and letting my figure lightly touch the surface as it spun. Wherever it stopped I would look at the place and wonder if I’ll ever visit there. Over and over I’d spin the globe, fascinated with the world and particularly so with the raised, mountainous area between India and China…the Himalayas. The first pair to ever climb Mt. Everest was Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. I didn’t realize that Darjeeling was Norgay’s home…that he trekked and trekked the very same paths that Ben and I walked. He stayed in the same spots along the way. We visited the Himalaya Mountaineering Institute and saw all the original equipment used by Hillary and Norgay. Fascinating to see the maps and models of their ascent and learn more about what a feat that was.<br />The beauty of the area needs no explanation. While we didn’t see Everest (it’s actually 100 miles away and usually in the clouds at this time of year) we did see many, many other peaks including the third highest peak in the world and the one that shows up in several of the pictures I’ve posted. You will see from most of the hiking pictures that the area was very lush and again, very very steep. Lots of mist and rains at night kept things cool and green and refreshing to breath. Almost he only rain we had came when we were indoors for the night or driving to and from Darjeeling in the Land Rover.<br />Great time. Everything we expected and hoped for. Enjoy the pictures.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-78782740084590671202010-06-22T23:54:00.000-07:002010-06-23T04:48:36.261-07:00Vacation-cramming<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhH1QQSYhcTG6fthhuxFLNxXgch-n51Nn6PB90fmokP8RyUKe8X4UIaIyhtGR92jxAWAK79XsxKmfE3L1G7eRT39Ek-fRL2Q3chYOnk3w_bnffPNZ-88dtTZqRMOkwm4FccAWyyacsmPs/s1600/2010_0619ccc0191.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485864497853477666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhH1QQSYhcTG6fthhuxFLNxXgch-n51Nn6PB90fmokP8RyUKe8X4UIaIyhtGR92jxAWAK79XsxKmfE3L1G7eRT39Ek-fRL2Q3chYOnk3w_bnffPNZ-88dtTZqRMOkwm4FccAWyyacsmPs/s320/2010_0619ccc0191.JPG" border="0" /></a> Cycling in the rice fields<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-PFg0VFFHDYLdnHhCjq8y8UQTG4DB2uI5qECK6M0XZzhy3dABBcrzX0rDCmBmeRXNF96FPYJz9dcvfLzz9OyG8QvqDtUCSjeTHbQu9VzebbKS8aqYdWzFQMerq71CFzo9r0Hmf2x7CsM/s1600/2010_0619ccc0192.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485864486328723538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-PFg0VFFHDYLdnHhCjq8y8UQTG4DB2uI5qECK6M0XZzhy3dABBcrzX0rDCmBmeRXNF96FPYJz9dcvfLzz9OyG8QvqDtUCSjeTHbQu9VzebbKS8aqYdWzFQMerq71CFzo9r0Hmf2x7CsM/s320/2010_0619ccc0192.JPG" border="0" /></a> Wow! That white body sure stands out against the green rice<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPfx1U0BA5BDAZ1aOKmpz3iuM2wvuoThmw_KzEYP2y1pHOKf8Ikg_b2e7uFVR5YeYoCrHVtnjN792bLdDl4Z-GACEytKpcB4pzzlmF1KGFS-_CDq4OXCMjdBI2jW5vqqpVBxZdwQwnSg/s1600/2010_0619ccc0198.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485864476848000450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPfx1U0BA5BDAZ1aOKmpz3iuM2wvuoThmw_KzEYP2y1pHOKf8Ikg_b2e7uFVR5YeYoCrHVtnjN792bLdDl4Z-GACEytKpcB4pzzlmF1KGFS-_CDq4OXCMjdBI2jW5vqqpVBxZdwQwnSg/s320/2010_0619ccc0198.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvo3avz99wACQ5FSrrIa3jlp8qfbt3QG-u_dfI58Grnc6zHGevMO9C4vi1TOjXII2jNnenehxExppGC1BwxoN52QQC3-kz3Zs_6ug7gsgOz293jrHWQ7XYmEdsraryTqZW0EPBlbwe6CM/s1600/2010_0619ccc0199.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485864471413728978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvo3avz99wACQ5FSrrIa3jlp8qfbt3QG-u_dfI58Grnc6zHGevMO9C4vi1TOjXII2jNnenehxExppGC1BwxoN52QQC3-kz3Zs_6ug7gsgOz293jrHWQ7XYmEdsraryTqZW0EPBlbwe6CM/s320/2010_0619ccc0199.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJix147PrQeMrTjvGMmnbTh7mXURSPSncuMNNVuoyVpNpeqyvrl9p0q76-8I7STDv219yq-2UhoNjsRjPiSjjS1-jlspz3NexlzQ6W-wvI2VSTkbcH34TuxjI0JarImYfr95S8Si-ZjA/s1600/2010_0619ccc0200.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485864153556987410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJix147PrQeMrTjvGMmnbTh7mXURSPSncuMNNVuoyVpNpeqyvrl9p0q76-8I7STDv219yq-2UhoNjsRjPiSjjS1-jlspz3NexlzQ6W-wvI2VSTkbcH34TuxjI0JarImYfr95S8Si-ZjA/s320/2010_0619ccc0200.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYVAhkv1gPtOEC-e_pDfsGp5Jpwsgf5gVfKfoJCTGGKO3SrCpIFXStG5FgO0WD1n4GYSr8tW3ZuJ_6xTo7ZPmgAMpskeGf1NgIeIZGW1u0Lh3OCcJ22m0St3gcrcAZmfxdEjzJ2LgPNw/s1600/2010_0619ccc0202.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485864145231757154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYVAhkv1gPtOEC-e_pDfsGp5Jpwsgf5gVfKfoJCTGGKO3SrCpIFXStG5FgO0WD1n4GYSr8tW3ZuJ_6xTo7ZPmgAMpskeGf1NgIeIZGW1u0Lh3OCcJ22m0St3gcrcAZmfxdEjzJ2LgPNw/s320/2010_0619ccc0202.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexUWmR-4ZnurrdMMXgyCLmowLg5vCuDsMgPDqvEuji3iLZRtw9dAdPlcqs5RKyReOOCg8JJ3lH5MbNHrE_n6Yn80jqklLBt19juC17A6z_F62KwL8TMl2avq4h5lepJPxZPFoZsJn65E/s1600/2010_0619ccc0206.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485864132541659042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexUWmR-4ZnurrdMMXgyCLmowLg5vCuDsMgPDqvEuji3iLZRtw9dAdPlcqs5RKyReOOCg8JJ3lH5MbNHrE_n6Yn80jqklLBt19juC17A6z_F62KwL8TMl2avq4h5lepJPxZPFoZsJn65E/s320/2010_0619ccc0206.JPG" border="0" /></a> The Kecek Dancers...more impressive live than in photos<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx43TILRl7ICfIkAfr7v4Qwx11i71_1JGl8GPukDX7LJFWuGtQDh0HutkRAQMYCmT7p61Bx9hYegzdXj-QiL4tgwh5CvXxSZWsjAB_c37s1vNBg1-7U9HBA4vMk-XzUzfcKug41wzDhpo/s1600/2010_0619ccc0207.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485864121440433570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx43TILRl7ICfIkAfr7v4Qwx11i71_1JGl8GPukDX7LJFWuGtQDh0HutkRAQMYCmT7p61Bx9hYegzdXj-QiL4tgwh5CvXxSZWsjAB_c37s1vNBg1-7U9HBA4vMk-XzUzfcKug41wzDhpo/s320/2010_0619ccc0207.JPG" border="0" /></a> Dancing on the coals and fire<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORlmxcrNcuCiMjS6BVGXFaLRUDEKn5HEcrea8aWIzNo3XlNiQ284CVZdxj1G_i1LdyT1PzZyW0tNgRxLlU4eT_GCAInwNox7ri7zGd5zWgdnaUQcP5GvnBRSbN0uM9U0kw68lRQFJ4Iw/s1600/2010_0619ccc0187.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863806606043506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORlmxcrNcuCiMjS6BVGXFaLRUDEKn5HEcrea8aWIzNo3XlNiQ284CVZdxj1G_i1LdyT1PzZyW0tNgRxLlU4eT_GCAInwNox7ri7zGd5zWgdnaUQcP5GvnBRSbN0uM9U0kw68lRQFJ4Iw/s320/2010_0619ccc0187.JPG" border="0" /></a> This is the kind of path / road we were on most of the time<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-K4w2gyeE7NNdXyQQJLbX4039b3FDuGzpno_rahp7GSgCVlvgcShqp_N_ssh_vJeM4uSj1koH_hXEa_AvQbCqv4JFjnawqdofqHz28JcGxjKwGVWBvEuCt_1JbTnip2QuWy81bELevv8/s1600/2010_0619ccc0186.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863799547518834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-K4w2gyeE7NNdXyQQJLbX4039b3FDuGzpno_rahp7GSgCVlvgcShqp_N_ssh_vJeM4uSj1koH_hXEa_AvQbCqv4JFjnawqdofqHz28JcGxjKwGVWBvEuCt_1JbTnip2QuWy81bELevv8/s320/2010_0619ccc0186.JPG" border="0" /></a> 5 happy campers and one scowling tough guy!<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE34H_KIfJvELG3dDtMRmkWtqjQj3VAidoco-2MLJEG7Q76CpbOCEWD0R-GcyzMq_PYUwSjtoBXIY0PCC9UHEoYbuoNAGDZgJWwnZ0jC0BOgAEcYXIsTi4zaPIagZ0jFtJz7GpRCjQGE/s1600/2010_0619ccc0170.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863792551737954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE34H_KIfJvELG3dDtMRmkWtqjQj3VAidoco-2MLJEG7Q76CpbOCEWD0R-GcyzMq_PYUwSjtoBXIY0PCC9UHEoYbuoNAGDZgJWwnZ0jC0BOgAEcYXIsTi4zaPIagZ0jFtJz7GpRCjQGE/s320/2010_0619ccc0170.JPG" border="0" /></a> Kayla's been lovin' having her big sister around<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYaMvhcHPnugV2qh7WIg3rEWJhzwzMuS3RdUvSwf8M12ifNmTHffERqhMnvcqNskcyIncxRwz_JLnxdwp1nWsFU3YPVSqDJ5vXBcKzGclXzgRCvdoY7-zCyldw83cZONyjLV2iwxqNQs/s1600/2010_0619ccc0168.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863782117089506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYaMvhcHPnugV2qh7WIg3rEWJhzwzMuS3RdUvSwf8M12ifNmTHffERqhMnvcqNskcyIncxRwz_JLnxdwp1nWsFU3YPVSqDJ5vXBcKzGclXzgRCvdoY7-zCyldw83cZONyjLV2iwxqNQs/s320/2010_0619ccc0168.JPG" border="0" /></a> Again, 5 happy campers and a tough teenager. You can't tell<br />it maybe from the pictures but he really did have a good time<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQrO_7lj1bO8mkFml-xs_5yOGd249AQLGi0bu5MZD_AUyfCiZGgCwXOZxxoxjn-jVlSpLk3Z_v2e1Uf7-cd_gdIThYeoXHQjnweVQCd824YjohFT9q3xHVUnOAb_TbnKVWzjSy4YjNco/s1600/2010_0619ccc0159.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863473272627650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQrO_7lj1bO8mkFml-xs_5yOGd249AQLGi0bu5MZD_AUyfCiZGgCwXOZxxoxjn-jVlSpLk3Z_v2e1Uf7-cd_gdIThYeoXHQjnweVQCd824YjohFT9q3xHVUnOAb_TbnKVWzjSy4YjNco/s320/2010_0619ccc0159.JPG" border="0" /></a> I love the crashing surf in the background<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJm0E0Acem20HwTsaxpIcbO5YSnspJmHClgkb2QznY4Uv5r8ywYL1AHqKTTRyMrS56D9SjgDRqvgcw9kmFdfyi18xNd_LwsTEp_aO4XZ1XhxzWnvj8YmPDJUnCRdTFKbDZtD3RteVNBM8/s1600/2010_0619ccc0158.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863463141277010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJm0E0Acem20HwTsaxpIcbO5YSnspJmHClgkb2QznY4Uv5r8ywYL1AHqKTTRyMrS56D9SjgDRqvgcw9kmFdfyi18xNd_LwsTEp_aO4XZ1XhxzWnvj8YmPDJUnCRdTFKbDZtD3RteVNBM8/s320/2010_0619ccc0158.JPG" border="0" /></a> Cartwheeling in Bali<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWO8eAIhdShI58hq3dmzmLMR5cW13Gy4PXn36-m9GBCg3fWADLVQpejKqKsn9RXIdy0QeY1W35uO1oVvjAYkLNyc8_4oUBvkak5TcX6l_sTSzGotXbt8XhHFB0oyzHcD9bviU8-PlkylQ/s1600/2010_0619ccc0142.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863454476516834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWO8eAIhdShI58hq3dmzmLMR5cW13Gy4PXn36-m9GBCg3fWADLVQpejKqKsn9RXIdy0QeY1W35uO1oVvjAYkLNyc8_4oUBvkak5TcX6l_sTSzGotXbt8XhHFB0oyzHcD9bviU8-PlkylQ/s320/2010_0619ccc0142.JPG" border="0" /></a> At the end of a boogie-board run<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5txB17txBO6ZpSKsER4CQft2r5mYf6zJgH-bk3aE33OHnRLMQlPLjNLj_R-9Yw6xE9MblmI3FAJ0WwARH6nkTFJJRCN4Ed-MQhxhGLdfZ0OcsxBHhVrbRWyFgQt72L4JtYSiT31es24/s1600/2010_0619ccc0093.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863448813121250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5txB17txBO6ZpSKsER4CQft2r5mYf6zJgH-bk3aE33OHnRLMQlPLjNLj_R-9Yw6xE9MblmI3FAJ0WwARH6nkTFJJRCN4Ed-MQhxhGLdfZ0OcsxBHhVrbRWyFgQt72L4JtYSiT31es24/s320/2010_0619ccc0093.JPG" border="0" /></a> Yes, I did actually learn to surf on a beginners board<br />but it still felt great!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_U1hbX8PlP9LEKX4lKERUUn6gZ8nfMYe4sjbee1d7udhw_hfQ7gaqI78Uqtg_bIaS5jZnozJQzDhR8fMUMsxpvl89dPFuFtqISNmhmDHosT4i14j8QL8gOiO3YctLvX_UIv94EIwUNr8/s1600/2010_0619ccc0057.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863094771477762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_U1hbX8PlP9LEKX4lKERUUn6gZ8nfMYe4sjbee1d7udhw_hfQ7gaqI78Uqtg_bIaS5jZnozJQzDhR8fMUMsxpvl89dPFuFtqISNmhmDHosT4i14j8QL8gOiO3YctLvX_UIv94EIwUNr8/s320/2010_0619ccc0057.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7YvCcwRwCeGP4d9w5txu8Nst8Eu-5a-AjC43Tlxaa2StgFp-Edhuqgdd4BYxMVkToL0hMTgOzNwxT7d9MCqC01ZVmiSxFh4p_SeMfmZiIg9o3K2zcajak0FcuBs5D8-Zugo6kZqB3-P8/s1600/2010_0619ccc0047.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863088100650914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7YvCcwRwCeGP4d9w5txu8Nst8Eu-5a-AjC43Tlxaa2StgFp-Edhuqgdd4BYxMVkToL0hMTgOzNwxT7d9MCqC01ZVmiSxFh4p_SeMfmZiIg9o3K2zcajak0FcuBs5D8-Zugo6kZqB3-P8/s320/2010_0619ccc0047.JPG" border="0" /></a> Ben, working on the tan<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUeBKyDtisXQT9VwvAYKU42oxkp33ZtWNrjHQ9JGny29dGV392O9vCDAaSNGYRwEBu-2Q77z3IifiLpsnoEgtRH_QdWezPJMxMlBCDuiV0keG3hGSak7Ayk4ICGhWvEeaWniQ0kOWJmBo/s1600/2010_0619ccc0070.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863114999489586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUeBKyDtisXQT9VwvAYKU42oxkp33ZtWNrjHQ9JGny29dGV392O9vCDAaSNGYRwEBu-2Q77z3IifiLpsnoEgtRH_QdWezPJMxMlBCDuiV0keG3hGSak7Ayk4ICGhWvEeaWniQ0kOWJmBo/s320/2010_0619ccc0070.JPG" border="0" /></a> Yes, that's her personality coming through<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqGb7Kw_kMkkYnNCB0Fsp4ZfbT-xuTbcvNcj5_Nb4bJd7_yIP0rUCE4bBdqD2PmSGpe_-mZOj5q3vO8KTGskZB3Gj1pWMiM5SFaU2mvmlH7sWxHSssS12ZFdv3RrFrT1sIsS3doR9hyphenhyphenw/s1600/2010_0619ccc0066.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485863102170310674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqGb7Kw_kMkkYnNCB0Fsp4ZfbT-xuTbcvNcj5_Nb4bJd7_yIP0rUCE4bBdqD2PmSGpe_-mZOj5q3vO8KTGskZB3Gj1pWMiM5SFaU2mvmlH7sWxHSssS12ZFdv3RrFrT1sIsS3doR9hyphenhyphenw/s320/2010_0619ccc0066.JPG" border="0" /></a> Comparing tans<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDL4CFqeFQb6VznXMiV7QTQ_LHVH4uuKKd6HClH6BFBOs_B0cQD5k6OpLZcBA1uq3n63ScxlWMJ7zVP7QjFLmHODOntiA0rh-8XR-k22WKFfoIhbWPPXSC4FePGeKNN9OdabkZ9NPGnA/s1600/2010_0619ccc0037.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485862742598911138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDL4CFqeFQb6VznXMiV7QTQ_LHVH4uuKKd6HClH6BFBOs_B0cQD5k6OpLZcBA1uq3n63ScxlWMJ7zVP7QjFLmHODOntiA0rh-8XR-k22WKFfoIhbWPPXSC4FePGeKNN9OdabkZ9NPGnA/s320/2010_0619ccc0037.JPG" border="0" /></a> Extreme Boogie Boardin'<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6nYez3hoph24ibeHElxPX2gj4eVwRHHMSgS6H03KbaqicypoJ5AvkByRPiIOk5URfy_ukxesycBQjcotACqPYdu6nla1VYVfug1surVbYUVhApoeFdWpdc1NmmezIQWxMSYR2_H5XiGg/s1600/2010_0619ccc0008.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485862734991454242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6nYez3hoph24ibeHElxPX2gj4eVwRHHMSgS6H03KbaqicypoJ5AvkByRPiIOk5URfy_ukxesycBQjcotACqPYdu6nla1VYVfug1surVbYUVhApoeFdWpdc1NmmezIQWxMSYR2_H5XiGg/s320/2010_0619ccc0008.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQlMa1ieNbUTCvt-XuUpn4XWU87_WdnTTnwkp49SW-Q3Xg7ESZONNn2SD_D0aDajIYCoMQdUMCFrq3DVRVs-_X_K4Yc63t3Njvd00xlrus_9J0s2aV3q7maNgwYEpPGfxei2J8HS-i0c/s1600/2010_0619ccc0002.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485862720289731682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQlMa1ieNbUTCvt-XuUpn4XWU87_WdnTTnwkp49SW-Q3Xg7ESZONNn2SD_D0aDajIYCoMQdUMCFrq3DVRVs-_X_K4Yc63t3Njvd00xlrus_9J0s2aV3q7maNgwYEpPGfxei2J8HS-i0c/s320/2010_0619ccc0002.JPG" border="0" /></a> My girls!<br /><br /><div>We are in the midst of vacation-cramming. That means after years and years of summer holidays beginning June 1 and lasting until early/mid August we now have a mid-June to mid-July holiday. Seems pretty short but how can I complain when many people don't get that much time and millions around the world wish they even had a job. And besides, the vacation-cramming has been fun.<br /><br />Rebekah Joy arrived while we still had a week of school. That gave her some good time to get over the jet lag and get ready for our summer plans.<br /><br />Last week the cramming started. We flew to Bali on Monday and spent 4 nights at the beach. Surfing, boogie boards, and just playing in the huge surf was great. The beach was massive. Sunsets were excellent. And, of course, the waves were unlike anything we have enjoyed before.<br /><br />Then it was on to Ubud, another town in Bali. Another world, too. Ubud was my favorite. We did bicycling, white water rafting, took in cultural dances and music. The dress and food and scenery reminded us every minute that we were not in Kansas, nor even Jakarta. The only disappointment was that I didn't take the camera on the white water rafting. I thought there would be no opportunity to take pictures and only opportunity to damage the camera. So, the most spectacular scenery is missing.<br /><br />Enjoy the photos. We are resting up at home now. That really means lots of small day trips. Like today. The girls and Rebecca all went in to Waterbom, a water amusement park. Tomorrow I think they go ice skating and movies. On Monday we're up to a mountain villa and safari park for a couple of days and then back home to get Rebekah Joy on her flight.<br /><br />I guess I should say that while the girls are out ice skating and water sliding and other such things, I'm getting in 18 holes of golf every morning. And when I say morning, I mean I'm teeing off at 5:45 am. That way I can be done by mid-morning and have time to work a bit in my office to get ready for the new school year.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-56515009677905705722010-04-01T06:03:00.000-07:002010-04-02T01:42:01.010-07:00Easter Break, Nice and Easy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc5zfsCMEWC5yhdHxq2FNla4h3rvtwfe9ikOIpaVBxdgRJgV37dAsX2yBOfaMK5uWyqLQ5-S5qyXD3RNqFQQt5OnRvw-0NmknbfU3IZ6BNQ04UFeDhsQm5wi4Rm6aqGKRzlZD2DU6o5CI/s1600/2010_0331puncak0057.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455452012622994962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc5zfsCMEWC5yhdHxq2FNla4h3rvtwfe9ikOIpaVBxdgRJgV37dAsX2yBOfaMK5uWyqLQ5-S5qyXD3RNqFQQt5OnRvw-0NmknbfU3IZ6BNQ04UFeDhsQm5wi4Rm6aqGKRzlZD2DU6o5CI/s320/2010_0331puncak0057.JPG" border="0" /></a> Hannah being hugged by an elephant<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpNwSrFnv39egFuJW3krxowS0BlC7O0-5AlysENshSr6L1-BClMWPs6-JQypkDh_xgsIr0KEhOP6ueBfBK58jTzByi8MVmNUEM9nm5bd2D7zUFmyuSIUmvjVV4cxd5nCkgwznjmrkx0c/s1600/2010_0331puncak0064.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455452002687126850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpNwSrFnv39egFuJW3krxowS0BlC7O0-5AlysENshSr6L1-BClMWPs6-JQypkDh_xgsIr0KEhOP6ueBfBK58jTzByi8MVmNUEM9nm5bd2D7zUFmyuSIUmvjVV4cxd5nCkgwznjmrkx0c/s320/2010_0331puncak0064.JPG" border="0" /></a> Kayla looking a little "unsure" about being this close<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCL_U0V7I_qfzI5igB1Z8KQ0Sr4p9uGjNjZ5CKQN_iB6Xghci_4OF4kW7LjNYZYDkAumYZVj2tVMe0PRgQ9dEv6k_AFDQ882-72e92lAzVx9nCY_8pq4toHu0epYy2WOXiOGaNDjNgok/s1600/2010_0331puncak0065.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455451836046074354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCL_U0V7I_qfzI5igB1Z8KQ0Sr4p9uGjNjZ5CKQN_iB6Xghci_4OF4kW7LjNYZYDkAumYZVj2tVMe0PRgQ9dEv6k_AFDQ882-72e92lAzVx9nCY_8pq4toHu0epYy2WOXiOGaNDjNgok/s320/2010_0331puncak0065.JPG" border="0" /></a> Ben said, "I want one of these for a little brother!"<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Gf086IZ-FeABgOuXRlQcpPWOuJGJmsaF1TZVzniRe15rqzifMMJ16O9eAiDibTGEg2bc8K_OHGDI-MtgO6ix8qoHMF8uhulEaP5U3mLYFC0MaS_TMAp5_1jh2vzsiJKYEaagcQZKj7Y/s1600/2010_0331puncak0072.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455451832917499250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Gf086IZ-FeABgOuXRlQcpPWOuJGJmsaF1TZVzniRe15rqzifMMJ16O9eAiDibTGEg2bc8K_OHGDI-MtgO6ix8qoHMF8uhulEaP5U3mLYFC0MaS_TMAp5_1jh2vzsiJKYEaagcQZKj7Y/s320/2010_0331puncak0072.JPG" border="0" /></a> Now that's what I call GREEN<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmL4cUZkn_jbtuphetmdzKOjSwAa7-Ej6_egQPBCRZiSF2X_fXKX9bZcErtjThSWLp72Kx4ZqGC0tf0DBp4B-ZI2z4kWl-2xfpDhutMlX9f5DtYNNr6DRPdL4PlokYsDGAXKHGZuvCTpU/s1600/2010_0331puncak0085.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455451823061305314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmL4cUZkn_jbtuphetmdzKOjSwAa7-Ej6_egQPBCRZiSF2X_fXKX9bZcErtjThSWLp72Kx4ZqGC0tf0DBp4B-ZI2z4kWl-2xfpDhutMlX9f5DtYNNr6DRPdL4PlokYsDGAXKHGZuvCTpU/s320/2010_0331puncak0085.JPG" border="0" /></a> Great early-morning moments with Kayla<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_riwugyVkoAFCraxlfA14-AuMpvqiKPf42Vy02jTykDFYZxbuoPggDHkWQCx83gD3WpclGWXMAD-lN2-CisGALVy5_NN_wPESsZsUiH4i8UhJTEtj4rdiNC9NDCQZzABKUf2K09rvT-I/s1600/2010_0331puncak0120.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455451591363430834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_riwugyVkoAFCraxlfA14-AuMpvqiKPf42Vy02jTykDFYZxbuoPggDHkWQCx83gD3WpclGWXMAD-lN2-CisGALVy5_NN_wPESsZsUiH4i8UhJTEtj4rdiNC9NDCQZzABKUf2K09rvT-I/s320/2010_0331puncak0120.JPG" border="0" /></a> As mountain villas go...this one ain't bad<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRJ2qR79ae2mbdjeO-a8TAprEkrQrhDd1dxMI-pq5-lq9I6lMTbOkO_mGOt8GtiQnzaQzz-xH-oDpj1PWD8uamw9XmoTLWT9r0Cq-Zf7cdFuF8QId0lJiuQqgGMZmpZ4c4kGpon0pzdQ/s1600/2010_0331puncak0123.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455451586675892210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRJ2qR79ae2mbdjeO-a8TAprEkrQrhDd1dxMI-pq5-lq9I6lMTbOkO_mGOt8GtiQnzaQzz-xH-oDpj1PWD8uamw9XmoTLWT9r0Cq-Zf7cdFuF8QId0lJiuQqgGMZmpZ4c4kGpon0pzdQ/s320/2010_0331puncak0123.JPG" border="0" /></a> We had to bring our own game of Twister.<br /> Can you believe it? A villa without it's own game of Twister?<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinx0vrs9OxQmcZ5MPWuy1wto__aO_85c1qKFYYktmz8u9sEjepcBMZ0sYSyjeLt0L0eBiclKuRhecaP6W6VaYvnNaAN1KVCHmokiTAd72lmnu8-xIg6pr97S3OHetqFEVMarWMALAQYFs/s1600/2010_0331puncak0128.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455451582653612770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinx0vrs9OxQmcZ5MPWuy1wto__aO_85c1qKFYYktmz8u9sEjepcBMZ0sYSyjeLt0L0eBiclKuRhecaP6W6VaYvnNaAN1KVCHmokiTAd72lmnu8-xIg6pr97S3OHetqFEVMarWMALAQYFs/s320/2010_0331puncak0128.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Lots of small, easy stuff for us this year. We started off with a day trip to the beach (Anyer) along with 3 other school families. It's about a 2-hour drive to get there. A hotel with a pool is happy to rent a "day pass" for about 2 dollars a person which allows us to use the pool and enjoy the beach. Boogie boards rent for $1.50. It's really quite inexpensive so, of course, I'm all for that. We pack our lunches to be even cheaper. Anyway, that was how we started our break.</div><br /><br /><div>Next up was a trip to Jakarta's version of Disneyworld. Sorry I left the camera in the car. You'll just have to imagine the whirling teacups, Dumbo rides, 4-D movie/ride with the moving, lurching seats to go with the movie, etc. Kayla loved it. Ben and Hannah were convinced they wouldn't so we went without them. They were probably right that it was more of a little kids and old parents' park. And again, things are relatively cheap, so that makes me glad. A full-day pass is $13.00. Inside, meals are still in the 4-5 dollar range. If you were at a real Disneyworld you could hardly get a Coke for $4.00.</div><br /><div>We also just finished another trip to Puncak, sort of a mountain escape. By mountain, I guess I mean 5,000 feet at the most. It does get cool at night which is something we never get in Jakarta. Attached pictures are from the home we stay at in Puncak as well as the Safari Park nearby. Brings back good memories of Kenya. Tomorrow it's ice skating. Today it's a movie. Oh, and a few rounds of (bad) golf in between times. </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-88853261004972822832010-02-28T04:11:00.000-08:002010-04-02T04:53:37.736-07:00Weekend Action and Inaction<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0Yk5ENUw_eVDlGkIHt82aM5G8Cefqc_8tZa8Hpx73g5fpde72PVMopzZlnaYfRt4AdMABA3_VSEV6awqptD7FM55iVsEtxTiH47IHDXi-KkbBDVhvfwS__BV2tCRicAnKr33nap8fOc/s1600-h/weekend+017.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443805833493988882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0Yk5ENUw_eVDlGkIHt82aM5G8Cefqc_8tZa8Hpx73g5fpde72PVMopzZlnaYfRt4AdMABA3_VSEV6awqptD7FM55iVsEtxTiH47IHDXi-KkbBDVhvfwS__BV2tCRicAnKr33nap8fOc/s320/weekend+017.jpg" border="0" /></a> Not-quite the Winter Olympics<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDScRPQFIs7UbzN9btrXFwr3Wue2QnGwuv4djKCoBP1eRBpuuQ00Us5vK5moqdqmSM-whZcprZTSsjonWhan5ExiG5nKuOeWvxR30HjGnaTKH30Qv4_H-ZwtQeUKgjo4bxBJdmSjQjNEQ/s1600-h/weekend+016.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443805827490874930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDScRPQFIs7UbzN9btrXFwr3Wue2QnGwuv4djKCoBP1eRBpuuQ00Us5vK5moqdqmSM-whZcprZTSsjonWhan5ExiG5nKuOeWvxR30HjGnaTKH30Qv4_H-ZwtQeUKgjo4bxBJdmSjQjNEQ/s320/weekend+016.jpg" border="0" /></a> Nothing like an Indonesian Mall<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGXY_vLkHGV5Y4Mg4iyjA_3QR26qb5MzXtMW00or3ftIKwlPIwI1UZs9R-V6GMl7KQFhFm0Z5VFRARWHOLioreNQqIbnkqpEtmBHVaX2Zrq697OmWZbc_CUQ3gQMNBxUQE7jFaykJuiUw/s1600-h/weekend+008.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443805146001987250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGXY_vLkHGV5Y4Mg4iyjA_3QR26qb5MzXtMW00or3ftIKwlPIwI1UZs9R-V6GMl7KQFhFm0Z5VFRARWHOLioreNQqIbnkqpEtmBHVaX2Zrq697OmWZbc_CUQ3gQMNBxUQE7jFaykJuiUw/s320/weekend+008.jpg" border="0" /></a> Balcony of Mishap for Kitty #1<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4ewcIHoW_JXk9ASP5DJiRDXfJ7Q7jO5KwX4M8evFS5o0K-rUy-IHd7Iv5TBFWOceD5DftZYZ-PRYvtRnlprCBnX3o-yc6ncc6oapW4804dvOJfQKMd4cRwF10eiTtXo8tL75gVdXmP4/s1600-h/weekend+003.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443805136184550594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4ewcIHoW_JXk9ASP5DJiRDXfJ7Q7jO5KwX4M8evFS5o0K-rUy-IHd7Iv5TBFWOceD5DftZYZ-PRYvtRnlprCBnX3o-yc6ncc6oapW4804dvOJfQKMd4cRwF10eiTtXo8tL75gVdXmP4/s320/weekend+003.jpg" border="0" /></a> Hannah and two pets that are still alive this week<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5UnYxU0X-8Qi6F96N5zMAVLZyFrPYnwbpO91Uawe2AUnsbQMiZuB5vmRNt_yayGZ91Vbi8fBIn_sfUDVnzwPjoXanZCZfoP8DZYqlCCe7fofGMgu6KpHKJBnrrjUNwCBoSWvUamHsfg/s1600-h/weekend+004.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443805122295888770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5UnYxU0X-8Qi6F96N5zMAVLZyFrPYnwbpO91Uawe2AUnsbQMiZuB5vmRNt_yayGZ91Vbi8fBIn_sfUDVnzwPjoXanZCZfoP8DZYqlCCe7fofGMgu6KpHKJBnrrjUNwCBoSWvUamHsfg/s320/weekend+004.jpg" border="0" /></a> Kitty #1 and Kitty #2....they don't get names until we know they are going to survive<br /><br /></div><div><div>I'm going to try and do better at this blog stuff. One of my hangups is that I like to include pictures on the things I write about but then I forget to take the camera or I take it and the pictures turn out lousy or the battery or something... And then I don't feel like writing if I don't have good pictures. Who wants to read anything without pictures?<br /><br />Speaking of reading. Kayla is the new reader in our family. (Wish I had taken some pictures this morning of Rebecca teaching her to read!) She's using the exact same "teaching" book that she used with Rebekah Joy, Ben, and Hannah. It's fun to watch and listen as Kayla sounds out very slowly the letters and makes them into words. The amazing part of it is remembering the other kids learning on and stumbling over the very same words. There's something wonderfully encompassing? full circle? magical? nostagic?...not sure what the right word is but it's easy to close my eyes and picture any of the other kids sitting there doing the same thing 10 or 15 years ago.<br /><br />Usually we go to church on Sunday morning. I think I mentioned that we've started attending in Jakarta. I'll definitely (maybe) remember to take the camera to church next week. On the last Sunday of the month, though, they have several areas of Jakarta that are "car free" so driving to church is a nightmare. The good news is that we can go on Saturday night which we did last night. That leaves all day Sunday for different activities. This morning, that meant Kayla and Rebecca going ice skating. If the download button works right, photos should be attached.<br /><br />They can skate for two hours and I think it is only about $4.00 each. I just walk around the mall while they skate. Hannah stayed home to take care of her new pets (again, if the download stuff is working you should see a couple of rabbits). Our pets more or less rotate in and out of our family. The list of casualties and burials so far this year include a couple of hamsters, a couple of guinie pigs, a bird, and a rabbit. Several fish, too, but do they really count as pets? The new family members (future cusualties) include two more rabbits, a couple of cats, turtle, and maybe a few others.<br /><br />One of the cats almost took his own life a few weeks ago. A peaceful Sunday morning coffee in the downstairs sofa was rudely interrupted by a cat falling from the upstairs hallway (photos included, I hope). Contrary to folk lore, cats do not always land on their feet. This one smacked on his back and head and lay motionless for several minutes. While I looked for the shovel Rebecca said, "Hey, I think it might still be alive." I began picturing expensive vet bills and a paralyzed cat we'd need to take care for the next several years. I hoped she was wrong.<br /><br />Wonder of wonders, though, the cat did begin moving. Then it began crawling and making an awful noise. My nightmare was unfolding. But miracle of miracles the thing recovered over the next several hours and within a couple days it was running around again...only to fall from the balcony once again. It needed less time to recover from its second fall and to my knowledge that's been it. Lesson learned.<br /><br />And speaking of lessons learned...Ben has been hating the IB studying but he has been working harder than I have ever seen him work in my life. And it's finally paying off. He received a couple of perfect papers recently and is definitely getting the hang of this thing. Three tests last Friday went OK and I'm sure he'll do well on the two he has tomorrow. He is speaking three times more (by far!) Indonesian now then he did after two years of Spanish.<br /><br />I speak less Indonesian now then when I came. Besided being able to say "good morning" when I came, I could also count to ten. I don't even remember what "one" is now...but I can still say good morning.</div></div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-70569461037424741722010-01-08T03:34:00.000-08:002010-04-02T05:00:10.962-07:00The Loooooong Holidays Are Almost Over<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ddv0e0IhX8LpRsXQUB3d9-Sv6rIgiPyE6FKaRzM7ZT2RTqHjKAjbSKFEd740T51Gm0Blkhmw22JQeA5XXbEUXsxg9fR6PT6DRsK9YXFuIJ4L2vEXCb4ECtA5dYe8HikY-jsGfmQY4cE/s1600-h/yogya+006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424381358708492978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ddv0e0IhX8LpRsXQUB3d9-Sv6rIgiPyE6FKaRzM7ZT2RTqHjKAjbSKFEd740T51Gm0Blkhmw22JQeA5XXbEUXsxg9fR6PT6DRsK9YXFuIJ4L2vEXCb4ECtA5dYe8HikY-jsGfmQY4cE/s320/yogya+006.jpg" border="0" /></a> Nativity set from Bethlehem<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUA-KO0CRcyCNvHpwY1F67kHSANCkeP-8BXGb-bXnW72rQWJ6NhQMXxqtM13pRIgkGyQG2Pm2VHzTaa7NnXxrCYCsNWZ1zwwinEWelzoX3tYGAXr0wFq7uW4e_LQ-0YMwDlWHIX9f9X0I/s1600-h/yogya+023.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424381350264929362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUA-KO0CRcyCNvHpwY1F67kHSANCkeP-8BXGb-bXnW72rQWJ6NhQMXxqtM13pRIgkGyQG2Pm2VHzTaa7NnXxrCYCsNWZ1zwwinEWelzoX3tYGAXr0wFq7uW4e_LQ-0YMwDlWHIX9f9X0I/s320/yogya+023.jpg" border="0" /></a> Reading to Kayla from a travel book really puts her to sleep<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhfgjgMDVDY_c1-9zpmfFWf2Nf6htjQIxRHOqakGypJNVqSN1YuksbgdFcmau3IelwQWEu1IgQ3uhgbcoQcX9JU_ckWs339MBUStjS7LTR80DtiUMNMsA1LW_BLwHTjBkWF2ottjlCwM/s1600-h/yogya+025.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424381338874286642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhfgjgMDVDY_c1-9zpmfFWf2Nf6htjQIxRHOqakGypJNVqSN1YuksbgdFcmau3IelwQWEu1IgQ3uhgbcoQcX9JU_ckWs339MBUStjS7LTR80DtiUMNMsA1LW_BLwHTjBkWF2ottjlCwM/s320/yogya+025.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEHMlNcVb9sgcT7BmK7mK2IYrMO9pAptwCDqNcsScaz9CNtbmk3jkBsAllqZOH81tpvoK2_UUNndMNQOQWhcxKfQWgLJKFYzL2w_JFrhfOU1S8qqR2bsdcNSBmIXg1I1ARD6216xfmL8/s1600-h/yogya+147.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424372667868378818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEHMlNcVb9sgcT7BmK7mK2IYrMO9pAptwCDqNcsScaz9CNtbmk3jkBsAllqZOH81tpvoK2_UUNndMNQOQWhcxKfQWgLJKFYzL2w_JFrhfOU1S8qqR2bsdcNSBmIXg1I1ARD6216xfmL8/s320/yogya+147.jpg" border="0" /></a> Didn't understand the words, the music was uncommon, and the sights a bit strange<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQon-dn6hf1cLqh-yoV7XaUkhBkBWq7uN3cF9scdTmxCBNzYu_1Se8asrshC6if901Y81gbVKdhyphenhyphen_xakLm2KTzOKXWEwrAzmhCro9V6fYj7rmH6cEGgpfEG3s0_spC8FBhGnb2-fw37Y/s1600-h/yogya+092.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424372660622962514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQon-dn6hf1cLqh-yoV7XaUkhBkBWq7uN3cF9scdTmxCBNzYu_1Se8asrshC6if901Y81gbVKdhyphenhyphen_xakLm2KTzOKXWEwrAzmhCro9V6fYj7rmH6cEGgpfEG3s0_spC8FBhGnb2-fw37Y/s320/yogya+092.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6xT0VlIrNj-wCVf0GeEpGfX2-bCRpiVP1sCDq5RoelpaTl_odH1mOiLPU3iN9m6XTo01bpEshwMhPUTM-lNPh5pxwGbm6jKA1cDCUMZ6jzsoNO3ndsMGfICbIDU4kNcfWsy1-kobmCE/s1600-h/yogya+120.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424372647921280642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6xT0VlIrNj-wCVf0GeEpGfX2-bCRpiVP1sCDq5RoelpaTl_odH1mOiLPU3iN9m6XTo01bpEshwMhPUTM-lNPh5pxwGbm6jKA1cDCUMZ6jzsoNO3ndsMGfICbIDU4kNcfWsy1-kobmCE/s320/yogya+120.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6S2slIDfc3o6tF1R-RYgUZQ2MTvyCkN4h0yjdTAsg4_6ezRKiGF-15JIX3ztrM7HW01aTZASPTQVNKK3RprGXIYPjFMG6sY4yESdyocWj2KHSjvf5GXVyvB1bI-oD7pieqvcIxfHn3MU/s1600-h/yogya+070.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424362131979700370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6S2slIDfc3o6tF1R-RYgUZQ2MTvyCkN4h0yjdTAsg4_6ezRKiGF-15JIX3ztrM7HW01aTZASPTQVNKK3RprGXIYPjFMG6sY4yESdyocWj2KHSjvf5GXVyvB1bI-oD7pieqvcIxfHn3MU/s320/yogya+070.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtXaFvYvJ_Crw8F1ztIBFDCmII8ar6PjFVUrzolIVDf3_4zaRZ1Cmt5kK0zO95vJr3DmMDejOIq9Kmg4HJ4YMbwG1gYbEXFQxLb9wN6ru_He_CW3H001FH_LWpukAdRWc1KbgfvDoX90/s1600-h/yogya+066.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424362122582821298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtXaFvYvJ_Crw8F1ztIBFDCmII8ar6PjFVUrzolIVDf3_4zaRZ1Cmt5kK0zO95vJr3DmMDejOIq9Kmg4HJ4YMbwG1gYbEXFQxLb9wN6ru_He_CW3H001FH_LWpukAdRWc1KbgfvDoX90/s320/yogya+066.jpg" border="0" /></a> Love the pointy hats!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFeCZhJ916-coutR9D_Ide6C_2dAIUAgNZuQ9KzQd3co57Tr22j0UF8j0PPTX0lo51ReAHEEJfVW3XeEUJJvxoySz3B0DvRwS9GpgG1j-SOTdxaQvVJptyyS0xXVvUU4LH6OlBBAPBXU/s1600-h/puncak+090.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424362110036300290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFeCZhJ916-coutR9D_Ide6C_2dAIUAgNZuQ9KzQd3co57Tr22j0UF8j0PPTX0lo51ReAHEEJfVW3XeEUJJvxoySz3B0DvRwS9GpgG1j-SOTdxaQvVJptyyS0xXVvUU4LH6OlBBAPBXU/s320/puncak+090.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfVCIXa2PZ6KfK6xmKq4dLWQB86GwsiEJkHBLKlyrmlZhuc2GGTRXzPT_q9H8xU1aBdBl8XFZ6Nexc3t7f-bX0O3zGijiZw75_OE5Op8Vwxm_5lnqjs-yi5iclK0p3DfO6qf3rNyRDGI/s1600-h/puncak+053.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424351624784175746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfVCIXa2PZ6KfK6xmKq4dLWQB86GwsiEJkHBLKlyrmlZhuc2GGTRXzPT_q9H8xU1aBdBl8XFZ6Nexc3t7f-bX0O3zGijiZw75_OE5Op8Vwxm_5lnqjs-yi5iclK0p3DfO6qf3rNyRDGI/s320/puncak+053.jpg" border="0" /></a> I need a shave and I have bad breath...other than that I'm beautiful<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cNaFrHeVhyRh0rH2Hmz82-20jiLhKGZq4g33-KBALoD-73BVWv1GRDz2K_DH7n-qW1Z6Se_of6weQuQSLV49wVreDK1qoQA1xtxKIi8OEmv2SYnEqVoGQlDetzEzeCPtpvJQwdZ-oDU/s1600-h/puncak+033.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424351611344374098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cNaFrHeVhyRh0rH2Hmz82-20jiLhKGZq4g33-KBALoD-73BVWv1GRDz2K_DH7n-qW1Z6Se_of6weQuQSLV49wVreDK1qoQA1xtxKIi8OEmv2SYnEqVoGQlDetzEzeCPtpvJQwdZ-oDU/s320/puncak+033.jpg" border="0" /></a> Not quite the Mara but Tamin Safari is OK<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3V4GaHb2JXvirD7RLMcnSOLWEKUJRZ11Q9pVC8bK2ibmVWAHlmU52iSGIAc1FGXoJh4yH4XQ5P-dToRjUMjOxf94G7ZrzmTlJqEmzrGEswioAvg-RtBXmLmZLArVQi1Evc_KwvSrGqEo/s1600-h/puncak+021.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424343094109562306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3V4GaHb2JXvirD7RLMcnSOLWEKUJRZ11Q9pVC8bK2ibmVWAHlmU52iSGIAc1FGXoJh4yH4XQ5P-dToRjUMjOxf94G7ZrzmTlJqEmzrGEswioAvg-RtBXmLmZLArVQi1Evc_KwvSrGqEo/s320/puncak+021.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /><br /><div>What to do with three weeks of vacation time and not a lot of extra cash?<br /><br />Golf (poorly).<br /><br />Spend a day at the coast.<br /><br />Take an 8-hour train to Yogyakarta. (More about Yogya, in a bit)<br /><br />Take a 6-hour flight back to Jakarta. It's not that the trains are so fast or the jets are so slow. It's just that delayed flights and rain and who knows what else had us sitting and sitting and sitting at the airport.<br /><br />Golf (really poorly).<br /><br />Spend a day at Waterbom. Check earlier posts to see what this is all about. We must have liked it since we did it again. Also did some ice skating a day earlier.<br /><br />Golf (really, really very poorly stinky bad).<br /><br />Visit Puncak, including the almost-Masai Mara-like animal safari. (More on that in just a bit, too). Shop at the outlet stores.<br /><br />Golf (best round ever...must have been the new Outlet clothes).<br /><br />And there you have it. Christmas in Indonesia. I love warm, green Christmases.<br /><br />Back to Yogya. Yes, it looks a little bit like I'm trying to write Yogi Bear. Pronounced Jogja. The train ride was great. Gave us a chance to see the countryside. We spent four days there visiting famous places like Borobudur. I won't bore you with the history but a quick Google search will satisfy any of you who are intrigued by the photos. On a scale of 1-10 of excellent places to see I'd say Borobudur rates about a 6. The Masai Mara is a 10. So is Petra in Jordan. The Pyramids are a 7. Give Jerusalem a 7, too. Most of Bolivia is an 8, some of it (like Cerro Rico and Lake Titicaca are a 9). The Frosty Boy in Spring Arbor is about a 4. Lime Lake, a 3 though it used to be a 5 back in the days...<br /><br />Puncak is another story. Lots of it reminded us of the tea fields driving up to Tigoni. Some was like Jarabacoa in the Dominican Republic. Beautiful green hills and crisp cool air. About a half hour from Puncak is a safari place that really had some good animals and shows. Brought back good memories of the Mara which is, I think, my favorite place on earth. We stayed at a "mountain villa" owned by one of the families that helped begin our school here in Indonesia. Another family from school along with this teacher's mom and dad who were visiting stayed there with us. Great time relaxing, playing games in the evening. And then it happened. I wasn't expecting it. It took me completely by shock. I only went along to be sociable but there I was, in an outlet store. I began seeing several "must have" golf polo shirts. The kind with the Calvin Kline embroidered thingy. Polo. Calloway. All these good things that had these teeny weeny defects (reminded me of me!). So, I shopped until all the women and girls left me and went to other shops. And then, when they were all shopped out they came back and made me stop shopping. But I had my haul of 3 shorts, 3 polo shirts, and a nifty hat all for the grade total of $32.00.<br /><br />And so today when we rushed back to Jakarta from Puncak (left at 5:15 am) I was excited to get back onto the golf course and try out my new clothes. They worked great. You know, when you look like a golfer you start thinking like a golfer. The next thing you know I finished with a 44 and a 47.<br /><br />Other items in the news: Hannah is the new owner of 4 new pets and a set of braces. She got them on just before we left for Puncak. In a month the dentist will decide whether or not four teeth need to be pulled. Rebecca is the new owner of yards and yards of batik fabric and 3 little Bonsai-type trees we bought while in Puncak. Photos to come in the next few days. Ben spent most of Christmas break playing guitar and playing Playstation. He says now that his brain has completely vegged out, he'll be able to work hard in school. I'm off to Australia on Wednesday for a week for an IB workshop. I'll have some more updates then. Thanks for reading.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-66624003900679777692009-11-20T18:24:00.000-08:002010-04-02T05:01:15.490-07:00A Bit of Style<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18K_-3Io8pNsg4UylRjiKDT_9uXscQ7pLOM1Qtje6aXg1jPcklMM_3ZbK_85oF9fVwHYihMfs-yY2tyDIeDSmfxqM7WfJ6LvihBrNxj15FlguSs_H3_h1zCXxwCbqju4Md_eDfBuupzQ/s1600/staff+mtg+027.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406381724729849554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18K_-3Io8pNsg4UylRjiKDT_9uXscQ7pLOM1Qtje6aXg1jPcklMM_3ZbK_85oF9fVwHYihMfs-yY2tyDIeDSmfxqM7WfJ6LvihBrNxj15FlguSs_H3_h1zCXxwCbqju4Md_eDfBuupzQ/s320/staff+mtg+027.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFyObn0HTvcslMNNQlcyy8k1MZ8IDQWwhnCnNfbi3cVKgimiYM8mIhoUFFN5dCPInOEl8A8olGkYyz6Jju0YGqjei1tRZknxaMA39RGxxE8y_xUoyKRPBu92zfJzVWiMtty8mrlwPgzEY/s1600/staff+mtg+005.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406381715824272818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFyObn0HTvcslMNNQlcyy8k1MZ8IDQWwhnCnNfbi3cVKgimiYM8mIhoUFFN5dCPInOEl8A8olGkYyz6Jju0YGqjei1tRZknxaMA39RGxxE8y_xUoyKRPBu92zfJzVWiMtty8mrlwPgzEY/s320/staff+mtg+005.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWOkuNfXZawPifOr6Cz1k7_VOHzKDrWxuWvnrGc7a4dts7ttoK2BBY7GSXcpSxf8RyMwll6sRIJ1PU1BDhYPBS7MBFZf3IcNBu9KuB9VFlI0lCWLkXxlz-nM6maNtQAhMExJijvqWYzA/s1600/MrDonMercer-13Nov09+-+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406381700081074834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWOkuNfXZawPifOr6Cz1k7_VOHzKDrWxuWvnrGc7a4dts7ttoK2BBY7GSXcpSxf8RyMwll6sRIJ1PU1BDhYPBS7MBFZf3IcNBu9KuB9VFlI0lCWLkXxlz-nM6maNtQAhMExJijvqWYzA/s320/MrDonMercer-13Nov09+-+2.jpg" border="0" /></a> Wearing a school uniform is really not that bad...</div><div> at least when it looks like this<br /><br /><br /><div>For the past few weeks we celebrated Indonesian culture at school. It culminated with a an day-long parade of costumes and dance and food. Some of the girls' traditional dress was really stunning. After I spent the day dressed with such pomp and dignity I was reluctant to take it off. </div><br /><div>We have made it successfully through Kayla's and Hannah's birthdays. Connected to those two events has been the addition of two fish and a hamster. Pictures to be added as soon as we're sure they will survive. We don't have a particularly strong history of pets lasting too long. Hamsters don't like to be dropped and fish don't enjoy murky, green water. We'll see.</div><br /><div>I've missed the last two weeks of golf due to rain. That has really tested my often said phrase, "I never get tired of rain." Usually I don't. I love rain. I love thunder and lightening. That reminds me. I should take a picture of the tree 50 feet from our house that was struck by lightening last week. Incredible. Took off a huge limb, ripped a 30-foot long barkless patch, and sent debris flying onto rooftops and all over the street. </div><br /><div>Last night (Friday afternoon and then into the evening) we held a senior school retreat for 25 teachers who have leadership responsibilities in the MS an HS. Subject lead teachers and grade level lead teachers. Of course you can't just have meetings and discussion all afternoon...you need a break for dinner, hence the pictures of dessert and the tables. A nice bit of style, don't you agree.</div><br /><div>Thanks for reading. </div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-3919164228674113562009-11-10T05:49:00.000-08:002009-11-12T02:35:01.548-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTm3jrSAhqKnEqALnHbf7xANOtH_Hot5harOlIAanVLPh-mWuB5hODRergOnFSdhzy9TrhuN2z96y-VsPyYZPis7BjXM4TI60OJ_VxjC2ccez-ehjsO7pebGwenMDptaJXx_qQuzt0B_Q/s1600-h/kayla+b+day+020.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403163283134685538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTm3jrSAhqKnEqALnHbf7xANOtH_Hot5harOlIAanVLPh-mWuB5hODRergOnFSdhzy9TrhuN2z96y-VsPyYZPis7BjXM4TI60OJ_VxjC2ccez-ehjsO7pebGwenMDptaJXx_qQuzt0B_Q/s320/kayla+b+day+020.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRt0SNqQ3oVWY_A8T9Vpphidwtnd74XI5y0fHuQSLqVcXmjEAtTuzmjvK6SOaFotCFVCSWbEY9CTZe3Ju2pDYFJDoo26UsIpChLMqeegX8L7BIwRqVsGn9nqBMrc2HtOBUHZqCBzb_fJ0/s1600-h/kayla+b+day+017.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403161513711326226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRt0SNqQ3oVWY_A8T9Vpphidwtnd74XI5y0fHuQSLqVcXmjEAtTuzmjvK6SOaFotCFVCSWbEY9CTZe3Ju2pDYFJDoo26UsIpChLMqeegX8L7BIwRqVsGn9nqBMrc2HtOBUHZqCBzb_fJ0/s320/kayla+b+day+017.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2gLF-H2hgufN9T6G2IMQyi1fP2jZJOyGkoUqvmeVBYcapqAH8sEMXFiR5l-A0n0ng98QMIXkxBE1Pf0qzVycmSPa-WnBXhl3hDW11NozJytYJW5lL9TCcN8hDuhGN9KTtc8H4QEusxE/s1600-h/kayla+b+day+015.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403159911764925298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2gLF-H2hgufN9T6G2IMQyi1fP2jZJOyGkoUqvmeVBYcapqAH8sEMXFiR5l-A0n0ng98QMIXkxBE1Pf0qzVycmSPa-WnBXhl3hDW11NozJytYJW5lL9TCcN8hDuhGN9KTtc8H4QEusxE/s320/kayla+b+day+015.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghO2UnHEMXiMHo0Q5811pe3Ok7fQwxwrKLUdbRMOelLmsXSJ6FAmZgE0lEZk9U4vBks8QrIa-OLuMTxy6QWXBJBlCFs6WCLXJmOslXAJnAiVYXxHU-I2V7gSF-gG3BLvZhRUJy9EVJPHg/s1600-h/kayla+b+day+019.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403158513438507346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghO2UnHEMXiMHo0Q5811pe3Ok7fQwxwrKLUdbRMOelLmsXSJ6FAmZgE0lEZk9U4vBks8QrIa-OLuMTxy6QWXBJBlCFs6WCLXJmOslXAJnAiVYXxHU-I2V7gSF-gG3BLvZhRUJy9EVJPHg/s320/kayla+b+day+019.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>There you saw it...the Mercers playing their instruments of choice. Kayla, sporting the new braidless hairstyle, has begun taking piano lessons. She actually likes singing even more than playing the piano. Both are done well.<br /><br />Hannah also started on the piano but has been playing the saxaphone and flute at school. She was doing so well on the saxaphone that they asked her if she would play the baritone sax. It sounds wonderful and she plays it very well...the only problem is lugging back and forth to school.<br /><br />Ben continues to love playing the guitar. He actually sounds pretty good and very loud as he imitates Jimi Hendrix and Led Zepplan and Paul McCartney.<br /><br />And that's me, playing the CD Player. I'm OK. I hit the wrong buttons quite a bit when I'm not wearing my glasses. Most of the time I can hit "play" on the very first try.</div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-65536892374106358492009-11-01T03:37:00.000-08:002009-11-02T04:39:29.743-08:00Church, Picnics, and Trick or Treat<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtccz0Jd1D4-EXWeZ6S4XsmIHBvVo9DTTwpXQw7KVDUPOwlQjNJM9o1k9iQBKtGB40ppiD-VegxH0AFKglkFw3yQUoaCl3PVO6DZ3YoaRliQHC2UXIWPO7etVpfKcO34poHlJ-g1wHBVg/s1600-h/trick+or+treat+016.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399284116481718370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtccz0Jd1D4-EXWeZ6S4XsmIHBvVo9DTTwpXQw7KVDUPOwlQjNJM9o1k9iQBKtGB40ppiD-VegxH0AFKglkFw3yQUoaCl3PVO6DZ3YoaRliQHC2UXIWPO7etVpfKcO34poHlJ-g1wHBVg/s320/trick+or+treat+016.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDogNeAJLDafHmTcNISKVpwB-1tw421EzZXKoAeYV9x3qNNhpg2o_lO7KGxpuILAxcNn0ybZDNIeQ2AbDjf3YcJMW92B1XqMt16jJ7v7U_FMRa7Iqho-5hBiMfa0yxpmLLRvKiEjqtbw/s1600-h/trick+or+treat+004.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399284110792454850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDogNeAJLDafHmTcNISKVpwB-1tw421EzZXKoAeYV9x3qNNhpg2o_lO7KGxpuILAxcNn0ybZDNIeQ2AbDjf3YcJMW92B1XqMt16jJ7v7U_FMRa7Iqho-5hBiMfa0yxpmLLRvKiEjqtbw/s320/trick+or+treat+004.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPAZDwo3hjlZDJcAxp0-ftB3tMGGm7DSOB-9SYcs-BppxdBec_uJdGsdtseI8erQooUiweqn5ORA5l6Uf2Ec7gbKh4xIGN8pxfeXV7ZCPcAyWM260b0mrh4WRM-XBC4k_5WMlKU3w2w60/s1600-h/church+games+014.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399284099291203586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPAZDwo3hjlZDJcAxp0-ftB3tMGGm7DSOB-9SYcs-BppxdBec_uJdGsdtseI8erQooUiweqn5ORA5l6Uf2Ec7gbKh4xIGN8pxfeXV7ZCPcAyWM260b0mrh4WRM-XBC4k_5WMlKU3w2w60/s320/church+games+014.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Rxt1hhawgUeHCzZosNTUwmZPKHNv7NvU6BfHLl0MvvMjSqqyXlLb9B7F_9BtcfIlg9yxtogrxA78mYHMPj_rmcvb1JGR44jO3nkY2D3L-cdTUjvDaceZg9IHLDW4ubwQhR-7eZR5anU/s1600-h/church+games+020.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399284089738084898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Rxt1hhawgUeHCzZosNTUwmZPKHNv7NvU6BfHLl0MvvMjSqqyXlLb9B7F_9BtcfIlg9yxtogrxA78mYHMPj_rmcvb1JGR44jO3nkY2D3L-cdTUjvDaceZg9IHLDW4ubwQhR-7eZR5anU/s320/church+games+020.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_iA_ykTLjSqFCqT2NoWFuJ_iyTagKoyPqOkJSdlc4ii10_ljSCNVr13ClqpY8MN7O4yn3By-weWDqENFq6TXCFCqWwRke8t7gg4dit27wkZKcs8pFmOTcIONuwSZBTWM7qoj8zrt2Ldg/s1600-h/church+games+007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399284078822170770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_iA_ykTLjSqFCqT2NoWFuJ_iyTagKoyPqOkJSdlc4ii10_ljSCNVr13ClqpY8MN7O4yn3By-weWDqENFq6TXCFCqWwRke8t7gg4dit27wkZKcs8pFmOTcIONuwSZBTWM7qoj8zrt2Ldg/s320/church+games+007.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>The first few weeks we were here we visited several different churches. Papa Bear thought some were too far to drive. Mama Bear thought some were too loud. Baby Bear thought some didn't serve good snacks. And all the Bears were confused when some didn't speak their brand of Bear-talk. A couple months ago a new church plant started and they were using our school's campus. That certainly was close enough for Papa Bear...a 1-minute car drive is just right. So that's what we now do on Sunday mornings.<br /><br />I should back up and say that freedom of worship, at least in Jakarta, has been a real blessing. Indonesia is unfortunately usually pronounced this way: <em><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Indonesia-the-world's-largest-Muslim-population</span></strong></em>. It's one long word with emphasis on <em>largest Muslim population</em> and a long silence afterwards. It's almost like a warning: expect the worst, expect extremists. It has been surprising how casual and relaxed Jakarta has been.<br /><br />Today walking around the mall I tried to estimate the number of women who wore even a basic head covering/scarf. It was around 20%. The population is 90% Muslim. And of the 20% who wear a simple scarf, it is 0% who wear the full length burka-type covering. I can't recall ever seeing one here. Nairobi? Lots. Regularly at Village Market, especially on Sundays. A crowd of burka-clad women wasn't even a head-turner to in Kenya.<br /><br />So, it has been encouraging to have a wide choice of churches. It is encouraging to work in a school that is very clear in its Christian foundation and purpose.<br /><br />The particular church we have been attending is a recent church-plant from Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was started by a group of Korean-Americans who moved here together. They have a web site (Harvest Mission Community Church) <a href="http://www.hmcc.net/">http://www.hmcc.net/</a> if you are interested in seeing what kind of a church it is. The pictures I've included are from the church picnic and games last Sunday.<br /><br />This week, Saturday, many of the ex-pats from SPH and who have little kids got together to keep that great American tradition of Trick or Treat alive. Again, enjoy the pictures.</div></div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-54937964649138636392009-10-20T02:09:00.000-07:002009-10-20T02:24:50.158-07:00A Friend From Kenya!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0az8kMinrKDbItE3eWF9j67iWMjJdBkkiOCA4F4f1z4Xbm8P0qLMrB56xUnXWSTURe2QbDxZTWmmFaqHDHJcgKYxvZwifsjVuFTlGCCphpNTq4AsOA0gRaMW8H74Z9LzDG1szIKjBseE/s1600-h/kibathi+065.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394610637807171746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0az8kMinrKDbItE3eWF9j67iWMjJdBkkiOCA4F4f1z4Xbm8P0qLMrB56xUnXWSTURe2QbDxZTWmmFaqHDHJcgKYxvZwifsjVuFTlGCCphpNTq4AsOA0gRaMW8H74Z9LzDG1szIKjBseE/s320/kibathi+065.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0uEXvAaiAvfY-H2YiiY32dp9NEO8yiz5Xq6_fgcN7qXI39ulj3aKGd03PuePAH4gVIkV_WKWUMNpjTJ7220YLrlHvHSq8NG6pBs4ulI4rSSI7Qs-LyIuia5sqAbrVBZOWM9sn0KnEDNE/s1600-h/kibathi+060.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394610628031208146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0uEXvAaiAvfY-H2YiiY32dp9NEO8yiz5Xq6_fgcN7qXI39ulj3aKGd03PuePAH4gVIkV_WKWUMNpjTJ7220YLrlHvHSq8NG6pBs4ulI4rSSI7Qs-LyIuia5sqAbrVBZOWM9sn0KnEDNE/s320/kibathi+060.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHigi5eSxbF4rOUzg8UKwjoXM4Yc9ssT0lfZX1HrfW1-2oMoDYQ9e0x1uXQG36OPdjfqn2qbpbc6qns6uEoURc9JhYadVgKlj2Zv7i0eTAq5UcWsJHlEqAgPGnUHge_U9OIpNNbQOUazM/s1600-h/kibathi+015.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394610613284325938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHigi5eSxbF4rOUzg8UKwjoXM4Yc9ssT0lfZX1HrfW1-2oMoDYQ9e0x1uXQG36OPdjfqn2qbpbc6qns6uEoURc9JhYadVgKlj2Zv7i0eTAq5UcWsJHlEqAgPGnUHge_U9OIpNNbQOUazM/s320/kibathi+015.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAEbK9QZILQ51duKJumkkzwdKnQZlOQwy6dLxwBEn7IGV765CCoplCW99J0hK-7tpQPwlpA86193rXjAyH9FMAzlc-WlU-YzjIQHZe9JGdDO5uVxj8OYYpydV05pX0p8393LpRPZt5XbA/s1600-h/kibathi+011.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394610603746351234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAEbK9QZILQ51duKJumkkzwdKnQZlOQwy6dLxwBEn7IGV765CCoplCW99J0hK-7tpQPwlpA86193rXjAyH9FMAzlc-WlU-YzjIQHZe9JGdDO5uVxj8OYYpydV05pX0p8393LpRPZt5XbA/s320/kibathi+011.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Not only did the conclusion of my 1,000 Island field trip mean I was no longer responsible for 25 seniors, it meant that on my way home from the pier I would drive to the airport and pick up our good friend, Kibathi. Between business in Dubai and business in Singapore, he was able to squeeze in four days to see us in Indonesia. Reconnecting with Kenyan friends brings back Kenyan memories which was very good. Kenya was a great time in our lives. Thankfully we enjoyed every minute there so we didn't need to leave with any regrets...only good memories.<br /><br />If in the future at some point we can leave Indonesia with the same kind of good memories and good feelings we had when we left Kenya or Florida or Bolivia or the Dominican Republic or Michigan...well, we will be very fortunate and very happy.<br /><br />Thank you, Kibathi, for a great visit. I hope you are the first of many friends and family. Kayla wants to make sure everyone knows she took the picture of Rebecca, Kibathi, and me.</div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-34058611318583026372009-10-20T01:41:00.000-07:002009-10-20T02:09:42.737-07:00A Little Time Away From School...With 25 Seniors!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF4gYqUficQIjHsMQtXW1olIJI95DAAQOhWVt0ebOYr6s36AMFcIRcQfO7F-Z0SOwUcdUi7SmWqnXwWrl_rWsECmPTj6GMWi3EtB81TaJPNdNB8kNQ5jaLrL0SMtklw7cjzspbyxlgDs/s1600-h/FIELD+TRIP+039.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394606537611926226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF4gYqUficQIjHsMQtXW1olIJI95DAAQOhWVt0ebOYr6s36AMFcIRcQfO7F-Z0SOwUcdUi7SmWqnXwWrl_rWsECmPTj6GMWi3EtB81TaJPNdNB8kNQ5jaLrL0SMtklw7cjzspbyxlgDs/s320/FIELD+TRIP+039.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiFswiYs0SU13r8KghAAxDmgz2qFDAr4cFGrPgJPaCYgQVatvVoMfUd4WJEG14zTF-3JJAclRQHORk9Qlp_D7w_yPPjnqDeMixBo0PCCBkabCzpWJruI4_nckjjoEIGZ8diMaCDfe4ic8/s1600-h/FIELD+TRIP+023.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394606523122769586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiFswiYs0SU13r8KghAAxDmgz2qFDAr4cFGrPgJPaCYgQVatvVoMfUd4WJEG14zTF-3JJAclRQHORk9Qlp_D7w_yPPjnqDeMixBo0PCCBkabCzpWJruI4_nckjjoEIGZ8diMaCDfe4ic8/s320/FIELD+TRIP+023.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5Jy62alk786X5PG75V9tLnp3sw0KSereYTrEDbdMjqW2A7cfXfFzsPl1nICm8IUR8FjI7SUqpb0rkwTZuNGOB4a_oJVJqqZ9_z6PIPc9c79W1PhPk9e0uB74Z6PhC1XljygmIIWFZt8/s1600-h/FIELD+TRIP+005.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394606518449496626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5Jy62alk786X5PG75V9tLnp3sw0KSereYTrEDbdMjqW2A7cfXfFzsPl1nICm8IUR8FjI7SUqpb0rkwTZuNGOB4a_oJVJqqZ9_z6PIPc9c79W1PhPk9e0uB74Z6PhC1XljygmIIWFZt8/s320/FIELD+TRIP+005.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMXK4Z0QQsVLbE4PShGcyHKFy2Ck2JeHAvsOXeCrYpOZ41FOPkw83fxch4A8dgAD1JMSGsSpsRDCEpj086PXJE3uuTTbrUPyfNU_bythonpRwes8AvbE5unliKiEi615jggmzPwZ93nA/s1600-h/FIELD+TRIP+003.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394606500363737266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMXK4Z0QQsVLbE4PShGcyHKFy2Ck2JeHAvsOXeCrYpOZ41FOPkw83fxch4A8dgAD1JMSGsSpsRDCEpj086PXJE3uuTTbrUPyfNU_bythonpRwes8AvbE5unliKiEi615jggmzPwZ93nA/s320/FIELD+TRIP+003.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76rYkh4WD9EgsQM-yN991dlg2Nq4jmHP69a2q76h-JZTqbJSz9sn9LhgGNNCqHoWFPnx2BRk0xIRCRwzbx65qIjN70KpG7N4enGyVnAFIxJcEeY2DUx_u9OGogEr8xYFUyuBajjqxCUo/s1600-h/FIELD+TRIP+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394606488830453426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76rYkh4WD9EgsQM-yN991dlg2Nq4jmHP69a2q76h-JZTqbJSz9sn9LhgGNNCqHoWFPnx2BRk0xIRCRwzbx65qIjN70KpG7N4enGyVnAFIxJcEeY2DUx_u9OGogEr8xYFUyuBajjqxCUo/s320/FIELD+TRIP+002.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>It was a chance to visit the exotic-sounding "Thousand Islands" of Indonesia. A 1.5 hour boat ride from Jakarta to a small island. Time for snorkling. Visit a sea turtle hatchery. Study a mangrove area. Do some "coral transplanting". Sounded great, so I said, "yes" I will be glad to chaperone.<br /><br />And as a bonus, the other participants would include 25 seniors, most of whom had severe sleep disorders. Actually they were a pretty good group. The field trip was well planned so that they were quite busy on a variety of activities.<br /><br />The highlight of the trip was certainly snorkling on the reefs. Love that warm water. The most discouraging part was certainly the boat ride out of Jakarta. The plastic junk in the water was so bad that three times we had to stop the boat and "untangle" the propellers. The water looked like a huge jet had crashed scattering debris everywhere. It was like driving through a junk yard or garbage dump. The further away from Jakarta we drove, the better, but even an hour away we were still awash in junk. I guess that's what a city of 15 million people can do to the coast.<br /><br />I don't like to think that I contributed to the junk, but of course I did. I don't mean that I threw my plastic water bottle into the water...of course I'm more sophisticated than that. I put my garbage into nice, clean garbage bags and then take it to a nice, clean garbage can in front of my house. And then sometime early in the morning when I'm still asleep it "disappears". Well, maybe it doesn't exactly disappear. Maybe people throw it onto their big truck along with other people's garbage and then the truck people take all that garbage and dump it somewhere. Maybe even in the ocean. But at least I didn't throw my garbage there. Someone else threw it there for me. That's better, isn't it? I guess my other option would be to recycle as much as I can and waste as little as I can and clean up all that I can to at least minimize my negative impact since I can't eliminate my negative impact.</div></div></div></div></div>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-44732397379629660172009-10-10T00:21:00.000-07:002009-10-10T00:46:13.911-07:00Fun Days for Hannah and Kayla<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxOahxW-oY2Y0V0WnLP_UdvG8UVctmQjVUBEXy77M49QrFhOLL1Xi5eAPgmE9g90xeyoqFu41SbJT-A2bj_LvtKN5K8hOTPgq3Nba-If2e1xWYdTGAt7-ykqkl6HqEXP-KHTPlcPf7aE/s1600-h/athletic+day+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390868725722534082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxOahxW-oY2Y0V0WnLP_UdvG8UVctmQjVUBEXy77M49QrFhOLL1Xi5eAPgmE9g90xeyoqFu41SbJT-A2bj_LvtKN5K8hOTPgq3Nba-If2e1xWYdTGAt7-ykqkl6HqEXP-KHTPlcPf7aE/s320/athletic+day+002.jpg" border="0" /></a> Kayla and a few of her friends from K-2<br /><br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuv-435nPAtOIPTM5ysMx_3fY8Kv46s-3emP4t_B5liR4yzJglF7DsqUUIspPIh0oSlJJfV_uMvI7tAIfqG0cKL0brLq_rkRey7gSBqM0HHe7985g2DKoKddYb-N1zcVmLJczc7BRZiI/s1600-h/athletic+day+004.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390868716712287250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuv-435nPAtOIPTM5ysMx_3fY8Kv46s-3emP4t_B5liR4yzJglF7DsqUUIspPIh0oSlJJfV_uMvI7tAIfqG0cKL0brLq_rkRey7gSBqM0HHe7985g2DKoKddYb-N1zcVmLJczc7BRZiI/s320/athletic+day+004.jpg" border="0" /></a> This is where to find Kayla before her day begins </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ObYfsAfaahIm1op_D_kbIwTZq0TpERm5ZCAa5vElr3AyjiBiJZhM6axao5iwUFXdfB-TnYZ72C-rh-cLrjQe8dII5xWrE7t9dyDsYwbqJz_uSaLljeiCR_1KQQagAU5XgMQHCR3p8kw/s1600-h/athletic+day+015.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390868706502420002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ObYfsAfaahIm1op_D_kbIwTZq0TpERm5ZCAa5vElr3AyjiBiJZhM6axao5iwUFXdfB-TnYZ72C-rh-cLrjQe8dII5xWrE7t9dyDsYwbqJz_uSaLljeiCR_1KQQagAU5XgMQHCR3p8kw/s320/athletic+day+015.jpg" border="0" /></a> A jump that won her second place!</p><p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguC0tvTrNym_m8v-HCar51qACnKu8ur09HrEuNv7c0J7SuFAgBEB8T7uQ0YTylBUPyyGRMesJ7FEjSFKnQGNxhkP3DjKUgX8HsRDaFQa6eCYkKiEpVUWQ4OVGbuRnG2_Gu1DA0nPXkYkA/s1600-h/athletic+day+023.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390868695811017842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguC0tvTrNym_m8v-HCar51qACnKu8ur09HrEuNv7c0J7SuFAgBEB8T7uQ0YTylBUPyyGRMesJ7FEjSFKnQGNxhkP3DjKUgX8HsRDaFQa6eCYkKiEpVUWQ4OVGbuRnG2_Gu1DA0nPXkYkA/s320/athletic+day+023.jpg" border="0" /></a> Hannah and her friends...1st, 2nd, and 3rd place</p><p>Kayla's social circle is ever-expanding. School means lots of new friends. This morning she received a call from one of her friend's mom inviting Kayla for a sleep-over tonight. Although it was 8:00 am and the sleep-over doesn't start until 4:30 Kayla quickly packed her bag and went outside to the chairs in front of the house to wait. It took a good deal of convincing that waiting there to go to Sherlynn's house was going to be way too long. </p><p>Hannah had a big day at the school's Athletic Day Activities yesterday. Sort of a giant intramural track and field day. I was surprised to see she had entered the high jump and long jump. Neither seems to be a natural fit. And who would have guessed that five hours later she had five ribbons...one each for each event she entered. Her high jump was really pretty impressive. I think she was clearing a height that was just about at her shoulders.</p><p>This coming week both Hannah and I are on trips. Hers is the 7th grade spiritual emphasis retreat and I am on a 12th grade environmental science field trip. Both our trips are 3-days long and hopefully I'll have some interesting news to post next week.</p>Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-6689566991536702812009-10-01T05:35:00.000-07:002009-10-02T05:24:39.280-07:00Still Safe for a Visit!The natural disaster news for this part of the world has been brutal lately and the suffering caused from earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis is very real. Some of our teachers have family in Samoa and the Philippines. The earthquake in Indonesia (off island of Sumatra)is producing a rising death toll. I think at the time of this writing the number is close to 1000 dead.<br /><br />Here in the bubble (see earlier post) and on the island of Java, we have been spared any impact from the quakes and rains.<br /><br />The lights were out last night from 6:00 - 10:00 but it had nothing to do, I think, with any of the weather problems. Lights out is no big deal...except that I had to wash the dishes in the dark. Seemed to go all right at the time but this morning when I woke up and took a look at the dishes...well, let's just say I didn't get all the food off as well as Rebecca would have liked.<br /><br />But I digress. Back to the reason for writing tonight: For all of you considering a visit to Indonesia, please don't let earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis stop you. We'd love to have visitors. In fact, visitor number 1 should be arriving in two weeks. Our dear friend Kibathi Mbugua from Nairobi will be here for 3 days as part of a China-Singapore business trip. <br /><br />Good golf outing this afternoon. Shot a 43, which is pretty good for me, especially since I didn't cheat very much.Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-44459547496732439952009-09-24T01:58:00.000-07:002009-09-24T02:12:35.341-07:00Bursting the Bubble<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ39LGDR84GxJtkcL0z0oHYlT2skU6oEPHu7wTbxtufFPcaf-2J3NBzgOs2tpItBrlxGtovc0j2CySfJ9qlvri21L4CxCX3-hOjnxGL3tNdmrD04-qsh9Zeh_SKDTKJDrapfjsf58tDPA/s1600-h/golf+009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ39LGDR84GxJtkcL0z0oHYlT2skU6oEPHu7wTbxtufFPcaf-2J3NBzgOs2tpItBrlxGtovc0j2CySfJ9qlvri21L4CxCX3-hOjnxGL3tNdmrD04-qsh9Zeh_SKDTKJDrapfjsf58tDPA/s320/golf+009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384958950901157394" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBfQ_NHePQe3xjm6r6jeSZwGy-TJ3sH6SP1Iae5ICMgcvsD6OGw02-lSZapnoLwEjzjmNj_RoNbfbXMyUfJgxmzPzqHk3L16MoPtWG8Zftd_naXnn5Vdn93cu9wuPmNlQhXoo7GVGvx6w/s1600-h/golf+006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBfQ_NHePQe3xjm6r6jeSZwGy-TJ3sH6SP1Iae5ICMgcvsD6OGw02-lSZapnoLwEjzjmNj_RoNbfbXMyUfJgxmzPzqHk3L16MoPtWG8Zftd_naXnn5Vdn93cu9wuPmNlQhXoo7GVGvx6w/s320/golf+006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384958943075528898" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIK7Cy11r0Km4hraXW35iWY6ePfnxLDnxzenk8N_jn9D0DUN5OmODHID4iAA8Hv0QL0FCoOtDUmjfqHjWEmAM4aMVy4xLZ6vcpmFLEMCKEWtHxdTb8H_OQih_0plxD50UNGK5AHtzbboI/s1600-h/waterbom+014.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIK7Cy11r0Km4hraXW35iWY6ePfnxLDnxzenk8N_jn9D0DUN5OmODHID4iAA8Hv0QL0FCoOtDUmjfqHjWEmAM4aMVy4xLZ6vcpmFLEMCKEWtHxdTb8H_OQih_0plxD50UNGK5AHtzbboI/s200/waterbom+014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384958727361577954" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjePgKetafgYJlIdCSMgj7QOVhINwsVdIDGPadf69y6S9hKe-eE-Kf2Buod_dOD0VmpVkEKARHd2sdo-_5jfzJ3kFzk375fzSjfAu_lIrlx_QIhVNRrQ_Tya1Ebui-8JFFejHISySoNJNo/s1600-h/waterbom+009.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjePgKetafgYJlIdCSMgj7QOVhINwsVdIDGPadf69y6S9hKe-eE-Kf2Buod_dOD0VmpVkEKARHd2sdo-_5jfzJ3kFzk375fzSjfAu_lIrlx_QIhVNRrQ_Tya1Ebui-8JFFejHISySoNJNo/s200/waterbom+009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384958718511636258" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4ViNmZ3jcfExe0jJkBOJVbE8uw63BLZKpEcpin4qmJNYM94jpZ3dtGGpj_jJS9zN3zCyWNg9tM_uQZJbv45Y_vyzpA_DvaOs2RChltuSPkxBProL98uO1EX1Qrrb-lMyIBebLzAeVwQ/s1600-h/kidzania+028.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4ViNmZ3jcfExe0jJkBOJVbE8uw63BLZKpEcpin4qmJNYM94jpZ3dtGGpj_jJS9zN3zCyWNg9tM_uQZJbv45Y_vyzpA_DvaOs2RChltuSPkxBProL98uO1EX1Qrrb-lMyIBebLzAeVwQ/s200/kidzania+028.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384958707725834834" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCssFL04jzzlAsSveYsQi3hPIErpGNxXuBfScNYj-ZC9EiKpfab5XZEVbIvIohETtXagMIhAZlixl2o3R9p0AnfXxk9hPGwiuweGg_DAhZWl0_bsPe-sp8W2aYD0BheymXB4Mt3IvwJh0/s1600-h/kidzania+027.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCssFL04jzzlAsSveYsQi3hPIErpGNxXuBfScNYj-ZC9EiKpfab5XZEVbIvIohETtXagMIhAZlixl2o3R9p0AnfXxk9hPGwiuweGg_DAhZWl0_bsPe-sp8W2aYD0BheymXB4Mt3IvwJh0/s200/kidzania+027.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384958359357855810" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYupHOklUcKvmHIr2oxEGSu4N01PDtjsqChybSLAbKI1h_Y37-Fqya6bIll3qo5fqbZ_TNfsqQB3b9JuX0wBjp7KcDqq-roZDKTMQAGVSuuUlI1u_ZFsQkShIVF_dKUuGDpA_GNyk7J-c/s1600-h/kidzania+026.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYupHOklUcKvmHIr2oxEGSu4N01PDtjsqChybSLAbKI1h_Y37-Fqya6bIll3qo5fqbZ_TNfsqQB3b9JuX0wBjp7KcDqq-roZDKTMQAGVSuuUlI1u_ZFsQkShIVF_dKUuGDpA_GNyk7J-c/s200/kidzania+026.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384958344241370770" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqtWTxs-uxB_SZNhyHYJwPXqIb4gRs-ReYZHxY9cBl1MnIWZVzNlJPOUphyj3QKtQFVVMStJsnLtNY2Ycr-lcHA2fhK69WXYUbD_NGQT__8Ycc79NHacu9cUs_qvTzPmzxKDWOArwFDw/s1600-h/kidzania+014.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqtWTxs-uxB_SZNhyHYJwPXqIb4gRs-ReYZHxY9cBl1MnIWZVzNlJPOUphyj3QKtQFVVMStJsnLtNY2Ycr-lcHA2fhK69WXYUbD_NGQT__8Ycc79NHacu9cUs_qvTzPmzxKDWOArwFDw/s200/kidzania+014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384958338407634578" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbMwd9Vdz5sVDMuFsausLF5AtEMt7JF04qsJbfbVJGi-qKkw1vfmhmxq_v0b47hlp0n0_54pRkmpxymd2-Np42nHM5g0fUtlC6XNDaz5fxxTVbN2KBCbaFL6i_-UqIhFkbFp3poXq8L34/s1600-h/kidzania+001.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbMwd9Vdz5sVDMuFsausLF5AtEMt7JF04qsJbfbVJGi-qKkw1vfmhmxq_v0b47hlp0n0_54pRkmpxymd2-Np42nHM5g0fUtlC6XNDaz5fxxTVbN2KBCbaFL6i_-UqIhFkbFp3poXq8L34/s200/kidzania+001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384958322319133986" /></a><br />In Kenya, most people said that Rosslyn was a bubble. Especially those of us who lived on campus were quite insulated from normal Kenyan life. We could go for days on end and basically only come in contact with Rosslyn students and teachers and parents. A 5-minute ride to Village Market for groceries or a movie rental hardly changed things at all. Village Market was not exactly a Kenyan experience.<br /><br />In most ways, we have moved from one bubble to another. The Rosslyn bubble has been changed for the Lippo Village bubble and let me be clear: the Lippo bubble is a double-layered, hard-coated silicone bubble…it’s not easy to pop. We’re going to have to do some real work if we expect to get to know Indonesia and Indonesians.<br /><br />And so we thought we’d break out of the bubble a bit during this holiday break. Do some traveling. Do some exploring. The following narrative and accompanying pictures will testify to our total failure. While we geographically ventured a few kilometers out of Lippo, we more or less took our bubble with us.<br /><br />Our first few days of vacation took us to the coast. It was a 2 ½ hour drive on mostly smooth roads in an air conditioned car. The end of Ramadan holiday is sort of Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years all rolled into one. It’s big stuff so the rates for most things skyrocket. Several of the nice hotels at the beach would have cost us over $200 a night. Instead, after little internet surfing I found a budget place near the beach for $35 a night. Then, a 15 minute car ride takes us to the nice, expensive beach hotel where you can pay a small fee ($15 for our family) and use their pools and showers and private beach during the day. Love a good deal.<br /><br />Next stop on our “breaking the bubble (but not really) tour” was Kidzania on the sixth floor of a fancy mall in downtown Jakarta. Kids spend the day learning jobs, making Kidzos (play money useful in Kidzania), and then spending their Kidzos. The picture of Kayla with the baking hat on was when she was learning her Biscuit Factory job. Kidzania was followed a day later by Waterbom, similar to water theme parks all over the States. In fact, it was hard to remember where we were. Bubbles all look alike, I guess. Interesting to see the few “modest” Muslim girls who wore the full bathing suit covering including over the head. That was about the only thing that added a different look to this bubble.<br /><br />After all that travelling and activity, it was time today to do something close to home. I took Hannah out golfing and you can see from the pictures that the course is as beautiful as the players. Fees are usually around $23 and a caddy will be $10 for 18 holes. The great thing about this particular golf course is that it is a 4-minute drive from our house. A couple of other random photos you see...a typical breakfast for Hannah and one of our least favorite shopping stops: the aptly-named HyperMart.<br /><br />Sorry. I know this is boring, uninspired writing. My mind is on holiday.Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-40739050243868389392009-09-20T00:57:00.000-07:002009-09-20T16:30:16.182-07:0095%<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbcv4z25uDG4sVoGXQiD4EfpLoU21DRkTGHZFdV13uFB5hXE9yIQpzYOb19-bSINJvsbx9TT5_ZuqmXQqDQ4c4oM0VPUBx5G8eKk8y2KCA1nwzmXK74OauHfaX5nNCkjen_ngjzMstDI/s1600-h/neighborhood+026.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbcv4z25uDG4sVoGXQiD4EfpLoU21DRkTGHZFdV13uFB5hXE9yIQpzYOb19-bSINJvsbx9TT5_ZuqmXQqDQ4c4oM0VPUBx5G8eKk8y2KCA1nwzmXK74OauHfaX5nNCkjen_ngjzMstDI/s200/neighborhood+026.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383510583056643698" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSAu16KDPev1fXGXbjdBZO4kSTE-RB3F6STZTshhbssTWYTtgTTNrLtamgd6qeJvKJHqppzX_VjN5I42OVG9UF0LSEO8mmTQ-__zaNPP6HLkUoohUiq03SIc57gfOflpZbGjnRvhUm-YI/s1600-h/neighborhood+017.jpg"><img style="float:left; 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margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuz1KEwXH3TONIOUtJ57zNJRu6AwnPpRsMtnN185O5YBkKADx725hv-UtVpLrKn-ZV_5oWdZ4IX0nvxZYZbwPDOWo5vI04ObRwpPuf_J_XJ_fXsyRbaaJtf4T4r26quEQ-EVnqW91FHpY/s320/neighborhood+009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383465958107020290" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-42IjiNpI4XYiqxCMPdRu9krQtrVGKUYwHwcvZkPdbXfJ9lz833NuIbpGuBa86FK0QNuckO83tZfJ4HHl8v4A6Ff0rmNIKLrIGAZr63su7ZS1Po4EjPzSKHTYu_iwZtJJ8QoUgFhYlaM/s1600-h/neighborhood+006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-42IjiNpI4XYiqxCMPdRu9krQtrVGKUYwHwcvZkPdbXfJ9lz833NuIbpGuBa86FK0QNuckO83tZfJ4HHl8v4A6Ff0rmNIKLrIGAZr63su7ZS1Po4EjPzSKHTYu_iwZtJJ8QoUgFhYlaM/s320/neighborhood+006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383465949801397458" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaooKklL_IBuOQ2EN9JmNCFV1RV_WyI4LNRBiGUjV1dalFlPl2W4yndG_fcUT5Fd8ILM30gKBXJCSSx4A1jdHer21VYHhsNc_WSGa8GC48yAlD7SL8ZwIhXM3Vvu8Pzrfa_VLul1aAb0/s1600-h/neighborhood+003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaooKklL_IBuOQ2EN9JmNCFV1RV_WyI4LNRBiGUjV1dalFlPl2W4yndG_fcUT5Fd8ILM30gKBXJCSSx4A1jdHer21VYHhsNc_WSGa8GC48yAlD7SL8ZwIhXM3Vvu8Pzrfa_VLul1aAb0/s320/neighborhood+003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383465939209114530" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNNfrIuFT1O3V3frFySAmFuE5gHEJfA62W4wT_ky9Z-_xfCmOJQLB-p5VKbfXGVliPP194oRbzdschwOftVuaAJYAl3_vE-h6-vEaUom_oIL8wTMrtVAiZUS8DM3iEKMv1qZf5jGipKQ/s1600-h/neighborhood+002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNNfrIuFT1O3V3frFySAmFuE5gHEJfA62W4wT_ky9Z-_xfCmOJQLB-p5VKbfXGVliPP194oRbzdschwOftVuaAJYAl3_vE-h6-vEaUom_oIL8wTMrtVAiZUS8DM3iEKMv1qZf5jGipKQ/s320/neighborhood+002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383465931382855362" /></a><br />Today I write about where we spend 95% of our time: at home and at school. The pictures show a bit of our neighborhood and home from the outside. A very, very, very quiet and small neighborhood located right next to the school. It's a 5-minute walk from doorstep to "sign in". I included a picture of how we sign in each day with our James Bond fingerprint system. Kinda weird and techy.<br /><br />As you can see, homes are close to one another with very little yard space. Comparatively, we have quite a bit. Since we have one of the older neighborhoods, we enjoy lots of trees which keeps the temperature down in the houses. Our little neighborhoood street enters onto the boulevard which you also see pictured...a pleaseant little tree-divided road that passes in front of our school.<br /><br />It's relatively easy to tell time in our neighborhood or I should say it's easy to tell when it's 5:00 am, 9:00 am, noon, 3:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. as we hear the Muslim call to prayers from several nearby mosques. It's not a particularly "pretty" sound through the loudspeakers but at the same time it has a certain exotic appeal and is a daily reminder that this isn't Kansas, Dorothy.<br /><br />Our school campus is large and well-maintained. You can see a portion of the soccer pitch in one of the photos. Immaculate, soft lawn. What a contrast to the Rosslyn rock-hard termite mounds. I don't know how our Rosslyn teams survive injury or play so skillfully on that field! One pool is an 8-lane, 50-meter pool and the other one is a "fun" pool with kiddie area. And the GREAT thing is that both of them are warm enough for me to swim in regularly. For those of you who know me well, you know that means they are so warm they are almost hot. Enough for today. Thank you for reading.Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-90961686357046305842009-09-19T06:35:00.000-07:002009-09-19T17:27:15.665-07:00Visit to the beach<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0Yrj38F_lYMerHDR843boNn7ZguuKMDeO3fIUaD_AqaHXS4cv39TzINDJweS6GpXO7RmIncn60fn2ucZwo9gPR8UzUKmI7VZobbQbxK3aQ3EmJlb9JxWWeU_M8G0UWR-pP4lajudhFA/s1600-h/Lebaron+077.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0Yrj38F_lYMerHDR843boNn7ZguuKMDeO3fIUaD_AqaHXS4cv39TzINDJweS6GpXO7RmIncn60fn2ucZwo9gPR8UzUKmI7VZobbQbxK3aQ3EmJlb9JxWWeU_M8G0UWR-pP4lajudhFA/s200/Lebaron+077.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383178398369829394" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMjQVFaHGMRSqqFSbd-isS4Qa_47xsQ57UcPtnVjQDI09_eojaRudNG0aXCAXYWCKAMpWXdVcyD1ciZY6xdg7uQJw0PT62TBM8LuEq3aGuLa8PFPeAr3loeV2HBWa_v-DJMTiTq60d_8/s1600-h/Lebaron+065.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMjQVFaHGMRSqqFSbd-isS4Qa_47xsQ57UcPtnVjQDI09_eojaRudNG0aXCAXYWCKAMpWXdVcyD1ciZY6xdg7uQJw0PT62TBM8LuEq3aGuLa8PFPeAr3loeV2HBWa_v-DJMTiTq60d_8/s320/Lebaron+065.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383177013847089842" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSPzvbfjX8Dd_hBxI_fKb7ml0MD2aRb9HFcUxdwRoRiUTlAvBQiqXz30hS4MZ6G2xxtMCGp04vYuVhNsq23KzhBZcshfulen29SrVfGyk9rFygw3fHjG-Ve3a-tUSqjhwh0jWoehmgnw/s1600-h/Lebaron+062.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSPzvbfjX8Dd_hBxI_fKb7ml0MD2aRb9HFcUxdwRoRiUTlAvBQiqXz30hS4MZ6G2xxtMCGp04vYuVhNsq23KzhBZcshfulen29SrVfGyk9rFygw3fHjG-Ve3a-tUSqjhwh0jWoehmgnw/s200/Lebaron+062.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383175569365986322" /></a><br />Just got back from three great days at the coast. Everyone warned us ahead of time, "Don't go! Not now! With the Idul Fitri holiday the traffic will be terrible, the hotel rates sky high, and the beaches crowded."<br /><br />The roads were deserted, we found a really cheap place, and had the beaches to ourselves. So much for the expert opinions.<br /><br />It was a 2 1/2 hour trip from Karawaci to where we stayed at the coast. But, unlike Kenyan pot-holed roads and our Kenyan air-conditionless van, these roads and our new van made the trip seem like a 20-minute dream. Great weather and great waves has Rebecca saying we should drive over here once a month. We'll see.<br /><br />Looking forward to another week and a half of holiday. Will try to photos of the neighborhood, house, and school in the next couple of days.Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505316827706074343.post-25976340057282727102009-09-16T05:55:00.000-07:002009-09-16T06:25:26.238-07:00It's About Time!We have been living in Indonesia for two months now and are finally getting around to setting up a blogspot to keep family and friends updated on how this new move is going.<br /><br />It's going about the way we expected and about the way we hoped. We expected there to be many adjustments and challenges. After seven very satisfying and rewarding years in Kenya, new opportunities and experiences were welcome. So, we are adjusting to a new culture, new school, new church, new climate, new daily schedule (classes begin at 7:00 am!), new foods, new neighbors, new friends...well, you get the idea. <br /><br />My new school is quite different than all the other schools in which I've worked. Actually, every school has been quite unique and I like to think that each one has been just the right place at just the right time in my life. So far that has included schools in Midland, Michigan; Santiago, Dominican Republic; La Paz, Bolivia; Tampa, Florida; Nairobi, Kenya; and now Jakarta, Indonesia.<br /><br />What's different about this place? It's bigger than all my other schools. We have over 1,000 students. It follows the International Baccalaureate program. Almost all of the students are Indonesian. Uniforms for students and uniforms for teachers. Very steep tuition fees. Half of my staff are Indonesian. <br /><br />Our new home is quite different than all the other homes in which we've lived. The neighborhood actually looks like a little gated community that you'd find somewhere in South Florida. Hopefully in the next week I can get some pictures uploaded. We're heading to the beach tomorrow as the school heads into a 2-week holiday, courtesy of Ramadan and starting the school year in mid-July. So, we are just finishing nearly 2 months of school and the Eid (Muslim holiday) begins early next week.<br /><br />Pictures and updates will be forthcoming. Thanks for reading.Don Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11386975654637057858noreply@blogger.com1