9/8/2012

9/8/2012

Diandra came knocking at my door at 5 again (I don't have an alarm clock yet) but I refused to get out of bed until 5:30 I was still so tired from the night before. When I finally got up I got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. It was almost 6:15 when Diandra told me that Laetitia's host mom wanted to take us to a museum today so I shouldn't go to school.  Now, don't get me wrong I loved hearing that I didn't have to go to my first day of Saturday school but to say that I would have been more grateful is she had told me exactly an hour and fifteen minutes earlier not to bother getting out of bed would be a colossal understatement. Oh course by this point in the morning I was wide awake so going to sleep again was not an option. So I went upstairs to my room did Seminary watched a movie checked my email and facebook, watched TV and waited to go to the museum. Laetitia speaks French and here host mom only speaks a little English so we rode in silence most of the way. I really am trying to learn the language but when people just ask me lots of questions and expect me to answer  them it is really confusing. We got to the museum I was surprised to see how small it was. There were lots of old statues that showed Indonesian culture and several other things that documented Indonesia through time. My favorite exhibit was the wedding dresses. The museum had tradition wedding outfits for both the Bride and Groom from some of the major 'tribes' in Indonesia. There are tons of smaller cultures depending on region. The dresses are nothing like what we wear in American weddings. Instead of white each culture had a different color that they thought represented good luck. And they all had matching hats to go with each outfit. I love traditional Indonesian hats. They are huge, totally impractical, covered in bling (or whatever they call it here) and they are each unique for each occasion. After the museum we went to lunch. Another great thing about Indonesia is that they are the best at making fruit juices. I love ordering strawberry juice or orange juice or whatever fruit I feel like eating that day (they even serve Avocado juice which I have not been brave enough to try yet). Then we headed off to a geology museum. There were lots of cool things, including every kind of stone, dinosaur teeth that were even bigger than Sis. Kay Campo's (family friend) and other things. While there I saw a map that showed all of the volcanoes that surround Bandung for my families sake I will not put that picture up. I took tons of pictures of everything and I really had a great time at the museum. Afterward we went back to Laetitia's home where I watched the first 30 min of the A team in French with Laetitia. I didn't really know what was going on when I got in the car again but I ended up at a birthday party at a KFC for one of Lae's host sisters (I think).  I don't think that America is missing anything by keeping birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese. One thing I do understand in Indonesian is "Do you want to eat or drink?" And I know how to say no. But, I guess if you don't eat every two hours you are considered anorexic so I am rarely listened to and people buy me food anyway. I can promise everyone that I am not anorexic, I love eating too much, but I also don't need to eat every other hour it is just too much food. After I ate the KFC that I really didn't want I went home. After the long day I could barely check facebook before I fell asleep again at least I knew I didn't have school in the morning.

9/8/2012 Highlight

I got to Skype with my family!! Before I fell asleep I also got to talk to my family. I t was really nice to see all of their smiling faces and talk about their days and what is going on in both of our lives. I have never been away from home more than a month and now I have been away almost a month. I have learned and seen so much in the time I have been gone and I loved telling my family about it. Thanks for reading, Alaina :)