I Never Thought A Volcano Would Make Me Cry

Today was the day my dad was supposed to be here, in his home country, and my new favorite one. But, as you might know, a volcano in Iceland blew up and messed up tons of flights across Europe (where his connecting flight was), and ruined the whole trip. I'm really sad that he cannot be here with me, but I know there is a reason.
And, I know we will be planning another trip together.
It is important during disappointments not to shut down and think about ones self, so I'm trying not to. I'm thankful to have him as a father at all. Being here has been so important for me because I have learned a lot about my earthly father, and also my heavenly father and I have no doubt I will be back in this country (with my dad), later on in life. This also just means that we have more time to plan the trip.
Thanks to all who have been thinking of me while I am here. I cannot wait to share with you all the wonderful things that are happening on this island. :)
love,
brette

Itsy Bitsy Human Girl

I cannot believe how fast these 4 months are going! I love it here and am sad that only a month remains, yet excited to see my friends and family, (and cat), and be able to cook with an oven and well-stocked kitchen!
We have been making more friends here, and tomorrow we will go with one of them to watch a local karate team practice. I got to try on one of the official karate suits about a week ago, and it doesn't really do anything for my figure.
This morning my roomie and I biked 45 minutes to a beach town, where we sat and read the word on the beach. It is amazing riding on a bike through rice fields, and past mountains that jut up into the clouds in the sky. Every time we make the journey I am reminded how small I am, and how honored that I am one of many "arrows in His quiver", being used for his splendor.

Dad comes here in about a week and I don't think I've ever been so excited about anything before. It's been one of my life goals to be in this country with him.

Our village family came to town last weekend for a parade their son was in. We made them friend chicken for lunch (with rice, of course, because they don't believe they have eaten until they have had rice at every meal).

That's about all for now,
I hope all is well with you.
<3

You're the Light in This Darkness

It has been a rather draining weekend. I got rid of a parasite I happened to acquire, and twisted my ankle, but am okay now.
A certain holiday is coming up here, next Monday. The whole island will stay inside their houses, avoid using electricity or eating food. The purpose is to be as silent as possible in order to deceive the spirits that will pass through. In order to appease them, the people want to deceive them into thinking that this island is still untouched and that people are not here.
Please be thinking of them.

"Greater Things have yet to come, and Greater things are still to be done in this city."

Finally, photos!
The water pictures don't really show how big the water slide was...huge...and fast.
The one of me with a family is us in our traditional clothes, with our village family. The one of me in the grass is me "mowing the lawn" at our house...no joke. We get to use a machete! The pretty flowery things on the ground are offerings they make every day. The ones off of the ground are to the gods, and the ones directly on the ground are offerings to the demons.
Hope you enjoy seeing pictures of my new home... I love it. :)



about to go down the waterslide! it was HUGE

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our first beach experience, followed by dinner and live music <3

Slow Down

Thanks to those who have been reading my blog. I only get access to a computer about a once a week, so if I haven't responded to you personally, it's not because I don't want to, I love you.

The past week we got to help Bapak in the rice fields. I loved the feeling of having to step barefoot into muddy squishy water and squat down to pick the rice. (No sarcasm involved.) However, I learned later that there are often eels swimming around in the rice terraces! Thank goodness I didn't see any, or know this at the time.

While most of you are "enjoying" inches upon inches of snowfall right about now, instead of having a snowy cozy Valentines, I went to a resort hotel and paid a whole 2 dollars to swim there at my leisure, surrounded by palm trees, flowers, and dragon flies. It was rather enjoyable, tho I love winter with a passion.

This week we will go back out to the village and hangout, and then by friday make the mountainous descent to the capital city for a week. I think we will go to an art village, which I am STOKED about.
I have grown to love tofu and tempe, and since meat and cheese is pricey here, we eat a lot of it.

Im pretty sure that when I get back, Im going to give everyone a hard time for not doing a trip like this one. It has already stretched me so much, and there is no excuse not to 'go'. I can't believe a month has already passed, and I wish time would slow down. It is beautiful, exotic, and fascinating here.

You should come.

I Kill Chickens

It's true. This week, when we went to the village, we brought with us 2 live chickens. I meant FAT chickens! One for me and my friend to kill. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Bapek (my temporary dad) told us what to do and we did it. My chicken died pretty quickly cuz I'm really good at cutting throats apparently...but it's artery did squirt a little bit. don't worry I have it all on video so you can see. :) I also can pluck a chicken, remove its guts, and cut the good meat off. Then I can eat it for dinner. It was good.

I feel like everyone (especially girls) should experience something like this...and by that i mean, not caring what you look like...not even having access to a mirror. Not wearing make up. Wearing oversized clothes...even BOY clothes. Things are just like that here and everyone is okay with it. Its so easy in America to get caught up with always looking nice and not wanting to get dirty, and its actually been so refreshing to just not care.

The family dressed us up in their traditional clothes one afternoon, because they wanted a picture of us as their 'family'. It was pretty fun. Next time we go to the village we will print off the photos for them to keep.
I also learned that I might be allergic to rambutan (rom-boo-tan)...a hairy fruit that is popular here, and is oh-so-delicious! I eat it anyway.

This weekend we did an hour long hike through some thick jungle. I saw bugs that I'm pretty sure aren't recorded in science books yet. Kinda creepy. The guy that lead the way had to use a machete to clear a path. We came upon a HUGE waterfall. I mean HUGE...you could feel the power of the wind and water from very far away. Reminded me how strong and powerful our Father is, and how small we are.

So it's been a great first few weeks.
I have gone 5 days without looking in a mirror,
never had a hot shower since leaving America,
showered out of a bucket for 3 weeks straight,
mastered the squatty potty,
killed and ate a chicken,
explored the jungle,
OH! and I rode on the street on a bike among motorbikes and cars to get groceries! SCARY.

I wish I could post pictures of all that I have shared, but you will see them soon enough. :)