faces from the pasar

I love these people. Now that I've gotten over the initial anxiety of being stared and yelled at all the time, I actually really enjoy walking down to the pasar (market) and talking to the people there. Since I'm moving in less than two weeks, Morgan and I walked down and took pictures of some of the people down there.

 

Meet Dinar. She is probably the most eager person I've met yet who wants to help us with our language. Photo by Morgan.

 

I watched these men play chess the other day while Morgan talked to Dinar. There's a group of six or so who get together every day and play right next to Dinar's flower booth. After establishing that it was culturally okay with Dinar for me to sit and talk to them, I joined them at their table. I talked to a sweet pak (older man) named Obi for a long time about pretty much everything I know how to talk about.

Today, when we walked down there, I was thrilled to see Obi watching the other paks play, as usual. As we were talking, he said to me in broken English, "You like daughter to me." If I wasn't about to cry before, I am now. (sigh)

haircut

I finally did it. I got my hair cut.

It had been three months since my last one, so I was in pretty desperate need of one. I've kind of resolved to grow it out, at least for a little bit, so while I didn't want to take off any length, I did need it to be restyled for long hair. Annnd I needed them to fix my bangs that I may have tried to cut myself. So I finally gathered the courage and went to a salon.

We go to a salon recommended by a friend, armed with a photo of the desired cut and a national friend. When we ask the prices, they give us a range between the equivalent of $15-20. It all depends on if you want the more or less experienced stylist. So the question becomes: How brave are you?

I know you're probably looking at the price and saying, "For real? It's only $20." But here, that $5 goes a long way, and $15 is already an expensive haircut. After looking at my picture and concluding that it's not that complicated - a little layering here and there, plus the bangs - I decided to be super brave and go with the less-experienced guy. I'll let you judge for yourself and see what you think.

For that $15, I got a haircut, a shampoo, head and arm massage, part of a back massage, and got to sit in a massaging chair as they rinsed my hair. Pretty nice.

Before - from the back. For pictures of the front, see my last post :)

Love R's face here. She's a nut. :)

Snip, snip

Ta da! So, what do you think? Not too bad, huh?

birthday week

I don't really like to make my birthday a big deal. I don't like to be the center of attention, so I'm usually not a big fan of everyone singing to me... and drawing a lot of attention my way... It kind of makes me want to hide, just being honest. Typically my birthday consists of going to dinner with some close friends and family. Nothing big, no elaborate party, just a nice, quiet evening.

This year was a little bit different. Thursday I turned 22. It was going to be unique anyways because A: I was in a foreign country, and B: because of the time difference, my birthday was really like 36 hours long. Everyone kept asking me what I wanted to do for my birthday. I kept responding, "Oh, something low-key, maybe just a nice dinner." What ended up happening was pretty perfect.

We get to school late because I was skyping with my family, and as soon as I walk in, everyone starts singing "Happy Birthday," and one of my teachers brings out an apple coffeecake with a birthday candle, a very sweet surprise.

 

After class, we come home and relax for a little bit. Morgan makes some really awesome Mexican food. It tastes like it came straight out of a Mexican restaurant. I mean, really. It would have been awesome in the States. After dinner, Jenn and Morgan come in to my room, singing and carrying another cake! Apparently, they forgot to pick up candles, so my birthday "candles" were matches stuck on top.

  

Around the time of eating the cake, two dear friends, Donna and T, show up with flowers! We eat the cake with some super sugary chocolate icing straight out of the pan, tell jokes, laugh a lot, sing a little, just really enjoy each others company in a very laid-back night. Pretty perfect.

 

 

But that wasn't all they had in store. We had decided to go out to dinner with all of our friends on Saturday. Birthday dinners are opposite of that in America. Back home, the one celebrating the birthday gets treated out to dinner, but here the birthday girl (or guy) pays for everyone else's meal. I decided I was going to be like a national and pay for everyone's dinner. Thankfully, the local food is really inexpensive, so it wasn't going to be quite like picking up the bill in America.

All week long, that was the plan. Dinner at 6:30 on Saturday. Rachel's paying. When I get up that morning, Morgan's already dressed and heading out the door. She tells me she's going to go read. Not out of the ordinary. She likes to get out of the house, whereas I'm perfectly okay staying at home all day.

I get up and make blueberry muffin bread (thanks, Aubrey!). As I'm making them, Jenn comes in and says she's going to the store and asks if I need anything. "Mmm, maybe pick up some eggs?" She leaves. I'm home alone. I do all the stuff I would do on any other normal day at home: eat, exercise, shower, read, play guitar. Around 4:30, Morgan finally comes home. We finish getting ready right at 6:30 and get in the car. Morgan says that Donna doesn't know how to get to the restaurant, so she's going to ride with us. We pull in, and Donna's apparently "not ready" so we have to go inside and wait.

I walk up the sidewalk, open the door, and walk inside the dark room. "SURPRISE!" Suddenly, some 20 people pop up at me from all directions.

Hey, guess what? We weren't going to the restaurant. Morgan hadn't gone to read or Jenn to the store. They had this planned all along, those sneaky girls. They had gotten here earlier and decorated the whole house, made cupcakes, and even set up a "photo booth" of sorts with funny masks and hats. 

So I got to spend the evening with some great friends who, despite always starting and showing up at things late, actually arrived early to surprise me! They are awesome. So, in the end, it was the perfect combination - a quiet, chill birthday evening and a crazy surprise party on the weekend. I wonder how long I can keep this birthday celebration going...

 

 

here and now

As some of you already know, in a month's time, I'll be moving to another city on the island. This has been the plan all along - go to city A for language school for a couple of months and then go to city B to live and work. It's funny, though, how the prospect of moving can be so... unnerving, even though I knew it was coming all along.

Honestly, there was a tension inside of me when I first arrived as to how acclimated I should get when I'll just be leaving again. On the one hand, I had a desperate need to get settled, make friends, call this home. Four months is a long time, and living out of suitcase is miserable, especially during the holiday season. But on the other hand, the defensive side of me rose, and walls wanted to be put up. I'm here to learn language. I just had to say goodbye to all my family and friends back home. Why get attached when I was just going to have to leave again?

The first won out. Despite my instincts to put up barriers, my heart was instantly attached to the people I met. I couldn't help it. I had been lifting up these people and this island for so long, and then to finally be here, to finally hear their hearts and see their need... It would have gone against the very reason I'm here to not love them as if they were going to be with me for the rest of my life.

Because they're going to be, you know? They may not be physically with me, but they're always going to be important to me, and I am going to always care for them and long to be with them. In a year and a half, there will be a whole new group of people and a whole new city that my heart's going to belong to and break for, and it's going to be unbearable to leave them too. And that's okay. Isn't that the example set for us?

So the lesson learned: Completely be wherever you are. Give everything you've got. Invest in people. Love without holding back. Father has you here, in this moment, for a reason. Don't wait for the next thing to come along or for everything to be worked out. All you've been promised is the here and now. So live in it.

This was, honestly, not the direction I meant for this post to go. I think it was more for me than it was for anyone else. So thanks for bearing with me. :)

"Now may our G-d and Father himself, and our Lrd JC, direct our way to you, and may the Lrd make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our Gd and Father, at the coming of our Lrd JC with all his saints." 1 Thes 3:11-13