Hiking in Salatiga

Hi again! I'm posting while I can!

We went on the most beautiful hike ever today, through a rural area of Salatiga. We hiked through rice paddies (well, Major would say we merely sauntered, but for my out of shape body, it was a heck of a hike!), and up part of Gunung Gajah (Mount Elephant, named because it looks a bit like a sleeping elephant). We stopped about halfway up for lunch. Karen and Major had ordered boxed lunches from a restaurant- delicious chicken and rice (seriously! Austin, even you would have liked it!) We hung out there for awhile, wading in the river that runs through to irrigate the rice paddies, and just talking. I thought I had my first monkey sighting and was SO excited to blog about it, but unfortunately, upon further investigation, we learned it was just an eagle. I just wanted to share a bit of the beauty I got to witness today:

The beginning of a hike

Rice Paddies

For my tech-savvy friends, do any of you want to tell me how I can make the file size of my pictures smaller? As they are right now, they take a really long time to load, and I know people are more interested in pictures than in long rambling explanations. (Andrew? Any chance you'd want to try to explain this to me??)

I also discovered that I'm going to have to learn how to use a squat potty! I was nervous about this at first, but then we watched a really helpful video that I think everyone would benefit from viewing.Click on the link below, or if it doesn't work, type "How to Use An Eastern Latrine" into youtube. The first link is the one you want:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKkryfdtMNQ

While I'm posting such things, I just remembered a really awesome video that we watched during orientation called "The Danger of A Single Story." It's about the effects of only understanding one aspect of a person or a culture (a very common mistake that I know I've definitely made), and it's told by a woman who grew up in Africa and went to school in the United States. Again, if the link doesn't work, go to www.ted.com, and type "The Danger of A Single Story" into the search line. It's the first link that comes up.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

My first full day in Indonesia has been really awesome, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to share with you while I still have internet access. I've been told that internet in most host families in non-existent, and that internet cafes are slower than dial up, so I'm not exactly sure how often I'll be able to post as the year progresses. Hopefully I can keep you semi-updated though! Don't give up on checking if days and days go by with no post!

I hope all's well wherever you are in the world (especially you SALTers who are just beginning your adventures)!

Have a good one!