New old stuff and new new stuff

November 12, 2011.  Veteran's Day was yesterday, 11-11-11.  Mark was off and it was the first day of my CELTA course at the British Institute in Jakarta.  A belated shout-out to all the Veterans, especially those in the family - officially and unofficially and those soon to be official...  Our stuff we shipped from the US has FINALLY arrived.  Once the Indonesian government approved Mark's position, things seemed to move along.  It took just over three months for our few boxes to get here.  It's taken a while, so now all of our old stuff seems new to us again.  This is the new old-stuff. 

We also have some new new-stuff.  Mark went to the market today and bought a machete and a kelapa muda (young coconut) to drink and eat.  You drink the coconut water and when you are finished you chop it open to scrape out the meat and eat it.  Delicious!  He got a few laughs as he was finishing his shopping because he was carrying around a machete.  He told the guy who sold him the coconut that he didn't have to open the coconut, a service they are willing to provide, because he had his own knife.  When he opened the bag and showed it to them, Mark said they laughed.  We're not sure how to interpret the laughter.  Hopefully they were laughing with Mark and not at him. 

Mark also bought an item he has been coveting for a while, a fan for the braai.  We've seen them on the street.  The sate sellers often have them to fan their coals.  Check it out: 

Kelapa muda

Bali Starlings

November 9, 2011.  I flew to Bali in November 1 and spent the night in Ubud.  On the 2nd, I met up with Sumadi, the tour guide of Bali Bird Walks, so we could be picked up and taken to Sanur to get the ferry to Nusa Penida, an island off the east coast of Bali.  I was on Nusa Penida November 2-4 helping the Begawan Foundation with their Bali Starling audit.  There are very few Bali Starlings left in the wild and this project is an attempt to reestablish the birds in the wild.  They are beautiful birds and it was an interesting experience.

While we were on Nusa Penida, a big three day ceremony at the Hindu temple, Pura Dalem Penetaran Ped, was taking place.  Sumadi took me with her on our first night there I got to participate in the ceremony.  It was a special experience.

We returned to Bali on Friday and I relaxed at Kupu-Kupu Bungalows, located in the middle of some rice paddies in Ubud, while I waited for Mark to arrive.  Around 11:30pm I felt an earthquake.  The bungalow was on stilts.  It was probably the longest earthquake I have ever felt.  I've felt others before and usually by the time I figure out that what I'm feeling is an earthquake it is over.  This time, I figured it out and it seemed to continue for quite some time. 

Saturday, Mark and I walked around the rice fields in Ubud and checked out the subak (irrigation system).  We also visited Monkey Forest.  Staying in the rice fields was very relaxing with frogs singing us to sleep.  On Sunday we checked out Bali Bird Park and had a delicious seafood dinner before we caught our flight back to Jakarta.

Black-naped Orioles - through binoculars

Bali Starling - through binoculars

Going to check out some other Bali Starling sites on Nusa Penida

Lots of mangos on the tree

Rice harvest

Rice fields

Scaly-breasted Munias - through binoculars

Ducks in Rice Fields - Ubud, Bali

Thanks for the Bass Pro Shop hat, Doc

Creative use of a palm frond

In Monkey Forest, Ubud

Interesting statue in Monkey Forest

Nice!

Bungalows in Ubud

Nice place for breakfast

Lots of fresh grilled seafood

Green Sea Turtles

November 9, 2011.  Over the weekend of October 28-30, I went to Pangumbahan Beach near Ujung Genteng on the South West coast of Java with a group called GoWild to do some hiking and see nesting green sea turtles, Chelonia Mydas.  (Unfortunately Mark couldn't come along because he had an important meeting that he had scheduled for that Friday, and even more unfortunate, he was told at the last minute that he would not going along to the meeting.) 

We were supposed to see the sea turtle hatchlings released on Friday evening, but since no eggs had hatched, that didn't work out.  The turtle nests are moved and hatched in a secure area to prevent people from digging up the nests to get the eggs to sell.  When they hatch, they are then released to sea, which is the part we were hoping to observe.  Later, we did go to the beach and saw sea turtles nesting.  It was quite dark and I couldn't really see very well.  I thought we would get to sit and watch a turtle come to shore, dig her hole, lay her eggs, and then return to sea.  In reality, we just got to see a turtle laying her eggs for a few minutes and then we had to leave.  It was still a really cool experience. 

Saturday morning we left early to do a hike along the coast to Ombak Tujuh.  We had a nice swim before we turned around.  On a the way we saw many tracks on the beach made by the nesting sea turtles returning to sea the night before. 

The trip was planned to watch the release of the hatchlings on Friday to avoid the large crowds that come to see the release on the weekends, but the turtles did not cooperate.  Fortunately some turtles hatched for a Saturday evening release.  I think everyone in the group was a bit overwhelmed with the huge crowd on Saturday, but I was happy to get to see the sea turtle hatchlings head out to sea even though it wasn't as peaceful of an experience as I had imagined.  I guess I thought there would only be a few people there.  I was wrong.  I was one of the lucky people to get to release a hatchling; this may have had something to do with me being a bule (white person) or perhaps the enthusiastic look on my face as they were handing out individual sea turtles to people in the crowd.  While I'm not a huge fan of crowds, I do think that it is positive that people are interested in nature.  I'm interested in knowing how activities like these increase people's awareness of and concern for environmental issues. 

Sunrise over Pangumbahan Beach, Ujung Genteng, Java

In Tidal Pool

Brittle Sea Star in Tidal Pool

Tidal Pools along hike

In Tidal Pool

Green Sea Turtle Tracks

We walked past this beach

Swimming spot at turn around point for hike

The rickety bridge was quite rickety

Sea Turtle release #1

Sea Turtle release #2

Sea Turtle release #3

Sea Turtle release #4 - go turtle go

My favorite shot

My favorite shot really captures the moment, the beauty of the hatchlings making their way to sea and the fascinated crowds pushing and shoving to get the perfect shot to capture the moment.  I stayed back, tried to stand my ground, and just happened to snap this shot in the chaos.  Below is a short video of the hatchlings making it to sea.

The New Alu Lumpang and Cobek

November 9, 2011.  We recently acquired two important kitchen implements for Indonesian cooking.  The mortar and pestle, or alu lumpang, for pounding peanuts for peanut sauce, and the cobek, which is used for grinding chilies to make sambal, a spicy chili sauce.  Mark and I love both of these condiments and they are definitely two highlights of Indonesian cooking.  Ibu Jamilah and I also bought a grill for sate (satay).  She is fanning the fire with a piece of cardboard, because we do not yet have the proper fan made out of woven palm leaves.  We will be getting one, along with a machete so we can properly open up coconuts.   

Alu Lumpang and Cobek

Ibu Jamilah making Peanut Sauce

Ibu Jamilah making chicken sate to go with the peanut sauce

Uniforms!

November 9, 2011.  Below is a picture taken of the USAID Education Team in Indonesia.  They were going to a meeting and they all had uniforms made out of the same fabric.  If you look closely you can see different styles, but the message is not lost.  I know RP will definitely be able to appreciate this and I will not be surprised if something similar happens in her own office.  At the family golf outing in July before Mark and I departed for Jakarta, each team was required to wear their assigned uniform; I believe Carin was the mastermind.  Good times!

USAID Indonesia Education Team, October 26, 2011

The Orange Team

The Blue Team

The Yellow Team