On the 15th of February, the Squad of 41 people flew from Brisbane, Australia to Bali, indonesia. We stayed there, on the island of Bali for under 5 days in different hostels.
While there I saw a lot of westerners and touristy things. From there my 6 person team split off as we set out on a 35hr bus ride that took us to the city I am in now, Bandung, which is on western Java.
Below is a short recap of Bali & what I have experienced thus far in Bandung:
On one of the days in Bali, my team along with some other squad mates who were staying close with us, went on an extreme adventure. While me and some people went to the beach to play music and worship God, some other teammates went to a church service where they met a guy named Ezra who really hooked us up; he ran tours and we did all of the following for $40 (food and transport included!!)
We drove to Ubud, which took about two hours.
We started at a Water Temple, were people went to cleanse themselves:
Even though Indonesia as a whole is the worlds most Islamic nation in the world, the island of Bali is very different than the rest of what I have experienced while here in Java.
Every morning I would watch women set out burnt offerings on the statues and altars all over the city. (See above the square and flat containers made out of bamboo filled with fresh flours, fruit, crackers, sometimes candy and incence.) I wish I would have taken more photos of the crazy statues all over the city; they were truly works of art. And usually the most ornate ones were in thr middle of traffic circles. (Oh well, I will have my chance again in India.)
After the Hindu water temple in Ubud, we went to a place where we sampled tea and coffee for free!! There we had the opportunity to try A smooth and unique coffee. The beans are digested from a raccoon-like animal called the Luwak !!! It was tasty.
After sampeling the Java we went on to eat extremely spicy food (they really like spice here) then to the monkey temple. It was a total tourist attraction, but honestly one of the best places I have been in my life (up there with the City Museum in St. Louis and the Hostel in the Forrest in Brunswick, Georgia).
Basically, we were in the monkeys territory, and we got to watch them do their thing in the wild, super up close and personal.
Please check my instangram account for photos of me with monkeys on my back. Click here to follow
After monkeying around, we all went on a somewhat relaxing whitewater rafting trip, swam under a waterfall, ate galatto, and then some really good (yet again spicy!!) street food on the roadside!!!
So that was an adventure day in Bali. I would have never expected that in my life.
NOW onto SOME of what I have been experiencing here in West Java.
It would take a whole blog post to explaine to you the extreme hospitality we have recieved since we arrived. The people treat guests like family or kings here. I am so over the top blessed to be here. Here is a traditional meal we had:
it was oh so very tasty, but i could barly eat it due to getting sick prior to the meal. I had so much nausea, and i filled up a whole squatty 2x with vom.
Here is us on the way back from the country, on the Angkot (on-cott), puking out the door.
Yeah, nausia and dehydration during a hardcore hike with older women and young children through the rice pattys. Its been 7 days of Diarrhea for me and I’m still recovering. I have actually pooed myself 2x in less than 24hours. 
But aside from that jazz, God as been doing some cool stuff. We have got to experience so much life with these people. We have had the privilege to worship with, pray for, and see God move in big ways in the lives of the people here. And I know more is yet to come.
Our primarily location is at an afterschool program for 6 to 8yr olds. Basically we sing songs, help them in the class room, and one of my favorite parts has been hangin out with the moms as they wait on their children in class. We use Google Translate a lot.
I am so amazed at the patience and hospitality of the people in this place. (I could write an entire blog post just about how I have been cared for and blessed because of their hospitality)
The parents of the little kids are constantly wanting photos with me (or us, as white westerners) and having me take a photo with their very shy child. #BuleFoto #BuleFoto
The peoples of this area are primarily Sunda (please click here); they speak a different language than Bahasa Indonesia. Indonesia is the 4th most populated country, but with over 300 different languages Spoken.
