Tribal Night...

Ok, so just when Anthony had you guys convinced our lives are biasa,
we go and have a night like last night.

It was fun.
But TOTALLY unexpected.
It's all Justin and Daniela's doing.
They invited us last minute.
They said, "It's some dinner thing."

Yeah right.
"Dinner" didn't quite describe what we were in for...

Someone gave them tickets and didn't tell them what it was for.
Turns out the Kelabit Tribe from Borneo was throwing a party.
They were celebrating their cultural heritage along with honoring Kelabit youth for their educational achievements.
They even flew in some villagers from Borneo.
It was like National Geographic meets History Channel meets reality TV meets a country club ballroom.

Keep in mind we knew none of this before hand.
But the pieces eventually came together.
Like, as we arrived many of the people were dressed in variations of this outfit:After all the guests arrived, the guest of honor was escorted to his seat


What a welcome!
Then there were speeches about the heritage of the people and how so much has changed in the last 50 years.
A LOT. Lemme tell ya.
50 years ago these people couldn't even read or write.
Now they've entered the modern world...yet have retained their cultural heritage...
as these videos will show.

Here's an example of some of their young people showing their...um...modernity... with a little extra som'n som'n from Justin and Anthony:


But the young people also haven't abandoned their traditions either...
Here's the ending of a traditional "harvest-hunting" dance:



During all this we were eating dinner,
but the food had become secondary to all the activities.
Particularly the Lucky Draw!Wha? A free dinner at a country club AND the chance to win a basket of goodies?
The night got better and better. (even though we didn't win)

The tribe had an incredible spiritual awakening a few decades ago that completely colors who they are as a people.
They performed a familar tune on traditional bamboo instruments:


Then the Spice Girls took the stage:



They were sitting at the table beside us and it seemed like every person in the room (500 people?) came by to greet them and take a picture.
You could tell they are deeply respected in their community.
One girl even asked to touch the middle lady's earlobe and she agreed with a smile...
awesome.
The night ended with the Spice Girls (That's not my nickname either...that's what they were introduced as) serenaded the room and everyone participated in a traditional Kelabit dance.

Think "Tribal Conga Line" and you'll have it.

Ok...now that I'm done telling you about our night with tribal folks,
I'm gonna watch TV.
Back to normal.

The Opposite of the "Lonely Planet" Travel Guide

Looking back over some of our posts, one would get the impression that every day of our lives is spent doing something new, exciting, exotic or way out in left field. That's true maybe a couple days out a month. The rest of the time our life is pretty biasa - normal.

For instance, right now I'm waiting for the new episode of Lost to download off iTunes. Only 62 hours to go... and we had to pay for this episode.

Sharon's busy making taco salad in the kitchen.

Kids are playing loudly in the yard next to ours. Sometimes random objects land in our yard.

This afternoon we realized we forgot to buy beef, which prompted a "send the hubby back to the grocery store" trip.

We took our language teacher's 3-year-old to McDonald's for lunch. He calls it "ba-da-bum-bum-bum" (ala the "I'm Lovin' It" song on the commercials).

I've had a cold for the past 4 days.

I had plans to come up with some great and witty insights from our mostly normal life, but Sharon just asked if I could help her out by browning the ground beef.

See... normal.

100th Post!

The title has nothing to do with the actual post.
But just wanna say "Thanks!" to all of you out there who have been with us since the beginning.
Our blog would surely be meaningless without you.
(here's a great time for all you secret readers out there to post a comment and identify yourselves!)
On to Mother's Day festivities.
No, we didn't get to see our own moms.
But we DID hang out with friends,
A couple of whom are actually mothers.
And since mother's day here was this past Tuesday,
it actually was a celebration for their motherhood.

Onto the pics...we know its why you come here...We went to the beach with Kakak and her family.
Her mom and sister were both there too.
She's taken care of us since we first got here.
And we get to see her be a mother on a daily basis.
Needless to say, some of the phrases we understand best in the language are 'mothering phrases'

"Jangan Ganggu!"- "Don't bother them!"
"Diam!"- "SHHHH!"
"Di mana seluar?!"- "Where are your pants?!"

But at the beach her kids could be as noisy as they wanted to be.
And as a Mother's day Miracle, the 3 year old pretty much kept his pants on the whole time.
Here's Anthony playing with Kakak's 7 yr old son, and her younger brother.
(Anthony's the light one)

The afternoon was spent relaxing.
We ate... (can you see the white people indicator? Mac-n-cheese...oh yeah!)...played with Kakak's baby nephew......did normal beach activities like bury kids in the sand, and build sandcastles...Then a Chinese man brought in a big fish net...the fish net wasn't all that interesting, but this little Indian girl who managed to get a few fish herself from the net was definitely picture worthy...And that was our Mother's Day.
What did you do? Anything special?
Again...you secret readers out there...this is a great time to show yourself!

Mommies- this'n's fo you...

We'd like to send out a big

"Happy Mother's Day!"
to the Greatest Moms in the WHOLE world.

(How else could we have turned out to be the greatest kids in the whole world without you?)

Love- Anthony & Sharon

packages that care...

Our friends in Kentucky sent us a care package!
Thanks to the Millicans, the Browns, Lauren and Tara...y'all are too fun!

Bangkok

We did a ton of stuff this weekend. This won't be real detailed- we'll stick with "a picture paints a thousand words" motto and if you want to know anything specific, just ask us in the comments.
The brand spankin' new Bangkok International Airport...HUGE

And very "Thai" as this display shows... I'm sure it has some significant meaning, but just gonna have to guess on this one...We ate pork!
The fast food places here don't use bacon because half the people here can't eat it because of religious reasons... but the BK in BKK has bacon double cheeseburgers!
And Tony Roma's was a necessary stop too (for those present that eventful night in Jacksonville this was the first time I've been to Tony Roma's since... no waiters demanded $0.42 more of a tip this time)
I (Sharon) got a Thai massage. Anthony went to a nearby mall that was nothing but computer stores. While he was looking at stuff that's impossible for us to ever buy, my limbs were being bent in positions I once thought impossible. Thailand is called "The Land of Smiles"...this nice Thai masseuse was embodiment of that phrase...Saturday was Cinco de Mayo, so in honor of Mexico and her freedom from Spain (and no real Mexican food since August) we ate Mexican food... the guacamole was heavenly...
Our main transports for the weekend were the famous "Sky Train" (which isn't much different of a concept than the El in Chicago..but whatever)...
Sometimes foreign languages are just funny...

Here's us at Victory Monument...we have no idea what victory it was for...but it's just one of the things your supposed to see in Bangkok...
The other form of transportation was by taxi...
They're so colorful! Pink, Green, Orange, Red, Yellow, Blue, White, and Purple!


































































Another of the musts is taking a water taxi to the Grand Palace. Even though it was closed (the Thai government apparently failed to check our travel schedule when they planned a coronation ceremony that day)...we still took a water taxi (just over to a hotel to eat) so we could say we did...

We are Siamese if you please...

We're off to Bangkok for the weekend...check back Monday or so for fun Siamese stories.

So this post doesn't completely waste your time:
Thailand used to be called "Siam"
It's where "The King and I" story is based.
Some of the most famous conjoined twins came from Thailand...ergo "Siamese Twins"
Pretty kitties that are distinct in their coloring, "Siamese cats," are from there.
So when the cats on Lady and the Tramp sing their song...they're really Thai cats.

I know. This post is opening up worlds to you.

Thailand/Siam has never been ruled by an outside power...they're very proud of that...
As an American I have no claim to that since it was a colony...
so more power to 'em.

Sungai Sungai

Sungai (Soon-eye) is the word for river here.
To make a word plural, all you have to do is double it.
So "Sungai-sungai" makes "Rivers".
That's us.
The normal bbq-ing, swimming, playing in waterfalls, driving in mud, etc. happened again today when we went to the sungai.
Here are a couple of things unique to this particular day in the jungle.

First: Kak-Sharon (older sister Sharon) brought a tube...
I was SO popular for about 20 minutes:



Then Ka-Sharon decided to ride the tube herself.
Ya know. Show all the kiddies how we do it in B.G. on the River O' Peace...

The sticks aren't as sharp in the Peace River...neither are the tubes as plastic.
Killed the fun real quick...but at least I did it to my own tube.
And unlike in B.G., no one had any duct tape to remedy the problem.

Second: With any given 7 year old there's bound to be teeth loose.

I must say, I've heard of the fabled "string around the tooth" extraction method, but never actually seen it done or believed it was possible.

I dedicate this video to my best friend Cara, who possibly did the same thing this week to children in Honduras...
(Those queasy around blood should not watch this. If you do, at least have someone near you as you watch in case you pass out at the computer all by yourself in your house. Safety first kids.)



Then his dad made him this necklace out of the string he pulled it with:

This lead to us asking our friends if they knew about the tooth fairy.
When they answered in the negative, we realized just how deficient our language is in describing fairies who take your tooth from under your pillow and leave money, why fairies would want a crusty old tooth in the first place, and that it's not really a fairy but parents.
Then I found out that Anthony and Justin got $1 for every tooth, whereas I only got a few coins. I explained that we had a little 'tooth pillow' with a pocket sewed on it and that's probably why my parents only gave a few coins.
Then Justin said he had the same pillow and he still got a dollar.
Wha?
So two things burst today: my tube and my memories of generosity from my tooth fairies.
(for all you die-hard blog readers out there... still no leeches)

Kelip-Kelip

There's a new picture at the end of this post for those who have already read it.

Kelip-kelip (kuh-leep kuh-leep) is the word for "lightning bug" or "firefly" here. Our country is famous for them, so we decided to take a trip.

Here's what happened.





And it's not even the rainy season...



Always time for an American Idol impression...
Since the kelip-kelip can only be seen at night in trees along a river, we decided to kill some time until sunset...



What you didn't see was all the folks staring at the 4 white people...





Before boarding the boats we had to remember safety comes first...



And now for the big moment...but "shhhhhh!" no talking allowed...



Hope you're not disappointed...Sony cameras are not as sophisticated as the human eye.. but this is about what it was like, except less electric guitar...


EDIT: For those dying to know what the fireflies we saw really look like, I found this picture:

Now imagine this many fireflies in every other tree on a completely dark river. And they all blink at the same time. We've already decided we're gonna make this a Christmas tradition.

FINALLY!

We were beginning to get worried about you guys back in the USA. Someone text a couple votes for Blake for us - we see Idol about 3 days too late here to do anything about it.

Not-so-Amazing Race...

"The Amazing Race" came to our city!
Our language teacher canceled today.
So we thought it would be a great day to see some sites, and
afterwards make the greatest blog post ever.
Ever.
An Amazing Race theme.
Our "tasks" for this leg of the journey...
1. Pet the "mouse deer"
2. See the famous bird park (and identify the famous "Horn bill")

Then we would have finished the blog with us posing in front of this same house at the Pit Stop...
...this post would have been so cool.
You all would have been SO impressed.

So we set out to find the house behind these folks.
We knew about where it was downtown
(think Central Park NYC, but on a mountain and HOT tropical weather...the bird park and mouse deer petting zoo are all around the same area)

This post would have blown your mind.
But instead it was one big "Road Block" and "Yield" after another

First when we arrived we parked and attempted to find the bird park and/or the Big park that the AR-House was in.
There were no signs directing us.
No clues.
So after climbing, I'm NOT lying, a billion steps, we found something...

The Planetarium.
Cool- as in it had AC- but we were on a tight schedule and we set off- after getting directions from the locals' pointing- toward the bird park.
On the way we passed Stonehenge.
Not a bird
not the AR-house
not a mouse-deer.
It was so hot I had to talk Anthony into doing something 'funny' for this picture.
Then we kept walking...
We saw no monkeys, but this picture is fun.
And I could stand in the shade while I took it.
Did I mention it was 46,000 degrees outside?
Because it was.
Then we found it.
HALLELUIA!
We were pumped.
But then we found out the entry price was RM30.00 per person.
60 Ringgit for something without rollercoasters? psha.
After an unsuccessful attempt at getting a discount price,
we found out the "Orchid and Hibiscus" garden across the street was free.
Aunt Danny...ever considered something like this to display your orchids?
There were tons, but we'll only bore you with one up-close flower picture.
The Orchid Gardens had hills to climb and not a lot of shade.
And there were no mouse deer or AR-houses
But it did have the largest orchid species in the world.
"Whoa!"
The Orchid park had one trick up it's sleeve that we weren't expecting.
Yes, that's a snake eating a frog.
The poor frog was making squeaking sounds.
Very sad.

But as standing on the surface of the sun wasn't on the agenda,
we decided to set out for the big park that held the AR House and the mouse deer.

After criss-crossing the orchid garden a couple more times,
asking directions from 3 or 4 more locals,
getting closer to dehydration,
and walking another 9,000 Kilometers,
we found the Park!
We wasted no time looking for the mouse deer...
(only had about 45 minutes left before we had to leave)
We got directions from 2 more locals.
Walked a few hundred more kilometers and finally found the mouse deer petting zoo.
We were not happy.

By this point we were so deep in the park we had NO idea where we were.
And we only had 30 minutes left
(finding our way back to the car was included in the time frame).
We then abandoned the Amazing Race House search.
So all we had to show for our day out was 4 pit stains.

Don't get us wrong.
We used our language.
We saw some "National Geographic" type things.
We worked the calves and the hamstrings.
But instead of giving you a really cool "Amazing Race" blog post,
it's more like we were "eliminated."

We'll be back in the All-stars round.
So stay tuned...

Friday the 13th!

These are my (Sharon's) parents. (well, Anthony claims them too)
And Today...Friday, April 13th 2007 they have been married for 33 years.
Did you get that?
33 YEARS!
Way to go you two.
Bruce and Janice sittin' in a tree...
or in this case
Bruce and Janice standin' on some rocks...

They've birthed and raised 3 FABULOUS girls.
One of which they outlived and is in heaven waiting for them there.
The two that aren't in Jesus' presence (wonder what she's seeing right now?)
got married to AMAZING men.
Both of which were approved by these parents and they happily call them both "Son."

They've traveled to several countries together.
Served in church together.
Gone to Disney world like a million times together.
The first of which was 33 years ago on their honeymoon...
I know.
They're SUCH Floridians.

Since this picture was taken, they've lost about 70 pounds together.
Bruce 40
Janice 30
They do a lot of stuff together.
My mom even goes out to the pasture to help my dad move the cows "off the rye."
Cute huh?
And she still laughs when my dad gets angry at the cows.
"Stupid Cows!"

He supports her in her van ministry at the church.
She loves the Mexican kids she picks up every week.
Her happiest moments are when one of them gives their heart to Jesus.

She supports him in his music ministry at the church.
He loves playing keyboards and leading worship.
He gets so thrilled when he sees the people at FBCBG really worshiping.

It hasn't all been good.
He does shake the salt packets at McDonald's in a way that drives her nuts.
But I can't remember very many times,
At least not between the two of them...

I do however remember my spankings and getting up on Saturday mornings to help trim the hedges or do something else 'not fun' when I really just wanted to watch "Muppet Babies."
I also got grounded.
And I was a good kid.
But they...TOGETHER...parented.
They couldn't be divided.
If Mama said "no," Daddy said "no" and vice versa.
But now I know respect and appreciate the authority figures in my life.
So thanks.
Even though I thought you were ruining my life by grounding me or making me be home by like, before sunset, and didn't let me talk on the phone after 9pm, and wouldn't let me tie my shirt up at cheerleading practice (I thought that one was particularly lame)...
Thanks.

Thanks for being awesome married parents.
Married parents that loved the Lord, and loved each other, and loved me (and Heather and Veronica....and now Zach and Anthony).
You rock.
And yes, Daddy, I'll be sure to save up for one of those sweet massaging recliners for your 35th in a couple years.
Maybe we can get y'all matching ones?

Happy Anniversary!

This week in photos...

This week we took a trip the highlands once again.
We went there for Thanksgiving so we didn't take many pictures.
But here is the view from the hotel we stayed in...The only thing cooler than the strawberry & honey roti we ate this week was our niece Katelyn turning 1 year old! (This Katelyn is Katie Black, not to be confused with Kaelyn our other niece or Kaitlyn aka K5 who is our adopted niece here, or Kate Durrance our cousin who is also turning 1 this week...yeah just try and keep it straight!)One year old birthday party pictures are the best! Nothing better than a cute chubby baby getting to smear icing all over their face... every year after that the pictures are of the mom trying to prevent that very thing from happening.
Happy Birthday Katie! We wish we could have been there to see your cute icing-face in person!