Special Delivery

The kids were surprised with a special delivery from Texas this week....a box full of goodies! They were so excited to sit and see what we pulled out of the big brown box that had traveled around the world. The box was sent by my parents and contained things like puzzles, jumpropes, musical instruments, art supplies, balls, and yo-yos.

Singapore

I LOVE SINGAPORE!!

Although the added flights to Singapore pushed us over budget Kayla and I are definitely glad we made the trip. Unfortunately were only there for 2 days so we didn't see half of what we wanted to. One of the first things we noticed was the lack of trash on the streets. While traveling through SE Asia it is something that you get used to or expect. The second thing that we noticed was that there was a different mall on every corner. Since we pulled an all nighter before our flight we went straight to our hostel in Little India and hit the sack. We wanted to make sure we were refreshed and ready for our first full day in Singapore. The next morning we set out to see the Singapore Flyer. It is very similar to the London Eye and allows you to see most of Singapore as well as glimpses of Malaysia and Indonesia. We marked a route on our map and headed out. Along the way we thought that we would be really smart and cut through the malls to both make our trip shorter and take a break from the heat. We soon realized the error in this decision when after exiting one of the malls we found that we had traveled quite a ways in the wrong direction. We took it all in stride and after almost 4 hours arrived at the Flyer. It costs about $30 a person and you are on the Flyer for about 30 minutes. The views were AMAZING!

By the end of the weekend we had seen Little India, Chinatown, EVERY mall possible, and the marina. It is definitely a place we will add to our "Must come back" list.

Wandering the stalls in Chinatown.

The Fountain of Wealth

Inside the Singapore Flyer.

Inside our "capsule."

The view of a capsule.

A view of Singapore from the top of the Flyer.

Kayla was super excited when we found her FAVORITE store.

Kayla won an Oscar! We are very proud.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBEKAH!

We had ice cream to celebrate Bekah's birthday.

Red Shoes, Rock Bands, and All Nighters

This past week has been a bit of a "mini vacation" for Kayla and me. We had to leave Narayan Seva for a week so that we could go extend our Indonesian Visas. Instead of just heading to the local immigration office we decided to make an adventure of it and head off to Singapore for the weekend. Although this little trip put us over budget it was well worth it.

Our week started with us taking a bus from Northern Bali back down to Kuta in the South. Since we were only going to be gone for a week we decided to pack light. This meant a small number of clothes, one bathing suit each, and one pair of sandals each. This light packing proved troublesome on our first night in Kuta. While walking down the street Kayla's sandals broke....this would be her second shoe casualty on this trip. Normally it wouldn't be a huge issue but since they were the only shoes she brought we had to make a quick jaunt to the mall. One thing you know about Kayla, if you have ever spent a great deal of time with her, is that when it comes to her feet nothing is easy (She is flat footed and due to the broken sandal had a very nice blister on her toes.) This turned a quick trip into a hunt....a long hunt... involving several miles and hundreds of stores. We were on a search for a pair of shoes worthy of Kayla's worthless feet. After she found them I was forced to be seen with her- and her big red Ronald McDonald feet. Yes, of all the shoes in Kuta Kayla decided she just had to have the big red Converse.

On a side note...check out these super cool outfits we found. They ONLY cost $300!

Ummm....a bit too much padding

I felt like a disco ball.

OOh look a taller disco ball.

We weren't sure what to do with Kayla's "wings" maybe we should have tied them into a bow...

After all the shoe drama we were finally able to get some ice cream, relax, and enjoy some people watching. While we were reclining on some concrete steps in front of the Discovery Mall a live band began to play. Kayla was ecstatic. The band played a variety of different styles but stuck mainly to rock. The lead singer was very enthusiastic and was determined to get the crowd to sing along. Kayla and I were sitting way off to the side and were horrified when the lead singer not only gestured towards us but jumped off the stage and made his way over to us, bringing an extra mic. We tried to be good sports and quietly sang along but refused to be dragged up on stage. He finally went back to the stage but came back in between sets with his buddy the lead guitarist. Kayla and I had named the guitarist Justin Bieber due to his hair fixing antics while on stage. We sat and chatted until the drummer began to avidly beat on the drum to get them back up on stage. They returned during each set and we were the envy of all the little adoring girls. After the show they asked us to go to their show again the following night and we had no idea at the time what an adventure that would be. Let's just say it involved dancing, fire, and them dropping us off at the airport at 4am.

They were shocked that Kayla & I had a beer.

All the cool kids hang out in front of the mini mart.

Lead guitarist on the left, bass player behind, lead singer on the right.

(AKA Justin Bieber, Dancing Queen, and the Guru)

The Guru has moves!

Out on the dance floor...keep an eye out for the Ronald McDonald shoes' cameo

Kayla...dancing?

The Guru

"Justin Bieber"

Tour of Narayan Seva

Since we have been talking about Narayan Seva and the children that live here we thought we would give you a "tour" of the school.

This is the boys dormitory. It contains 4 sets of bunk beds, a sink, and bathrooms. Unfortunately there are not enough beds for all of the boys so most of them sleep 2 to a bed. When it is too hot to double up some of the boys choose to sleep on the tile floor.

This is the view from the dining area. The building on the left is the main bathroom and shower facility. The middle little hut contains equipment and the structure on the right is just a place to relax in the shade.

This is the kitchen and dining area.

This is a view down the dining area. The building on the left is the main office and Didi's room. The building in the back is the old volunteer rooms that are set to be demolished and re-built.

This is the main building. It contains the kitchen, dining area, office, and Didi's room. The kitchen and dining area are "open air."

This is the back view of the kitchen. This is where the firewood for the stoves is stored as well as the container that collects rainwater.

This is a view of the prayer/meditation hall. The main building is to the left.



This is the prayer/meditation hall where the children meet every morning and every night.

This is the new girls building. It was built using donations and contains 4 bedrooms. Each of the bedrooms contain 4 sets of bunk beds, a sink, and bathroom. This new building is almost already at capacity. The home is starting to use renewable energy sources and has recently installed solar panels on the roof of the girls dorm.

This is a view of the "laundry room." As far as we have been able to see every child has one uniform and 2 sets of clothing. They wear one set of clothes to play in and then wash it during their nightly bath. Then they put on the dry set and repeat the process the next day. When we first arrived we remembered the children based on their clothes...aka "oooh Shiiva is the one with the dinosaur t-shirt." It made remembering them easier because they wear the same clothes every day.

We will add pictures of our "house" when we finally remember to take some picture of it!

More Photos

We apologize for how slow we have been on posting pictures. We have been busy getting our butts kicked in soccer.

Little Chetan

Shiva and Arun showing us some Balinese dance moves.

Asha enjoying a mini spa day.

Yogendra the little monkey.

Miina and her bright pink manicure.

Mahdev, Darma, and Suman being silly.

Asha & Kayla