Around town

Check out these ladders, made from bamboo! Brilliant right? Nothing like using what you've got to create what you need-

But yikes- look at these guys, who are most often barefoot, working on the electrical lines- 

Those electrical lines are almost as messy as our traffic-

 Our embassy is only a year old, and is beautiful. Macy decided to take a little rest while in the lobby-

The view from an embassy window- 

I did get permission to take those pictures, btw.

Kataneh took me grocery shopping my first time and wow. Just wow. We have a small commissary at the embassy and another equally small at the American club. Food there is 3x as much as it is at a regular grocery store (cereal for $6 a box) but on the economy that same box of American grocery store will be $9! I figured out how to ask for and sign up for a shoppers card at Grand Lucky- 

But will I get used to seeing these guys?

How about some white bread with the crust already cut off? A few slices for about $3.50

And here is our Indonesian money, called rupiah- 

It reminds me of Monopoly money!

The malls here are wonderful! Large, modern, and very American- 

Just like home-

 Most people do not have cars here, they drive on motorbikes. Our embassy driver, Sole, for the first 10 days we were in country gave us a challenge each day to find 5 people on a motor bike, and it wasn't that hard to do actually-

 Yup, that's mom, dad and 3 kids!

Perhaps this little one should be sitting?

Typical family shopping trip- 

I have never in my 40+ years of life seen a pineapple growing-

How cute is this place? The picture is of Col. Sanders, Ronald McDonald and Wendy-

We for sure need to try this place! I think...

 It's so so different here. But it's so so good. It's not forever, so we will appreciate the cultural differences and the value of sharing these with our kids, knowing that we are going to blink, and it's going to be over.