Leaving today for a short trip home to the US. I am excited to see everyone. I am at 110 pounds, so I might eat the whole time! I will miss seeing the monkeys, the kittens, and the morning view of the mountain. But I am ready to be home for a minute and regroup.…

A family of cats adopted my house! Mom, Dad, and 3 little bobtail babies. They seem to be everywhere. When I open a can of tuna for lunch, I do not have enough hands, arms, feet, legs … to keep them off the counter. Now, before I prepare lunch I pour the water off the…

I spent Christmas in Bali. Not the best time of year to be in Bali because this is the rainy season, but apparently it is the busiest tourist season. The place was packed with tourists and traffic. Have you ever heard anyone say, “Going to Bali for Christmas?”. Most tourists are from Europe or Australia,…

Merry Christmas!!! A little Charlie Brown Christmas tree still makes me smile. Every Christmas, my Grandma Pat said her tree was a Charlie Brown Christmas tree!! I loved her tree!!! I found a sprig of pine tree growing on the beach and decorated it with trash I found on the beach (even the tree skirt).…

Last week I was in Muko-Muko. My translator (Nabila) and driver (Reko) were great to work with. I had a good time hanging out with them. She has the nicest teeth of anyone I have seen here. Women do not pray in the mosque on Friday. While we waited, Nabila showed me around the mosque.…

Chris Ferrell–You were on my mind. This post is for you! While I was in Muku-Muko last week, I met a Guitar Man. I fell in love with him! He is 67–which is old for Indonesia. The average lifespan in Bengkulu Province is 67. He was jammin’!!! He showed me his Facebook page where he…

I have the worst hair in the world. Every time I get a haircut, I think, “At least I still have some to cut”. Unless I spend an hour drying and fluffing, my hair pretty much looks like it does in every picture you see on this blog. Flat and thin! I needed a haircut,…

My family loves CBS Sunday Morning. The best is the Moment in Nature at the end of the show. The problem is the Moment is really just a few second. Leaving you wanting more! This is my Moment in Nature. This little Hermit Crab picked a pretty shell and was showing it off!!

I hated to leave Enggano, but everything must end. I spent my last day making donuts. When I visited this family the first of the week, Trisia (really that is her name) shared her homemade donuts. They are amazing!!! She sells them in the village. I went on and on about how good they are…

Finding amazing sea shells was so easy. They were everywhere. I collected them, took photos, and left them on the beach. You cannot tell from the photographs but the one on the left was huge! The beauty of the beach that was shadowed by the trash that is accumulating. This is not their trash. This…