Hari Kemerdekaan

It's been a busy week here in Central Java as we have celebrated with all of Indonesia. Monday was their Independence Day (Hari Kemerdekaan). Their idea of a good time differs widely from ours, but we did our best to play along. We attended a big party at our local church, a huge neighborhood bash, as well as a ceremony and party at our school. Our neighborhood as well as our school have held ping pong tourneys for the past month, culminating in fierce championship matches this past week. There have been races of all kinds for young and old, and some things have been just plain silly. (For those of you who were wondering, no I did not have to play along in the eel relay race... I got out of that one... this time).

All the male students at our school raced to eat their kerupuk the fastest (it's a big, puffy chip like thing...)

Who won? Who cares

Here, our teachers take their turn. Our headmaster is on the far left. They all seem well practiced... and remarkably calm.

I took one bite of mine, and realized it was shrimp flavored, and that continuing could actually be deadly for me. What is more interesting about this photo is the look of sheer determination on my friend, Angie's face. I never knew she had it in her, but she actually looks vicious here. She won that round.

I won't even comment about this one. I was laughing so hard when I took the photo, I had to do it over 3 times before it was in focus.