Lies

It turns out I was quite the fat bastard back in Canada or I have picked up a parasite. In fact, both are probably true. Since arriving in August I have lost around 15 pounds. I guess sweating your bag off, eating nothing but chicken and rice and getting the shits weekly can really shed the pounds. With losing all of this weight comes a couple of things:

1) My golf clubs aare now metric. In Indonesia, golf distance is measured in metres. So, when my supple, saintly caddie whispers softly into my ear "Meester, you are 125 away.", I had to do some math in my head. But now that I am wasting away I have increased my distance and now don't have to do the math. That will suck when I return to Canada- unless I bring a caddie with me (which many of them would be happy to do).

2) All of my pants do not fit. But, be not concerned, my friends. Fifi and Lasmi hooked me up with a wonderful little tailor. In fact, he is so good he makes house calls....on his bike....with a foot powered sewing machine like Oma had. After some saavy negotiations (by Fifi) I had the tailor taking all of my shorts in for $2 a pair. Highway (or back alley) robbery, I tell you! I know have a new wardrobe for about $15. Yay me.

Here are some of the interesting observations that I made, however. Mr. Bike entrepeneur measured my waste at 36 inches. He then proceeded to take 3 1/2 inches off all of my shorts (Yes, ladies, it not all about pounds. Size does matter). The strange thing is that my shorts were sold to me at the size of 34 inches! What, the fashion industry is dishonest? How could I be three inches smaller and still measure a 36? Hmmmm. So, essentially, I am a 30-32 inch waist, at home. Sorry Dad....Mom is not shrinking your clothes.

Holiday's end

We are winding down our Xmas holidays. We decided to take an impromptu trip to Yogyakarta. It is a city in central Java that is home to the largest Buddhist temple in the world. Just a pile of rocks, really. But, an impressive pile of rocks from the 8th century.

Some funny things that have been happening. Caden has started to have 'meetings' with Vic. It will start with Caden saying in the sweetest little voice "Boompa, could you tell me about Ironman?". Caden can remember every detail and he knows if you make a mistake. Boompa and I had to by Ironman 1 and 2 just to make sure we had the story correct.

Another story that has impressed Caden and will continue to impress the masses is when he says "Let me tell you about Baby Jesus." It is a very sad story where Jesus (who is a she) trips three times while carrying some wood. And, because the king hates Jesus they nail him (her) to the wood, lift her up and she dies. Kind of cute except that should not be an opening line of too many conversations.

Vic is a the look-alike to an Australian movie star. I am sure a very famous one. But, Indonesians do know who Kenny Rogers is, too.

One of the humbling experiences with our little trip was a tour around Mt. Merapi, the volcano that erupted in October. To see the amount of devastation and loss is quite a site to see. Strangely, what is happening now is their are companies digging up the volcanic sand and selling it to the people. There are scads of gravel trucks filled with the 'lehar' to create profit. To hell with people's homes, get the sand! It is sad to see people that had nothing have less than that after all this is done. It was good to see homes with large cisterns with American Red Cross stickers carrying fresh water in some of the areas. It shows that some of your donation money is put to good use. However, where most of that money goes is anyone's guess.