Bali

Well, we made it to Bali. It was kind of crazy trip. First we spent 45 minutes on the runway in Pekanbaru for some unknown reason. This was such a joy since we were flying on an Indonesian Airline called Lion Air. The planes are great. Brand new 737-900's. The problem is that they are set up for Indonesian people. No one over 5'8" need apply. My knees were in my chest the whole way so the extra 45 minutes was not exactly welcome. Then after we made our connection in Jakarta and finally get to Bali the airline has lost Brookyln's stroller and we have yet to hear from them.

The hotel is very nice with great rooms and very friendly staff. After some dinner we headed back to the rooms for bed. The problem arose when our air conditioner could not keep either room cold. We called this morning to ask if they could come and fix it. They came and we left for breakfast. While at breakfast we are asked to go and see the manager of the hotel after we eat. I head up to see him and he tells us that they cannot seem to get the AC working so he was wondering if he could upgrade us to a villa? I say, "Ah, Sure." and we then move to a private 2 story suite with teak wood floors, two wrap around full length balconies complete with a hammock, outside shower, and lounge chairs. This place is amazing. The Getzingers are not used to such high class living that is for sure! We will see what the rest of the week has in store for us.

Do you hear the drums?

Star of the Week

Goodwill Games

On Monday we had a great cultural exchange with the Indonesian Nationals.  There are a few of us expats who have a weekly basketball game on Tuesday nights.  Often times we invite a few Indonesian players that one of the guys knows just to make sure we have enough to play full court.  Some of those players play in a mens league here in Rumbai.  They wanted to get together to play a goodwill game; expats vs. Rumbai Basketball Club.  

We thought that was a great idea so the Indonesian crew hired some refs and we got ready to rumble.  The game was played outdoors here on camp at some nice outdoor courts.  It was raining all day and so there was some fear that the game might have to be postponed.  Luckily it was psuedo dry for the game and only got a little unsafe at the end of the game.  

The Rumbai team was serious.  They had uniforms and everything!  They had about 12 players to our 8.  There were spectators for this so it was the real deal.  It has been awhile since any of us have played in front of a crowd.  It was a lot of fun to have a little competition in our lives again.  

The expats jumped out early and never looked back.  We won pretty handily (77-37) but it was really about enjoying each others company and getting together for a good time.  They had some good players who obviously play a lot.  We all really enjoyed the experience and we are planning on hosting a game at the school gym next month.  I can't wait.

 

Survivor Sumatra

Saturday was the Cub Scout Camp Out here in Rumbai. The Scout Coordinators did an amazing job setting up a "Survivor Sumatra" theme for the event. There were 5 challenges including the food challenge pictured below. Our Tribe, the Tiger-Monkey Cobras, was the overall winner of the competition and the boys won the coveted silly string 1st prize. Kade had a ball. If you had of told me a year ago I would be camping out in a jungle I would have said you were crazy. It was pretty cool going to sleep with the sounds of the jungle all around.

Marshmallows with Sambal (Hot Sauce). Tasty!

The Tiger-Monkey Cobra Tribe. Winners of Survior Sumatra!

Friday Night Lights

This Friday was the wrap up to the flag football season here at ISR.  Friday Night Lights is a tradition here where the whole community comes out to enjoy a taste of Americana; complete with cheerleaders, college fight songs, announcers, and playing the big game under the lights.  This is such a big deal here that even people without kids or a connection to the school come out to support the players.

The first game pitted the 49ers versus the Steelers.  The 2nd-4th graders filled out the rosters of these two storied franchises.  Kade was a member of the Steelers.  After a hard fought back and fourth, the game ended in a 35-35 tie.  Since there was another game waiting in the wings overtime was not permitted.  A few highlights from Kade's night included him scoring two touchdowns and making quite a few tackles.  His most interesting highlight came after he scored his second touchdown and proceeded to do cartwheels back down the field.  Apparently the officials were looking the other way and he was not flagged for excessive celebration.

In the second game of the double header the defending Superbowl Champion Saints were taking on an upstart Cowboys team (You knew with all of the Texans here the Cowboys would be one of the team names).  These squads consisted of the 5th-7th graders.  Sydney was a member of the Cowboys.

The Saints jumped out to an early lead but after some back and forth scoring the Cowboys emerged victorious 35-21.  Sydney had some great tackles and scored a touchdown on a great 30 yard screen pass and scamper up the sidelines.  She also was heading into the endzone for a second touchdown when mysteriously her flag belt fell off, untouched, at the 5 yard line.  

The crowd had a great time watching the kids.  All of them played very hard and came out of it feeling like they had an opportunity show their stuff on the big stage.  It was quite a night.

Kade trying to guess where the next play is going.

Brooklyn cheers on Kade and Sydney.

Sydney and her friends after the game.

Brooklyn practicing her stunts.

Happy Birthday, Kade!

This week Kade turned eight.  He had a great time at school where he handed out doughnuts to his classmates.  Kade really has matured in a lot of ways this year.  We are so blessed to have him for a son.

For dinner he wanted Pizza Hut Pizza so we had that delivered.  That is a real treat here. It is pretty good pizza too.  For dessert he said he would like either a chocolate or carrot cake. Kathi wrote all of this down and left it out for our cook to make.  The problem was that she listed it as:

1.  Chocolate Cake

2. Carrot Cake

She assumed that our cook would make whichever one was the easiest for her.  Well when we came home from school we found one chocolate cake and two carrot cakes.  We will all be walking extra this week to get rid of the excess calories.