Evans' Sisters Adventures Day 2

January 2 Have you seen Dave?!

The day started off bright and early 5:30 am thanks to jet lag. I decided that I wasn't able to force myself back to sleep, so I went outside to spend some quality with my Lord. During my quiet time, I made a list of new years resolutions that I am determined to follow this year!

Resolutions for 2009

1. Read the Word and have solitude daily!
2. Live in the Light- walk the talk

3. Be more organized!

4. Guard my heart and let God be my #1

5. Pray for my friends more!

6. Be proactive and work on time management

7. Make the most of each day since tomorrow isn't promised!

Once Molly woke up a couple hours later, we spent some

time eating breakfast, talking and just chilling. Once we were finally up and moving and dressed, we walked to the bus stop to head to Bandung for the day. The public transportation here is definitely not made for tall people if you know what I mean :)

The trip to Bandung lasted for about 30 minutes when we had to hop out of the bus when we stopped at a light, walked a little ways up a hill until we grabbed an angkot- the funniest looking van that was more like a clown car-fit as many people as you can :)

We finally reached out destination- THE OUTLETS! And o man, these outlets were crazy! It was crawling with people, and at one point I lost molly in the flood of Asians! It was a little claustrophobic with hundreds of people rifling through the piles of clothes, but it sure was worth the good deals we found! After we hit up 3 outlet stores we were exhausted and ready for some food. We ate some good ol Italiano food- calzones and ravioli with some exotic fruit iced tea. After we refueled our bodies with some nourishment, we were ready to brave the busy streets of Bandung to find some more deals.

While we were digging through all of the clothes in the mall, Molly and I really got a kick out of all the funny T-shirts that were $2 a piece. We ended up getting a few, but we got some good laughs out of the bad English translation :)

We were finally all shopped out by 5pm, so we got back on an angkot and headed to a family's house for dinner and games. The family is from Canada, so they have really cool accents :) We ate a traditional Indonesian meal called Soto Iyam (kind of like chicken noodle soup)

After dinner I finally got the chance to play the infamous game "settlers"! accompanied with cake :) Once the evening was over, we got a cab and headed back to the house. It was overall a very successful day!

Tomorrow we plan on staying in Kota Baru to take a tour on Molly's bike to go see the town and school, get cream baths (cant't wait!) eat some weird fruit and probably watch some more Gilmore Girls :) The Lord is good and I am really looking forward to the amazing ways He is going to work in the next few days.

Evans' Sisters Adventures- Day1

January 1, 2009 Happy New Year!

*Well I got into Jakarta Indonesia safe and sound. After getting a visa and picking up my bags, I finally found Molly. Man was it a sweet reunion :) We hoped into a Blue Bird Taxi to go find the guest house in downtown Jakarta. I must say, Molly is definitely Indonesian! She has totally picked up the language its awesome!! After driving around for a while through the crazy amounts of people on motor bikes, we found our little guest house. Molly opened up her Christmas gifts and then we crashed.

*The next morning, they had breakfast ready for us- the craziest looking fruit ever called Rabutan, eggs, toast and banana bread. After breakfast we headed out to ride the train to Bandung. The 3 hour long train ride was so beautiful! I tried to take pictures, but a picture wouldn't be able to capture the breath-taking land of Indonesia. I was so tired from the jet lag, but I wasn't going to sleep through this trip like normal. Man did that pay off, this place is amazing!

There were a ton of rice fields, villages, jungle like vegetation and I even saw a water buffalo :) Molly and I enjoyed catching up about some of life and enjoyed a bottle carbonated iced tea and coke zero.

*Finally, the 3 hour trip was over and we arrived safely to Bandung! Molly was a little nervous when it came to finding a taxi to take us to Kota Baru (the taxi services can be a little sketchy :) ) but the Lord was good and allowed us to find a guy who bartered with Molly for a decent price. We got to Molly's house and I met her roommate Emily-great name I know :).

*I then ate some Indonesian left overs. I tried to take a nap before we watched Christmas Vacation, but it was too hot in the room, so I decided to go for a run in the neighborhood. That was an experience, because all of the neighbors were shocked to see a giant white girl running in their neighborhood :-D The neighborhood wasn't very big, so I was running in circles. Every time I passed these little girls they got all excited, and then there were these two boys on bikes that followed me for a good 10 minutes-I think they mistaken me for Molly.

*After my run in the super humid weather, I got all cleaned up and watched the best movie ever with the sis- Christmas Vacation. 5 minutes into the movie I passed out- bad idea! I was so tired when we went to dinner. Thankfully they have coca cola, so I woke up :) Me and a group of Molly's friends went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. The food was delicious (even if it was green) It was nice meeting the people that Molly works with- they are all very real people with awesome stories of how they came to work over here. It is so cool to see how the Lord prompts people to go places and man when you listen to Him and obey-He can do some amazing things with you!

*After dinner we headed back to the house and put on some good ol Gilmore Girls. That was the end of day 1 in Bandung. Tomorrow we have some outlet shopping planned, grocery shopping and possibly making some crafts. The days ahead are looking very good, so I can't wait. I am definitely going to make the most of every opportunity TODAY because tomorrow is not promised! Happy New Years..stay tuned to more Evans' sisters adventures :)

Sizzling Bowl of Dol-Sot Bibimbap

Well, first time traveling over seas alone is going well so far. Left Flagstaff at 6pm, got to LA around 7. I am definitely a fan of airports and riding on planes! I just love seeing all the different types of people and meeting people with some awesome life experiences! My trip of meeitng neat people started on the first flight to LA. The guy I sat next too worked for a company that did all the visual effects for Shrek, Star Wars and Indiana Jones!! When I arrived in LA I had about 5 hours to kill. So I ate a $10 airport salad in a little cafe, watched soccer, and talked on the phone with friends until I had to board the plane. Seeing as this is my first time traveling into Asia, I really wasnt sure what I was gettting myself into. Instead of going through a gate to get on the plane like normal, they cram as many people as they can on buses and bus you to your plane far away from your gate! It was awesome! Then you get on the plane and all of the flight attendants are all dressed up in their matching hair-dos and outfits.

The flight to Seoul Korea wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. It was a 14 hour flight, but because it left LA at midnight, I was able to sleep most of the way! Watched a few movies, and talked with the people sitting next to me headed to the Philipines!

Getting into Korea, I started to get nervous, because I had to goto baggage claim to pick up my bags and re-check in. After figuring out where to go and exchanging American dollars for Rupiah, I went to go check in. Man you dont realize how freakishly tall you are until you go to an Asian country. I am pretty sure they were all thinking I was some giant haha, it was great :)

Once safely pass security check points, I was free to roam-for the next 9 hours. The airport here is like a mall- fancy stores everywhere you go! As I was walking around like a lost American (which I definitely was) I found this cute little booth that had a very intriging sign "free event- experience true korean tradition. The girl who worked the booth wore traditional clothes. She spoke broken English, but was so sweet. I ended up making both of the crafts, and established a nice little conversation partner. She taught me some Korean and I helped her with her English. I think she told me her name 5 times and I still couldnt say it. She said it meant Pearl, so I told her that was her new "American name " :)

My next adventure in the Korean airport was finding something to eat for lunch. I had asked Pearl where I should go, and she wrote it down in Korean on a piece of paper and I went searching. I ordered my first adventure meal of the trip....

I wasn't exactly sure what I had just ordered, but I wasn't going to be a whimp. When the buzzer went off for me to pick up my food, I came to the counter to receive my sizzling rock bowl of mystery food! To my surprise, it was all delicious! Seaweed soup (tasted like miso soup) some type of hardboiled egg, kimche, some pickled things and rice and egg...it was so cool because the bowl was so hot it was still cooking the food (ended up cooking the raw egg on top). So after my first adventure meal I survived! I also had an adventure drink- corn iced tea... not too back kind of tastes like cereal haha

I have about one more hour to go until I get on the plane to Indonesia! I can't wait to see what crazy adventures are to come!!

Preparing for Indonesia

Well, I got home from school 2 weeks ago Wednesday. Left for Colorado last Monday. Just got back late last night, and leave for Indonesia for the next 2 weeks tomorrow at 5pm. Wow, and they call this Christmas break :) Actually this break has gone pretty well so far. Colorado was gorgeous! Since my mom is an adventure seeker, we took every mountain pass we could-risking the lives of all of us and adding like 10 hrs to our trip, but after it was over, it was definitely worth it (well the times that I was actually awake in the car :))

The time in Colorado was nice, but slightly stressful. You know when you ask God for patience, instead of just handing you patience (which would be way too easy and we would never learn) He gives you situations in order for you to work on your Patience-well that was what this week was all about. This break taught me a lot about my self and how I need to love and see all people just the way the Lord sees them.

I wasn't able to get alone time like I was hoping for, but I have a 36hr long trip to Indo to look forward to- I will be all alone, lots of down time, and in countries where I can't speak their language. Yeah, I'm thinking God and I will be having a lot of time together and I can't wait!

Here is what my schedule looks like while I am in Indonesia:

- December 31st-arrive late so we are staying at a guest house in Jakarta

-January 4th- Waterfall hike with the Crowthers

-January 5th-8th- Batam trip (total God thing that we are going!!)

-January 9th- Aaron, Emma and Jennie get in on this day, not sure what we're going to do

- January 10th- Emily's birthday, not sure what we're going to do

- January 11th- Church, Sea tribe meeting, Bandung feasting

- January 12th- 13th- School starts, you can hang out with me, hang out in PE, talk to some high school students

- January 14th- speak in Middle School chapel and then head out in the afternoon to take you back to Jakarta (you might end up going back by yourself, not sure...)

So ya the trip will be quick, but I can't wait to go! I am really looking forward to seeing Molly and growing closer to her!!I am pretty nervous about traveling so far, but man the Lord is going to be with me every step of the way, so why should I be afraid? Pray for safe travel and a blessed time with my sister and the people of Indonesia!!