Evans' Sisters Adventures Day 5-8

January 9....Man Where Do I Begin?

The trip to Batam was amazing. I have used that word way too much but I dont know how else to describe my experiences here! I am sitting on a balcony of the hotel near Molly's house and the view is breath-taking. Im here because the Internet works and I have a long list of things to do:

1. prepare DBU presentation for monday

2. prepare speech on testimony (wed)

3. prepare speech for bible classes (tues?)

4. read my text book that i have barely cracked open :-/

5. do my blog

6. spend some time with my Lord

Wow, a lot to do but i have all day to get it done :)

So first I will reflect on the past few days while in Batam. The trip to Batam was a quick flight and was happily greeted by one of Molly's friends. She took us to lunch where we had avocado drinks! She was really sweet and informed me of a lot of do's and donts while we were there in Batam and on the island. We met up with the other girl that was going to the island with us and went to dinner. That evening we talked about the trip and what to expect, where we were with the Lord at the time. When it came time for me to share I got really emotional.. It is so humbling to me to know that the Lord wants to use me and my story to touch the lives of others. I tend to take for granted the amazing things the Lord has done for me through out my life and that all hit me that night. Knowing that I was going to meet the same family Molly met back in April, who heard my testimony was hard to believe. The fact that we were getting to go was a total God thing, so I was interested to see how the Lord was going to work! We prayed for the trip and called it a night. The next day we headed to a harbor and got on a wooden boat to head to the islands. That was definitely one of the coolest things ever! We got to see the skyline of Singapore, have the ocean water spray in our faces....it was awesome! After about a 45 minute boat ride we reached our destination! It was the coolest sight, these houses were built over the water! It was so interesting! It was so cute when we saw these little boys floating in a bucket in the water! We walked to the huge pink and purple house that we were going to stay in. On the way to the house we were definitely stared at. Im not sure the people there saw too many white people. We got to the house and were warmly welcomed by the family! Now these women like to eat and talk. So they had us sit down and we started to eat! We ate deep fried banana, deep fried banana bread and cookies :) We napped for a little bit and then walked around the island to hang out with the people.
We played some volleyball with the women on the island, made a kid cried just because we were white people :-D I played some soccer with a group of boys. That was an interesting experience because I dont think women really play soccer, so when I went out onto the field, they were a little hesitant. I scored a few goals and saved a few, so I think by the end they accepted me :)
After walking around the island, it was time for dinner. One of the donts here in Indonesia is dont use your left hand to do anything (and that includes eating). In this house, we ate on the floor and ate with our hands! It was so much fun- sorry mom but I just left all my manners back in the US because burping meant your were satisfied haha and we got to eat with our hands! It was a great cultural experience and I might try to bring it back to the states!

Another really fun thing was the women in the house only wear Moo-Moos, so we got to wear them too! What attractive pieces of clothing :) So we ate with our hands on the floor wearing moo-moos! After dinner we watched a hilarious movie that reminded me of the 3 stooges but in Indonesia with english subtitles (haha hilarious!). The heat on the island really effected my health , so it made me really tired so I had to go to bed early. I ended the evening a little discouraged because I didnt have a chance to share with the family yet, but I knew God was still in control so I had to trust him...

More about Batam later- I must be productive and get some of my speeches done!

Evans' Sisters Adventures Day 4

Day4 Hiking to the Waterfall Well today was soo fun! We went to church, walked around Molly's' old neighborhood, and then went to the tea room for lunch and saw the biggest spider in the world! After lunch we met up with a family from England who was going to take us hiking. They have 3 kids- 2 boys and a girl. I really think I could watch this family all day long- why?

1. they have the coolest accents ever

2. we actually had English tea time with cake

3. they have 2 red headed boys who I really think could be my long lost brothers :)

We headed up to the waterfall after a game of soccer out on the pitch :-D The hike was absolutely gorgeous! The trail we hiked on must have been a couple inches wide with water crest fields on with side of us. After about 30 minutes of hiking, we reached the waterfall! O wow it was beautiful! The pool of water was too deep, so we weren't allowed to swim, but I think I could just sit there forever- it was so peaceful! I climbed around on the rocks with the kids for a while, got too much sun probably and just sat in awe of God and His amazing creation. It was getting late and we were scheduled to make pizza for dinner! So we headed back to the house to do some cooking. I helped Suzanne with the pizza, then we enjoyed dinner listening to theological explanations of different bible translations and the importance of taking Greek...very intriguing I must say! Dinner was delicious, but it was getting late, so we all headed back to Kota Baru.

I will definitely be off the grid for the next 3 days due to the lack of Internet on the remote islands!!! I cannot get over the fact that going on this trip is 110% a God thing so therefore God is going to be doing some CRAZY things..so I would totally appreciate your prayers as my sister and I head out at 6 am to catch a plane to Batam, spend the next few days with people sharing the Gospel through our love.... I will definitely have pictures and some crazy stories...so stay tuned and be prayin... sorry to say, but I dont really miss the USA, but my sister says that I'm experiencing the "honeymoon" stage... o well I am enjoying it to the fullest!!!

I'll write in a few days.

Evans' Sisters Adventures Day 3

Day 3 Hello Mista

Well today started off a little later due to living vicariously through the Gilmore Girls :) After we unglued ourselves from the TV, our adventure began. Today was the day that I would put my life on the line for the joy of riding on a motor bike in Indonesia!! Molly had never gone very far with a passenger, so this was a first for her as well. I'm not sure I've ever prayed so much while driving in my life haha.... but dont worry we survived and it ended up being the funnest thing ever! The traffic here is unbelievably crazy, but Molly did a great job and we didn't die :)

We ended up getting Molly a new red helmet (so cute), shopped some more (surprised?) bought some fun toys for the kids on the island, bought some ant infested Rabutan and headed back home. I was able to breath a sigh of relief once we pulled up safely into the driveway.

We took another Gilmore Girl break before we went back into town for manicures and pedicures. The spa trip ended up taking 2 hours (big feet and hands take a longer time I guess :) ) bad idea tho- we were going to be hiking the next day...oops. O well, every girl needs to be pampered once in a while right!? After the pampering was over, we went to one of Molly's favorite restaurants for hot pink chicken and noodles. The evening ended with some more Gilmore Girls, then we crashed. (I think Molly's goal is to finish the whole set of Gilmore Girls before school starts again...maybe by season 6 I'll be able to follow) We had a great time today traveling around on a motor bike, taking pictures with rabutan, being called "mista" by all of the people here and visiting Molly's school...it was an awesome day! Tomorrow is looking very exciting- its the day we go to church and go for the waterfall hike!

Thank you Lord for another great day and most of all keeping us safe!

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!!

Christmas in Colorado- Georgetown

Merry Christmas! Well it has been an eventful few days. We headed to Georgetown yesterday to tour around the town and check into our Victorian bed and breakfast The All Aboard Inn.

When we were walking downtown, it definitely felt like Christmas wintry weather-it had to have been below freezing! Georgetown is a little historical town nestled in the mountains near Denver. Our bed and breakfast was built in 1880, so you can get the idea of the town we were staying in.

After we were done shopping, we headed to find a bite to eat at a local sandwich shop and then checked into our cozy new home. The lady that owns this house has the cutest and biggest dog ever- he's an English mastiff named Maynard . Abby and I are plotting a way to take the dog home with us, but we aren't sure the parents would be fans of that and it would be a little difficult to hide him :)

Later in the evening, we headed up to winterpark to watch the Christmas Torchlight service. It was an awesome performance of skiers and snowboarders carrying torches down the mountain, with Christmas music playing and fireworks! :) Abby and I, however, were wimps and stayed inside during the whole performance because it was so cold! After the torchlight parade, everyone headed inside the lodge for a church service. The place was packed out and the gospel was shared! Winterpark was beautiful, so we took advantage of the scenery and took some pictures.

We got back to our house and did our usual family tradition- open up all the presents :-D As the years go by, the amount of presents decreases, but the love and time together is much more appreciated. Only getting the chance to see my family 2-3 times a year, I embrace the time I have with them-even if we make each other crazy!

Today we are going to do a little bit more of adventure driving to make my mom happy (my poor dad hates heights and he is the one driving up in the mountains-guess that's what true love is :) ) We will probably eat somewhere fancy and just chill! Thank the Lord for family and friends-but most of all a Savior to redeem this sinful world!

Christmas in Colorado

Yesterday, the Evans' hit the road for Denver Colorado to spend Christmas with Grandma Judy. With any trip with the Evans family, something has to go wrong :) Well, we chose the best time to travel-right when the storms hit :) The roads were pretty icy and there was a ton of snow, but the Element did a good job in the snow with the skills of our expert snow driver (aka dad).

We were able to get to Grand Junction safe and sound for the evening. I got to see my long lost friend Tyler, so that was awesome! The only way to get to Denver from Grand Junction is driving through Vail Pass- well because of the freak snow storms, Vail Pass was closed for the evening and beginning of this morning. We prayed hard and hoped that when we reached the pass that it would be open. Thank the Lord, the weather settled down, and the pass opened.

We then started our adventure- driving through Vail Pass with the snowy icy road conditions. Chains were required for commercial vehicles, so along the road, there were semis lined up putting on chains. Although the roads were a little scary, the country was breath-taking! The usual 3 hour trip from Grand Junction to Denver soon turned into a 5 hour trip. We finally reached our destination earlier afternoon and met up with Grandma Judy.

Tomorrow we will head west to Georgetown for the next few days to spend Christmas in a victorian bed and breakfast :) Thank you Lord for getting us here safe with no troubles!!