Last night as we were getting ready for bed and Jess mysteriously had about 6 bites on her arms. They quickly turned red and started to itch, she applied anti itch cream and we blamed it on the fact that we are now in a tropical climate. Right as I was about to turn off the lights I happened to glance at the wall behind our bed and to my surprise there were thousands of tiny ants crawling up and down the wall. My gasp sent Jess sprinting to the other side of the room. Since we thought everyone in the house was in bed Jess went running down stairs to get the maid. Luckily as she was on her way down stairs Meza appeared and saved the day. She told us that the ants weren’t what caused the bites and that they are normal and it was okay to sleep with them.We talked for a bit and said our goodnights. Jess and I pulled the bed as far away from the wall as possible and we both went to sleep.
Our alarm went off at 8am this morning and I continued to lay in bed as Jess sorted through her backpack to pick out clothes to wear. I was startled awake by a gasp all to similar to my own- Jess had ants swarming her backpack. It turns out that Jess had her dirty laundry in a bag that once had a banana in it and the smell of the banana was attracting all of the ants. Jess spent the next 30 minutes going though every piece of clothing she brought and shaking the ants out of her clothes. Meza gave her a laundry bag and Jess was able to wash some of her clothing. We got dressed and I watched as Jess squirmed at the idea of having “Ants in her Pants” for real. I somehow remain bite free and ant free- that’s a first for me!
It’s probably a good time to talk about malaria. As most of you know malaria is one of the biggest threats when traveling to tropical places, especially third world countries. I visited the travel clinic before I left home and received malarone- the same malaria medicine that I took when I was abroad. I was instructed by the travel doctor to take the medicine one week before I entered the Philippines and every day until I got home in late December. I would be take the medicine for approximately a month and a half. I opened the bottle when I got to Hong Kong in order to start taking the medicine as directed, and much to my surprised I was only given 7 pills in total. I decided that my greatest risk for malaria would be in the Amazon rainforest so I will be saving the medicine to take while I’m there. I’m not sure who messed up with my prescription- either the doctor or the pharmacy, either way let’s hope I don’t get malaria.
After getting ready for the day we headed downstairs and had breakfast with Meza, her sisters, Icha and Dina and her parents. Her parents were very friendly and welcoming and her dad speaks great English- we enjoyed chatting with him. All of the children speak English very well, which made communicating really easy! Meza is the oldest and of course went to high school with Jess for a year in Duxbury, Ma. The second oldest sister also studied in the United States with AFS, and her youngest sister is going next year! Two of her sisters started their own business, selling shoes that they paint. They design shoes, have them made especially for them, design drawings then paint them onto the shoes. Some of the shoes are so cool! They even have a website where you can buy them and they sell about 200 pairs a month and have 5 employees! I was very impressed by all of this! Breakfast this morning consisted of two types of chicken, rice, and lots of mango! Jess had mentioned the morning before how much she loved mango so they had three different types of mango prepared for us to try- it was all great!
After breakfast Meza, Icha, Dina, Jess and I piled in the car and the driver took us sightseeing. Our first stop was 2 hours away at a tea plantation. We saw field after field of tea plants- they were cool to see up close. At the same stop there was a lady selling pineapple right on the side of the road so we bought a whole one for 30 cents and shared it- it was so sweet and fresh!
We got back in the car and drove for another hour until we reached Tang Kuban Perahu, which is an active volcano in Bandung. It was interesting because we could see into the creator of a volcano and saw some grey-ish liquid that was steaming and smelled like sulfur. We got some great pictures with all of us at the volcano.
Our next stop was at Saung Mang ujo, which is a music and performing arts center in Bandung. We saw a show put on by mostly kids, ages 3-15, and they sang traditional songs, danced the traditional dances and played the angklung. The angklung is a traditional bamboo instrument from this part of western Java (the Island we are on). Everyone in the audience learned how to play it and after our lesson we got to play some songs that I recognized like “You Raise Me Up,” “Doe, Ray, Me, Fa, So, La, Te, Doe” (sound of music), and Momma Mia. I loved it. During the traditional dance piece Jess and I were pulled up on stage by two little girls and got to take part in the show. It was quite a site to see.
Our next destination was dinner. We were all quite hungry because we had skipped lunch. We went to dinner at this outdoor restaurant with waterfalls and bridges and paths you walk through to get to your table in a secluded hut. It was very private and comfy- the seats were filled with cushions. I tried ox tail, a food that is very common here, and I actually really liked it! I also tried some great tea, called Bandrek which is ginger tea with brown sugar and coconut pieces.
After dinner we stopped by Meza’s grandma’s house because she lives in Bandung. Meza’s grandma is so sweet and served us mango and chocolate. We also got to meet Meza’s two cousins who live with the grandma. The two cousins were 10 and 12 years old and they enjoyed pulling out every family picture and showing us. I pulled up a couple of pictures of my parents on my phone, but wished I had more to show.
We headed home, it was a long 2 hour drive. Everyone fell asleep in the car expect me (although I was exhausted!). I showered and jumped into bed when we got home- praying that the ants would leave us alone as we went to bed.
Love,
Katie
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