Snapshots from a karate competition

Yesterday my school hosted a karate competition. It was the first time they’ve hosted such an event and were able to do so with our fairly new sports hall. By all accounts it was a success. Roughly 80 participants from the local community came to spar from elementary school kids through the high school level. Having never been to a karate competition it was both exactly what I expected and also much better. What surprised me was how immersed in it I became, and likewise, how into it the entire audience was. Occasionally I’d seen students practicing Sunday afternoons, but it’s much different when they’re actually going head to head in competition. Watching the students maneuver attempting to get in a hit without opening themselves up to a potential blow had us all intermittently on the edge of our seats and cheering.

 

 

Snapshots from the Arab Quarter in Surabaya

 

Last month after returning from a vacation in North Sulawesi, a few friends and I had a day to kill in Surabaya before our mid-service training began. We visited the Arab Quarter in Surabaya. It was a tinge different from the usual East Java scene. The air was filled with the foul smells of the fish market followed by a dozen perfume shops. We went to the traditional market where Arabian music was playing and all kinds of dates and imported treats could be bought. It was fun to take a tiny step outside of the usual city and into a unique corner of it. Here’s a few photos:

 

 

Snapshots from a kripik home business

In Indonesian villages, many people have home businesses whether it’s a toko (store with daily necessities like soap, shampoo, snacks, water, etc.), warung (a small restaurant) or salon, etc. On Sunday, I visited a school administrative assistant’s home.  We visited one of her neighbors who has a kripik home business. Kripik are chips often made from sinkong or pisang. That is kassava or bananas respectively. Here’s what this kind of little operation looks like: (Mouse over for captions)

And that’s how it’s done should you ever want to start a kripik business!