My Adventures and Travels

 No trip to Raja Ampat is complete without visiting the picturesque Fam Islands. Pictures don't do them justice, but here are a bunch of pictures anyway! First we went to the main Fam Islands hike. It was short and steep and breathtaking in more ways than one!  See the islands on the left of the 100000 rupiah note? They should look familiar! We also hiked up to the Star Lagoon. This was a much steeper scramble, not recommended for the unsteady, the flip-flop wearers, or those with a fear of heights. 

 Raja Ampat is known as a divers paradise. Several people asked me if it's worth going if you only snorkel and my answer is YES!! Raja Ampat is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, and you can see a lot from the top! Of course, if you dive then you'll want to do so here as well. Here's where I went: Sauwandarek (most fish) Yenbuba (cool drop off, best to imagine creepy things lurking in the deep Melissa's Garden-nice with strong current. Reefs were a bit below so harder to see Lau Lau Reef then Friwebonda: AMAZING REEFS and by far my favorites I will now add the disclaimer that I am inexperienced in underwater photography, and my camera is a basic point-and-shoot that happens to be waterproof. 

 Listen, normally I am not the type of person to leave a whole post on a resort. Because,  1. I'm a teacher and I can't afford to stay nice places 😆 2. Actually I do budget a lot of money for travel but I'd rather go basic for 3 weeks than all-out for one week. This is an exception. When I checked into my room I felt like I should have been there on my honeymoon.  (There's always the future....Mr. Right, are you reading this right now?!?) Anyway I'm making an exception because otherwise what will I do with these gorgeous room pictures, right?? The place I stayed is called Papua Diving-and they have 2 places you can stay, Sorido Bay or Kri Eco Resort. Due to covid, Kri Eco Resort hadn't reopened-it might be where I had stayed if it was an option-so I stayed at Sorido! Without further ado, here are those pics.  While Sorido Bay had a couple of bungalows for families, I didn't see those. Most lodging is these smaller individual bungalows spread out along the b...

 Although I started the school year in summer of 2020, ie during covid, I decided to travel within Indonesia for the first time during our October break. One of the other teachers goes to Raja Ampat every year and was able to secure a deal if he could get a big enough group, and I jumped at the chance. Although getting here and staying here was NOT cheap, I didn't want to pass it up. Googling "Raja Ampat" told me all I needed to know!  Sad dock. We were literally loading which is why some people are still on shore. This post is mostly the nuts and bolts, in case you're planning a trip of your own. Raja Ampat is pretty remote. From Jakarta we flew into Sorong (4 hours) which is on the island of Papua. From there, the resort arranged our pickup from the airport to the dock. Which *may* have actually collapsed while we were actually standing on it getting ready to board our boat!! We took the boat about 1.5 hours to a govt sign in and to pay the fee for our "yearly ...

OK, I've actually been in Indonesia for almost a year. But it's been so pandemic-y I haven't felt like I've had a lot to share-and what I DO have to share ends up on social media. Maybe a blog is overkill. But I like words.  So here I am! Teaching internationally in Jakarta, Indonesia. I don't want to type an ALL ABOUT TEACHING INTERNATIONALLY IN INDONESIA post, but instead observations, snippets, funny moments, travel, and maybe (occasional) frustrations. Join me! OBSERVATION #1: Dogs in Indonesia Anyone who knows me, knows that Sweet Abby is my constant sidekick (except that one time when we were separated for over 6 months because she couldn't get out of the US). But, due to culture, religion, and just plain old lack of experience, Indonesians are generally wary of dogs. This can range from downright terrified to suspicious to curious to completely friendly. On top of that, the majority of dogs in Jakarta are miniature-sized so a golden retriever is relativel...

The "Camino de la Muerte" or Death Road is another touristy highlight in Bolivia. It's a bike ride, about 40 km, all downhill, where you lose a stunning 11,800 feet in altitude from the top to the bottom! For my friends not using the metric system, thats from 15,400 feet to 3,600. (Metric: from 4700 to 1200 meters) Fortunately, the road that is infamous for deadly accidents is a lot less deadly today. Mostly because another much safer road has been built-so the only traffic on the road now consists of mostly cyclists and the vans that transport them, with perhaps the odd tourist. However, in the past, the narrow, dirt road with blind corners required big buses to back up to find wide enough spots to pass one another-which all too often ended up in buses backing off the sheer side of the mountain. Again, choosing a reputable company seems important when your life is on the line (we used Gravity bike tours). They supply you with a bike, a suit to wear over your clothes for ...

San Bernardino is a tranquil little resort town, originally settled by German immigrants, only about an hour outside of Asuncion. We took a day trip here to see what there was to see. Our first stop was a flea market. There wasn't really anything of interest to buy, but it was fun to be surrounded by people speaking German! Then we went down to Lake Ypacarai to watch people and boats come and go. It was a beautiful fall day so we just soaked in the sun! After that we started exploring. One of our Paraguayan friends had mentioned an old, abandoned amphitheater. We are the type of people who think that could make a fun afternoon! After many dirt roads, U-turns, asking locals for directions, we finally found it. The last concert held here was Ricky Martin in 1994. After that, the amphitheater was closed and basically became completely overrun by jungle. A couple years ago someone decided to clean it up-but since then it seems it's just a place teenagers come to drink, as ev...

Lucky for me, my summer break falls from mid-December and goes through mid-February. With nine weeks off, I had time to go home to Colorado, without feeling like I was missing out on too much of my travel time. I went home for about three weeks-what a whirlwind! It was wonderful, and exhausting. It seems like every night, I had plans with a different group of friends. It was *so* nice to see the family and friends I've been away from! It was also a little bit of "reverse culture shock" to go into stores and be reminded of how much STUFF is available in the U.S. For example, one of the things I used to take for granted is being able to eat whatever I want, no matter the season (Raspberries! In the middle of winter!). Not to mention all the food-stuff I had missed. I ate way too much. I drank way too much. I wouldn't have it any other way! The whole time I was home I was surrounded by loved ones and it was so nice. My mom asked me, is there one question that everyon...

Of course, Thanksgiving is an American holiday. Working at an American school, I am lucky enough to get a 4-day weekend, even though the holiday isn't celebrated here. Some friends suggested a weekend trip to Uruguay, and since I am always up for that type of thing, I decided to join them. Disclaimer: Yes, the 2 friends I traveled with are guys. Great guys, even. But they are just friends. Just in case you were wondering. So anyway, on Thursday morning, the 3 of us went to the airport and soon were on our way to Montevideo, Uruguay. Not to put down Paraguay in any way (Paraguayans are a little sensitive about always being mixed up with Uruguay, plus they don't exactly get along due to some wars in the past)...but....I LOVED Uruguay. Everything about it was clean, modern, a little European...and expensive. But we had an amazing time. Thursday: flight, cab ride to the hotel, afternoon on the rooftop with an ocean view and beverages, then we walked out for a dinner and eve...

As promised, more on daily life. Food Most of the food in Paraguay is terrible for you and delicious. The food groups are meat and bread and sweets. I'm not sure how it is possible that the obesity here is less than the United States-but on the plus side there is a lot less processed food. I've noticed a really common misconception among Americans that don't travel is that pretty much everything south of the border is Mexico. But South American cuisine is quite different than Mexican fare. Here it is all about empanadas, chipa, and asados. Alas, there are a couple of Mexican restaurants in town but nothing as good as what I could get in Denver! I do like a lot of the food I've had here, and there's actually a nice variety of restaurants too (Vietnamese, Korean, Italian, Japanese). This is good as I haven't been cooking nearly as much as I used to but hopefully my new grill will change that! Beer It sucks. Thank God for wine. Dudes The men of Paraguay ar...

One of the things that has made this whole teaching and living abroad thing so great is the people I work with. I really feel like everyone goes out of their way to make the new teachers feel welcome and at home. Case in point, our "mentoring meetings," which could be really boring, are some of my favorite days. The official mentor people at the school make sure we get a chance to do something fun together, and get out of the city! Our last mentoring meeting involved renting a van and driving to the nearby town of Yaguaron. The main reason we went there was that the mountain of Yaguaron is believed to be the birthplace of the 7 Mitos or myths. These myths were created to explain the unexplainable-like pregnancy out of wedlock and why you can never find your dang keys. For more info on the myths, read here . Let me tell you, those are some wild guys, especially Kurupi. Anyway it is also a nice place to hike around, see the view, and have a picnic lunch. OK, fellow Colorad...