Yes, it’s been a while…

Hello there everyone!  We know, we’ve been slacking on the blog and we apologize profusely for that.  Since you last heard from us, we spent a week in Bali, Sarah took a trip to the US to visit family, and Ben continues to work way too much. 

Bali was beautiful, amazing, and so much fun!  We stayed in a gorgeous hotel and got certified as scuba divers–most of our vacation was spent doing this and it was a blast.  One of our dives was of the USS Liberty which was sunk just off the coast of Bali during WWII.  Bali was such a nice break from our lives here in Lampung.  Hearing people actually speak English took a bit of getting used to and the fact that Ben had more than one day off in a row was a huge shock!  Also, it was nice to not see any cockroaches or scorpions in our living space for one week.  Here are some pics:

Ben is back to working 12 -13 hour shifts, sometimes for weeks straight with no days off.  The positive side of this is that he really enjoys what he’s doing and likes working with the Indonesians.  Slowly he’s learning to speak more and more of the language.  I, however, have learned just enough to get by at the market and such.  It’s good to know the basics of please, thank you, good morning, excuse me (great one to know for when people try to cut you in line–happens a lot!), and numbers.  Ben works very hard and is quite tired when he comes home.  Here he is asleep at the computer! 

 

When Ben does have a day off, we usually spend our time out on a boat for snorkeling.  We really wish we could find scuba diving equipment here since we both agree that what we see snorkeling here in Lampung is way better than what we saw in Bali.  Plus there are no tourists to get in our way!  Here’s some scenery from snorkeling:

Hope you’ve enjoyed our latest entry.  We always like to hear from you and what everyone is up to–don’t forget to send pics too! 

Love and miss you all very much,

Sarah and Ben