Our new greenhouse!

Finally we have our own little greenhouse in the Oasis!

We have been planting chili for quite some time now and we also have banana trees at the Oasis, but now we finally started growing tomatoes, chilies, and eggplants in our new greenhouse. 

Before, Om Sam and Om Pikal planted seedlings with the kids and then started to build the greenhouse out of bamboo. In Indonesia bamboo is often used to build something. There are houses completely made of bamboo. It’s cheap and sufficient! 

 

There were so many seedlings that the kids could even take some of them home to take care of. 

Because the rainy season already started the plants have been growing extremely fast. You can almost watch them grow from one day to the other. 

 

 

The day before yesterday, the plants were big enough to be set in the flower bed and the kids were busy all day. They had so much fun getting all dirty!

 Finally the scarecrows have a job, too. :)

  

I am looking forward to the time when the kids can harvest their first vegetables!

Recycling- paper

For some months now we have been making our own recycling- paper in the Oasis.

We collected tons of newspapers and other kinds of paper and let them soak in water. After that the kids had to blend the mass in a mixer several times so it is smooth and the paper doesn’t get all clumpy.

 

Together with Om Tut (Panca) they build a frame to make the paper and filter the water.

Yes, we did make lots of paper! :)

We made papers in all kinds of colors by adding batik coloring.

We had yellow, green, red, brown, pink, white and blue paper.

 

After giving the paper the right form by using the frame, the still wet mass had to be put on a piece of cloth.

 

This is the paper- press which Om Tut (Panca) invented especially for this purpose. 

 The cloths with the paper- mass had to be piled up and had to be pressed until most of the water was gone.

Of cause the paper- press was a job for the boys! :P

 Everything dried quickly in the indonesian sun.

 The kids added blossoms to some of the paper. They smelled really good when they were dry! To some they also added leaves so it would have a nice pattern. It worked very well.

 Afterwards the kids were always busy...

 ...making maaaany christmas cards for all the sponsors and friends of the Oasis and...

 

...many more things!

Everybody enjoyed learning how to make paper. It is very important for the children to learn about recycling because Indonesia has a big trash- problem. They are always amazed at what all you can make out of trash. And I am, too! Many things that would usually just be thrown into the rivers or burned can still be recycled and used again. It is good for the environment and it's cheap, too!

Jogjakarta

Hello everyone!

Last week I was in Jogjakarta for a couple of days. I visited a friend who studies in Jogja. It was my first trip since I came here and it was even better than expected! I saw so many places in just 4 days thanks to Bastian who was a great tourguide! I arrived in Jogja on thursday. Basti picked me up from the airport with his motorcycle. One minute after we left the airport we had a flat tire and had to stop at the next "mechanic". Bad Karma?

 When we arrived at the homestay where Bastian lives, and I got a room for that time, I was surprised at how nice it was. (I already got used to Indonesien standarts)

We even had a built-in kitchen. The first one I have seen in Indonesia, usually a kitchen here consist of a camping stove!

Built-in kitchen!

 For dinner we went to a nearby restauran...or rather a warung (Indonesian type of cheap local reastaurant). And it was totally vegan! YAY. Made my day...

Who says vegan food can't taste good? It was delicious and cheap!

Borobudur

 The next day we got up at 4.30 in the morning and visited the Borobudur and the Dieng Plateau. The Borobudur used to be one of the 7 wonders of the world and is a huge Buddhist temple.

Bastian and I infront of the Borobudur

The view was amazing, good thing we went so early...hardly any tourists and not too warm.

The entire Borobudur is covered with reliefs. Most of them are more than a thousand years old, as the Borobudur was probably built between 800 and 900 a.c..

Eating at a warung after a tough morning.

The Dieng Plateau is just beautiful.

A lake at the Dieng Plateau. It contained much sulfur...thats what it smelled like, too. But at least it was really colorful and pretty.

A hot spring at the Dieng Plateau. Full of sulfur, too, but really cool.

On Sunday we went to see the Merapi vulcano. Unfortunately it was so cloudy that you couldn't see the top. Later it started raining, too, so we decided to return home instead of visiting one of the cities that were destroied by the vulcanoes erruption last year. Later we found out that this was the right thing to do since so much ash and dirt came down the mountain because of the rain that many cars had been wrecked. I don't think anybody was seriously injured.

The Merapi without top.

The museum Merapi.

On my last day in Jogjakarta, Monday, we went to see the Prambanan. Like the Borobudur it is also a temple and was built at around the same time. Unfortunately we went a little late and there were tons of tourists. Most of them Indonesians that were visiting Jogja with school classes or something.

It was horror.

We felt like Justin Bieber beeing thrown into a pit of crazy, braces wearing, screeming teenage girls.

As soon as we entered the place everybody was focused on us, the white people.

'OMG Mister, can we take a picture with you' 

We must have heard that phrase like a million times, maybe with a little variation, since they don't speak English very well. And yes they always say mister, doesn't matter if man or woman!

So one person asked us whether he yould take a picture with us and the next thing we know is an entire school class, literally running to us while screeming like little girls.

Happened more than once!

They probably took more pictures of Bastian and me than of the temple.

Our 'No eye contact' wasn't very effective.  Another group, wanting to take a picture with us. I got them first. HAH!

 After the temple we went to the oldest basar of Jogja...unfortunately there aren't any good pictures of it.

Can you picture me, working on a rice field?

In Indonesia the stamps have to be glued on the post cards. These to are going off to Germany and the USA.

A group of becaks in Jogja. In Jogja there are becaks and in Lombok we have cidomos. Cidomos are not being pushed by people but pulled by horses...I have to post a picture of a cidomo next time.

Batik. The traditional Javanese clothing.

Me riding a becak.