today's firsts

1. first time to drive with 3 on my bike! plus a guitar!! it was me (the bule), dessy (the papuan), and jess (the orang kalimantan). haha... so intense! and illegal! and no helmets! aaaahhhhh! people stopped to stare and eventually laugh at us. it was great. and the 3 of us will be laughing about it for quite awhile.

2. first jeruk bali of the season. they've been in season for awhile. but this is the first one i've had in my house. i don't even know how to describe it, but it has got to be one of the most heavenly fruits known to man. and this one is perfect.

3. first time being completely exasperated with my 10th graders. they all chose to take a class trip to the beach this weekend. near the end of the last semester of the year. and now they are all tired but getting excused absences by calling in sick. in a class of 17, four missed class yesterday and five more today. vacation is not a valid reason to skip school. they disagree. we've never disagreed before. it's weird. but i'm standing firm and not excusing absences.

4. first time noticing how many books i have actually accumulated while living here. i came with 4 books in hand. and now i have four shelves of a bookcase filled. that makes me happy. and yet at the same time, i dread having to part with them when i leave. ah, the downside of a transient lifestyle...

5. first time to the kalimantan girls dorm for the local university. first time in that part of town period.

6. first time taking enough pity on my cat-lover house helper and letting her spend some grocery money on actual cat food instead of dead fish and rice.

7. first time seeing my cat terrified. and, coincidentally, first time getting clawed by this particular cat.

ok. that might be all. i love it when i have lots of firsts all at once. it makes me feel like i'm growing and stretching and learning more and more and more. and that makes me really happy.