Hari Kemerdekaan

Independence Day celebrations were held last weekend.

August 17th is the day Indonesia celebrates it's independence from the Netherlands. It is a day filled with traditional Indonesian games. My favorite part is watching the Ibus (women) participate in some of the crazy games. They laugh so hard and love it when we join in and participate.

Fun was had by all.

Traditional krupuk eating game. No hands. First one to finish wins.

Traditional game of nail tied to the pants and you have to get it in the bottle. You may notice in the picture I am totally cheating by trying to hold the nail still. Such a hard game to do... I am not a good squatter. I just do not have those muscles like the Indonesians do.

Sack races. Called something different in Indonesian but I cannot remember what.

Tug-of-war. We soon learned this is a dangerous game as it was the source of two staff injuries that weekend. But do not worry the BAIS staff won.

The traditional game of blind fold the kids and see who the first one is to break the bag filled with water. Interesting concept. I stood and watched this game for almost an hour. Not the most exciting thing ever but the Indonesians loved it. They laughed so hard.

Some of the ladies I met from the local neighborhood by the school. The one in pink is my new friend. Her name is Ibu Lilit. Her and I are the same age, except she is married and has a 4 year old daughter. We laughed about that one. I enjoyed spending the day with these women and hope to go out to visit them in the kampung again soon.

And of course the traditional greased pole climbing.
This is the highlight of all independence day celebrations.
It took them from 11 am to 3 pm to get to the top and retrieve the prizes hanging there.
(Some of these pictures were stolen from friends.)