Three Amigos

Salma, Bintang, Sarah

5:00 AM: We have been up since 3:00. We are now waiting outside the second mosque of the day for my counterpart's family to finish the praying part of the ceremony to send her parents (and 300 other couples from Magelang) on hadji/pilgrimage to Mecca [I will write an in-depth post about this whole process and amazing experience later]. Bintang and Salma were too young to sit through the whole formal ordeal in the big mosque and I, well, there was no way to disguise the fact that 1. I am not an immediate member of the family and 2. I am neither Indonesian nor Muslim. So I had to wait outside also. That didn't upset me; Salma and Bintang kept me entertained.
Much of our conversation went something like this:
Sarah: Apa ini? [What's this? (pointing to my star earrings)]
Bintang: Ini bintang. [It's a star.]
Sarah: Sama kamu! Bintang dan bintang! [The same as you! Star and star.]
Bintang, Salma, Sarah: hahahaha
[Bintang and Salma run around in the park, run back to me laughing]
Sarah: Kenapa ketawa? [Why are you laughing?]
Bintang, Salma: hahahaha [Bintang pokes me in the stomach, I respond by tickling him, Bintang and Salma shriek with laughter and run away again]
The rest of our 3 hour wait centered on blowing bubbles, running around, and talking about colors, fish, trees, and how tired and hungry we were. You've got to love the minds of children!