Beach Bums

We spent another lazy weekend on the beautiful island of Pulau Weh. This time instead of Freddie's, we stayed next door at Casa Nemo. It was even better than the same trip two weeks ago! The big activities were eating (the food was great), sipping on gin and tonics, and snorkeling in the water in front of our bungalow. The relaxation turned into celebration when, after several attempts to get internet access, A discovered that he got accepted into the program at Widener University! It looks like we're going to be Philadelphia bound.

S, A, & K celebrating A's acceptance

K taking a little nap


Rather than give you the blow by blow of our naps and walks down the beach, we'll tell you a couple of funny little animal occurrences over the weekend:

When A was on his way to the hotel in Banda Aceh (the main city on the northern tip of Sumatra), the taxi he was riding in nearly hit a big cow. They were speeding down the main road from the airport, when a cow stepped into the street from the middle divider. The livestock in Banda Aceh seem to really enjoy grazing on grass found in road dividers. Anyway, the cow stepped out, brakes were applied, the taxi swerved, A dug his nails into the seat in front of him, and then a small crunch could be heard on the side of the car. We had avoided the accident! Sort of. A and the driver laughed nervously afterward. A avoided looking behind him at the cow or at the side of the taxi when he got out. Let's hope the cow is ok!

When A and K checked into their bungalow at Casa Nemo, there was a tailless, pregnant cat sleeping on our back deck. Many cats in SE Asia have stumps for tails. Supposedly it's a genetic defect. A opened the doors to check out the view from the deck and give the cat a little petting. Big mistake, as it was instant love. It was too hot to keep the doors closed, so we had a permanent house guest over the weekend. At first K didn't like the idea of a mangy, tailless kitty rubbing against all of our stuff, but keeping it out was hopeless. As soon as we settled into bed the first night, the cat came running in to join us. It slept on the bed platform next to A all night. Luckily, we had a mosquito net to separate us a little from the local wildlife.



A's cat friend Stumpy





Mmmm...sate and all the fixins