First Week in Papua

It is really amazing to be back in Papua again! Hugo started work on Tuesday and from what I hear, there isn’t any plane that doesn’t need his attention including the plane in Aceh. Life around the house is quite busy right now as all five kids are home every day. But they are thoroughly enjoying the playground and the huge grassy area on the compound. We had bought some bikes from a family that was leaving the field and they are being put to good use. We are living in the same house as before just until our new house is finished. We have been up to see our new house and it is very nice. We can’t wait to move in. (See photo)

It sure is a culture shock to come here from Bandung! Sentani, although much busier and more modern than it was four years ago, is still no where near as busy and modern as Bandung. But there is definitely more available here than before. People are still chewing beetle nut and spitting it everywhere. Beetle nut is a woody nut and when combined with this stick-like thing creates a red juice. So people walk around with these big nuts in their cheeks and spit out the red juice every now and then. It makes their teeth red too. Very pretty. I went to the market this week with a couple MAF wives and nearly got my leg spit on when I was standing too close to the gutter. There are gutters all around the market for garbage and spit… The market was the same as before, busy and smelly, but there are lots of fresh veggies available. There is also chicken and fish. There are whole chickens lying there with everything but feathers. You just tell the “butcher” what you want and they very quickly cut it for you.

The weather the first few days was actually quite “cool”. We even turned the temperature on our air conditioner up as we were too cold. But today was a much hotter more typical day. It is very humid here but you just get used to it.

The man that takes care of the yard here in the house we are borrowing, is the same man as last time, he just never stopped! At first he didn’t really remember us, but then later memories started coming back. All the folks here that remember us always say, ”But now we can talk with you!”

I have been using my Bosch machine to make bread already. It is such a joy to make bread with a machine like that! It does all the hard work for you and makes a very nice dough. I’ve also made yogurt a couple times already. I have to say that it is so nice to be cooking myself again!

Well, that’s about the scoop for now! Have a good weekend!

The photo of the house is our new house in its unfinished state.

The photo of the bridge is one of the temporary bridges that have been built here in Sentani while new ones are being built to replace those washed away in the flooding that happened earlier this year.

The other one is me with my Bandung pembantus and the other one is us at Jakarta airport checking in to fly to Papua.