Bits and Bites....

Yikes, it's been a while since I last posted...
*In spite of the fact that we are quickly approaching Christmas, the weather here has been overall really rather warm and humid. What's new??? The kids keep talking about snow. Mikah was dreaming that it would snow for the first time ever in Papua and they would have fun playing in it. I reminded her that the average temperature here is 30 C and in order for snow to be able to fall, the temperature needs to be an awful lot closer to 0...
*Back home when one decorates ones house it doesn't really mean anything particular aside from the fact that you like to decorate your house. When you decorate your house here with lights and greenery etc... you are showing that you are a Christian. Because those of our cousin faith just don't "do" Christmas.
*Today was the Muslim holiday of Idul Adha. This is the day where they celebrate the fact that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Ishmael (yes, they believe that it was Ishmael, not Isaac). Many animals are slaughtered and the meat is shared with the poor and rich alike. Unlike in Bandung, we didn't get to see any of this first-hand. I just enjoyed a super quiet drive to hockey this morning. And unlike in Bandung, we weren't subjected to the all-night calling of the m*sques. We are blessed to live up on a hill where there are no such buildings and if the locals have their way, will never ever be such buildings. We can hear the calling, it's just not loud... thankfully....
*We have been discussing the possibility of putting in a water tank near our fence with a spout poking through the fence so that people can come and get water whenever they like, as long as there is water in the tank. I mentioned this to Ice and the next day she told me that her mom has a tank that she has never used and would probably want to sell. I told her that I would tell Hugo. The next day Ice had a couple guys bring the tank over and clean it without telling me.... Her mom keeps coming and asking if we've made our decision yet... So I asked her if she needed some money or something... Yes, she would like to visit her dad in Wamena. She hasn't seen him since 1994. I asked her how old he is, she wasn't sure, something like 80... Seeing as she herself has no idea of how old she is... Anyways, she has the money to get to Wamena, but not to get home. We like the idea of a tank as then folks don't have to enter our yard and ask permission and if someone leaves the tap on, just what's in the tank gets wasted. We talked with the base manager and he volunteered some national workers to do the installing. We just have to pay for the materials.