Jayapura

Yesterday Hugo took a day off and we went to Jayapura together. It sure was nice to spend some time together just shopping and looking around and talking...

This is a spot on the road to Jayapura called Skyline. It is here that you have a great view of the ocean and you can buy a coconut drink from one of the stands alongside the road.

Going to Jayapura is always an adventure. The drive is not that many km's, about 35 km, but it takes more than an hour to drive because the road is very winding and there's a lot of traffic. On our way we passed 3 demonstrations against the military presence here in Papua. Half way to Jayapura we stopped to buy new cell phones (cheaper there) and once we'd bought them we had to quickly leave because the demonstraters were coming our way and the stores were all closing their metal doors. We managed to get out in time and didn't have any trouble. We got to Jayapura and had a nice lunch at a cafe there that sells sandwiches. You should know that that's not normal. Most places here sell only rice and noodle dishes... This is a rather Western style place. Then we shopped a bit and headed back up along the coast to visit the fish market in Hamadi. We had a bit of an adventure finding it but eventually we did.

As we were trying to find it, we passed by this public phone. It's broken of course, but this is the first time I've ever seen a public phone, or the remnants of what was a public phone, here in Papua.

The fist market had fish of all sorts. We were looking for a fresh makerel and the only one available was the small one in front of Hugo. They wanted too much for it so we didn't buy...

This is where I stepped in some nasty sludge as all the people were looking on. The man drinking on the far left kindly gave me some water to clean my feet and shoes with. We felt a bit like a freak show there as everyone was calling to us and watching us...

Saw these marlins laying there for sale. They tried to get us to buy one... Like what are we going to do with one of those???

These boats were moored near the fish market.

At the entrance to the market were some stalls such as this one selling a variety of fresh fruits and veggies.

One of the great views of the ocean from the road out of Jayapura.

Another view of a village on an island.

Because of the sludge I stepped in, my sandals were wet so I bought these lovely pink, and terribly uncomfortable, flip flops at a little stall...

This guy along with his neighbours was for sale in one of the grocery stores... hmmm....

Finally, we ended our day with supper at a local restaurant. We had hoped to visit a newish restaurant on the lake but it was strangely closed... So we tried another one on the edge of town, it too was closed and so we ended up at this place right in town. Hugo had a chicken steak and it came with gravy, in a gravy boat... :)

V and hubby J and their now one month old baby.

After a busy week we thought a day at the beach was a good idea. As you can see, the rope swing provided much entertainment for the kids. It is such a beautiful place to spend a day!

Stuff...

*Yesterday and today a bunch of guys from on the hill here decided to get some cement and fill some of the pot holes in the road. So they go out and mix some cement by hand and fill the holes and then put tufts of tall grass around the spot so you won't drive over it (no such thing as safety cones here...). Then there's always one guy with a carboard box collecting money from whoever drives by. This morning the guy holding the box, who also appeared two sheets to the wind, tried to convince me to give far more than the norm. I tossed my already generous donation in the box and kept on driving... And after all their hard work, they barely touched the tip of the iceberg that is pot holes on this hill...
*There are lots of ways that people try to trick you out of money here. Many an interior person has been tricked by people saying to them, if you give me your money, I will go to a machine and put it in and then it will make more and you will get more money back. So many people believe and will wait for hours for their money to be returned. Other people use more insidious methods. Today a friend was viciously tricked. She received a phone call saying that her husband had been in a bad car accident and had been brought to the main hospital in Jayapura and had bleeding in his brain and before they would do anything she needed to transfer money to the hospital account. They wanted 29 million but when she said that she only had 2, they said that was fine for the time being. She did not try to call her husband because there was no power all day and her hand phone was dead. The people calling were very convincing and had her call the "doctor" and talk to the "police" and everything. When she went to the bank to transfer the money the people at the bank said, wait a minute, we've heard this story before. Why don't we call your husband and check. So they did and he was of course, fine and totally ignorant of all that his wife had been going through for the last hour... YIKES!!

Bits and Bites...

Me an my beautiful daughter... Aidan wants all his friends to know that even though the Canucks have gotten off to a rocky start, he's still rooting for them!

Mikah at her last volleyball game shaking hands with the opposing team which consisted of girls who live up here on Pos 7.

The safety bash at Mickey's, yes named after that famouse cartoon mouse...

So I thought I'd do another listing of facts/news in no particular order...

*It's been super hot and dry here as of late. It's a bit draining really...

*Our road is so bumpy that by the time I reach the bottom on my motorbike (which now rattles like crazy) I feel like I've been wrestling with a pile driver for the past 5 minutes...

*We had an MAF safety luncheon last week to celebrate another year of safe flying. Thank you Lord!

*I've been organizing the craft for Sunday school each week (which is held at the wee morning hour of 7:30 am before the church service...)and this past week's craft of crowns decorated with sparkle dust from Canada and beads from here was a rousing success!

*Sunday night there must have been a big party down the road cause there was LOUD music into the wee hours of the night... So thankful for the white noise of our a/c and glass windows...

*Ice bought our old playstation 2 off of us and has been making some money letting kids play it for 5,000 rupiahs/hour. Unfortunately her family thinks she now has all kinds of money to give to them and have "borrowed" every penny (rupiah) she's made on the machine! Ugghh... I told her that she should keep a portion to "lend" out and then I would hide the rest for her... It's the only way for her to "get ahead".

*Someone stole the lock for our gate. Who steals a lock without a key? Blah... And new ones are at least $20... double blah...

*Sunday morning one of the water pipes on our tank for the public came apart so the system was inoperable. It was fixed by Monday afternoon but there were many people complaining to Ice about it... I think they re-appreciated the water all over again... :-)

*MAF has been able to do a couple relief flights to the flooded area of Wasior. It seems some local churches and businessmen from Jakarta are working together to provide some supplies and counselling to those affected by the flooding.

Sad...

Today I went to see Ibu N. I had wanted to see her yesterday but that didn't happen. We slept in and had a picnic lunch at the pool and then went home and I baked bread and muffins. This afternoon I decided I would go to see her only to find out that she had died yesterday and was already buried. I have mixed feelings. I feel sad of course, but I also feel happiness for her that she no longer has to suffer. Ibu N's family remained angry with her until the end. She, like all of us, has made mistakes and done/said things that she shouldn't have. Her family seems to have held everything against her and now in her death they aren't even willing to pay for her funeral; asking for money from her former boss. TB is an entirely treatable disease, but the one who has it must also have a desire to recover. Ibu N did not have this desire and seemed content to drift away and go to her Lord and Maker. I can't think of a better place to go to really but I also wonder about her young son who is now going to be raised by his aunt. I know there's nothing more any of us could have done, but it hurts to only be able to stand back and observe and of course, pray.

Bits and Bites...

This week Hugo learned to start up a plane and "drive" it a bit. That's right, drive, not fly... :-) That way they won't have to get a pilot every time they need to start up the engine to test it and such. This is also another task that Hugo needs to complete towards getting his Canadian mechanics license.
Ibu N who has been sick with TB is doing even worse now. Her "loving" family has removed her from the hospital on at least 3 different occasions even though they do not need to pay anything for her care. She is now so weak she cannot walk anymore. Yesterday J and D from Holland went to the local Public Health Unit (sort of place) and asked if they could come and take her to the hospital. They came, but no one from her family was willing to go with to take care of her. You must have someone with you if you go to the hospital here. We cannot get too involved and make any decisions regarding the care of Ibu N. Should we do so and she dies, we are then responsible. It is very sad and disheartening to have your hands tied and not be able to physically do anything more for her. Prayer is the most important thing we can do, but us humans always want to be able to fix things ourselves...
Our nurse friend R who was taking care of Ibu N, has fallen rather ill herself. She was in the hospital here a couple times but has now returned to her homeland to get better care and a proper diagnosis. The labs here are quite limited in what they can test for.
Mikah played her last volleyball game of the season last Friday. She really enjoyed getting to know the game and playing on a team. She also showed great improvement in her play! Maybe the lovely green knee pads I found locally helped... :-)

Going to the market...

Went to the market this morning. I usually go before I’ve showered cause by the time I’m back, I’m soaked with sweat. Brynne and I went on my trusty Honda motorbike. We drive in-between two rows of garbage to get to the entrance. Someone once put up a sign there that said, “Don’t dump your garbage here!” Yeah, that was totally useless... Costs me 50 cents to get in. Brynne and I walk down to the meat section and on the way she gets her arm grabbed a couple times. People can’t resist her skin. She also got called a Barbie at least once. The meat section consists of a long row of tile-topped tables where people sell chicken and then about 3 more rows of people selling fish. We walk gingerly over to the guy I always buy chicken from and place our order. They guy beside him is “cleaning” his chicken innards with water which runs off the “table” into the gutter on the floor. Stay clear so you don’t get splashed. People are coming up and touching the chicken and asking what it costs. No hand sanitizer to be found here... Behind us are lots of guys selling tuna and other fish. Some are busy cutting up their fish, others are just busy yelling to get peoples attention. Sweat pours down my back as I stand waiting. Of course I’m wearing my helmet cause who wants to see my bedhead!? Our guy is cutting up our chicken on a big ‘ole tree stump for a cutting board and is done quickly and we are on our way. We buy a nice papaya and a couple pemelo’s on our way back to the front. Then we go into another part of the market where I buy some fresh tofu, it’s still warm. On the way out I buy a couple lovely cauliflowers for tonight’s supper. I plan to make sweet and sour meat/tofu balls with rice and cauliflower. On the way back to the motorbike, some guy starts talking to me, not in a friendly way, in a language I don’t understand. I looked at him at first to show respect but after realizing that something wasn’t right, I turn away and walk to my bike. Someone has put cardboard on my seat so that it doesn't get hot from the sun. He's not around so it's a freebee this time and Brynnie puts the cardboard on another motorbike. I balance the heavy bag between my knees on the ride home. After bagging up the chicken I take a much needed shower... I stink and my shirt is completely wet with sweat... And Brynnie eats a cornetto as her thank-you for enduring the market with me... :-)

Bits and Bites from today...

I thought I would share with you some random experiences I had today... (listed in no particular order...)
*This morning as I was going down the hill I passed an old lady wearing a Metallica jacket... hmm...
*I tried to buy something at the grocery store today but I couldn’t because they didn’t have a price for it yet...
*The power was out for a few hours this morning...
*Today when I was teaching PE to the gr’s 1 and 2, one of the children pulled out a tooth and proudly displayed his bloody mouth to me.
*This morning I was awoken at 5:30, far too early, to the wondrous sound of a tropical down pour. It has been so dry here that water was becoming a problem for many.
*I served lunch to a visiting pilot from our MAF program in Kalimantan.
*We ate bacon for the first time in months. I made nasi goreng and krupuk for supper.
*There’s a dead cheechuk (house lizard) somewhere in our bedroom, we know this because we can smell it, but to date we have yet to find it...
*I gave a pregnant Papuan lady a ride home from the school. I asked her where she planned to deliver her baby. "At home," she replied. "Does someone help you?" I asked. "No, I do it myself," was her reply...
*Ice told me that on the weekend she'd brought a friends son to the hospital and a corrupt nurse there cheated them out of 50,000 rupiahs...($5-or, a day's wage here)
*It was so "cold" today (25C) that I wore jeans and a hoody...