Mount Doom

Remember that beautiful mountain I went on and on about not to many posts back. That whole I love this mountain it has framed my childhood.....well, I take it all back. After this Saturday, it is now Mount Doom. It may regain its splendor after all my blisters heal and the adventure of Saturday is farther back in my mind.
We were going to walk up to the water falls which are located on this mountain a short walk behind our school and home. Scott, Nick, Mijo and I were well prepared with water, sunscreen, bug repellent and machete. OK, Nick needed the machete to practise his jungle skills. I also remembered bandages. As we were preparing I was wondering what shoes to wear since I had not pack my hiking shoes. I had a few to choose from and chose a pair I did not mind getting wet or ruined. The pair I chose on a whim were not exactly the best for what was ahead.

We traversed the barb wired fence, wandered through the small village at the bottom of the hill, walked across the river and then began our climb on the mountain. About 30 minutes into the walk I became nauseated and light headed. I was not out of breath or tired but I was feeling very much like I was going to faint and/or throw up. We sat down, Mijo pulled her jungle survival book out of the back pack she had quietly put in and decided that I did not have heat stroke so it was not yet an emergency. We sat, we walked a bit, we sat. Scott in the meanwhile the patient but very non-affected man was wanting to keep going up..do something other then wait for an overheated, fainting, throwing-up wife. So half way up I suggested he and Nick go up and Mijo and I would wait and get better.

About a half hour later, feeling much better I suggested to Mijo that we would walk up and meet the boys coming down. SO off we went up the river bed towards the water fall. We rested, looked around, avoided the bomber like bees and meandered up to where we thought the boys would be coming down. We never met them...
Meanwhile the boys have come down to the spot where they had left us ready to pick us up and return home. Finding us not at the designated spot decided that I had felt bad enough to return home and proceeded back down the mountain and returned home.
We returned to our spot thinking that maybe the boys had gone into the jungle and would be coming down to meet us through a different path so we sat and waited. Scott and I had decided before we left that at 2:30 no matter where we were on the mountain we would head back home and it was 2:30. Mijo asked me if I was worried, yes..I said, lets pray. SO we prayed and decided that we needed to go back up the mountain towards the waterfall because maybe the boys were hurt and that is why they were not coming back down. I had met a Papuan woman and she had gestured to me that the boys had indeed gone up.
Scott got on his motor cycle and began looking for us on the road leading up to the waterfall thinking that maybe we got lost on the way down or that I had become too sick and was waiting on the side of the road. He did this twice riding back and forth asking in his very broken Indonesian..Orang Putih? white person?
Walking back up the river bed thinking the absolute worse case scenario I worked hard at not panicking. Mijo walking on the other side of the river was working really hard at not showing her worries. When we reached the same spot on the river a group of Indonesian men gestured that the short and tall people had gone back down. Walking back down...I will not tell you what I was thinking..at this moment in time it is rather embarrasing. We walked all the way down to the road and at this time I had 6 blisters, wet feet, bad headache and a plan on how to get a search party together to find these lost souls. Scott met us on the road..." Well", he said, " That was fun!"

Somehow in the narrow creek bed, we missed each other. 4 hours we spent...4 hours!!! Knowing that we were all alive and well and not harmed in any way except for the blisters...we had a great evening. Moral of this saga..COMMUNICATE INTENTIONS !!! Don't just say to the wife, we're going up to check it out and not give her your intetions of return. Don't always assume the worst...they may just have gone home to wait for you.

Jayapura

This is the view from the hills behind Jayapura looking towards Papua New Guinea. It is the outline of the mountain in the distance. It is another hour ride from Jayapura to the border but as easy as it may be to drive there it is not that easy to be there. Friends of our made the trip this week to get their visa situation cleared since you have to go out of the country to get back in the country.

Back to Jayapura, the beach you see is called BaseG and we spent many a weekend there in my youth. I do believe the majority of my freckles I have if not from the swimming pool I got here. This view though is from many a house on the hill behind the city of Jayapura, the panorama is spectacular. There are also old houses that were built when the Dutch controlled these islands and they still grace the sides of these hills.

Not many expats live in the city anymore compared to Sentani, a 45 minute drive to the east. But compared to my view from HIS, this one wins hands down. The city is nestled in a bowl just around the corner from this view. It has one of the deepest natural harbors in the world and it is busy. I can't say the city is pretty...but if you lived on this hill you might get over it.

Nuts and Bolts, Misc., Etc.

I thought just for the fun of it that I would let you know what a 'normal' day looks like on this hill. From Monday through Friday, we wake up 6ish, and start walking to school about 7:15. 8 Periods later, 45 minutes each with a lunch that is the same length we are done at 3PM. After school Mijo and Nick may go to the computer lab to play games or do email, play with other kids in the playground, practise with the after school band, come home and do homework or wander and do any or all of the above. I stay in my room till about 3:30 or 3:45 depending on if students want to talk and today I will be helping an Indonesian student learn how to pronounce words he is learning in French class. When I go home I try and figure out what to do for supper which we (Scott and I) usually serve at 5-5:15. The kids clean up while I go on my evening walk. I walk the hill here and at this time particularly because the bats are out, the sun is setting, the smoke from the town is rising, the color is soft and the air is cooler.
Scott can be doing anything and everything while we are at school. At the moment he is welding down at the MAF base, but he also helps out with the elementary PE, goes to the store or runs errands, figuring out how to do some of the things he has been asked to do. His routine is that he does not have one.
Yoda ( our cat) spends his day running like a maniac without concern or routine. He had a serious brush with illness last week but Scott is his animal wisdom stayed up 2 nights to keep him hydrated.

The evening can be very quiet in our home but if I played any of the sports here, floor hockey, basketball, badminton, indoor soccer we could be chasing a ball every night. The hill is busy, our house is pretty mellow with homework, email time and book reading. PTL we all like to read. We watch DVD's and make fun of the subtitles that never seem to be quite the same as the conversation in the movie. We are in bed between 9-9:30. It is Ramadan at the moment so there seems to be quite a few men practising the prayers calls at night over the loud speaker. With no disrespect to their month of fasting which is huge in and of itself, but maybe they could not have the mic turned on when they are learning at. Just a thought but then what do I know.

In the evening is also when I go bread shopping. There are several women who come to my door with sweet bread, rolls, tortillas, sweet rolls, flowers, and last night warm banana bread. I think I am paying more then I should...but I enjoy the bread and appreciate the effort it takes to come to my door with what I do not make myself.

On weekends...nothing routine. We hope to go to the beach but not by ourselves yet. Last weekend we went to Jayapura, the largest city and capitol of Papua. I was riding around trying to remember what was familiar. The veiw...It is pretty amazing and will post the pictures next time, internet willing. Till next time...

Birthdays in Birthplaces

I am one of the older teachers here at HIS, the teachers who came out with us are a good 10 to 20 years younger. The problem with age as I see it, it really is a matter of perspective, and now I am sounding like I am old. I have no idea how to deal with my age and as Mijo said this morning, " Mom, I forgot it was your birthday and you should be happy about that because it really doesn't mean anything to get older". I asked her how she would feel if I forgot and she proceeded to tell me it means a lot when you are a kid.

Scott found me my first Papuan purse and those who know me and my propensity for buying purses will know he did well. My birthdays when I was younger were always celebrated in the dorm because it was right after school started. Why that strikes a note in my memory I have no idea, but here I am back in my birthplace turning 44 but it really does not matter because it doesn't mean anything to get older once you are older as my daughter so reminded me this morning.

So my motto at 44 is to be fearless and this will take somewhat of a miracle as it seems I am much more fearful then fearless. God in His Mercy is doing a work in that area in my life because it seems that most the fears that have haunted me were born here in my birthplace. What a present for those fears to be layed to rest here in this birthplace as well.

Sand and Students

On Thursday morning in the driving rain, 70+ students and teachers headed out for The Beach Trip. Packed all our stuff and just headed out. We left at 8AM and arrived at the beach, our own beach at about 10:30 AM. What a beach, what an adventure in so many ways. If you have never camped at a beach as I have never, one is not prepared for the insidious nature of sand. BUT I digress a bit, the Senior boys had gone ahead to prepare the land. Cutting out of the jungle places to sleep, go to the bathroom and cook. Obviously not all at the same place. When we arrived, we set up our camp which means, putting up your mosquito net under the tarp with your bed stuff. After all that is accomplished, you adventure out to see whats up. Huge tarp over the cooking area and a hole in the ground with a nice orange tarp to do your business ( This place became crucial when later on we all developed cramps from some bad juju and needed to use the facility on more then one occasion). On seeing the facility, I was temped not to eat or drink for the remainder of the week so as not to have to use the facility.

The weather was still over cast but hey...its warm no matter what the weather is doing so snorkeling and swimming, conversation and walking was the activity at hand. To be honest, I was ready to go home at the end of the day but..that is because I am a big weenie when it comes to dis-comfort. Sand...do you understand how irritating sand is when you have to eat it, sleep with it, walk in it, sit in it, dress with it..I am sure you get the picture. The pictures of beautiful sand beaches in the tropics don't tell the whole story. Again I digress...

Our school director was our speaker and he did a wonderful job bringing us back to the basics of our faith. The first night...have I told you about the sand. Morning finally came after a night of rain, I don't think anything I owned was dry. This day was my designated snorkeling day and it was magnificent. It is just amazing!!! What I discovered about myself other then my propensity for weenieness is that I get motion sickness when I am in the water. Not while I am above the water or even in car on a bouncing car on winding roads... I get seasick when I am in the sea. SO ... I can be out there for about 30 minutes before I get sick, I recoup for about and hour then go out again. I did several cycles of this and then spent the rest of the time having wonderful conversation with students and staff. When there is no schedule conversations can wander at will and relationships can be built. This was the best of the time there...building relationships.

Something was eaten that day that made everyone sick. This was not the fun part of the trip at all. Having the runs is bad enough when you are home and have a bathroom in the next room , it is downright wrong to be on a beach with a hole in the ground. Needless to say, even with stories of snakes in the area and the jungle as your walls, you do what you have to do.

And it was the second night. Since the sun sets at 5:30...the stars are out early and since there is no light, they are out of this world !! The moon was full so the tides were high...I didn't even mention that the boat trip out shook my whole idea of sailing around the world. The waves were about 4-6 feet and with a outrigger we were bouncing over the waves. I screamed, it lets out tension, the students laughed at me but hey, I am a weenie. Our driver kept looking at me to see if I would stop. Again, screaming lets out tension and it is not good to keep it all bottled up. Back to the sleeping part, the sounds of the surf is quite soothing, its the hard ground, sand and damp clothes that makes sleeping a bit more difficult. I was never so glad to hear the cacophony of birds in the morning. We packed up in the rain, and left in the sun. I had been so good about sunscreen all three days until the last trip home. It would have been fine if our driver had not run out of gas in the middle of the cove. I have never enjoyed a shower, clean DRY clothes, sheets and my wonderful family.

But for news here... we have a kitty cat, Yoda. Scott has taken it upon himself to learn how to make yogurt and the Mijo and Nick are maybe a bit thankful they could not come with me these past three days.

Beaches and Birthdays...

We will have to have a picture here of the day we spent at the beach.

YES..it came through. No, I did not steal this picture from an add in a travel magazine...It was Nick's bday on Saturday so we collected 4 of his new friends, packed a lunch, crammed into a taxi, drove 45 minutes on a well traveled road, loaded into a boat with a beetle nut chewing captain, road another 20 minutes or so and arrived at this beautiful beach. We went snorkeling...I was swimming with Nemo and his friends, all except the sharks though I did keep an eye out for them. It is a strange world and a bit uncomfortable...I have no idea what I am supposed to be scared of so right at the moment I am nervous about everything that swims. There were these brilliant turquoise little bitty ones that I thought were very cute and could hardly do any harm so I swam a bit closer to those one. It was truly amazing. Nick said it was the best birthday ever...why not, we were at a warm tropical beach in a raggedy boys kind of country , exploring strange and wonderful new worlds, with PBJ for lunch. That's a good 11 year old birthday party.

I get to do this again this coming weekend. The whole of the high school, all 70 of us are going to spend 2 nights and 3 days on another beach about 45 minutes farther away then this one. I get to go because I am a HS teacher, it should be lots of fun though I am partial to showers before bed. We will see...

First week down...

Scott surprised us all on Wednesday when he had our Motor bike delivered to our front door. It seems that they like to make a production of this new purchase by bringing it to your front door for all your neighbors to see.

Nick was the first to go for a ride on this new bike, down the hill, through traffic, over the rickety bridge..you get the idea. When he returned and I was asking him about his trip he said quietly. " Mom, you know how I don't like it when things are going fast, so I was trying to remember Psalm 23 on the way down because I was getting scared".

So, I am wondering...how fast was Scott going that our son was thinking he was traveling in the shadows of death. Nick wants to get over his fears and bless his heart, even if he has to recite the Psalm every time he gets on the bike, he is getting on the bike. I was on next and no, Scott does not go fast , it is quite impossible to do anything fast here with the volume of traffic, people and road conditions. It is not quite as comfortable as an air conditioned car but much more convenient for the things Scott will be doing.

For me...I walk to school and walk home. I live at the school. It has been a great first week. Homework, learning new names, figuring how to make things interesting, walking home for lunch. It's all good !!!