Day 7 - Sunday

Michael seems to be on the mend now. Fortunately it's nothing too sinister – the malaria test was negative – but still a bit rough. So he stayed home to rest while we bustled about getting everyone cleaned up and drove down the hill to church.

What a joy to meet many more friends and sing and worship together. The congregation of Indonesians and Papuans were warm and welcoming. We loved the robust congregational singing, with a mix of familiar and new (to us) melodies. Liz shared a favorite spiritual song that everyone appreciated and Pastor Eddie talked about the Holy Spirit with great charisma.

[From Liz about the evening English service at church] I counted about 20 people at the evening 'English' service. This is an occasional (maybe quarterly) event the Manokwari church is hosting, partly as an outreach to the community. There's a need and desire in Papua for people to learn English (not for the convenience of American tourists, but because it's the language of international commerce). However, there are few native speakers in the area, Susan and Michael have become fluent in Indonesian and it was actually a little surprising to hear English from a few of the folks with whom they've only spoken the native language. 

Susan and I went to the service together while the boys stayed home to watch the kids and work. We sang some traditional hymns in English and everyone sang so well! We loved the confidence and energy from the congregation, many of whom were picking up harmony parts. The only time I hear parts covered this well is when I sing the doxology with my extended Colby family! We also heard some testimonies and prayed together. 

Day 6

Beach Day!

Poor Michael had a fever and was a mess, so we were sad he had to miss coming to the beach with us.
We loaded up the kids and stopped at the store for some "cakes" for a beach picnic. We chose from a colorful assortment of sweet or savory fried pastries, spring rolls, steamed buns, gelatinous rainbow slices, and more. Yum!
Driving through town is always fun. Susan is careful not to hit any chickens or, heaven forbid, a pig. Travelers to Papua are warned that hitting a wandering pig may result in the driver being shot full of arrows, though wealthy travelers may be able to settle for upwards of 10,000,000 Rupiah (approx $800 USD).
Arriving at the beach, we were welcomed by a few dirty pigs and trash, but the view beyond was a stark contrast. Pale sands, clear blue water, and two local fisherman coming in from a morning of lobster fishing were tying their traditional boats to nearby palm trees. When they left, we had the entire beach to ourselves.
The kids were thrilled to run free and cool off in the water, and we were too! We donned snorkle masks and were surprised how close the reef was to the shore. The tide was low, so without any effort, just looking under water we saw beautiful tiny fish.
A short time after we arrived, a string of energetic Papuan children raced stark naked across the sand into the water, joining Oli and 'Cia. We joined in the play, and the game became "tall white man launches kids into the surf." It wasn't quite appropriate to take a picture, but we won't quickly forget that experience. Eric would toss the kiddos up and they'd squirm in the air, trying to go higher and higher before diving back into the warm water.
Those kids were so free and happy, their dark skin a beautiful contrast against the horizon, and their faces lit up with smiles and laughter. Uninhibited joy.

Later that evening, Liz and Susan took a chance to explore at the open air market. Highlights were beautiful batik fabrics, a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and fish stalls complete with freshly caught shark.

(More pictures forthcoming at our next stop)

Day 3.

Wednesday morning brought a special treat for us. We got to see Michael's parents, who have also been working here for several years. They are dear people to both of us and invested in our lives back in Manhattan before we knew each other.

They hosted all of us for a lovely brunch and time of reconnecting. And on our way home, we found a door guy! Michael and Eric were debating whether to build doors for the new screened porch or buy a couple. Neither of them have much (any) experience building doors. Kelvin the door guy had a couple of sturdy ironwood panel doors available at a reasonable price tucked away amid piles of sawdust and roaming chickens.

Back at the house we buckled down and pushed forward on our projects. Liz patched holes and painted walls and ceilings; Eric and Michael threaded steel rods through the porch columns. After using all of their energy forcing the first few rods through precisely drilled 9.5mm holes, they were struck with inspiration and got out a 10mm bit. After a productive afternoon of work, we cleaned up (with varying degrees of success) and headed to the seaside for a double date [thanks, Oma and Opa for watching the kiddos].

M&S took us to a lovely place on the water where we watched the sunset over the mountains with the ocean foreground. Then we enjoyed the lights of the city in the distance until power went out. Happily the restaurant had backup power and we all shared an array of local seafood specialties. 

Day 5

After taking a few minutes to skype with our adorable munchkins back home, we loaded up early and headed for the mountains. Our goal was to see a vetiver planting Michael had done, enjoy a picnic, and try to make it back in one piece. The terrain is extremely difficult, even for their well suited land cruiser. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the vetiver project, it's a community development project M and S are involved in. Vetiver is a special grass with amazing root systems that have the ability to stabalize steep areas around roads, preventing landslides and erosion. (Fun fact-we also learned today that vetiver is sterile and won't spread without being divided and replanted.) Michael has been working with locals and the government to install plantings.

The trip took about 3.5 hours each way. We saw beautiful views of the mountain range along the way. As we hung on for almost the entire ride (back seats, no seatbelts) had ample time to consider what hardships the poor roads cause the locals who take the trip out of necessity.

Day 4

We're behind on posting since internet service has been out for a day or two here. Thursday brought more rain in the morning — a welcome event that helped refill the depleted water tank. All of M&S's water comes from roof runoff and they've had an unusual dry stretch this month.

The rain slowed outside work, however. Michael and Eric put up screening on the porch and Susan painted while Liz did activities with the kids.

We all decided that we'd try a trip into the mountains on Friday, hopefully far enough to see one of the community development projects Michael and the Meyah church have been working on. Going to the interior means fueling the 4x4, checking fluids and functions, and charging the satellite phone. There will be plenty of commerce in pineapples and other produce along the way, but not gasoline.

Another project out friends are involved in here is water filtration. They are working with people in the Meyah community to help them setup kiosks to distribute a simple but effective water filter system. Water-borne illnesses are prevalent here and are a leading cause of mortality, often among children. Buying filtered water can become expensive on a typical wage, and these filters have a quick payback. The kiosks provide additional income to some in the community while establishing distribution points both in larger cities and in remote villages.

Day 2!

In the morning, Liz went with Susan and the kiddos to run some errands. Poor little Silas has a fever again, so we took him to run a Malaria test at a clinic. Liz enjoyed playing with Oliver (5) and Lucia (4) while Susan took Silas in. These kiddos are little bundles of energy! Amalia and Nicholas would have LOVED to play with them.

Thankfully, the test showed no signs of Malaria, so we went on to the grocery store. It's always a fun adventure exploring a grocery store in another country. Eid al fitr just ended, so there were decorations and special celebratory sweets and treats in vivid green. There are many products I hadn't seen before, but the most notable differences from stores in the States are probably the aisles of powdered milk and powdered coffee. There are dozens of varieties of powdered milk, each targeting a different group; toddlers, pregnant women, growing kids, etc. Nescafe seems to have the coffee market cornered here, and the lack of quality whole beans is deeply felt by the few expats. We brought in half a dozen bags of Starbucks beans, and find it rather amusing that the country doesn't drink it's own beans.

Liz hung out in the car with the kiddos seewhile Susan purchased some new paint. Silas was still feeling pretty crummy, but Oliver and 'Cia happily sang songs and taught me a few Indonesian words.

We headed back to thw house and enjoyed lunch prepared by Erni, Susan's sweet young house helper, who is an AMAZING cook. Then, Liz got to work painting. The bottom few feet of the walls were recently tiled and a sloppy band of grey concrete remained around the perimeter of the interior above the tiles. It was surprising what a difference it made to see it cleaned up and painted!

Day 1 in Manokwari!

We were so excited to see Michael and Susan and the kids when we landed.  We loaded up all our luggage and were thankful not to loose any.  We are still getting used to people gawking at us, but it was especially amusing when a woman turned yo Liz and said, in heavily accented, but perfect English, "You look like Kristen Stewart!" Apparently there are some Twilight fans out here.

It was fun to see our friends' house for the first time! Its lovely and they also have a sizeable yard for the kids to play with.

We were surprised that, even after flying over night, we didn't feel tired or jetlagged! Hallelujah! We unloaded the goodies we brought and got right to work. Eric and Michael set to work framing out the porch so it can be screened and used comfortably for large gatherings in the evenings.

Liz set to work painting the boys' room a nice bright blue.

We enjoyed meeting Pak Musa when he stopped by. Bob and Susan C, (Michael's parents that were an important part of our church family during our MHK years) also dropped by. How sweet to reconnect with them!

After working all day on no sleep from the night before, we crashed immediately after dinner and slept hard.

Landing in Manokwari

We've been here in Manokwari a few days now. More updates to come, but here's a picture of the stunning tropical sunrise we witnessed as we landed early Monday morning.

Not in Europe

We're sitting at the Jakarta domestic terminal about to head eastward. There is an 80s comedy playing (The gods must be crazy II). Everyone in the seating area is giggling and laughing loudly at the hijinks. It's a pretty funny show. I (Eric) am also laughing. Liz is laughing at me and them.  Unfortunately we were sitting at the wrong gate so didn't see the conclusion. I don't know what's playing over here but it's not engaging the B7 crowd.

Other cultural observations (small sample size caveat): the screening and security environment is a little more laid back. In contrast to our often brusque TSA, guards here were observed flirting with passengers and staff, and surreptitiously putting an "in transit" sticker on our porter's back. Fun times. We like it.

Jakarta

We're in Jakarta after a couple of long but pleasant and uneventful flights, overnighting at an airport hotel before continuing eastward this evening.

While the trip is long, we realize we have it pretty easy compared to a lot of travelers today and most of those who came before us (especially those outnumbered by small children). There are redeeming benefits of Eric's frequent work travel: little travel perks make negotiating airports relatively smooth and comfortable.

Liz is happy to indulge herself by being completely engrossed in a grown-up book. Long flights seem to be the only time that particular pleasure is guiltless for a mother of small children. Thanks to Aunt Janet for recommending The Boys in the Boat. Eric has been reading the back of his eyelids (as is his custom on these flights).

This morning we missed seeing little blond curls come bobbing in our room saying "daddy, I so hungry" but sources confirm the kids are having a good time and are meeting Swedish relatives in Lindsborg and seeing second cousins and riding the dala horse.

This evening we'll head back to the airport and start our last leg--three island-hopping flights that'll get us to our final destination.

Now we're off to exercise for a bit. Or maybe do some karaoke. Could go either way.

ORD-NRT

Jim successfully dropped us off at the airport and now we're waiting for our first flight from Chicago to Narita. Jim is especially cool because when we asked him what we should read in our trip, he responded with, "have you ever heard of the CS Lewis space trilogy?" YES. Also, there is an A350 at the gate next to ours, for you aviation fanatics.

Here we go!

Awesome Grandparents Squared+Finally Five

The kiddos are happily settled at Grandma Camp, and we're off on the next part of our itinerary, but first...a few fun tidbits from our past 24 hours.

When we first arrived at Grandma Camp, Grandma and friend Kay had decorated the house for a Charlotte's Web themed birthday party in honor of our little five year old. She's been enjoying reading time with Mommy, and we had finished reading the last few pages minutes before pulling up to the house.

Grammy and Grampy made the drive to see us off and get some extra time with the kids who will stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We were glad Grampy was able to get his medical treatments done at the local hospital.

It's was lot easier to leave knowing the little ones would be spoiled with snuggles!

First Stop, Grandma Camp.

Today we started the first leg of our trip toward Indonesia. First, we're headed to drop off the kids at Grandma Camp. We'll also be celebrating the cowgirl princess's 5th birthday. She arrived at Midway International Airport in full regalia. Her pink cowgirl hat has a crown...with multicolored LED lights...that flash. It coordinates nicely with her Frozen backpack that, out of necessity, also features flashing LED lights.

The bub finally crashed minutes before landing. He managed to stay asleep, through baggage claim, the rental car pickup van, waiting on our rental car that was "fast track", and he just out-slept our expectations as we successfully paid the toll both.