August 27, 2007 - Taxi rides

Taxi rides here are quite different than in the States. We took a taxi today to Jayapura (which is about an hour away) to go to the Papua New Guinea Consolate to interview for a visa to go to Vanimo to get our permanent visas. Pak Philipus was there when we got there and he told us that we were going to have to wait because they were in a meeting. A few minutes later he came out with some paperwork and filled it out with Garth. Then he said we could go. No interview. I know that you were praying because that is unheard of,. Things don't get done quickly here-we were so surprised. What a blessing. There are no changing tables anywhere and that is why on the blog you see me changing Cale standing up in the parking lot. So...after that, we asked the driver to take us to Multi-Grocer (It is their Sam's/Cosco). Garth put a picture of us there on the blog site. Looks a bit like the States.
Right before Garth and I and Cale walked down to Sentani to get a prescription for Cale today, I had been on the phone with my friend Jodi. She said that Jason should be flying in anytime on Batavia. As we walked down the driveway we saw a plane coming in, and they are close enough to read the names on the tail. Sure enough it was Batavia, so we were waving, but he was on the other side looking at his house and waving to his kids. We are teaching Cale to say "pasowat"-airplane. On our walk, right past our gate, was a group of Indonesian kids that asked us to take their picture when they saw our camera. So we did and showed it to them and they thought that was soooo cool. One of them said "Thank you Mister." Later on our walk, an Indonesian boy saw us and yelled out "Oreo." I think it was the only English word he knew.
I had a good bonding time with some of the dorm girls tonight. They are starting to open up. It's great. Tonight in Wyatt's prayer he prayed that the dorm kids would keep getting used to us. The ping pong table is another great bonding tool here. We got all the stuff we needed and now it is good to go.
Cale is improving a little at a time. His foot is very tender and sore, but he has a great attitude. We are trying to think of creative ways to get him to take his medicine (3 xs a day). We switched it today to a liquid which will be better than the powder, however the flavors here are not what they are in the States.
Night is here,
Love you all,
Rachel