Life is funny, isn’t it? Here we are in Papua, Indonesia and we happen to run into a guy from Chicago, Illinois at the grocery store. What are the odds of that happening? His name is Mike and he has been in Indonesia since September on an extended surfing holiday. He stayed in Bali for 6 weeks (near where we stayed), and he was in PNG (Vanimo, same place we were), and now he is in Sentani for about a month. He was interested in finding out some information on surfing and renting a motorcycle so we brought him home with us and tried to help him out with all of that. That was cool and hopefully we will see him more.
Sophie came home from school yesterday and said, “Mom, today I talked to my friend Gracella about Jesus. I told her that Jesus loves her and wants her to believe. And I told her she should start going to church and read her Bible and that she should start acting better-cuz she always gets her name on the board. And then I showed her how to pray. Later when I was going to go by her at recess, she was praying. So I left her and walked away.”
Woo-hoo Sophie! Way to Go!!!!!!!
Garth, with his vast supply of patience, decided to let me try to drive the motorcycle. We went out on the soccer field for my first lesson. Garth is a good teacher and I am…trying. I will tell you honestly, that I did not do great. It is a big bike and I was trying to balance it with Garth on the back. There are a lot of things to do at the same time and I didn’t remember them all. Hopefully the next lesson will be better.
The dorm kids will return tomorrow. They are all coming in on different flights so they will be arriving from 8:30 to 2:00. I am sure they will be tired, hungry and full of exciting stories. We are all looking forward to it. We restocked the house full of fruits and veggies and Poppi and I have been baking up a storm. Tomorrow should be fun!
So, I hear some of you are being bombarded with snow. It looks beautiful. We have been watching it online. We are getting monsooned with rain. If our rain had been snow, we would have more than you. Please be careful out there driving. “Hati hati.” (Be careful).
I will talk to you tomorrow-hopefully-we are having problems with our internet. I will try.
Love,
Rachel
Friday, February 8, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
February 5, 2008 - Such Excitement!
The kids had a day off of school today as it is a Christian holiday (Hari Injil) celebrating when the Gospel first came to Papua. I love it when the kids are home from school. I had great plans of going on a family picnic to this spot by Lake Sentani, however, there was a nice storm that rolled in and changed all that. Emma woke up with pink eye so it wouldn’t have been the best time for an outing. We let our kids stay up late last night and we all watched Barnyard and popped popcorn then we put mattresses down on the floor in the living room for a “camp out”. That was great fun. Last night when everyone else was caught up in the movie, Sophie looks at me and asks, “Mom, why do we have lips?” Her mind is always working. She had her friend Maya over yesterday when a storm rolled in and they asked if they could put on their swimsuits and go out in the rain. I said they could and got them some buckets and spoons and they collected water and broke up some papaya leaves and made “soup”. Later Sophie told me that they had to go to the bathroom while they were out there and didn’t want to come in because they were so wet …so, in Sophie’s words, “Mom, we decided that we would practice going potty over a squat pot so we just went in our buckets. We did a good job, Mom. We both made it in the buckets.” Well…it definitely is the Indonesian way-when in Rome…
Today when I went over to do Yanis’ foot, I learned some interesting information. Pak Pias, who is Jason and Jodi’s yard worker, can communicate with Yanis. Yanis does not speak much Indonesian. He speaks a tribal language that we don’t know, but Pias does. Anyways, today, Pias says, “Well, we thought that Yanis died last night.” Jodi was like, “What!?!” And Pias went on to explain that Yanis’ body went stiff and his eyes rolled back, then he started rolling around. Pias said it was an evil spirit. Jodi’s dog started barking around this time and Pias said that the spirit was leaving and the dog saw it. Then Yanis was o.k. Well, both Jodi and I thought it sounded like a seizure. So after more questions, we found out that this has happened before and started about a year and a half ago when Yanis was sick. So it could be cerebral malaria-which can cause you to have seizures. Either way he probably should be on medication for it. But this was a big piece of the puzzle because it gives us an idea of what might have happened with his leg. He may have been having a seizure and rolled into the fire. So Jodi and I were talking about how we should have a plan on what to do if he starts having a seizure while we are working on his foot. He usually sits up on a high table and could easily fall off. So far, fortunately, he hasn’t. His leg is doing much better. We continue to clean it and check it for infection and rewrap it every day. I am sending you pictures of Garth playing kick the can with the kids while Jodi and I cleaned his leg today. And pictures of Cale “playing” with Pak Pias and the snakes.
I am reminded on days like this how we really are in a different world over here. We are all doing things here that we would never do in the States. All of the experiences keep life interesting and full of excitement. Speaking of excitement, I killed a snake the other day. WHOAH! It wasn’t a very big snake. It was bright orange and the cats at the Olvers had it trapped. I grabbed a shovel and whacked it. I actually whacked it so hard I broke the shovel. That will look good on my resume someday. Ha Ha.
Alright, so much for that. I need to say “Good Night” to you all. Hope your day is full of snake smacking, leg cleaning, squat potting kind of fun!
Love ya,
Rachel
This is at a restaurant that we went to this weekend. Sophie's meal was so steaming hot, it was sizzling. That's why Cale looks so surprised.
Relaxing by a tree in the Olver's yard.
A mommy moment.
Wyatt and Cale listening to the wind blowing through the bamboo trees in the Olver's yard.
Wyatt and Dad playing catch.
Pak Pias and Cale playing with the snakes.
The kids had fun playing at Timezone this weekend.
We are amazed at the improvement we see in Yanis' foot.
The Olvers have a really cool tree fort in their yard.
Cale ridin' the lion at Timezone.Monday, February 4, 2008
February 4, 2008 - Family Weekend
We had some nice family time this weekend. Hope you are too. On Saturday, after we slept in and ate cinnamon rolls (I have the recipe for Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls-and they are goooooooooooood!), we decided to take the kids to a place called TIMEZONE. It is a lot like Chuck-E-Cheese with games and rides. Then we took them to a place called Bakso for lunch. We went with Jodi and her 3 kids since her husband, (Jason), is in Jakarta till Thursday. Afterwards, the kids all ran around Jodi’s big yard while we worked on Yanis’ foot. Today, after church we had them all over for a big brunch and then Garth took the kids to the pool while we worked on Yanis’ foot. Garth is a brave, brave man. One adult and 7 kids (ages 10 to 2 ). He did great. Jodi and I asked a local nurse to come look at Yanis’ foot and give us her opinion on how we are doing. She has worked with burn victims before in the States and we really needed a professional opinion. She looked at it and told us that she thought we were doing a good job and told us what to look for in regards to potential problems. It was good for both of us to hear from someone that knows what they are talking about exactly what else we need to be doing.
Today when I was getting ready for lunch Sophie came in the kitchen and was talking to me and I told her that her friend Maya was coming over for lunch and that they would be able to play together today. She looked at me and said, “Mom, I don’t think I will be playing much today.” I said, “Why, Soph? Are you feeling sick?” She said, “No. It’s just that…well, I don’t know why this is, but, grown ups don’t really play much with each other, and I really want to be a grown up so I guess, I won’t play today.” That thought lasted all of about 2 seconds. She was off and playing before I could ask her to explain that. While we are on the subject of Sophie, I must tell you that she does have malaria (Tropica +1). We caught it right at the beginning stage so it was easily treated and she was better after the first pill. She was susceptible to it because her immunity was down with the strep. She is feeling really good now and had a wonderful time at the pool.
Wyatt just got back from soccer and Garth told me he scored the last goal of the game. His team lost, but he had a great time. Emma was praying for Grandma Dottie (Garth’s Mom) before bed and prayed that she would be comforted since she just lost her husband. She prayed, “And God, please have a good day up in Heaven with Paul.” She has such a tender heart.
Oh, I wanted to mention that I was on nursery duty today and would you believe it, there was another baby in there named Cale but he spelled it with a K. How bizarre! I noticed a few things while I was in there. They are severely lacking in the nursery department. They have a few toys, tiny nubs of crayons, one coloring book, no wipes, no snacks, not even a rug to put down on the hard, tile floor. If anyone feels so led to contribute to this cause, I would be happy to buy these items to put in there. All of the things they need, I could find here. If you would like to help and you live by my family you could give a check to my Mom and she would put it in our account and I would be able to access it from here. Otherwise, send me an email and let me know you are interested and I will email you info on what to do. Thanks!
I should go. I just remembered that I agreed to make snacks for Emma’s class tomorrow. It is the 100th day of school and they are having a party.
Have fun today!
RachelSaturday, February 2, 2008
February 2, 2008 - Our Decision
Here it is. The email so many of you have been anticipating. After reading this some of you will be sad and some of you will be excited. I am feeling both. Try to understand. We met as a family last night to talk about our decision to stay another year. We asked the kids to spend this week praying and thinking about what God would want us to do. Emma said that when she was at the pool, she went underwater and God was under there with her and He told her that He would let her know what she was supposed to do. This time when we met she said that she really missed home, and family, and restaurants, and our church but that she thought God wanted us to stay here another year. Sophie said that she really missed family, Timber (my parents dog), and her stuffed animals but that she thought God wanted us to stay. Wyatt said he thought we should go home for the summer and then come back and help the dorm kids. Garth and I are both thinking the same thing. So…unless God shows us otherwise we will be home for the summer and then we will come back here for another year. There is a lot I am feeling right now regarding this, and I will try to explain it to you. I am excited to have another year to serve as a family, we are able to spend more time together, the kids love the freedom they have here, I love the closeness of the school, church, library, pool, ocean…the beauty is breathtaking, plus, it will be good for the dorm kids to have continuity, we will be better at this the second year-(hopefully we are learning from our mistakes.) But also, I am really missing family and friends-you feel so far away-I miss our church and the fellowship I had there-I miss the ministry I had at church with the little kids, our house, the convenience of everything there, the familiarity of culture, and language…but, you know, God never called me to just do what I want. If He did, my life wouldn’t amount to a whole lot. I need to be stretched and shaken out of the comfort zone I wedged myself into. Like the cinnamon rolls I made today. The ingredients looked nice in their containers, and could have sat there on the counter for some time. But when I moved them and mixed them together I was able to make something beautiful. Life here is hard. But I can’t think just about the difficult parts otherwise it will become my focus. God didn’t say to me, “Become a Christian and I will make your life really easy.” I would be a such dull person if my life had no problems or struggles in it. Those things help shape me into the person God designed me to be. I can listen to Him and follow His path for my life and have adventures beyond my imagination or I can listen to my feelings and live an easy life and miss out on God’s great blessings for my life. He has our best interests in mind. We are here for a reason. It is all part of His divine plan. God has this whole bizarre, amazing journey planned for us. He is standing there with His hand out waiting for us to grab on and go with Him. We can’t go with one foot home and one foot here. We have to be willing to say, “O.k. I am scared about this, but I trust that You know what is best and I am willing to go.” So, with that mindset, we as a family are grabbing on to that hand and taking a chance with God. He does not disappoint. We would like you to come along with us. Please pray for us, write to us, and check us out on our blog. We will try to keep you as up to date as we can. Thank you for being a part of our lives so far. You are all a treasure.
Rachel
Rachel
Friday, February 1, 2008
Filling in some holes
As Rachel and I have matured in our "bloggingness" (is that a word?) we have decided to try to fill in some of the holes in the early part of our Indonesian journey. So...we scoured our emails and came up with some that should do that. Please be aware that some of the content is to individual persons and might not be riveting blog reading :). If you don't want to read it that's fine. Thanks for just stopping by.
Garth
July 23, 20007
God did teach me an interesting lesson today. It was 104 degrees here at 5:00. The kids wanted to go out but they were so hot. So I let them put on their swimsuits. I have no water hose, so I filled up a plastic pitcher with water and I was just pouring it on them. They were having so much fun. The water was making a puddle on the sidewalk. Cale was splashing in it, and sitting in it-he even laid in it. Then later at 6:00 we decided to take them to a local pool/waterpark. We got there and Wyatt, Emma, and Sophie ran right into the water and dove in. Cale saw a puddle on the side of the pool and was splashing in it, just like before-oblivious to the huge pool a few feet in front of him. And I thought about how many times in my life, God has such great things waiting for me, but I am stuck splashing in the puddle;not yet ready to move. Well, I feel like we are about to go dive into the pool. And I hope I am ready.
Love ya,
Rach
This is an email from Wyatt to his cousin Adam in Poland.
July 23, 2007
Hi. I am here in Nampa, Idaho. Today it was 104 degrees. My Mom and Dad took us to a waterpark. It was fun. I kept going down the blue slide. It was fast. Yesterday we went to a rodeo, the Snake River Stampede. You would have loved it. They had little kids 4 yrs. old - 7 years old-trying to see who could ride a sheep the longest without getting thrown off. The longest was a boy that went like 30 seconds. They had calf roping, and barrel racing, and chuck wagon racing, and bull riding. It was exciting. I have been wondering what you have been doing. I miss playing with you. E-mail me and tell me how you are. I have been meeting lots of kids from all over the world, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Ecuador, and a boy from Indonesia. Wish we could still play together.
Miss you,
Wyatt
August 4, 2007
We left today. Lots of problems. We took Cale to the ER twice yesterday. In the morning for fever, runny nose, major fussy…to check his ears and throat. They said he was fine. Just viral. He kept screaming inconsolably for a long time so we took him back at 11:30 p.m. and there was a huge wait. Very busy. We would have been there for hours. So we came home, gave him some medicine, prayed, put him to bed in our room so we could check on him, and tried to sleep. What a way to spend the night before a big international trip! He had been so sick with diarrhea. Poor boy. He slept until 10 am and woke up better, but now he has a rash all over and a fever and a runny nose, but he is not as fussy.
We have all been sick. Wyatt has a very sore throat and fever. His eyes look terrible. I had to go to Quick Care on Saturday with a bad bacterial infection-terrible sore throat, huge glands, achy, fever, runny nose etc. I got on an antibiotic right away which helped. Then Sophie felt sick and now Cale. Once again Emma and Daddy go untouched. I missed 2 ½ days of classes from being sick.
We just got our passports and visas yesterday. We have not been able to get our resident visas, so we just got our temporary ones. I went yesterday for my second Hep b shot. Russ and Carol took most of the family up on a flight. I couldn’t go, Cale and I were still sick. They flew everyone over the desert and they landed right by a cliff where the kids could throw rocks over the edge. Wyatt wants to be a pilot. We are traveling with Valerie and Katherine-teachers in Wamena-Kathryn and Al Fortin (she will be Wyatt’s teacher), and Scott and Heidi price and their 2 kids Mijo, and Nick.
Right now we are flying into San Francisco. Emma said, “I wish Grammo and Grampo were here, and Eena would love this!” It is 7:50 pm Idaho time. At the gate waiting for our Taipei flight (12:45 am Wi time) Sophie was looking at the little picture book Carlena made me. She said, “This makes me be thinking about them. Oh, I wish I could just kiss Eena right now.” Of course that made me bawl. Then Emma starts to cry, and Sophie says, “Just pretend like this picture is really Eena when you miss her.”
In Idaho we had to pay $625 for our extra luggage.
I am going to go a little out of order here because when I wrote this I was delirious with exhaustion, so humor me.
TAIPEI
This is a 5 hour flight. We watched movies and slept. The Taiwan airport did not have options to eat except for one. At least where we were. The place had bagels, (no cream cheese) and muffins and good ham and cheese croissants sandwiches. We paid with our visa card and it cost us about $30.00. They did not speak English but it was easy enough to point. They did have bottled water. Make sure you have some bottled water to take with you. After we ate, we found a quiet place to relax and rest while we waited. Bring some toilet paper or tissues and wipes just in case. The other flight attendants at the desks spoke English so that helped.
JAKARTA
We flew China Air from San Francisco to Taipei to Jakarta. Our gate was A7. At the airport, you will go through security, but it is not like the States. Leave your shoes on. And everything goes through the x-ray conveyor belt thing. You don’t have to take out your Ziploc baggies of 3 oz bottles. YOU CAN EVEN TAKE YOUR WATER-just walk right through with it. HAVE A PHOTO ID. We found our gate and then went back through security to eat. This was the airport where we needed toilet paper. There are a lot of people in a very small place here waiting for this flight. You are definitely the minority.
The first flight was at 1:00 am. You get on and they feed you dinner. The food was good-and very pretty on the tray. They are very courteous and kind. Ask them for anything-they are happy to help. Sleep on this flight. There are movies on the screens in the seats and on the big screen, but sleep here would be best. It is a 12 hour flight.
Tuesday 2:00 pm We are finally here! Things to remember when you come through Jakarta. Some of the ATM’s in JAKARTA work and some don’t. Just keep trying. Switch over some money to rupiahs at the airport through the ATM to tip the bell man and for food. The Lucky Strike booth has lots of good bottled water. Buy a bunch. There is an A&W and a Dunkin Donuts there. You can go through security with your bags and then go back out to eat. The flight might say delayed on the board, but that doesn’t mean that it actually is. Sit and see. They will make an announcement about the delay-watch the Indonesians reaction. If they grumble then you know it is really delayed. The announcement might say that it is delayed until 11:30 and then they will decide to leave at 10:45, so stay put when it is getting close to the time. Listen around you for an Indonesian that speaks English and ask them what the announcement said. Get a lot of water 2 or 3 each there at the airport. Do not use the water at the hotel, not even to brush your teeth and don’t open your mouth in the shower.
We had Bob meet us and help us with the bags and customs and to take us to the hotel room. It is right there in the airport. We walked right through customs with Bob-it was great. Bob tipped the bag guys. Get to the hotel and sleep right away. We only had 3 hours there and I was thinking we should bathe all the kids etc. but we didn’t ,we just slept. And it was NOT long enough. It was so hard to wake them up and get going again. So if you can stay overnight I would HIGHLY suggest that you do. Put the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door. THERE IS NO ALARM CLOCK. If Bob is with you he can set up a wake- up call.
The flight from JAKARTA to JAYAPURA - You will more than likely fly Garuda airlines. The stewardess’ there know some English, so you should be able to communicate. You will make at least 2 stops. The first one don’t get off. The second one you have to get off because they clean. They will park the plane in the lot and you walk out to the airport. Go to the bathroom on the plane, not at the building. The building bathroom is terrible. When you get off the airplane and go into the airport (tiny building), look for a sign overhead (I think it is blue) that says transfer or transit. YOU MUST TAKE YOUR BOARDING PASSES WITH YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THE AIRPLANE so have them with you. You will have to show them at the transfer counter to get transfer tickets. The transfer ticket really has no purpose-you get a paper that you show to the flight attendant on your way back onto the plane. The first leg of the trip on Garuda, they went through with the meal cart, and had the lights on for awhile. Then they turned them down, so it was nice for sleeping. At this landing some people got off and more got on, but you don’t have to get off. Then they leave the cabin dark for about 2 hours. Do all you can to sleep during that time. It will really help you in the end. Then the lights come on for drinks-we were recommended to not get a drink with ice-but it is up to you. They have great apple juice. The last leg of the trip is only about 50 minutes. You get a box meal-a green tea/peanut muffin, a bread roll with meat in it, and a water.
When you land, you can see the MAF hangar as you walk off the plane towards the airport. It will be hot, smelly and lots of smokers. Your bags will come fairly quick.
Then you are there!!!! The HIS school is only a few minutes away. The MAF base is so close you can walk.
Welcome to Sentani!
Garth
July 23, 20007
God did teach me an interesting lesson today. It was 104 degrees here at 5:00. The kids wanted to go out but they were so hot. So I let them put on their swimsuits. I have no water hose, so I filled up a plastic pitcher with water and I was just pouring it on them. They were having so much fun. The water was making a puddle on the sidewalk. Cale was splashing in it, and sitting in it-he even laid in it. Then later at 6:00 we decided to take them to a local pool/waterpark. We got there and Wyatt, Emma, and Sophie ran right into the water and dove in. Cale saw a puddle on the side of the pool and was splashing in it, just like before-oblivious to the huge pool a few feet in front of him. And I thought about how many times in my life, God has such great things waiting for me, but I am stuck splashing in the puddle;not yet ready to move. Well, I feel like we are about to go dive into the pool. And I hope I am ready.
Love ya,
Rach
This is an email from Wyatt to his cousin Adam in Poland.
July 23, 2007
Hi. I am here in Nampa, Idaho. Today it was 104 degrees. My Mom and Dad took us to a waterpark. It was fun. I kept going down the blue slide. It was fast. Yesterday we went to a rodeo, the Snake River Stampede. You would have loved it. They had little kids 4 yrs. old - 7 years old-trying to see who could ride a sheep the longest without getting thrown off. The longest was a boy that went like 30 seconds. They had calf roping, and barrel racing, and chuck wagon racing, and bull riding. It was exciting. I have been wondering what you have been doing. I miss playing with you. E-mail me and tell me how you are. I have been meeting lots of kids from all over the world, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Ecuador, and a boy from Indonesia. Wish we could still play together.
Miss you,
Wyatt
August 4, 2007
We left today. Lots of problems. We took Cale to the ER twice yesterday. In the morning for fever, runny nose, major fussy…to check his ears and throat. They said he was fine. Just viral. He kept screaming inconsolably for a long time so we took him back at 11:30 p.m. and there was a huge wait. Very busy. We would have been there for hours. So we came home, gave him some medicine, prayed, put him to bed in our room so we could check on him, and tried to sleep. What a way to spend the night before a big international trip! He had been so sick with diarrhea. Poor boy. He slept until 10 am and woke up better, but now he has a rash all over and a fever and a runny nose, but he is not as fussy.
We have all been sick. Wyatt has a very sore throat and fever. His eyes look terrible. I had to go to Quick Care on Saturday with a bad bacterial infection-terrible sore throat, huge glands, achy, fever, runny nose etc. I got on an antibiotic right away which helped. Then Sophie felt sick and now Cale. Once again Emma and Daddy go untouched. I missed 2 ½ days of classes from being sick.
We just got our passports and visas yesterday. We have not been able to get our resident visas, so we just got our temporary ones. I went yesterday for my second Hep b shot. Russ and Carol took most of the family up on a flight. I couldn’t go, Cale and I were still sick. They flew everyone over the desert and they landed right by a cliff where the kids could throw rocks over the edge. Wyatt wants to be a pilot. We are traveling with Valerie and Katherine-teachers in Wamena-Kathryn and Al Fortin (she will be Wyatt’s teacher), and Scott and Heidi price and their 2 kids Mijo, and Nick.
Right now we are flying into San Francisco. Emma said, “I wish Grammo and Grampo were here, and Eena would love this!” It is 7:50 pm Idaho time. At the gate waiting for our Taipei flight (12:45 am Wi time) Sophie was looking at the little picture book Carlena made me. She said, “This makes me be thinking about them. Oh, I wish I could just kiss Eena right now.” Of course that made me bawl. Then Emma starts to cry, and Sophie says, “Just pretend like this picture is really Eena when you miss her.”
In Idaho we had to pay $625 for our extra luggage.
I am going to go a little out of order here because when I wrote this I was delirious with exhaustion, so humor me.
TAIPEI
This is a 5 hour flight. We watched movies and slept. The Taiwan airport did not have options to eat except for one. At least where we were. The place had bagels, (no cream cheese) and muffins and good ham and cheese croissants sandwiches. We paid with our visa card and it cost us about $30.00. They did not speak English but it was easy enough to point. They did have bottled water. Make sure you have some bottled water to take with you. After we ate, we found a quiet place to relax and rest while we waited. Bring some toilet paper or tissues and wipes just in case. The other flight attendants at the desks spoke English so that helped.
JAKARTA
We flew China Air from San Francisco to Taipei to Jakarta. Our gate was A7. At the airport, you will go through security, but it is not like the States. Leave your shoes on. And everything goes through the x-ray conveyor belt thing. You don’t have to take out your Ziploc baggies of 3 oz bottles. YOU CAN EVEN TAKE YOUR WATER-just walk right through with it. HAVE A PHOTO ID. We found our gate and then went back through security to eat. This was the airport where we needed toilet paper. There are a lot of people in a very small place here waiting for this flight. You are definitely the minority.
The first flight was at 1:00 am. You get on and they feed you dinner. The food was good-and very pretty on the tray. They are very courteous and kind. Ask them for anything-they are happy to help. Sleep on this flight. There are movies on the screens in the seats and on the big screen, but sleep here would be best. It is a 12 hour flight.
Tuesday 2:00 pm We are finally here! Things to remember when you come through Jakarta. Some of the ATM’s in JAKARTA work and some don’t. Just keep trying. Switch over some money to rupiahs at the airport through the ATM to tip the bell man and for food. The Lucky Strike booth has lots of good bottled water. Buy a bunch. There is an A&W and a Dunkin Donuts there. You can go through security with your bags and then go back out to eat. The flight might say delayed on the board, but that doesn’t mean that it actually is. Sit and see. They will make an announcement about the delay-watch the Indonesians reaction. If they grumble then you know it is really delayed. The announcement might say that it is delayed until 11:30 and then they will decide to leave at 10:45, so stay put when it is getting close to the time. Listen around you for an Indonesian that speaks English and ask them what the announcement said. Get a lot of water 2 or 3 each there at the airport. Do not use the water at the hotel, not even to brush your teeth and don’t open your mouth in the shower.
We had Bob meet us and help us with the bags and customs and to take us to the hotel room. It is right there in the airport. We walked right through customs with Bob-it was great. Bob tipped the bag guys. Get to the hotel and sleep right away. We only had 3 hours there and I was thinking we should bathe all the kids etc. but we didn’t ,we just slept. And it was NOT long enough. It was so hard to wake them up and get going again. So if you can stay overnight I would HIGHLY suggest that you do. Put the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door. THERE IS NO ALARM CLOCK. If Bob is with you he can set up a wake- up call.
The flight from JAKARTA to JAYAPURA - You will more than likely fly Garuda airlines. The stewardess’ there know some English, so you should be able to communicate. You will make at least 2 stops. The first one don’t get off. The second one you have to get off because they clean. They will park the plane in the lot and you walk out to the airport. Go to the bathroom on the plane, not at the building. The building bathroom is terrible. When you get off the airplane and go into the airport (tiny building), look for a sign overhead (I think it is blue) that says transfer or transit. YOU MUST TAKE YOUR BOARDING PASSES WITH YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THE AIRPLANE so have them with you. You will have to show them at the transfer counter to get transfer tickets. The transfer ticket really has no purpose-you get a paper that you show to the flight attendant on your way back onto the plane. The first leg of the trip on Garuda, they went through with the meal cart, and had the lights on for awhile. Then they turned them down, so it was nice for sleeping. At this landing some people got off and more got on, but you don’t have to get off. Then they leave the cabin dark for about 2 hours. Do all you can to sleep during that time. It will really help you in the end. Then the lights come on for drinks-we were recommended to not get a drink with ice-but it is up to you. They have great apple juice. The last leg of the trip is only about 50 minutes. You get a box meal-a green tea/peanut muffin, a bread roll with meat in it, and a water.
When you land, you can see the MAF hangar as you walk off the plane towards the airport. It will be hot, smelly and lots of smokers. Your bags will come fairly quick.
Then you are there!!!! The HIS school is only a few minutes away. The MAF base is so close you can walk.
Welcome to Sentani!
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