Here's a quick look at where we live in Sentani, Papua.  We live right across the street from the airport.  It's no little airport either, we hear big planes taking off all day!  That sound is like music to my ears after a whole year in Java, hardly ever seeing an airplane there.

Infront of one of MAF's Kodiaks.  This is the airplane I will be learning to fly soon!

A sort of afternoon ritual of ours, after I get off work at MAF, is for me to grab the kids and go across the street to see the airplanes....or as Ian likes to call them, the "Prrrwwww's".  Actually we all call them that now.  It pleases my heart that my kids echo my excitement to go see the airplanes.  Elise asks every day!    It also gives Heather a welcome few moments of peace and quiet, and space to work on dinner.

A few Saturdays ago we went on a little adventure with our friends Daniel and Joy (the same ones we went to the beach with).  This one was local, we drove around Sentani and saw some outlying neighborhoods and villages.  So in the background is the beautiful mountain that our home is close to....it's very beautiful here!

Here is the huge playground that is right outside our front door.  Elise runs over there every day and plays with her new friends.  We head out there with Ian sometimes and he always goes straight for the dirt!  What a blessing that playground is.  There's a good sized field and a basketball court on the other side that many of us end up hanging out on in the afternoons, throwing frisbee etc.

They had a welcome potluck for us the Sunday after we got here.

Below is the album i pulled those photos from, with lots more.  Near the end of the album (it goes backwards in time)....are pictures we took with some neighbors and friends from Java before we left.  We saw those the other night for the first time and it made us a little sad thinking about our friends back there!

Link to Photo Album for Ipad users

Last week I underwent training on MAF's inspection procedures and got to help with my first inspection.  About mid-way through the week, I learned the airplane we were inspecting was the same airplane that MAF sent to Haiti to help with earthquake relief when the big earthquake happened a couple years ago (in the picture above).  It spent hundreds of hours transporting people from Port-Au-Prince to places where they could get better medical care.  Before it was just an airplane to me, but after learning that I was sort of in awe to think of all the people in Haiti whose lives have already been changed for the better through the use of this airplane!

To market to market!

Well Elise and I had a little un-planned adventure yesterday.  While Heather was home with a napping Ian, we were sent off on an errand to find a "fruit stand" and buy some fruit.  As we drove through our new town....no fruit stands caught our eyes  (yes Elise was looking out for them too!). So near the "end of the line"....all the way down on the other end of town, was the "Pasar" AKA open air market.




(I added this photo after writing this blog entry....it is of a different pasar here in Sentani....yes there are two!  But it's the same general idea....lots of people sitting around ready to sell you things)

Back in Salatiga, there was a Pasar, but we hardly ever went because there were other, less "scary"  grocery store type places to shop at.  So far, I dont know really where to get fruits and veggies here besides this pasar place, or maybe a mythical fruit-stand.  So Elise and I went ahead and went to the pasar!

Unfortunately I violated my "always carry the camera" rule!  So there's no pictures to share (maybe another day!).  But Elise and I almost thoroughly explored this new strange place.  Almost immediately, we walked by the tables with fish laying on them, and beef and chicken "Elise hold your breath!!"...we would walk by somewhat quickly.  People were fervently fanning the dead fish with leaves to keep the flies off.  Eventually we made it to the back side of the Pasar where it seemed most of the ladies who were selling fruits and veggies were sitting.  We "negotiated" a few bunches of bananas for dua puluh lima ribu rupiah (twenty five thousand Rupiah, or about two and a half dollars)  (Confession...I am a horrible negotiator and feel bad doing it...and unless the price seems horribly high, Im a sucker and I just pay it!).

We found lots of people selling tropical fruit.  We paid 30,000 rupiah for two pineapples (three dollars)....have we mentioned how heavenly the pineapples are here!  I may have over-paid on those....especially seeing as we have about thirty growing in our yard right now!  We picked up some papaya and "mangga".....is it the same thing as Mango?  I should know that by now, but it's yummy!  We got Elise a balloon from the balloon guy on the way out, holding our breath in a few more places.  We dropped off our heavy load in the car, then went back one more time for eggs.  They sell eggs in huge cartons that hold about a couple dozen eggs.  What's amazing is there is no top.  But they grab another carton and some string, and do some magic with that string, and turn it into a little carrying case that you can carry vertically!  (Have I mentioned Indonesians can do amazing things with string?)

On the way out, I praised Elise for doing such a good job, because she really did.  She just sort of took things in and never complained.  And I asked her.....so Elise, what did you think of the Pasar?  She smiled and crinkled her nose and said  "It was STINKY!"  "But did you have fun?"   "Yes, I did have fun!"

Today was a lot of fun.  Being it a major national holiday today, the whole country was "shut down" pretty much.  So we took advantage and went to the beach!  We went with our good friends, Daniel and Joy and their baby Zoe.  It was a short drive to the boat dock, then we boarded this boat for a half hour ride across the bay to an amazingly beautiful and rather remote beach.

Yes by American standards, the boat was a little rickety.  But it was very fun.  We all enjoyed our day, Elise and Ian included.  Maby one of the more fun little surprises was that we learned on this trip that the Papuans, like the people back in Java, absolutely love kids and babies too.  We had many people stop and play with our kids and take pictures with them.  How fun!  There were a couple little girls that hung around almost the whole time playing with Ian, Elise and Zoe.

Daniel, Joy and Zoe

180 degree shot of the beach  (If you come visit we promise to take you!)

Our boat and the guy and his son that drove it.

Zoe and Joy

Kids pose with Ian

Some young Papuan girls hang out with Joy

This little girl, Ellen, played with our kids almost the whole time we were there.

Ian is just in his element anytime he is playing in sand or dirt.

Hmm, should I go with the sandwich, or the cliff bar?

Some of the many folks who wanted a picture with our kiddos.

Hilarious.

A family asks for a picture with Joy and Zoe

Family shot on the boat ride!

Elise and Ian had a blast playing in the sand.

Zoe did too!

We've really wanted to share some pictures of our first several days here in Papua...but unfortunately our digital camera card reader is buried somewhere in a pile of stuff that we have yet to sift through.  I hope it turns up soon!  But in the mean time.....I thought it would be neat to share this video that the Chief Pilot's son made about what MAF does here in Papua.  He did a great job showing not only what the MAF pilots do every day, but also the people we are serving, and how we are serving them.  So here's the video....

One nice perk of living here is that we're relatively close to the beach. So we're planning to go check it out tomorrow with our friends Daniel, Joy and Zoe. Last week Heather and I sat down with our program manager for a pretty thorough orientation. We got to hear specifics about all five active MAF bases here in Papua. It is amazing how many places we serve from our five bases. There is a map in the office of the airstrips scattered throughout Papua, and there are literally hundreds. Right now, I am blessed to be training with our language school friends, "the Daniels" Daniel Perez and Daniel Geaslen. We are enjoying living close to them here on the base. Because the Daniels got here before I did, they started off their orientation here with a focus on flight. And because I am the third, and one of our instructor pilots is home on furlough, I will be focusing on aircraft maintenance for our first couple months here in Sentani. Though a bit of a bummer when I thought I would be jumping into an airplane very soon, it is actually a very good thing. I will be more thoroughly equipped with the knowledge and experience I need when it's time to do maintenance and inspections on the field. And soon enough, it will be time for me to jump in the airplane!

Wow!  We are safe and sound here in Sentani, Papua.  Thank you to all of you who prayed for us on the overnight journey to get here.  It was very obvious to us that you were praying!  We started the night at 7 pm, flying from Semarang to Jakarta.  Then we caught our long 7 hour flight to Jayapura/Sentani that left Jakarta at 9:30 PM.  The flight had two stops at other islands in Indonesia before getting to Jayapura.  So on that first flight, Elise fell asleep (and she slept  right on through till we landed in Jayapura at 7:30 am...we had to wake her up!).  Ian also fell asleep on that flight.  So as we descended to land at the first stop, Heather's head had a lot of pressure because of congestion!  Fortunately I was able to get off there and find some de-congestant medicine, and on the remaining two landings it didnt hurt her as bad. Ian only woke up for the first landing and was up about an hour....other than that he slept the whole flight too.  Also, it never seemed to occur to him that he could get out of our laps and walk around...he was happy sitting in our laps and was really good, he didnt cry much at all.  Again....thanks for your prayers!  So when we landed in Sentani/Jayapura at 7:30 AM, there was a group of several MAF staff here that greeted us and helped us with our bags.  We walked across the street at the airport to our new duplex that we will be in for the next several months (which we love).  Our first day we met many of our new friends here.  We also hung out with our old friends, the Geaslens and Perezes who were with us in Salatiga (we're really excited theyre here).  The Perez's also have two of Elise's good friends, Reece and Joe.  It was special yesterday when Elise got to see Reece and Joe again.  Oh yeah, and there's a huge playground across the grass from our front door!  And Reece and Joe live on the other side of it!  So Elise played a bunch yesterday with them.  MAF people took care of us all day, providing meals and showing us around.  We have a "go-to" couple (their names are David and Natalie Holsten).  They are fairly new here too, but they spent a decade before this on the island of Tarakan, Indonesia.  They drove us around town yesterday and showed us some of the main places we'll need to know.  A nice couple named Darren and Jana had us over for dinner last night.  They've been here for a long time, and they live "up the hill" from here.  The kids especially loved it because they had a puppy, snakes, and a baby crocodile!
So we slept a bunch yesterday too, and we get a few days to settle in before we start orientation here.

Some little things about Papua so far....

I've noticed that living in Java teaches you to smile and nod your head at just about everybody you walk by.  It's not exactly the same here.  Alot of people just look back at you like "who are you?"  However some folks do return the smile.

I borrowed a motorbike to go to the ATM.  On the way home, a Papuan guy pulled up next to me (at full speed on the street) and wanted me to give him a high five.  So I gave a guy a high five while motorbiking down the street.  That would never happen in Java!

Thanks again for the prayers!

Moving! And picture re-post

Wow....we leave for Papua in two days!  It's been a whirlwind here.  One thing we didn't think about a whole lot was how hard it is going to be to say goodbye to some of the folks we've gotten to know this past year here in Java.  We've had some hard goodbyes already, and have been blessed by the people who we've come to know and love....and who in turn have loved us and our kids!

So what's in store for us, moving to Papua.  Well obviously we'll know a lot more about that here soon.  Fortunately we've had a few friends (from here in language school in Java) move out there ahead of us.  We will be living on an MAF base there with them initially.  We are very glad that those friends of ours are there!  What a blessing.  And the things they have told us have helped put us at ease.

What are some differences between Java and Papua?  Believe it or not, Java is quite modern compared to Papua.  It really feels like this time we are moving to "the end of the earth" in a way.  We learned not long after moving to Java that, though a very different culture, it wasn't back woods by any standards!  But now we are moving away from access to some of the things we've been able to cling to here that remind us of home(one small example is fresh milk.....powdered only starting now!)  Believe it or not, Papua, though part of Indonesia, is as far away as LA from Washington DC.

Also though both provinces use the language of Indonesian (as well as their respective local languages) the cultures have some very different aspects.  We have some language school friends that have visited Papua briefly and came back saying that there are some major differences!  One example is Papuans tend to be quite direct and tell you what they are thinking, whereas Javanese people are usually the opposite, always smiling at you and never telling you directly if they have some sort of issue with you.

So we've packed up our house, now we're packing and weighing our bags.  Our flight will be an all night flight that lands on a few different islands before it makes it to Papua.  (We dont know how this is going to work out with Ian as a lap baby on the flight....Ian is a very active 15 month old toddler who definitely wants nothing to do with being a lap baby!).  Prayers appreciated.

When we get to Papua, there's a couple there that volunteered to show us around for a couple days and help us get oriented .  Then on Wednesday I will be reporting to the hangar to work for MAF for the first time!!  Our lives will radically change, as Heather is at home with the kids every day, and I am at work flying and maintaining all day.  (Maybe that's a radical change towards a more "normal" flow of life!).

The other day I posted a picture album of Grandma Ellen, Grandpa Dave and Holly's visit last month.  For some reason only several of those pictures ended up on the album.  I got the rest of them to download.  So for any family members who actually want to see all 100 or so of these pictures, "silakan"  which is Indonesian for "knock yourself out!".

I also made an album a few weeks ago that I never put on here.  Over a month ago we had a "summer break" from language school that was two weeks long.  Heather and I and the kids thorougly enjoyed that, it was a great chance to get out and see some other parts of central Java.  So here's some pics from the "summer break!"....

Busy times around here!  We move to Papua in one week.  Yesterday afternoon, to give Heather a few moments of peace and quiet i the house I set out with the kids on a walk.  As we were going we heard a lot of noise coming from down this little alley.  So we headed down there and were greeted by this random scene:

Those kids looked like they were having a blast drumming!  Somebody said they were practicing for August 17th, the Indonesian Independance Day.  Right now, during the month of Ramadan, some of them, if I understand right, play every night.  According to our friends who live close to this place, they are greeted by a drum line every night that passes by their house at 2:30 in the morning!  Yes that is right, I said 2:30 in the morning.  We only live a quarter mile away from them, but we have yet to have a drum line pass in front of our house yet at two AM (unless we have just slept through it!)

Last week Heather's mom Ellen, Stepdad Dave, and sister Holly went back to the US. We had a great time with them! Here's a bunch of pics from their visit....