Fresh Perspective

It's hard to believe that we fly in 12 hours. Today our visa's were handed to us with exit and re entry permits.  PTL! Everything on the to do list is done. Aubrey's pin is out, with no complications. Bags are packed. Farewells said. We are anxious to go and looking forward to our return. Good bye Papua.  Hello America.  See you in about 50+ hours.....gulp!

It is 3:40 in the morning.  Only a few roosters have started to cook-a-doodle-doo.  By 4ish there will be a whole choir.  Often I can sleep through them, but lately my “to do list” has been growing.  I love how quiet this time of day is for reading/reflection and thinking jobs that don’t need interrupting.  I imagine a week from today I will be already awake and making the final preparations for our departure.  We will leave at 6 a.m. next Thursday a.m.  The trip is a daunting one to say the least.  We will traverse through time zones, that leave me dizzy trying to calculate our flying hours and lay overs.  In Singapore airport we have an 8 hour lay over.  The blessing is we have 2 small motel rooms with hot showers, clean beds to lie down in, and even an indoor swimming pool should we decide to take a dip. So the journey is from Papua to Jakarta, Jakarta to Singapore, Singapore to Tokyo, Tokyo to Detroit, Detroit to Nashville.  A...

Because friends thought that I should not drive my illegal car all the way to JayaPura for immigration, Heidi volunteered.  Heidi is Bob and Jan’s daughter-in-law and has become one of my dear friends here in Papua.  She has checked in with me and prayed for me at some of my “darker” moments.  I asked if she was sure she could give up her day to accompany us, to which she responded, “Oh I am not giving up my whole day, only half.” HA! So at 8:15 Friday morning we were on our way.  By 9:30 we learned that we were ahead of our immigration “make things happen man”.  So we stopped to shop at one of the nicer grocery stores about an hour from here.   Upon arriving at immigration we were greeted with the news that the internet was not working.  And was needed in order to fingerprint us and process everything.   So if we could just be patient.  Well rather then sit in a boring immigration office….we decided to make the best of it. Heidi ...

We Americans are used to thinking about having to deworm our pets, but to deworm our kids (and the parents too) pushes the comfort zone of our American minds.  Here in Papua it is recommended that every 3 to 4 months each family takes worm medicine.  Darron was noting that within several hours of eating he was ravenously hungry again and again.  Shortly after his treatment of worm medicine he noted a long tape worm that had exited his body.  Wrap your mind around that!  So not only do we think about worms in our bodies, but they also LOVE flour.  I try so hard to buy the bags of flour that look worm free.  Inevitably, bags come home with worms.  Usually I will sift the flour if I am suspicious.  But I must admit there are times I am too busy and in the worms must go.  Wrap your mind around that!  So the beans, legumes, seeds, flour, oats, popcorn, cashews (in the stores) can just be crawling with bugs.  I am so looking forward ...

I have to take the time to write a blog about the Post Office in Sentani.  It leaves me shaking my head every time I venture there.  When we hear word that we should expect a package from America then we start dropping in at the post office to check upon it’s possible arrival.  One simply goes to the back room where all the packages are received and are being sorted.  The goods from America are sorted and logged into a book by hand.  Then it appears they are all put into a locked cabinet in the corner.  If  something comes in an envelope it should arrive in about 2 weeks.  If the items are sent in a box, it can take up to 6 months.  Also we pay random prices on packages.  If it is small it may cost very little, but some friends have paid over $30 dollars to claim a package. There is no privacy.  We, the foreigners, are allowed to look through the log book.  If boxes are on the floor we can read labels and rummage through the d...