Sorry, it's long...

Ok. Time to calm down. You know when you write a blog post, or reply to someone, or an informative letter or something and you do a really smooth job of it? When it sounds great, and you’re beginning to think you’re a literary genius? But then something happens and your time and effort goes down the toilet, and you really can’t be bothered replicating for the second time, and so your next piece is facts, essentials, and half bottomed (I couldn’t bring myself to write the ‘A’ word, even though I have no problem saying it… Weird.) So feel free to make up your own story to my facts. I’m a little disheartened that even here, in Singapore, the computer crashed mid-way through typing my blog. It happened twice in Indonesia before I started writing as a word document and then cutting and pasting, but now that it’s happened here – with good internet – the only explanation is that Blogger.com hates me. But luckily I don’t take it to heart and I’m actually ok with that. There are more important things to concern myself with while in the tropics – such as how I am doomed to have fluffy frizzy hair. Always. Even with product (yes – expensive salon product), and even using GHD hair straighteners… Yep, doomed. Oh, and air conditioning – hate it. Dries you up and means you always have to wear long pants and a cardigan – everywhere!!! Urgh! I finally live in a country of perpetual summer and have to dress like it’s perpetual Autumn…  So, like I said – there are way more important things to concern myself with.

So. Singapore. Again. That sounds like I'm complaining- but I'm really not. Just setting the stage, adjusting the lights, and getting you in the right frame of mind to hopefully enjoy this prose. (Is anybody else reminded of our yr 12 English exams when you read the word 'prose'?)

I'm in Singapore because in order to get a new visa for Indonesia I have to leave the country. Singapore is good because it's close, it's civilised, it's got a wide variety of cheap, yummy food, and there are so many shopping malls that there's something new to see every day at the top of every train station. And the train transport is so cheap and efficient that you feel like you're getting special treatment from the train service!
I am currently sitting in my hostel resting my feet due to all the walking I've been doing! Most everything is trainable except for the Indonesian Embassy - the only reason I'm here mind you. That's about a 10 minute walk from the closest bus. That's not a bad walk in itself -it's more the hours of walking the shopping centres that kills the feet! So I've given myself a compulsory day off. Time for a blog catch up!

Ok. So here's the latest school news. A few weeks ago we had a new teacher arrive to teach the prep class of kids. She's an Indonesian teacher and has really enjoyed living on the base and teaching the kids. For me, this is a wonderful relief! Prior to Julie arriving I had 26 children ranging from 5yrs old to 13yrs old. For anyone who knows kids, you can only imagine what that's like! So this new separate class meant that 7 of my youngest were moved to another classroom and now I had less of a gap academically, and the younger children were getting teaching to their level too. This was truly an answer to prayer! A huge load of stress was lifted and now I could focus on the kids in my grade 1 class.
And now they're flying! I have children reading and understanding English beginner readers - which I wasn't sure if that was going to happen in my time here! I am teaching predominantly in English now - pretty much no translation - and the children are beginning to write sentences in English about various topics! I was pretty sure that was not going to happen... There are, of course, several who are more behind than the others, and there are some that are more advanced - but it's super exciting to see what they're learning and how far they've come!Singapore this time round has been nice. It’s always a good getaway for me. Like complulsory school holidays. Because unlike most other teachers, I have to live with my kids.  They’re generally ok though. They know when it’s ok to annoy teacher and when it’s time to go. (I’ve trained them well!) The kids are learning well – they’re writing and reading simple English now which is super exciting because I wasn’t sure if they’d get that far while I was teaching them. They started so slow with no English, but now they’re memorizing spelling patterns, and learning facts about different topics and learning maths all in English! The amazing thing is that when they learn about a new topic – they have to learn all those new English words too. They’re really little superstars! I’m going to miss them when I go! 

When I get back from Singapore I have 2.5 months left of teaching in Indonesia before I return to Melbourne and if time continues at its present rate – it’s going to fly by!!  One year is almost complete! After that I have a couple of months in Melbourne and then in September I’m going to Redding, California to study 1 year at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. It’s funny because I always said I didn’t want to go to America, but since I’ve been in Indonesia I have met some fantastic Americans who have helped me warm up to the idea of living in the states. Plus, after losing 8kg in Indonesia I need a get fat quick scheme – America here I come!!

Not a lot has happened since the last blog post. There haven’t really been any big adventures or near death experiences (well, none out of the ordinary) but I thought I’d catch you all up on some of the interesting (or not, depending on your interests) facts about staying in Halmahera.

One thing that strikes me as crazy is that many of the kids wear flannelette pyjamas to bed. In the tropics. Tops and bottoms. Most Aussies struggle to sleep un-airconditioned and these kids are sleeping in flannelette…

My most favourite smell in the whole world is a grape vine outside the Scarborough’s house. At nights it releases this most perfect fragrance. It is difficult to sum up this aroma with words, but it’s like, um (2 mins later), so fresh (mmm boring word – told you it was difficult), like if you can smell this fragrance in its natural surrounding then you know that somehow, everything bad will not be so bad, because if God placed a scent such as this, purely to be enjoyed, then how much more does He care about the other things in our life that need help. But it’s not the kind of fragrance that could be captured and replicated (well – they tried – it’s called grape flavor hubba bubba). But if we’re comparing Hubba Bubba to this – it’s like the HB is a kidney stone and this essence is a diamond. Wow! And the funny thing is – if you haven’t inhaled this sweet fragrance, then you will definitely think I’m mad and have lost the plot. But the truth is – if you haven’t smelt it – you haven’t lived.

Ok… spent way too many words on the grape vine… sorry. On a completely opposite and slightly more revolting note – I watched them butcher a steer. From the almost-start. I didn’t want to watch the slitting of the throat so I arrived fashionably late for the butchering ceremony. Cows have HUGE guts!! 4 stomachs – and all of them big in themselves. I was surprised at how not bad it smelt while they were chopping. I was also surprised how I could so easily watch. I was surprised more at how easily I could eat the meat after seeing its original owner. In fact I was more surprised at how people CAN’T eat meat after seeing its original owner. But then I’ve never really been an animal lover – and I’m pretty sure they can’t feel anything when they’re dead, right? Ha! So thank you mister steer for providing a welcome change from rice and vegies. Your memory will be honoured in my iPhone (thought I’d better not post the pics for those of you who might not be as fascinated as me…)

Oooh!! A couple of other cool things. I killed a snake! Woohoo, I just received the jungle Jane award. The funny thing was, I hit it several times but it was during school time and had to go back to teach, so I left the snake still wriggling and wasn’t sure it was dead (cos the head was still on). So I put a rock on top to make sure it couldn’t get away if it was still alive. Later, after school I went back to check it was dead but it was gone! I was positive that I couldn’t have done that much of a hack job, and ended up finding out that one of the kids had already grabbed it and taken it to the rubbish heap. There was snake offered as a meal at Steve and Naomi’s wedding – but that one was a lot bigger and already lost its head.

The storms here are pretty ferocious. Not in terms of wind, but the thunder cracks so loud sometimes that you actually feel scared!! It’s weird, cos I don’t scare easy and I know it’s just thunder – but it’s like my body has a mind of its own and gets scared even when my brain isn’t allowing it. The cool thing, however, about the lightning is that occasionally there is a cloudless night with stars out, but in the distance on the horizon there are huge clouds and inside these clouds is where the lightning happens! If I had the right camera I could get the most amazing photos. It’s like the cloud is housing the lightning. There’s no thunder. And the whole cloud lights up as if God is striking a match inside the cloud then the wind blows it out. It is phenomenal to watch.

Ew. Something else. I’m not sure how many of you have heard the rumor that spiders travel in 2’s. Well usually that’s true here. The trouble is that they’re huge! Which generally means if I only see one, I’m a nervous wreck til the 2^nd one is found… Yuck! One time we found 1 huge one and sprayed it only to discover the mummy and baby one running out too… GROSS!! I know they’re not poisonous, but they have 8, hairy legs that all move on their own accord… Ew. They’re not the only creepies too. You can’t leave any food out anywhere! There are ants that come within 5-15 mins depending on where you are and they swarm! One minute you put your chocolate down on the desk, and 5 mins later it’s protein enriched and moving… Ants are not so bad cos they’re pretty clean, but when they walk all over you it’s just annoying.

Here’s a handy tip I learned too. If you made the mistake of buying bedsheets (and I imagine this will work on other items too) that pill, I have found an inexpensive fix for it. Use a shaver. Shave those buggers right off! At first I used a sharp knife but had to be extra careful that the point didn’t cut into the fabric. Then – I don’t remember the exact moment, but I decided to use a shaver and have never looked back!!

Also, it’s funny that people in Halmahera don’t wear sunglasses. But they see people who do like celebrities. I could hang out at the base wearing standard casual clothes and no one would notice. But if I wear a pair of sunnies – everyone notices and comments and wants to try them on and take photos on their mobiles. It’s THE funniest thing! And then when you go in to the town – sunnies or not – the people all stare like you’re famous! They stop what they’re doing and just watch. No way could you get away with picking a sneaky wedgie… someone would definitely see. At first I hated it, now I tolerate it because it’s not going to change any time soon. And I know now that I don’t want to be famous if this is what it’s like.

I’ll finish with a cute story illustrating lost in translation. We have had a family visiting with 3 children, Tasmin, Darcy and Toby and on the day they arrived they were helping set up for Tessa’s birthday but got separated from Esther. So Esther asked one of her teenage girls to look for Darcy and Toby who got lost on the footpath. The only problem was the Merna hadn’t yet met Toby and Darcy and in Indonesian ‘dasi’ (means a tie (you wear)) and ‘topi’ (means hat) sound like the boys’ names. So Merna was so confused looking for a tie and a hat somewhere on the footpath until she was enlightened to the boys and their names!!  That was particularly funny for me – you probably had to be there and understand Indonesian, but there you have it – a latest update from me. Thank you for reading this far. I have also included a selection of photos just for those of you more visually inclined.

Thank you to all of those who have contributed to this journey through provision of funds, prayers, visiting and practical advice!

Can’t wait to see you all in person!

Xoxo Aimee

 The dock where we caught our speed boat once. Although much of the city is dirty like this. The toilet for 'number 1s' goes straight into the bay.

 The view from the end of the pier. Too bad the sun's not out - doesn't usually look this dreary.

 This was an old Japanese war ship from WWII. They had a military base near Kao and not sure how this sank, but it's here, and we snorkeled it. I've watched too many movies and was afraid I was going to die the whole time. If not by a shark, then by some mega sized sea urchins, or an octopus or something equally as deadly/scary. I'm not sure why, but the ocean is soooo much scarier than the forest.

 

 Definitely not me. I had my fill of tall jumps at the waterfall. The drop is way too long to be enjoyed. But good on you Cassie Allison!!! A champ in my eyes!

 Right when the locals saw us coming a whole bunch of kids came out to the ship too and just shadowed us the whole way. Too bad the underwater views were not that clear.

 Bonnie and Cassie's leaving bonfire. The two girls on the left are in my class. The one at the front is 9 and couldn't read or write Indonesian or English at the start of the year. Now she can read and write Indonesian and is learning English quickly! So encouraging!

 Cassie and me with some of the teenaged girls.

 The local waterfall. The best place to wash your hair cos the waterfall washes all the conditioner out real well and you get a head massage at the same time. (In saying that - I've only been there once, but the rest go quite often - I just never hear about going til they've come back, ha ha!)

 My school girls sitting up properly and responsibly at the party (as opposed to running around like headless chooks like the boys)

 I was asked the other day what kind of toys the kids play with here - rain is definitely one of them!

We had a wedding in our main meeting hall and they decorated it to the nines. 

 

 This is a wall of speakers. Yes, every box is a speaker. They hire these out for functions. If you really want to impress your neighbours then you hire 3 of these walls, and encroach on to road space and put up a giant marquee in the middle of the road for all your guests to sit and eat under while becoming more and more deaf from the 3 walls of speakers.

 The girls in all their finery for the wedding. Aw, such cuties! (BTW they're not in the wedding party - this is normal fancy garb)

 The two girls in red were in the bridal party. They hire the dresses - too bad if they don't fit properly. Even the Bride's dress is hired.

 This hut used to be a restaurant, but for whatever reason now it's not, but we were able to bring our picnic lunch and eat it there. It's nice cos you need to take a raft to get there which meant that the hordes of followers couldn't swamp us on the floating boat. The water is so nice to swim in too! This is one of my favourite places in Halmahera so far.

 Me and some of the kiddies. Man I love em.

 Ah, the teenage boys, same in every nation, *cough* posers!

The experience continues!

Yep. I spewed. I actually can’t remember the last time I vomited. And I was definitely eating my thoughts – as I never thought I’d spew on a boat. I love boat travel. I secretly thought that those who couldn’t hold their own on a boat were a little weak. Like I said – eating my words… To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as I imagined. I felt super car sick and after I looked up out of the window and tried to talk myself out of the inevitable I just figured it would be easier to let it all out. Don’t worry – that’s enough detail for most people. Sorry to mention it, but it was such a momentous occasion in my life that I wanted to remember it. And, to continue with the honesty, this boat ride was not like any I expected or like any I would wish on anyone for as long as we had to endure it!

We left the dock earlyish on Saturday morning. Now I say earlyish because it may have been early at the time – but we had to wait over an hour for our pre-arranged boat man to arrive. Island time, or rubber time abounds in this island. It’s one of the things I have trouble adjusting to peacefully. Well, it’s usually ok so long as I don’t have to wake up early for it. Like this Saturday morning. Like 4.30am early. Dang! The ironic thing is I don’t remember ever asking God for patience so I’m not quite sure why He called me to this country… Ha! So it’s 8 something AM and we leave in a 3 motor powered speed boat to begin our 1.5 hour ride to this island paradise. It starts ok and I’m at the front of the boat, loving it, but then the wind and rain pick up and start coming through the hatch and I’m not ready to get wet just yet. So I move to the back – which happens to be a very good move!! In no time the wind picks up and the waves start up! We’re speeding along in this boat and every wave that we hit my stomach hits the floor! Now for this first experience this was great fun!! People go on rides like this in theme parks. My butt would be lifted off the seat at times – that’s how fast we were going over these waves. But then the fun 10 minutes turned into a horrendous one hour and that’s the point where my body just had enough! But soon after that, the water turned smooth again and we were allowed to exit the boat and go to the roof or stand on the side and watch as we arrived at Dodola.



 Part of the view at the dock.

Not too bad for an early morning with Kahli (left) and Cassie (right)

David (from USA) and Ingunn (Norway) and their little few month old Normerican in Ingunn's belly!!

 Having a go at creating a cool pic of the jetty. Our boat is the blue and white one close to the jettyon the right hand side.

 Sitting on the roof as we approach the island (though this island is the one we walk to from Dodola)

Ok - so this totally doesn't do the rough seas justice. It was super crazy - like people getting thrown out of seats crazy!

I’d love to describe to you the majestic moment when we rounded on this island. The way the morning sun glinted off the glass-like water; the beautiful coconut trees silhouetted by the sun; the white, fine sand without a footprint on it… Well, the sand comment is valid, but it was still dark with the rain continuing and for some strange reason there were pine-style trees instead of coconuts. But the place still held a charm. I had to imagine the beauty that would be present with the sun out in full force. This place wasn’t littered with rubbish either like most beaches.

For ages we sat around under this shelter – me trying to get warm – sharing stories, Matt and Dave tried to take sharpened sticks spear fishing (to no avail despite the big number of fish) and Naomi and Steve went off to have romantic photos to put on their wedding invites. The rain stayed with us until about 2.30pm and then slowly the sun came out. We explored the island that we were able to walk to across a sandbar that was visible when the tide was out. This little island could probably be walked around non-stop in about 20 mins.  There were heaps of beautiful shells and adorable hermit crabs. (I’m not sure what it is about hermit crabs but they are sooo cute and entertaining!) We finished up at about 5pm with the sun deciding to make an appearance at our departure. The trip back was much more pleasant than the arrival and we made good time back in time for dinner and a yummy restaurant where it is possible to get delicious-not-spicy food (oh how few and far between those times are!). It was a great opportunity to spend time with some great friends who will soon be leaving. Matt and Kahli have been here for 2 months and Kahli was my room mate for that time. She did some wonderful things with the kindergarten and I really enjoyed spending time with her the past weeks. Matt has a great grasp on the language and has spurred me to pick it up more in these last months I’m here for. The both of them have been a huge source of strength and companionship for me.

David and Ingunn are an American/Norwegian couple who have been here about 3 months or maybe more and have also had a huge impact on me during their time here. We’ve had heaps of conversations that have drawn out interesting ideas in theology and life and it’s been great to have other cultural backgrounds to really delve into my beliefs and assess whether they are from the Kingdom of Heaven or from Australia. I’ve truly treasured my time with all of these people and this was a lovely way to spend some last time with them.

One of the beaches here

 Some more on the beach

 Me and Kahli

 Just gorgeous when the sun decides to come out!

Bonnie and Cassie and Caleb are here from Careforce as well and some good things are happening. We took the youth kids out for an overnight stay at an island and had an absolute blast of a time!! Great things happened and the kids are alive with a passion that only has one origination. There’s been a huge shift in their focus and that’s so encouraging for us to see it unfold. The kids are fantastic! Now that I’m halfway through, I sometimes think ahead to June and wonder how hard it will be to leave these kids. But then I remember that I was called here for a season, and like every part of ministry, those seasons come and go, and as long as we’re working for something more permanent, then the time will come again where we will all meet and share our stories. Good things are happening!

I also want to mention Justin and Leanne and Bill from Warragul, Victoria. Leanne is the Australian representative of our organisation and she is doing a fantastic job! It is rare to come across someone with the right amount of tact yet the right amount of force and Leanne was able to support and mentor me in my teaching and in my day-to-day life very effectively! Thank you Leanne! Her husband, Bill, spent nearly all of 2 weeks in our little staff room making up these resource centres which involved an incredible amount of cutting, laminating and more cutting. Because of that, my life is so much easier to plan for in terms of teaching activities and resources. I’m not sure I could ever express my thanks to Bill enough, and I know subsequent teachers will appreciate all he’s done as well. Justin, you came bearing gifts from a range of schools and giving me tools to more effectively teach literacy. You encouraged me and strengthened me and were able to give me ideas and strategies I hadn’t yet thought of. I believe that because of your input I won’t reach the same stress levels of not knowing what to do or how to do it, and that means the kids will get the best education possible from me – I wish there were other words, but thank you!

I’ve also included in here some random snippets of photos of interesting daily life stuff here in Indonesia to help you all get a bit more of a visual of the area I live in.

I hope you enjoyed my little spiel. I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Much love and many thoughts

Aimee

Our local airport... Ha! Definitely not international...

Hello tiny little plane. That's why we're only allowed 15kg luggage each...

A typical view of the front yards. The mums all get out and sweep the ground every day which I assume keeps the grass from growing back. If this wasn't during school hours then the kids would all be out playing. The little covered shelf area is sometimes used when the owners have stuff to sell and they'll put it out on the shelf for people to buy.

The more garish the paint on your house, the cooler I think. The flag out the front was out to celebrate Christmas. This is one of the brighter houses I've seen. Usually they're more of a pastel based colour.

Sorry for the bad shot but this was taken while driving - these are the public transport buses and they're all over the show. For the 55 minute ride from town to our base it costs 10,000 rupia (about $1.10) - but you have to put up with sharing with any number of people and their belongings and usually the music is blaring so loud you can't hear yourself think, and you pray to God that the driver can still see through all the paraphernalia on his dashboard and hanging from his rear-view mirror...

Singapore

Ok. So I'm on my last night in Singapore and I'm in the hostel on my own eating porrige for dinner for a very good reason! For starters, I have eaten so many different types of food over the last 5 days that the thought of going out and getting some sort of Asian cuisine was too much for my poor stomach that has been eating white rice and fish twice a day for the last 5 months! And I didn't want to break into my chocolate just yet, so the only other food I have is porrige. Well, I also ate my last banana. As to why I'm on my own - it's actually a lot less tragic than it sounds. Most people have already left, or gone out for the night. There's only one other guy and me in our room of 10 beds. It was actually funny, cos last night due to the placement of his bunk compared to mine I thought that I had the room to myself, so when I got home after dinner with some friends, I was getting into my pyjamas - luckily not the full strip - but pants at least... Lets just say thank goodness I have the bed space behind a locker, and I can't remember getting under the covers so quick in my life (other than when you're mucking around at night as a kid and your mum comes in...)
Anyway.
Sngapore. I really love it. Here are the reasons.
It's not too expensive.
It's easy to get around and transport is inexpensive.
It's very clean (except for the smokers).
Everybody speaks English.
There are probably over 100 malls. There are 38 on one street!
You can getnany food you like.
So basically, and don't get me wrong, I love Indonesia, but this trip to Singapore was really a trip to somewhere that is very much not Halmahera. Which is exactly what I wasn needing!

This place is one of of my favourites so far. Maybe it's a case of right place right time, or maybe it's all of the above points, but I've been to a few cities in Europe that wouldn't compare to Singapore. The train system is excellent for starters. The longest I have had to wait for a train here is 4 minutes. At night, day, weekend, any time. You never have to run for a train, or plan your day around timetables. It's unbelioevably convenient. And while we're on convenient - I was at a church here with 20,000 members, of which there were probably 8,000 in attendanc that morning. For communion, they have prepackaged biscuits sealed in on top of the juice cup. You get one on the way in to the church. Bam. Communion to 8,000 people in one hit. Faaantastic!

Part of China Town where I was staying. (Looks a lot prettier at night with the lanterns on, but photos turn out rubbish.)

Like I said, night photos don't turn out so great, but this is China Town and my hostel is immediately on the left behind the shops.

One of the shops under my hostel - souvenirs galore!!

There are an infinite number of reasons for the names of these biscuits... I was just happy to see them on the shelf next to each other.

Bam. Biscuit and juice in one clean package!

I think the other factastic thing about Singapore is that my old high school friend, Ellen, and her husband, Agung, live there with their 3 year old son, Dylan. So, instead of visiting some of the supposed attractions for tourists, I spent a lot of time hanging out with them and they spoiled me rotten! Every meal was a delicious experience and the company was great! I always said I hated traveling alone - and that was before I had even tried it! But now I knew it. I would seriously prefer hanging out with a friend over seeing some sights in a country on my own. I went down for a walk to the river front to see this famous 'merlion' ( for those who don't know - this is a lion with a mermaid tail.) Yeah, ok. It was pretty, with a the lights on and the pretty bridge etc, but I had no one to share it with. I took a couple of photos, but they're not really like the real thing. So after the cursory photos, I turned around and came back. Because there's no point hanging out somewhere out of tourist obligation - I'm much too old to be worrying about that sort of thing! All of that story was to inform you all that I have learned some interesting things about myself!

The night lights on the river - Singapore really shines at night (pun most definitely intended!)

Singapore's pride and joy, the Merlion (and for those of you who don't get it, it's a lion crossed with a mer-tail...) I suppose every country needs its Uluru...

Out for dinner with eyes glinting at the impending meal!

Ok, so I don't remember feeling this starved but I guess the camera captured my hidden emotions... Mmm real food!!!

Me, Ellen and Agung out to dinner (thanks guys!!)

At Christmas time the fairy lights are out all over the show. This was one set all along the entrance to one of the malls. (Once again, the photo doesn't do it justice...)

Something else I am impressed with here is how friendly all the people are. And not only the ones trying to sell you something! I've asked many a person for directions and even if they don't know, they try and point me to someone who does know. One night I was out and asked for help and this lady didn't know and said I should ask this teenager who was walking along. He had earphones in so I didn't expect much, but to my surprise he took his headphones out, put them in his pocket, told me he was meeting friends on the way and would walk me half way. And that's not all, he even made intelligent conversation along the way! I was very impressed and decided my kids are doing high school in Singapore!!

If you like natural beauty, impressive landscapes, detailed and eventful history, old architecture and a bit left of centre - then don't come to Singapore - you will be disappointed. But for a break from all of the above things and the added convenience of no flies or mosquitoes - then book a flight to Singapore. I feel fully refreshed, rejuvenated, revitalised and any other awesome re- word you can think of and will leave this place knowing and experiencing that I don't need to be in a stressful situation, or on a mission or anything more than usual to hear from God, to refocus, to redirect and go back to my place of calling knowing I'm safe in God's hands. This trip has turned out to be so much more than just renewing my visa.

Aimee

 And here are some random snippets of photo-opportunity goodness!!!

At this stage I decided that if durians weren't allowed on the trains, then they definitely weren't allowed in my stomach. Needless to say I have tasted durian, and don't feel the need to do so again. It kinda tastes like fermented onions. And I didn't even eat the flesh - I just licked it... Sorry all you durian lovers - it's just not going to happen!!

My funky, cozy hostel. To be honest, the colours were a little bit much, but it was a good location with a good feel!

Dried bananas? I don't understand who could want one of these - unless you were blind...

A taste of home. It's always cool when you find local products in a foreign country!!

You wouldn't believe my surprise to see that my Mum had met me on one of the trains! Oh the joys of camera phones! She didn't suspect a thing!!

Surviving the active volcano and 10m waterfall!!!

It’s been a long time since I made a stupid call. And it hurt. I was going to go on a trip to the volcano with the last people that went, but I was pretty sick and didn’t want to go on a 5-6hr hike and stay overnight with a head and face full of snot. So I backed out looking forward to the opportunity to go with the Careforce team. It was set. I was going. Then as the team was arriving I was in the middle of another horrible cold. But I was determined! I was taking antibiotics to try to get this thing kicked before the volcano weekend loomed! It didn’t seem to be abating, but I still had faith (? there turns out to be a fine line between faith and stupidity…) The day arrived – I had borrowed a proper pack from David and Inggun (a couple who were, at that time, considering where in Indonesia they would like to stay and work amongst the people. They will be coming back here in a week or so!! Yay!!) and in it I had a sleeping bag and an inflatable mattress, spare clothes, a small pillow and food. People laughed at me cos I had a big bag, but I made the executive decision that I would rather have a bigger ergonomic bag, than a smaller uncomfortable one. I’m not sure now if I made the right choice, but it’s one I made.

We drove about 2 hours to the place at the bottom of the mountain and then started our walk in. Already I was feeling it. My nose was running and my sinuses were hurting as well as feeling the heat a whole lot more than usual and carrying a big pack. But, I’m a second-half girl – usually it takes me between half and 1 hour to really get going so I didn’t think much about it. Until 1 hour in we were climbing up an almost vertical piece of mountainside. Then it really kicked in! This was the moment I realised I had made a dumb call and was feeling like a right fool.  Here I am. Reasonably fit, not unaccustomed to exercise and activity, struggling 1 hour into a 5.5hr walk. I was dizzy, my ears were ringing, my nose wouldn’t stop running and my heart was beating faster than I ever remember and I feel like rubbish. Thankfully Brett offered to swap bags with me for a bit and this made things more bearable. But I really think it was the grace of God that saved me. At lunch time – about 1.5hours into the walk we ate our dry noodles and I took a panadol, and spared a moment to confess my stubbornness and pride and asked God to help me get through this walk – we couldn’t turn back. Immediately after lunch the dizziness passed, my ears stopped ringing and my heart and breath returned to normal. I took my bag back from Brett and carried on. My nose was still running, but all the other symptoms cleared away and stayed away for the rest of the journey. My ears were not popping though and that was painful as we climbed in altitude, but when I would ask God to clear them, I would be halfway through asking Him to pop them when they would pop! Not just once, but at least 7 times throughout the journey. It’s a funny thought, because of all the areas of God coming in and touching my life, I never thought I would feel so close by him popping my ears!!

Finally we reached the top of the mountain and set up camp at the bottom of the volcano. It would still be about 1.5 hours up to the tip of the cone, but we would do that early in the morning the next day. After 5.5 hours of hiking with a pack (something I’ve never done before!) we were so exhausted! We explored the area a bit, checked out the sinking sand/mud stuff in the pools that had gathered when it rained. We had some dinner then prepared for bed. But just as we were getting into bed it started to rain. Which wouldn’t be a problem if the tent wasn’t leaky! It started running into our tent! And coming up under the floor! All us girls were freaking out at the prospect of sleeping in pools of water… We ran into the boys’ tent, but there were already 10 ppl there in about a 8man tent, and if you know tent sizes, an 8 man tent is probably comfortable for 6 men!! And I think the non-Australian boys were very surprised when I poked my head in and said we’re coming in!! ha ha! I do have to mention that they were drinking beer. Not for any other reason than WHY would you bring beer on a hike1?! Maybe it’s normal. I don’t know. But it’s definitely one of the more amusing moments I’ve had here. Finally the rain stopped and we went back to our swimming pool to sleep. It was at this moment that I was so grateful that I lugged an air bed and sleeping bag and pillow up the mountain because now, in our wet tent, I was going to be able to sleep dry because I was raised off the ground! Thank you David and Inggun! They had also lent me a waterproof jacket that I slept in in case it rained again. About 3 hours after I fell asleep (and that’s a VERY loose term…) there was that awful sensation that no girl wants after she’s warm in bed… Because it was raining when I went to bed, there was no nightly toilet routine and there was no way I was going to be able to sleep through til morning on this bladder. So I tried to get out without too much fuss, but lost my balance on the way out and freaked Kelly out to the max when I put my hand on her!! Man, it was funny for me – not so much for her, but good in the end cos she was keen for a toilet too! So armed with tissue paper and a torch we prepared to go bush – except that there weren’t any leaves on the bushes so cover was scarce – and the terrain was so flat there was no hiding! Some of the Indonesian guys were still awake and outside and all I could think of was if they walk this way there’s no way they could miss my lilly white rear end shining in the moonlight, ha ha! You really have to look on the bright side for moments like this!

After our little stop we went to check out what the guys were up to and they had cooked some rice, so, being a little peckish after a restless sleep we ate some of the rice, which was a strange mix of being revolting, but given the circumstances and our other options, or maybe just because it was warm, it was strangely comforting. After our tummies were fed we tried to get a bit more sleep before the 4am wake up call. This was a bit of an adventure because we were scrambling up rocks and silty paths in the dark, but if we didn’t use a torch the moon was bright enough to lead the way. After being so blindingly hot the day before, it was lovely to walk in the dark and not even break a sweat. As we got up to the top of the volcano it was just black sandy, silty stuff. Right up at the cone was the same and we had to lie down on our stomachs to disperse our weight so the edge wouldn’t crumble and we fall in to the abyss.

It was amazing and frightening at the same time! The roaring was like a huge furnace mixed with incredibly loud thunder! Inside the smoke that was ballooning out of the fire vent was lightning! All night we had seen flashing outside our tent, but I had no idea it was coming from the smoke cloud of the volcano. It was definitely something that I never imagined I would see. When we would watch volcano documentaries at school I would wonder what kind of idiots would go to these places and mess with Murphy’s law – and now I was one of them. The sunrise was stunning but in a totally unecpected way, because the landscape was so barren – it’s hard to imagine that barrenness is beautiful, and my picture doesn’t even come close, I know, but I still think it’s beautiful. You can never be bored looking at the myriad of landscapes that God chose to give us.

The hike back was so much easier. Except for the badly bruised shoulders! I ended up swapping bags with on of the fit young lads who came with us and even then my shoulders were continuously aching. But with the knowledge that halfway was well behind us it was a lot easier for me. I still needed to ask God to pop my ears, but He is faithful and continued to do so. Our problem, though, was running out of water early on the return trip. We packed what the list said, and I had a bit more than the others, but the Aussies struggled on the water front. About 2/3 of the way through the return trip we managed to ask some hunters to pick us some young coconuts so we could drink the insides. The flesh was a welcome change to 2 minute noodles too! When we finally reached the town we left our car in we went to bathe in a river. It was such a cool place where all the women were doing their washing and chatting. I’m really sorry I don’t have a photo of it! When Brett got in he said it was hot, but I thought he meant it was hot but not cold, as in the same temperature of water in lakes and oceans here in Indonesia. But when I put my foot it – it was really hot! Like, almost hotter than a comfortable bath temperature. But I was so wet and sticky that I didn’t care and got in! And it’s the weirdest sensation to have your body temp so hot and getting into hot water, but after a few seconds, it was really nice! The heat didn’t bother me at all, and when we got out it was so much cooler!

So all in all, I made it, in once piece and now that a couple of weeks have passed I have to remind myself how much it hurt, because the pain has faded and now all  that remains are the good memories and I’m afraid that if I don’t remind myself of the pain, then I might be tempted to go again sometime…

My friend Itha and one of my students, Vitro, lying down to peer into the volcano.

The absolutely amazing sunrise over the top of the cano.

Hello big cloud of smoke!! There were the occasional sparks of fire too!

The barren, yet strangely beautiful landscape in the surrounding area.

Looking in with major zoom, that is lava. Wow!

 Sorry for the long one. This one’s a lot shorter! David Hall, and Emily and Peter Krumsieg visited us for a long weekend and I have to say that they are seriously cool people! I had so much fun hanging out with them and skipping school planning to go to the waterfall which was absolutely beautiful! Give me a waterfall over the beach any day! Swimming in fresh water is unbeatable! The pictures totally don’t do it justice… This was a piece of cake after the previous weekend’s hike from hell up the volcano – 2 hours of flat walking = heaven! After we got back we stopped off to get some traditional food from a region called Makassar. It’s a soupy kind of meal where you can choose from liver, heart, lung or standard beef, mmmm. Needless to say I ordered the standard beef. It was surprisingly nice. Not amazing. But definitely stomach able.  So my last 2 weeks have been pretty amazing – definitely still loving life here – the children are learning quickly and the people who visit here are so much fun to be around. Thanks for your prayers and love! It’s less than 8 weeks until Christmas so I will see you all in Melbourne then!

I loved this section of just grass with the mountains in the background and the perfect sky!

Peter is jumping off the waterfall. He's 2.05m tall! All the Indonesians looked like kids compared to him.

The Indonesian guy, Enda, is over 20 years old but looks like a kid, ha ha ha!

One of my friends, Yulisa

The tall one on the left is unnaturally tall for an Indonesian, ha! The other two are amongst the taller half of the population.