First Flight in PalangkaRaya

Yesterday, I had the privilege of riding along on my first flight in a float plane and also here in Central Kalimantan.  It was a blast and it is always a great feeling to have months of ground sickness fade away.  Our first flight had us going to a village about 45 minutes north of PKY to pick up a medivac pateint.  (More on that in tomorrow's post.)  Many people were curious to see who the new guy was when we pulled up to the dock.  The man above wanted my picture so I gave him one if he would let me take one as well.  

Life in and on the water in a very new concept to me, a guy from the high desert of Colorado.  It will take some getting used to always being on the water but it looks like a lot of fun.

After we returned from all of our flying for the day, we got all the airplanes up out of the water and onto the safety of the hangar floor since we have a long holiday weekend due to New Year's Day.  I will be back at the hangar on Monday for possibly some more flying.  Happy New Year!!!

Another Day at the "Hangar"

Some people call it the hangar, some call it "the dock."  I guess it all depends on why you need to go there.  Today I spent some more time at our MAF facilities and helped out with a maintenance inspection among other things.  The above picture shows one of our pilots just after he began his takeoff run trying to "get on the step."

When he returned for landing, he once again had to share the river with some other water going vessels.  Tomorrow, I am scheduled to go along on a flight.  I am really looking forward to it, as it will be my first time in a float plane, no doubt an unforgettable experience!

A Tropical Christmas Eve

Last Friday we attended a Christmas Eve service at a nearby church while here in PalangkaRaya.  It was very different from what we are used to but that seems to be par for the course here in Indonesia.

About mid-service (we didn't stay for the whole 4 hours) we had a candle lighting time.  It was a fun experience with the girls.  I think it will be a good memory to look back on these pictures some day and see the glowing faces due to sweat and candle light.

A Different Way to Spend Christmas

Christmas tradition here in Indonesia typically involves visiting your friends and family in their homes throughout the day.  We were invited to spend a little time with some of our Indonesian co-workers while here in PalangkaRaya.  We drove north of the city about 35 minutes to a small village like town to meet with Sugianto and his family (pictured at the top next to the TV).

 While relaxing and chatting in his home, we drew a crowd of neighbor kids to look in on the action.

  

 As we left I took a picture of Sugianto's family along with some of the neighborhood children.  

Now that I am back around airplanes again, what is a good blog post without an aircraft.  Yesterday, Sunday, my co-worker flew to pick up a high level government official and is seen here landing back into PKY.

Our Future Home

Right now we are on a 3 week break from school for the Christmas holiday.  Thankfully, rather than sit around at home for 3 weeks, we have been able to travel to our future home of Palangkaraya, Kalamantan.  Wednesday we began our journey to get here, which consisted of two-1 hour flights.  Palankaraya is on a totally different island from where we are studying language and it feels like a totally different country.  

I spent all day at the hangar yesterday and was able to get my hands a little dirty in the aviation world once again.  All of our operations from PKY operate on and off of rivers.  I took the above picture from right in front of our floating hangar facilities in PKY yesterday. 

Float planes are definitely the minority here in Central Kalimantan.  We have to share the river with all sorts of floating vessels in every shape and size.

There are two float planes based in PKY.  Yesterday, when the plane returned for the day, it entered into a scheduled maintenance inspection.  The facilities here in PKY are very new and very well designed.  Compared to how the operations were conducted before, the new facility is very posh and vastly improves the operations here.  The second Cessna 185 can be seen in the background in the second slip.

We will be here for about 2 weeks before returning to Java to continue our language studies at the beginning of January.  Hopefully I will be able to post some more pictures during our time here.

My Thoughts Exactly

With English permeating most of the world as we know it, it is always funny to see things that make it to a company's slogan that just don't quite represent the spirit of the English language.  Usually, the English goof ups make for a good laugh.  

Banana Market

I finally had the free time to get some long awaited pictures of the banana market a few days ago.  While this isn't the only place to get bananas here, it is one if the largest places dedicated to the sale of the worlds most famous fruit; a whole city block of pisang (banana).  You can find about any type of banana here.

These bunches of bananas were just offloaded from a truck.  They are ready to sell now, and no doubt some will still be around when the ripen to a yellow color.

Tucked in with all the banana vendors is this melon emporium.  It is easy to spot since it doesn't exactly fit in with the nearby produce.  If a watermelon isn't what you are after, maybe a papaya hanging from the rafters is what will wet your whistle.  Rebecca and I have a very healthy papaya tree in our back yard but we always give them away when they are ready for picking.  We don't like them.  Becca thinks they taste like sweaty feet! 

Rice World 3

The heavy machinery...a team of water buffalo.  Since rice paddies are pure mud, you won't see a tractor tilling the field.  Water buffalo are still used and are a vital part of the rice production process.  However, there are machines now that do a similar task and I have yet to get a picture of one.  Picture in your mind a garden rotor-tiller on steroids with LARGE paddle wheels attached to the sides and you will get an idea of it.  Maybe in the near future I will get a picture of one in action.

This breed of ducks makes me laugh.  They walk almost completely upright, and they are actually "herded" just like sheep or goats.  This "herd" of ducks was left in the sawah after harvest no doubt because of the ample rice grains left behind and the special "presents" the ducks will leave behind as well.

Even the water buffalo can't get a break while at the sawah.  This poor mom buffalo (and another like her outside of the picture frame) still had a suckler.  I thought is was great that the guys pictured in the back would wave at me as I took their picture.  Most of the people that live in our neighborhood are used to seeing foreigners due to the language school.  However, I traveled a few kilometers outside of normal to get these pictures and I always have the most interesting conversations about what I am doing in the middle of no where. But as always, I am greeted with friendliness and kindness from the locals.

Rice World 2

Pictured above is a collective effort by many people, probably family, to get the rice harvested and ready for processing.  You can see the man with the scythe cutting the rice into bundles and then the women gather it into bunches and beat it on large tarps.  The rice grains fall off of the stalk and are collected for further processing.

The rice looks like this once it has been beaten off of the stalk and collected onto the tarp.  Usually from here it is laid in the sun for a little longer to dry and then it is processed again to remove the chaff and then you have rice as you know it.  Just like the Eskimos have many words for different types of snow, Indonesians have many worlds for rice in it's various forms.  I am still learning all of them...

Not much is wasted.  The rice stalks are collected and tied into bales.  I am not sure whether the stalks are fed to animals or used as fuel.

This is another nearby sawah.  This one has all stages of the rice production currently in process.  From empty fields to fields ripe for harvest, this one has it all happening.  When it is summer all year long, you can have a perpetual food supply.  

Rice World 1

Today, I will start a three day series on some things that I have been learning about in the rice world...

I took this picture of a nearby rice paddy at the end of October.  Mt. Merbabu can be seen in the background shrouded in clouds. The rice was planted about a month earlier at the beginning of October.

The above picture, taken earlier this week, shows the rice now ready for harvest.  As I talked with a guy at the sawah (rice paddy) he said that they get 3 harvests during the course of a year.  From start to finish each planting takes 3 months to be ready to harvest.

Here is a close up of the rice.  It has chaff around it that must be beaten off in order to get to the grain of rice.  

Salatiga Street Art

While I have never been a fan of graffiti, there seem to be some "designated" places here in Salatiga that you can get by with painting someone else's property.

Regardless of the ethical issues of graffiti, I am always amazed at the talent that the artists have.  Whether it is on the side of a train car, a wall, trash can etc. graffiti seems to have a world wide appeal. I have trouble drawing stick figures let alone some complex design with a can of spray paint or a paint brush.

When you are as inept as I am with drawing, you can know without a doubt that the ability to draw and create that way are definitely gifts from Someone else.  

A Purple What...?

Yesterday, we went for a walk through the neighborhood only to stumble upon these colorfully dyed chicks.  Our girls are already goo-goo about anything baby animal, and when it comes in all different colors...even better.  Needless to say our cover was blown when they began squealing and hollering with delight. Supposedly you can by these dyed chicks in the market.

A few weeks ago Madison talked about having some green and purple chicks at school.  I thought she was just making things up, since it was right after she told me about her unicorn having a baby and something about her husband coming to see her from America on his motorcycle.  I guess I should believe her more, and when her husband gets here, he and I are going to have a talk!

Everyday Joe

I'm about out of pictures from my downtown shopping trip with Becca last week.  It has been nice to have some free time during this break to get some pictures taken.  We start school again tomorrow and I don't know what our schedules will be like.  Below are a few pictures of everyday Joe's doing what they do as seen from downtown Salatiga.

I thought this older man was sleeping, but he just has really droopy eyelids.  There are countless older men hanging out downtown, most of which love to talk.  That would be great, but many of them don't even speak Indonesian, they speak Javanese!

Mr. Parkir...aka, "scooter watcher man."  These guys are as numerous as the old men downtown and actually do a great job making sure your transportation isn't tampered with while you complete your errands on foot.  Regardless of how long they watch your scooter or car along with the countless others next to it, you only pay him 5 cents when you leave.  Pretty cheap insurance!

Salatiga seems to take a proactive approach to keeping things clean downtown.  It still has it's third world challenges, but with a "fleet" of trash men tidying up, it helps move the city in the right direction.  

In the Mood for Food...Street Style

Keeping with the "downtown through pictures" theme, here are a few of the culinary delights you can find while downtown.  This is only a snapshot of all the different foods that can be found, most of which I still have no clue as to what they are...

An older couple selling some type of soup with something like a fried tofu cake.  Yes, sorry to get your mouth watering already...I told you this would be good...

This man is making small reed baskets.   No, you cannot eat these, unless you wanted to.  He just happened to be where I was when I was taking pictures so it is included here free of charge cuz' that's how I roll.

Guava (red and green), mangoes, and papaya (big and yellow) being sold right in front of a jewelry store.  Come to think of it, last time I was looking for a new gold watch with a Velcro strap at the jewelry store I could have really used a glass of fresh squeezed guava juice...that would have been refreshing!  This lady knows the number one rule; "Location, Location, Location!" (BTW - the guava juice here is VERY good!)

Makes sense that in a hot place like Indonesia you can sell ice cream.  The ice cream vendors come in all shapes and sizes; pushing and pedaling every imaginable thing you can think of.  Ice cream is good.

Before I came to Indonesia I had never heard of jack fruit.  Now I have both heard of it and tasted it.  It is pretty good when eaten at the right time.  But, it has a reputation for making you a little tipsy if you wait too long to eat it...at least that is what a friend of mine told me.  Don't jack fruit and drive!

I don't know what is being sold here.  It looked like grilled tofu.  It could be dog.  It could be rice cakes.  It could be dog cakes...you get the idea.

My mother-in-law's favorite food...at least it used to be.  They love their fried food here.  That will be the subject for a later post by either me or Rebecca.  They do make some good fried chicken though.  

Modus Operandi - Cargo

In keeping with my "downtown through pictures" theme, I thought we would highlight cargo today...or at least one of the common ways it is carried here; either on your back or on your head...

This woman is carrying a basket full of vegetables.  I presume that she was selling them but I cannot say for sure.  Anyone want some cabbage?

Another woman probably carrying similar vegetables as the woman in the first picture.  Regardless of what she is doing with the cargo, it looks like she has been doing it for a "few" years.

Don't let two huge boxes thwart your desire to get them from point "A" to point "B"...just put them on your head and get on with your life.  Maybe that is why all the people here are so short...

Bananas...ah yes.  I didn't even know there were numerous types of bananas until I moved to the tropics years ago.  Hopefully in the near future I will make a trip to the banana market; yes, a whole area dedicated to the selling, trading, and squashing of my mother-in-laws favorite breakfast staple.  The fried bananas here are really good...with ice cream...and chocolate syrup!

This woman has presumably over 100 pounds of rice on her back.  Her face speaks for itself...

In contrast to the previous photo's cranium cargo, this woman had something light in her sack.  I can't tell you what it is...maybe foam, or peanuts, or foam peanuts.  

Sacrifice Up Close and Personal

Yesterday, at sunset comenced the large holiday of Eid al-Adha.  Click to read more about this rather complex and sacred holiday; it will give more meaning to the pictures below...

I awoke early today and headed to the nearby mosque to see the large prayer gathering.  All the mosques had been praying over their loudspeakers since yesterday at sunset and it went all through the night.  At sunrise the faithful gathered at their respective mosque to pray together.

Despite my very obvious presence (6 '3", 210 lbs, white, tall, blonde hair, white, tall), all those gathered welcomed me to take pictures and document a little of what happens for them once a year.

This holiday in comprised of many sacrifices.  Within our small neighborhood, there were a total of 10 goats, 2 lambs, and 1 cow all bought by someone from the neighborhood.  While this practice isn't something we as Christians perform, it wasn't that long ago in the grand scheme of things that we would have performed something similar.  Praise God for The Ultimate Sacrifice!  Seeing this up front and very personal made me all the more humbled and grateful for the priceless gift we have in Christ Jesus...salvation through grace.  WOW!

The animals were not killed instantly.  Their throats and main neck arteries were cut, and then 5-10 minutes later they finally expired.  I have no problem with hunting, the meat market, etc. but cutting an animal in such a way as to purposely delay its death was tough to watch.  Suffering had to be part of the sacrifice.

Once most of the smaller animals were killed, the action turned to the main event...the cow.  Despite it's much larger size, it put up less of a fight than the goats and sheep and it was soon all over.  Blood was everywhere today, and I couldn't help but remember Hebrews 9:22;  "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Hebrews 9:11-28 talks of what the blood does, vain sacrifices and meaningless ceremonies.  If you haven't read it in a while you should consider it.   

Once the animals were killed, time was not wasted in butchering the meat in preparation for distribution to the poor.  I cannot say how many people were helped with some meat today, but I have a feeling it was a considerable number.

As I walked home today (all of 40 yards) I was awestruck at what I had just witnessed over the last hour.  Reading similar stories from the Bible pales in comparison to actually seeing, smelling, and hearing this process.  While I do not have a desire to witness this event next year, I am grateful that I went.  It gives me an even deeper love and understanding of what our Lamb did for us, what He continues to do, and how He will end it all some day.