Idul Fitri Celebrations

Ramadan concluded today and because of the importance of Idul Fitri we have had the whole week off from school.  One of the local traditions on the morning of Idul Fitri is to ignite homemade fireworks.  

These homemade firecrackers are about the size of a roll of toilet paper and are filled with gunpowder.  The young man above is using his cigarette to light the fuse on his firecracker.

When the homemade device explodes it is VERY loud, louder in fact than anything I have ever heard in the USA.  Because they are made of paper, the street quickly becomes littered with paper shrapnel.

After all the fireworks are over, everyone walks home, having survived another year of loud, "hope you don't blow your hand off", entertainment.  

Back in Java

We arrived back on the island of Java this weekend and it feels like we are in a different country.  The smells, the temperature, the topography, the twist on food dishes...it all seems so foreign...and so familiar.  It was only 4 months ago that we left.

Becca and I went exploring today after we put the girls in school and found ourselves at a small lake.  Lots of fishing and harvesting of marsh plants going on.

After some coaxing, I convinced Becca that we needed to pay a few dollars to use a local man's boat and paddle around the lake a little bit.  We spend about 30 minutes looking like fools, but we had a great time.

Even the wife of my youth dawned a traditional hat to help keep the sun's rays off of her.  Despite the nice sunshine, the overall temperature here is a LOT cooler than the middle of Borneo.  It feels like Fall to us...it is great!

From the Logbook...A View from the Floats

While waiting for my passengers to arrive earlier this week at an interior village,  I took the time to just watch what was happening around me while I was tied up to the dock.  This above shot is life on the other side of the river.  The river provides many things here, food for the table, water to wash clothes, body and dishes with, and the foundation of their floating house.

Looking immediately to the rear of the airplane, there was another house with "normal" life unfolding before my lens.  I have a hard time imagining what life is like to live on the river and never stop bobbing.  It will be a few more months now until I get some more pictures from the airplane floats.  This weekend we are returning to the island of Java to complete our language school curriculum.  We should be back in PalangkaRaya mid-October.  In the meantime, I'll keep my camera busy capturing life in Java until we return to Borneo.

From the Logbook...And the Winner is?

On Wednesday of this week we didn't schedule any flights so we could have a party instead.  Well, it wasn't really a party but a lot of people came to our location on PalangkaRaya.  We had invited almost every pastor and ministry leader in and around town.  About 50 people showed up.  Our purpose was to simply remind them that we are here to help and serve the Church in any way we can.  After we a short time together of worship and encouragement, we gave away a door prize...5 free seats on the airplane.  The above photo are my five passengers that I was able to fly for about 15 minutes around PalangkaRaya.  Four of them had never been on a small airplane.  It was a good time.

When we returned, we all gathered together and got a group picture.  It was a good time to bring so many denominations together and remember that we are all part of the same family.