An Arachnid Viewing...

Last week I headed out with the girls to see what there was to see...and mostly just get them out of the house before mommy blew a fuse. (4-6pm seems to bring the worst out in our girls) The above spider looks and moves a lot like a crab.  It is about the size of small paper clip.

This isn't the best picture because my shooting light was fading.  But, it still shows a very bizarre specimen of spider; about the size of a half dollar coin.

I wonder if the spider above and the spider below are a similar species, or perhaps male and female of the same species.  The had very similar shapes, yet very different colorations.  They are about as big as a man's hand.

You might think that I like spiders since I posted a few pictures.  This couldn't be farther from the truth.  They give me the willies, and I don't particularly like them.  However, I am always astonished at how our Maker put so much detail and purpose into something so small.

The Guitar

I have seen that most males in Indonesia can play the guitar.  Upon asking our teachers about this, they said that it is an unspoken rule of sorts that all men are expected to try to learn to play guitar.  Even if you don't like it or possess any talent, you can say you tried.  Because most males try to play the guitar, many are very good at it.  It isn't uncommon the walk down the street to hear some youth trying to pick his way through a rhythm from one of the latest songs from America.

Bath Time

Most Indonesians take two baths a day.  The first one in the morning at about 4:30am and a second around twelve hours later.  How they keep their kids clean after their second bath when there is still daylight is a mystery to me, yet their kids stay clean.  Most do NOT have hot water, and even in the tropics a cold bath is still very much cold.  This little girl was bathing in her front yard, for all that passed by on the street to see.

The Squat

You are not a real Indonesian unless you can squat on your haunches for hours at a time.  I can't even bend one of my knees that far due to a knee surgery from high school.  The last time the heals of my feet touched my butt was 15 years ago.  Both men and women alike, young and old, can sit like this forever.  They talk like this, work like this, eat like this, and a few other things as well.

To Smoke Or Not To Smoke

An interesting subject here on the island of Java is the local mindset in regards to smoking.  Women DO NOT smoke, unless they are willing to endure enormous social ridicule.  I have seen ZERO women smoking here. Men on the other hand is a totally different story.  Most high school boys I see are already addicted to the tobacco/clove cigarettes.  The one benefit to having cloves mixed with the tobacco is it releases a slightly more pleasant smell than just tobacco alone.  I know very few men who are non-smokers.  The rest are hopelessly addicted to the stuff.

Watching Life Pass By

On an afternoon walk through the neighborhood, you will find many people out on their porches watching life walk or drive by.  Most are VERY cordial and happy to chat for a while.

Just Around the Corner

Just around the corner from our house you will see this one, and many others just like it.  It is almost as though the neighborhood grew around them and their farms of yesteryear.  As we learn the dynamics of the different families in our neighborhood, it is interesting to learn that usually the "founding fathers" live in the old, wooden homes while their children live right next door in nicer, newer, brick or concrete homes.  The home above presumably has dirt floors and a fire pit in the middle of the house for cooking.  There is no chimney either...the smoke just wafts up through the ceiling and through the tile roof.  They say it helps keep the bugs down.

A Few Creepy Crawlies

The girls and I went out walking through the neighborhood to see what kind of "wildlife" we could find.  There is always something to see.

This spider was about as big as my hand.  We see this species everywhere here.  I think they are called wood spiders.  Stay tuned throughout the rest of the week for some more sights of people from our neighborhood.

Neighborhood Pickup Game

While riding the Piglet around town yesterday with Paige, we happened upon this soccer game at the nearby soccer field.  It always amazes me how well they can play without shoes.

The other thing that amazes me is how many of these little guys can already ride a motorcycle.  Instead of riding their bicycle to the park, they ride their motorcycle.  Most Indonesians know how to ride a motorcycle around town before they are ten years old.  Supposedly, as long as they don't go downtown, they won't get a ticket.  

A Few Sights Around Salatiga

In the mornings after the girls are all at school Becca and I try to go for a walk a few times a week before we hit the books and do our homework.  As we stroll through the neighborhoods the "collision of technology" that we see everyday still collides with our paradigm of what the world should look like.  At least it is beautiful.

I have been meaning to get a picture of one of these in operation for some time and I finally had my chance.  While riding the Piglet around town with Paige we happened upon a sawah (rice paddy) and saw this man and machine in operation.  I have no idea what to call this thing, other than a mud-making-rice paddy-smoother outer.  It's really loud too!  It is basically replacing the work that would otherwise be done by a team of water buffalo.

Just like any public works project, there has to be a few men just sitting around watching the other guy work. These two men were happily talking away right next to the sawah that was getting prepared for planting.  They only spoke Javanese so my communication was limited.  However, he knew enough Indonesian that he told me to wait until he put his hat on to have his picture taken.

A Trip to the Hills

We are on a 4 day break from school right now so Becca and I took advantage of the "free" time and took the Piglet on a drive through the country the other day.  The above picture shows nearby Mt. Sumbing and Mt. Sundoro in the distance, both volcanoes.

Becca recently redesigned her blog with this photo of an orchid.  With all the green we saw I had to keep reminding myself that it is truly February...somewhere...but not here.  Click to read her blog and see more pictures and stories from our little jaunt.

We drove to a place called Ketep Pass.  From there, you can see the pass itself and the two large volcanoes that created it, Mt. Merapi (seen above) and Mt. Merbabu (seen below).  Most of the recent activity from Mt. Merapi is hardly notiable now, due to the rains washing all the ash away and allowing life to return to normal.  If you click to enlarge on the above picture you may be able to see some of the charred trees in the lower right corner that will never come back to life.

Mt. Merbabu is also the same volcano I tried to summit a few months ago and failed.  Maybe a second try is in the works soon!?

If you were to turn 180 degrees from looking at Ketep Pass and the two stunning volcanoes of Mt. Merbabu and Mt. Merapi, you would seen Mt. Sumbing and Mt. Sundoro again.  I think Mt. Merapi is the only one that is currently active.  Central Java, Indonesia is truly a beautiful place!

Salatiga Rice Paddie...Part 2

Nothing but HARD and DIRTY work driving a team of water buffalo in the rice paddy.  People that work in the sawah are literally up to their knees in mud at all stages of the rice's life cycle.

After a long morning of work, nothing better than laying down in the field you just prepared and being proud of your hard work.  Of all the times I have seen water buffalo here in Indonesia, very rarely have they been on dry and/or hard ground.  I guess they live up to their name well.

Salatiga Rice Paddie

You would think that only going to school 2 hours a day would leave you with lots of free time.  WRONG!  I  was finally able to get out for about an hour today and photograph a nearby sawah, or rice paddy.  The picture above shows nearby Mt. Merbabu as well as an oxen team at the far end of the flooded field.

The people at the sawah today were really friendly.  They insisted that I come off of the road and venture into the sawah to get better pictures.  Sometimes the niceness of the people here continues to blow me away.

Scenes like this from the sawah are something that I will cherish down the road.   They scream southeast Asia to me.  From our time in Kalimantan over Christmas break it was apparent that the landscape there is very different.  There isn't a mountain to be seen for hundreds of miles, just FLAT mangrove swamp.  I had better enjoy the mountains and the cooler air while I can.

I will post a few more pictures from the sawah later this week.

A Trip Down the River...Part 2

(See yesterday's blog for the first part of this story)  After enjoying our tea, we set off to see the sights of the town.  I didn't know I had to cross a big ol' log to get to the shore.  Thankfully, I made it both ways without getting my feet or anything else wet.  

I was invited into another Indonesian's home and yes we drank some more tea.  Thankfully, it is really good so I never have any issues with trying to get it down.

Most of the town seemed to be home during the middle of the day.  As I walked down the only sidewalk in town, everyone seemed to know I was in town and they all popped their heads out of their doors and windows to take a look and the big white dude.  Thankfully, I'm not the first big Westerner they have seen.  

We made it back to Central Java yesterday to continue with language school after a great Christmas break.  It was wonderful to see what we will be part of in a few more months and motivating to keep on working hard while in language school..  

A Trip Down the River...Part 1

While waiting for our MAF pilot to return to pick me up this past Monday I was invited to take a canoe ride downstream about 10 minutes to the nearest village.  It was a hoot!

Right after we docked at my canoe driver's floating house, I looked across the river and saw his neighbor taking a bath.  He was sure happy to get his picture taken...suds and all!

You are not a good Indonesian unless you always offer your guests a spot of hot tea.  So, we pulled up a piece of newly laid porch floating on the river and had us a tea party.

While we sipped our tea, we were watched by a group of boys also bathing in the river, right off of my host's front porch.  A new experience indeed.  I will post some more pics from the village trip tomorrow.  Today we are heading home to Java from Borneo to continue our language school.

From the Logbook...

This past Monday I had the privilege of riding along on some more flights in Palangkaraya.  Our day was filled with everything from changing schedules, unplanned medivac patients, fighting weather, and "dining" with the locals.  The above picture shows one of our MAF pilots on top of the left wing pouring in fuel.  We had burned more gas than planned due to an inconveniently low cloud deck.  Once we finally found a hole to get through 45 minutes later, we landed at our destination and put a little more gas in the tanks.

Due to the plane being too heavy to accommodate all of the departing passengers at our destination, I stayed behind and spent about 2 hours interior with the local villagers.  That will be the subject of a few posts later this week.  The above picture shows our MAF pilot taking off.  Due to the small and narrow river, "S" turn takeoffs are not uncommon.

About 2 hours after leaving me, our pilot came back and picked me up along with more passengers.  While he tallied the passengers weights and belongings, I helped out by putting some more gas on board.  We made two more stops that day on our way home, for a total of eight.  It was a long, tiring day, but a good one.  

The Floating Hangar

     Within the last few years, this new facility in Central Borneo was constructed for our float plane operations.  Hearing stories about what life used to be like trying to fly and maintain aircraft at the old facilities sounds really hard.  I am really grateful to be able to serve here now with these new and HIGHLY improved facilities.  

     The river water levels can fluctuate a lot due to rainfall here on the equator.  I am told that the river usually gets high enough that you actually walk a little bit "uphill" when going from the office on the right to the hangar on the left.  That will be neat to see when we return to PLR in about 6 months after finishing language school.  

Some River Sights

This picture is just 100 yards upriver from our floating hangar in PLR.  It will take some time for me to get used to the way water and rivers are such an intricate part of life here.  From the types of things carried on the rivers and the different boats doing the transporting, to the different types of houses, shops, and who knows what else on the waters edge, there is going to be years worth of learning and exploring to do here.  

From the Logbook...Another Medivac

While trying to relax today (Sunday) we got a call to pick up a man that was extrememely sick to the point that he was vomiting blood.  So, our other MAF pilot here in PalangkaRaya and I prepared to head back to the hangar to go pick him up.  In the above picture we are seen en-route to the village cruising at 6500' enjoying the cool air as we flew 50 minutes to the patients village.  I have been able to fly some here and even was allowed to perform my first water takeoff today.  It was kinda sporty!

This is the overhead view of the village as we looked things over in preparation to land.  After making a low pass over the river to confirm the identity of a large black object, a tree stump,  the decision was made that it was safe enough to land even though the river is low due to lack of recent rainfall.

Shortly after arriving, the man was brought down to the plane while sitting in a plastic chair; unable to walk due to his condition.  If you didn't know differently, you would think he was political royalty in the village.

The cabin was once again fitted for a patient and seats left in place for two of his family members as well.  It started to get busy on the dock, so much so that it actually began to sink under the weight of the people.

As in every village the world over where MAF flies, the kids always come out to see what is happening.  We soon had the man and his family on board and flew 50 minutes back to PLR where he had a ride already waiting to take him to the hospital.  I am scheduled to make one more flight here while in PLR tomorrow.  It should be fun!

From the Logbook...Medivac

One of the two flights I went on this past Thursday had us flying about 45 minutes north of PalangkaRaya to pick up a patient from the small hospital that supposedly has a hole in his heart.  Shortly after pulling up to the dock on the river, the nearby townspeople brought the young man to the airplane.

I'm not sure of his age, but I would say young twenties.  He was in rough shape and really struggling to breath.  Therefore he was hooked up to oxygen and had an IV in place.

As the patient was loaded, a small crowd began to gather to see what all the activity was about.  It's a new experience trying to put someone or something in the airplane while the airplane is bobbing up and down.  I'm sure I will have some stories in the future of me falling off of the floats and into the river.

Thankfully the doors can be removed easily from the Cessna 185 to assist in getting things or people through the doors easier.

Upon arriving back to PalangkaRaya there was already an ambulance waiting for the young man.  By the time he was being put in the stretcher he really seemed to be struggling to breathe.  Maybe we will hear news of his wellbeing in the future, but often times after a patient heads to the hospital you never hear anything else about them.