Neighbours

We love the local pigs! Instead of keeping a compost, we give all our food scraps to them.

Doing laps around our verandah on the bikes. I love that the kids come and play in our yard, but for my own sanity I've had to put some limits on when they are allowed to.

Soren learning how to eat chocolate fruit from our yard. I've since discovered that some of our neighbours dry the seeds to sell, so the boys are not allowed to climb the trees for it anymore.
At the moment we share the yard with three dogs. Soren and Reuben are still a bit intimidated by them, especially Lono, who barks a lot. I'm hoping that over time and with help from us they'll figure it out and won't feel scared anymore.

Christmas 2011

The boys in their new Christmas shirts from Aunty Yvette.
Many Papuans visit family, friends and neighbours over the Christmas period. Our gardener Pak Timen and his wife dropped by, and so did friends Brant and Emily with their 3 boys. It was a relaxed and special day celebrating and reflecting on the birth of Christ, and all that that means.
Autumn's first Christmas!

Making 40 goody bags for the neighbour kids was fun.
More Christmas clothes!

Playing with new lego from his Christmas stocking, at some ridiculous hour in the morning. Phil took the photo then went back to bed.

Autumn was very content with her hand-me-down rattle from the baby toy cupboard.
See that? It's a loud speaker, which blares out Christmassy muzak at all hours of the day and night. It didn't bother us nearly as much as it did 2 years ago.
This is the Christmas pondok (hut) where the music is played. These are built in every neighbourhood at Christmas time, just to share the joy..

The Pasar

The pasar (market) is the place to go for fresh, local produce. It is busy and hot though, and the kids would get a lot of unwanted attention, so I'm happy to send my helper two, sometimes three times each week rather than go myself. Also, you can bargain at the pasar and Ibu Kety is good at getting a reasonable price.

Different varieties of sweet potato, and the green stalky things are sayur lilin (candle vegetable).

There are two forms of public transport around town: an angkot, above, and an ongkos, a motorbike taxi.

Baby being rocked to sleep.

Firecrackers being sold for Christmas and New Year.

December Randoms

Over dinner the other night I was explaining to Soren why babies need lots of sleep. I added that they need lots of love, too. Yes! he said So that when they grow up they can love other people! Nice one Soz.

Autumn at 7 months enjoying our friend Welly.

Papaya with Phil and Reub. It's one of our staples, along with banana and pineapple.

Kendate Trip

Philip and Jacob set off for Kendate, a Mekwei village on Tanah Merah Bay. But the road stops at Tabla Nusu--one village short--so they parked the car at one of Jacob's relative's houses (he has relatives everywhere) and went to see if there was a boat to take them the rest of the way.
The Kendate residents are grumpy with the Bupati (like a state MP) for only bringing the road (and development) as far as Tabla Nusu, which is his village. Here is his house, and the small tourist resort he's built behind.

A backyard processing plant - squeezing water through sago tree pulp to make the Papuan staple, papeda (which looks and tastes like glue). A sago tree matures at 17 years and the pulp will make enough papeda to feed a family for a few months. It will be eaten with fish, farmed in nets in the lagoon behind the village.

That brown vertical line on the far hill looks like a landslide but is actually meant to be a new road they're trying to build to Kendate from the other direction. Hard to see who'll ever be able to get up it..or down it without ending up in the drink.

No boats today, so they trek over the headlands through the jungle.

A dug-out canoe, made where the tree is felled, then carried (a good deal lighter!) to the sea. This tree--by good fortune--grew just next to the bay.

MTT Workshop

Philip had a wild few days with Pak Jacob and Ibu Yuliana at a Mother Tongue Translator workshop before Christmas. It focussed on discovering how one asks, encourages or urges someone to do something in different languages, to prepare them for translating hortatory texts like Titus 2 & 3.

This translator is demonstrating how reasons are expressed in Indonesian, marking all the therefore and because words in the text. Participants performed some hilarious dramas on the theme of 'keep your blasted pigs out of my garden/off the runway because/or else!..'
There were MTTs from about eight different Papuan languages present.

A Sunday with the Kemtuik

Every six weeks or so we head out to a Kemtuik village on Sunday. On this occasion Philip shared from Ephesians 2: Allah ada bangun juga - God is also building.

'He came and preached peace to you who were far away [the gentiles] and peace to those who were near [the jews]. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.' Eph 2.17-22.


Phil joined in practising some Christmas carols after the service.
Lunch was simple and good: rice, papeda (the staple in Papua, made from flour extracted from sago trees and looks like glue), ubi (kind of sweet potato), greens, sweet warm tea, corn and fish.

Autumn 7 months