Settling in...
OK! Post numnber one to the "Adventures in Papua" blog. Just to clear things up a bit, if you don't already know this, Hannah and I are living here in Papua Indonesia teaching English for a year. Papua Indonesia is the same island as Papua New Guinea. We are in Jayapura, the capitol, which is literally within sight of the Papua New Guinea border (PNG). If your lucky, there will be a map here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Papua+New+Guinea&ie=UTF8&ll=-8.667918,139.790039&spn=21.810344,44.296875&t=h&om=1
We are in the north-east corner of Papua Indonesia, hugging the Papua New Guinea border.
Hannah and I have been here since last Wednesday (Tuesday for all of you in the states), and live in a teacher's house up the hill from downtown, overlooking the ocean. The first couple days we spend coping with a small amount of culture shock: mainly that the toilets are squat toilets, and... no toilet paper. You might have guessed, yes we have to wipe with our hands. I'm already used to it. Also, you shower by ladeling water over your head. Not so bad. A much more efficient use of water too!
Tomorrow (Monday) Hannah and start shadowing the other teachers in the classroom at English First (the school). On Thursday of this week Hannah and I will be driven to PNG (Papua New Guniea) to stay in a hotel for the night while our work visas are processed here. Then we will come back and start teaching classes on our own!
Things I miss already: Baked goods! No ovens here! Patrick, don't come, you'd be depressed. Also, I miss being able to ride my bicycle everywhere. It's so rural here that there is basically one road, and everything is so spread out that everyone either takes a taxi, or rides a motorcycle. (Taxis are like tiny versions of VW buses. All the cars here are very narrow.) Most of all, I miss my friends and my family. Wherever you go, the people you spend your time with are what make or break your time there. So be buddies with everyone! Yay!
Yesterday Wade (the director oif studies) and his Indonesian wife took us to a black sand beach. We bathed under some waterfalls in a stream up from the beach, then we went down to the water and I swam around in the pacific with some Papuans. The Papuans are the native peoples; they are very dark skinned and look very similar to Africans. They are generally looked down upon here (mostly because fair skin is considered the ideal of beauty), although I have a pretty big soft spot for them. In the water one of them shared with me a pair of underwater goggles carved from some sort of tree, with circles of clear plastic covering the eye holes. The water was very pretty at the beach, typical turquoise-blue.
Today Hannah and I are downtown doing some errands. We lunch at a Warung (local food joint), and are now in the internet cafe! Then we will go to the mall (yes, there is a small mall) and buy some clothes to complete our wardrobes here. Then we will shop for food, and head home! If we're lucky we will be able to scrape together enough ingredients to make Patrick's chili recipe. Also if we're lucky I will be able to remember that darned banana bread recipe (help Patrick!). We have bananas up the wazoo here. I bought a papaya on Thursday and it was so big that it'll last us until tomorrow. I've made most of it into jam already.
That's about all the excitment so far! If i've forgotten to include anyone on the email list (and I know I have), will you please forward the address for this blog to them? And when those of you I've forgotten read this blog, will you please please please send me your email addressess!
Selamat tinggal! (Goodbye to those who are staying; I'm leaving!)
-Nick
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Papua+New+Guinea&ie=UTF8&ll=-8.667918,139.790039&spn=21.810344,44.296875&t=h&om=1
We are in the north-east corner of Papua Indonesia, hugging the Papua New Guinea border.
Hannah and I have been here since last Wednesday (Tuesday for all of you in the states), and live in a teacher's house up the hill from downtown, overlooking the ocean. The first couple days we spend coping with a small amount of culture shock: mainly that the toilets are squat toilets, and... no toilet paper. You might have guessed, yes we have to wipe with our hands. I'm already used to it. Also, you shower by ladeling water over your head. Not so bad. A much more efficient use of water too!
Tomorrow (Monday) Hannah and start shadowing the other teachers in the classroom at English First (the school). On Thursday of this week Hannah and I will be driven to PNG (Papua New Guniea) to stay in a hotel for the night while our work visas are processed here. Then we will come back and start teaching classes on our own!
Things I miss already: Baked goods! No ovens here! Patrick, don't come, you'd be depressed. Also, I miss being able to ride my bicycle everywhere. It's so rural here that there is basically one road, and everything is so spread out that everyone either takes a taxi, or rides a motorcycle. (Taxis are like tiny versions of VW buses. All the cars here are very narrow.) Most of all, I miss my friends and my family. Wherever you go, the people you spend your time with are what make or break your time there. So be buddies with everyone! Yay!
Yesterday Wade (the director oif studies) and his Indonesian wife took us to a black sand beach. We bathed under some waterfalls in a stream up from the beach, then we went down to the water and I swam around in the pacific with some Papuans. The Papuans are the native peoples; they are very dark skinned and look very similar to Africans. They are generally looked down upon here (mostly because fair skin is considered the ideal of beauty), although I have a pretty big soft spot for them. In the water one of them shared with me a pair of underwater goggles carved from some sort of tree, with circles of clear plastic covering the eye holes. The water was very pretty at the beach, typical turquoise-blue.
Today Hannah and I are downtown doing some errands. We lunch at a Warung (local food joint), and are now in the internet cafe! Then we will go to the mall (yes, there is a small mall) and buy some clothes to complete our wardrobes here. Then we will shop for food, and head home! If we're lucky we will be able to scrape together enough ingredients to make Patrick's chili recipe. Also if we're lucky I will be able to remember that darned banana bread recipe (help Patrick!). We have bananas up the wazoo here. I bought a papaya on Thursday and it was so big that it'll last us until tomorrow. I've made most of it into jam already.
That's about all the excitment so far! If i've forgotten to include anyone on the email list (and I know I have), will you please forward the address for this blog to them? And when those of you I've forgotten read this blog, will you please please please send me your email addressess!
Selamat tinggal! (Goodbye to those who are staying; I'm leaving!)
-Nick
posted by Nick at 9:13 PM
2 Comments:
Hi Nick & Hannah ~
Wow, what an adventure you are having. The blog is a great way to share what you're up to so Dad & I will visit it often.
Love & Hugs,
Mom & Dad
Haven't seen any head-hunters or cannibles yet, although that does not disprove their existence. No one is looking at my skull (at least not in that way!) The Papuans are usually naked, but they live primarily inland, such as places like Wamena (popular tourist spot). Read post two about photos. No mosques here, Papua is predominately Christian.
There is toilet paper for sale, but it's a bit of a luxury, and no one really uses it.
-Nick
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