Travel Musings

Our last full day in Timor, and a very busy one!
We ate breakfast and then headed to the theological college to finish the building that the team started last week while the medical team was getting some stuff ready for Pili. We put a few layers of bricks in and painted some of the window and door frames. It was very very hot outside, and after about 20 minutes I was very lightheaded and had to sit down, but thanks to the nurse, and my adopted mom on this trip I was back to normal in no time!
We had a short coffee break which included iced coffee and some of the most delicious cookies I have ever eaten! Then we watched a ping pong battle between one of the guys on the team and Rev. Dethan. 
Lunch was eaten outside and then we finished the rest of the painting and brick laying. The work day ends here around 2 because the sun is very intense after that, so we headed back to the homestay and a few of us went down to the river to swim. Its such a cool place down there, the locals spend a good amount of time down there getting water, swimming and washing their clothes. Last time swimming here, which is kind of sad!
After swimming we changed and then went to a local place where they make instruments and listened to them play. They played a few of my favorite Christian songs which was such an awesome experience!
We drove back to the homestay and had a good conversation about our favorite Dutch foods, which amused Rev.Dethan greatly. They find the food we eat very bland, because it's not covered in hot sauce. 
After dinner we began sorting through or suitcases to decide what we're leaving behind for the orphanage. My suitcase is a great deal lighter, which is awesome! Then we heard music and joined the team for our last evening of fellowship, fun and singing. We had a popcorn fight with some of the boys from here which was great fun. 
It's been an amazing experience!!! I have so many stories from here, and so many things that cant really be put into words.

Another day in Timor, and definitely a busier one than yesterday!
We had a very delicious breakfast. I feel like  I could write that every morning, the ladies here make such amazing food. Egg and bread and jam and peanut butter and chocolate and bananas that are the best bananas you can imagine!!! So yummy! They take super good care of us here, it's amazing!
After breakfast we drove to Rev. Dethans old high school to teach some English to the students. The French teacher on our team wrote us a lesson plan that included us introducing ourselves, then telling some basic facts about ourselves and then get them to ask us some things in English. Then we told the story of the good Samaritan, because it allowed us to use English in a story setting and use the Bible. We were teaching in a public school, but a lot of the kids knew the story already. There was a lot of laughter, and that helped with the nerves quite a lot. We went through the story and played hangman to teach some of the themes and words from the story.  We then asked if they had any general questions for us about our lives. A few of the boys in the back started laughing, then asked Sharri and I if we were single. Here that's as common a question as how are you, or how old are you. The girls in the back also asked us if we knew Jusin Bieber! They didn't understand why we laughed, apparently he's a huge hit here! 
At the end of the class they asked us to pray with them. Coming from a public school class with so many religions represented, including Muslim,Catholic etc, this was a huge honor! 
After teaching they challenged us to a game  of soccer and then we had a few group photos with them. With the prospect of fishing ahead of us, we climbed into the trucks and headed to the fishing area.
While a bunch of the guys fished a few of us took a walk through the rice fields, which was really neat! The amount of work that goes into the fields is incredible! They have very narrow pathways that they walk on carrying machinery, seed and finally, the rice.  It was really beautiful, can't wait to show everyone pictures!
I did fish as well! Caught 3, didn't keep any of them, but it was fun all the same!
After fishing we came back to the homestay and had a delicious supper of fish that we caught as well as rice  tofu, veggies, and bananas again. Have I mentioned that love the food here? Yum!!
Tomorrow is our last full day here! Its going to be hard to leave, but I'm getting very excited to see people at home and show off the pictures!

Back safely from pili!! It was truly such a life changing experience and one that I will never forget.
We took an open truck to the village, which is defiantly slightly sketchy, but very awesome. We were siting on wooden beams trying our best not to fall. The brakes were very sketchy, and we had to stop a few times to let them cool off. It took us about 5 hours, and we got to the area in the dark. 
The village is very secluded, and the truck got a little lost on the way, but we eventually found the tiny pathway up a huge hill. All of us were a little confused and very sleepy and unsure about this as we ducked branches and tried to stay seated over the bumps.
We arrived at the house of one of the church members, and  began to set up camp. They don't have electricity here, and we had to bring along a generator and a string of lights. We set up as many tents as we could as some of them didn't have poles.  I finally set up the tent that I brought all the way from calgary and that caused so much grief weight wise on the way here. We finished setting up and then the locals gave an opening ceremony for us. They had a few scarves that they had made and they thanked us for coming and changing them, and told us that they apologized in advance for things they might do wrong, and their simple way of life. To be honest, it was them that changed us.
After we ate the meal they spent the day making we all passed out after a long day in the sun.
Saturday morning was slightly chilly, the weather is lovely up here after so many days of intense sunshine. The medical team set up their things and we started pretty much right after breakfast.
Now many of you know me and anything medical. I usually balk at anything close to doctors. However I am very thankful that I chose to do this while we were in Pili. I was in charge of organizing the drugs that we were handing out, and listening to the stories people had was so heartbreaking. One 85 year old man came in because he was very worried that he was very sick. He told us that he couldn't climb the mountain without getting out of breath, and he was far more tired than he usually was.  Of course trying to tell him that his main issue was his age was not enough for him, he thought he was very sick. The people here think that if you do not give them medicine then they do not think you are a very good doctor. We gave him a lot of vitamin C and told him to drink lots, and the thankful, at peace look on his face was so amazing.
A lot of the people walked 20-30 minutes uphill to get to the medical clinic, and we had even more that walked all morning to come to our afternoon clinic. Most of the people suffer from arthritis, because of the intense work that they are doing every day. Everyone works from when they are very very little until they can no longer move. A couple of the younger kids were very malnourished and that was very hard to see. They are so thankful for us to come with the vitamins, and the pain relief, but we can really only offer them a few weeks of relief and that's so hard to think about.  After we took an hours break for lunch we opened the clinic again for an afternoon session, and the people continued to pour in from all over the village.  After the health clinic was finished we had dinner and then we had an evening of fellowship and singing. 
Sunday was an amazing day. The service was all in Indonesian but Rev. Dethan translated it for us. It was such an amazing experience to be able to worship with fellow believers way out here and know that they truly believe in the same things you do. 
After the morning service we had lunch and then walked up the huge hill to the refugee camp. Because of the flooding in this area they have to move further and further up the mountain. We all walked to one of the houses, and the incline was very steep leaving us all out of breath.
The house that we stopped at could not really be called a house by our western standards, it was little more than sticks for walks and paneling for a roof.  But the pride that they felt that they had a shelter to show off to us was so truly humbling. It was not a permanent house, it was not even theirs, but just a building to last them until they will have to move again. Such an amazing experience, and a truly humbling one. 
After our hike we took needed naps and then headed to second service. 
It was Lords Supper here, which was such an amazing experience. Here we are on the other side of the world in a culture that is so different from home, and yet we share such a common foundation. The language is different, we all come from completely different families and backgrounds, but we can share such a beautiful common faith, and that was truly amazing.
After church we had a taker evening/ Canada night which was quite a lot of fun!! We had a large fire going and prepared s'mores for everyone!! Our group sang a song in Indonesian that we've been practicing, which was a huge hit, and then they sang to us one of their favorite songs. After this we all gathered around the fire and ate our delicious s'mores. The looks on their faces were priceless as they sampled some of the gooey deliciousness. Confusion, worry, then delight. Thankfully they were a hit!
After s'mores some of the group taught them a line dance, which caught on surprisingly well. Music is so unifying, it doesn't matter if you know the song, or if you aren't doing the dance moves properly, it's something that can overcome language barriers and really create a fun situation for everyone. Such a blessed Sunday, Gods power is very evident here, and it's amazing to see!!
Monday morning we began to pack up the camp into the back of the cattle trucks for the drive home. They gave us a goodbye ceremony and I don't think there was a dry eye all 'round. They thanked us for coming and changing them, and they once again apologized for their simple way of life, and for any way they might have offended us. He told us to remember the good things about them, not the bad things because those are like 'wet towels in our suitcase, and make everything stink'.  This is such a part of the culture here, they treat us as such honored guests, and I can honestly say that they were such amazing people! Then the elder asked us not to forget them, and said that some of their faces we might forget, but one day we will all be together in heaven. He said that they will never forget us, and that we changed them, and so many of us said back to them over and over that it was truly them who changed us! Their humble attitudes and appreciation for so many things was so amazing!
The drive home was awesome, I'm going to miss open car travel, it's really the only way to go! We stopped at a waterfall on the way back and got a chance to swim. Sooooo breathtakingly beautiful!
After that it was the final stretch to the homestay, and I think all of us feel like we're living in luxury here with electricity and Internet! 

I'm writing this on the Tuesday, and it's been a very slow day today. We went swimming in a reservoir which was really quite beautiful, the scenery here is so amazing, I'm going to miss it. It was a good day of reflection, its hard to put this past weekend into words, a lot of it is so indescribably life changing. Hope all is well from wherever you're reading this!

Today was a very full day, but a very good one. 
I got up early so that I could shower. And by shower I mean dump freezing cold water over my head in an attempt to get the mixture of sand and shampoo out of my hair. Needles to say I will never complain about a shower with bad water pressure again!!
After breakfast we piled into the jeeps and headed into town for the market. 
We drove to town in a bus that would fit 5-6 people in Canada,  but here we managed to fit in 20.  Also the buses here play extremely loud music while they drive. And by loud I mean the base is so intense it shakes your insides. And because of the language barrier they dont seem to know English swear words, so the music was very innapropriate!
The sights and smells that we encountered in the market were very unique and very intense! They have an indoor area where they had  tables and tables of dead fish and random meat. Very unsanitary and very very smelly! The people there have apparently never seen very many white people, because those of us with blonde hair got touched several times, which was amusing for us with darker hair.  We didn't stay very long in the market, but it was enough time for me to take tons of pictures. Felt a little bit like we were on display, everyone was watching us in awe as we walked by. 
We walked from the market to the KFC, where all of us were very excited to have ice cream and some cold pop. Plus it was air conditioned which was lovely. Its winter here, and the locals say that it's too cold, but +30 is warm enough for all of us!! 
We headed into the mall after that to try to find some peanut butter and mats for the people who don't have any. We got swarmed by locals who wanted to get their pictures taken with us, and one of the guys even got a kiss! 
After the mall, we climbed into the bus again for a thankfully slightly calmer drive back to the church for lunch. While we were sitting at the bus stop, several if the locals were sticking their hands through the windows to touch us and feel our white skin. Very awkward!!
After lunch was a soccer game against the local university team. Apparently some of the teams that were here before have gotten creamed by this team, but we managed to keep the score 0-0 for the whole game. Apparently they were going easy on us though because they have never played against girls before. Nonetheless we managed to impress the locals with our soccer skills which was fun.
After soccer a few of us headed back to the rice fields to swim. Then it was back to the hostel for dinner. The guys on the team decided to kill some frogs and cook them up. I don't think the smell is ever going to go away, so brutal!

All in all a good day. Our last day of 'luxury' before we head to the mountains with our tents and loads of bug spray. No blog posts until I get back.  Keep us in your prayers as we start this new adventure here on the other side of the world!! 

Writing this in the evening on an actual computer after a bit of a slower day.
Woke up this morning 10 minutes before breakfast began, which is unusual for me, usually I'm up at  6:30. Hopefully this means I'm adjusted to the time change. 
After breakfast I hung around and read my book while me and my adopted grandmother here waited for the car to come and pick us up. We had to go down to the orphanage to organize some of the medical supplies in preparation for this weekend. After a bumpy car ride down the hill ( note to self, motorbikes are a much more convenient and less painful way to travel out here) we arrived at the orphanage ready to work. Mrs. Dethan had the medication in boxes all ready for us, and she gave us a briefing on what we are going to be doing once we get there. 
Let me tell you, it's going to be a lot more work than I had originally anticipated. We are going to 'set up shop' and let the village line up and come to us. With expected illnesses ranging from boils to fevers to malaria to extreme malnutrition, there was a lot of information to remember. We are going to consult with each person, and discover their symptoms, and come up with some kind of diagnosis, and medication to help them. Out here, if you do not give them any medication, they will not think that you are a very good doctor. Having this in mind, we are packing lots of basic vitamins, as most of the issues out there simply come from lack of nutrition. We are also expecting to be faced with people with extreme superstitions, as many will believe that they are sick because of something they have done, or someone cursing them. We will have translators, and are going to try and explain things through Bible glasses to these people as best we can. It's a good way to show our faith in action, as we are not going to be able to speak to these people much, the language barrier is huge out there because of their isolation. 
After we finished this orientation we headed back up to wait for them to bring us lunch. Apparently no one told them that we had been brought back to the hostel, so we didn't get lunch until about 2 hours later. Still delicious, just slightly chillier than it usually is. 
After lunch most of the team headed out to do a walkathon. I stayed behind to hang out with my friend who isn't feeling well at all, and also to organize the notes from this mornings debriefing. I have learnt a lot of medical terms today, we'll see how much of it sticks. 
Afternoon was very quiet, didn't realize how quiet until the rest of the team got back. With 22 of us the moments of silence are truly appreciated. Kind of like at home with my sisters!! 
Supper here tonight was fish. First fish since coming here, and all I can say is that it was SOO good! I'm loving the food here, I've learned what kind if sauces to stay away from. The smaller the amount in the bowl, the closer you are to not having any feeling left in your mouth and general agony and pain. No exaggeration whatsoever!! 
No after dinner singing which was kind of sad, but had a good time with a few of the team members who spent the evening trying to find a place to get coca cola. The venture was a success and most of them spent the evening enjoying a taste of home. 
Tomorrow we go into Kupang to visit some of the locals and then visiting with some of the church ladies who have made some blankets and such for us to purchase!