We are excited to introduce to you... Kaus Kaki!!!
Here are some photos if his first day with us! :)
Our first child!!! :)
He's doing very well. :)
And everyone wants to know what "breed" he is. Ha! So this is what we give them:
Friday, November 2, 2012
New member of Team Spinelli
Team Spinelli just got 50% bigger! :-)
We are excited to introduce to you... Kaus Kaki!!!
His name, Kaus Kaki, means "Socks", but don't call him "Socks". He gets pretty pissed at that. :-)
Here are some photos if his first day with us! :)
We are excited to introduce to you... Kaus Kaki!!!
Here are some photos if his first day with us! :)
Friday, October 19, 2012
Coming in for a landing...
Every time we do this, either Leslie or I look at the other and say something like,
"What strange lives we lead."
Take a moment and check it out. This was a crystal clear morning (which is kinda rare) and you can see a glimpse of our house from the air! :-) Enjoy.
And here's one earlier in that flight, shortly after take-off. You can see the stark contrast between the flat jungle of the lowlands (the below video) and the steep mountains of the highlands (the above video). Check this out: you can see the cockpit and Leslie too! :-)
"What strange lives we lead."
"What strange lives we lead."
Take a moment and check it out. This was a crystal clear morning (which is kinda rare) and you can see a glimpse of our house from the air! :-) Enjoy.
And here's one earlier in that flight, shortly after take-off. You can see the stark contrast between the flat jungle of the lowlands (the below video) and the steep mountains of the highlands (the above video). Check this out: you can see the cockpit and Leslie too! :-)
"What strange lives we lead."
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Kokonao Village
Last week I had an incredible opportunity to join 7 women on a visit to Kokonao Village and deliver food and school supplies donated by our community here in Tembagapura. Kokonao is the home of a large dormitory facility run by the Indonesian Catholic church. The dormitory, Sisters, Father and staff provide a safe place to live and go to school for over 140 grade 7 - 9 students from remote villages.
To get to Kokonao we drove via taxi 1+ hours to the port of Timika. From the port we hired a boat to carry us and the supplies 3+ hours along the maze of rivers, out to the Arafura Sea and back to the mangrove rivers before arriving at Kokonao.
To get to Kokonao we drove via taxi 1+ hours to the port of Timika. From the port we hired a boat to carry us and the supplies 3+ hours along the maze of rivers, out to the Arafura Sea and back to the mangrove rivers before arriving at Kokonao.
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| Posing outside of the boys dining area. We are NOT camera shy! |
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| A walk to the end of town on the docks of Kokonao. |
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| Some of the local flavor! |
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| Fish heads anyone? Yummy!!! |
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| Me with the 9th grade class I got to teach English that morning! |
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| Our last night we were entertained by the girls and boys from the dorm and their many talents of dancing and singing |
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| Our group of traveling ladies at the beach nearby. |
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Pekerjaan (Work)
It occurred to me that most of the stories we share are about what we do on our free-time, weekends or holidays. So I thought it would be nice to share a bit more about the work we do. Although technically Dave is the only one of the the two of us who holds a "work visa", I have found much of my time here consumed with various projects and volunteer opportunities.
As many of you know Dave was hired as a Technical Expert at the Indonesian school in Tembagapura. Last year, he worked hard to develop teachers' English language skills and support them as they worked to integrate more English into their curriculum and lessons.
This year the school has hired more Technical Experts who are taking over some of Dave's classes and responsibilities to give him more time to devote to Quality Management and improving the school's compliance to ISO 9001.
Besides the basic house keeping duties which are not to be underestimated, I have taken on some new responsibilities in the community and schools this year. Last year I started a quarterly middle school after school program called Adventure Leadership - Adventure activities that build leadership through cross-cultural cooperation, communication, problem solving, challenge and service. This year I am once again leading AL with the occasional help of an Indonesian teacher with a background in Outward Bound-type activities. This term we have 8 students - 4 Indonesian, 2 Papuan, 1 Dutch and 1 American.
Just this past week Dave and I made progress on a new initiative to start a "hiking club" with middle school students. Yesterday morning we led our first hike to the waterfall above town. We had 12 people join us!!! Many students here in town tend to spend so much time indoors due to the copious amounts of rain. Students also complain of being bored and not having enough to do, so we are trying to make more opportunities for healthy and active lifestyles - while pushing our personal agendas of breaking down racial barriers, building confidence and building respect for the natural environment. It was an absolutely beautiful day to start the hiking club!
Lastly, with a new school year, I have stepped into a new community volunteer role. Recently the torch of coordinator of Tomawin Dorm volunteers was passed down to me. The previous coordinator is moving on this week and has asked me to take over. Taking over essentially means coordinating a creative and generous collection of 6 women from the community who volunteer their time every Friday afternoon to play with, love on and teach English to the kids. However different our styles and approach may be, our intents come from the same heart - to serve the kids living at the dorm. Asrama Tomawin is a dorm of 60+ Papuan students from grades 1-9. These kids have come to live at the dorm and study at D's school from surrounding villages, 1-3 days walking distance. Most of these kids come straight from remote villages when they are very young. When the kids come to live at the dorm they have little to no Indonesian language, they have never worn shoes, gone to school, slept in beds as we think of beds, washed regularly or traveled outside of their villages. Some kids have lived here for 9 years and others for only 1 week.
Needless to say, I have a very strong affection for these local kids and wish to see them succeed. With many odds against them, they struggle to learn two new languages - Indonesian & English, conform to an Indonesian academic style and live so far from their families.
So there's a snapshot of our work here in Tembagapura. Maybe this helps you to understand better what we do and why we have chosen to stay here for awhile. Thank you for all of your support and prayers.
As many of you know Dave was hired as a Technical Expert at the Indonesian school in Tembagapura. Last year, he worked hard to develop teachers' English language skills and support them as they worked to integrate more English into their curriculum and lessons.
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| Here's Dave with one of his teachers. She is leading an assembly at the expat school on Indonesian Independence Day, 17 August 1945. |
This year the school has hired more Technical Experts who are taking over some of Dave's classes and responsibilities to give him more time to devote to Quality Management and improving the school's compliance to ISO 9001.
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| Dave thinking about his new assignment. Hmmmmm.... |
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| Adventure Leadership students problem-solving together. |
Just this past week Dave and I made progress on a new initiative to start a "hiking club" with middle school students. Yesterday morning we led our first hike to the waterfall above town. We had 12 people join us!!! Many students here in town tend to spend so much time indoors due to the copious amounts of rain. Students also complain of being bored and not having enough to do, so we are trying to make more opportunities for healthy and active lifestyles - while pushing our personal agendas of breaking down racial barriers, building confidence and building respect for the natural environment. It was an absolutely beautiful day to start the hiking club!
Lastly, with a new school year, I have stepped into a new community volunteer role. Recently the torch of coordinator of Tomawin Dorm volunteers was passed down to me. The previous coordinator is moving on this week and has asked me to take over. Taking over essentially means coordinating a creative and generous collection of 6 women from the community who volunteer their time every Friday afternoon to play with, love on and teach English to the kids. However different our styles and approach may be, our intents come from the same heart - to serve the kids living at the dorm. Asrama Tomawin is a dorm of 60+ Papuan students from grades 1-9. These kids have come to live at the dorm and study at D's school from surrounding villages, 1-3 days walking distance. Most of these kids come straight from remote villages when they are very young. When the kids come to live at the dorm they have little to no Indonesian language, they have never worn shoes, gone to school, slept in beds as we think of beds, washed regularly or traveled outside of their villages. Some kids have lived here for 9 years and others for only 1 week.
Needless to say, I have a very strong affection for these local kids and wish to see them succeed. With many odds against them, they struggle to learn two new languages - Indonesian & English, conform to an Indonesian academic style and live so far from their families.
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| This little cutie was competing in a PPE (personal protective equipment) relay race! |
Sunday, August 19, 2012
A Walk Through...
Not having a vehicle is one of the better parts of our current location and situation. Whether it's for 1 hour or 8 hours, leaving the house routinely includes running through a quick checklist as not to forget any essential items.
Checklist items:
Checklist items:
- umbrella (rain or shine... because it will rain)
- nokan (long strapped woven bag carried by local men & women)
- company ID card
- camera
- keys
- extra cash
- phone
- extra layer
- water
- snack
Now, to be perfectly honest, some walks require much less... like when we walk the jalan panorama to look for birds, check the rise and fall of the rivers and scope out new jungle trails to explore. These walks occur 1-3 times/week and last anywhere from 1/2 - 2 hours depending on how distracted we get or who we run into.
Two weekends ago we shared a long walk with our friends Steve & Donna. We walked down the road, through the gate, along the tailings river to the local village. Banti is our nearest village and is made up of an interesting collection of indonesians from different islands such as Java & Sumatra, police & military, local Papuans and Papuans from villages as far as 8 days walk over the Sudirman or the Dugunduguoo mountain range who have all come to pan for gold in the tailings river! Our long walk was accompanied by two young friends of ours, Mario (9) & Samuel (10). Mario is from Banti and he was very excited to escort us to his village to meet his sister and friends.
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| Walking down the road to Banti... about 2000ft lower elevation than our town. |
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| Mario explaining the workings of the tailings river to Steve |
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| Foot bridge to Mario's village |
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| Mario on a ridge before his village |
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| Cuties! |
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| Mario & Samuel, our guides, standing in front of Mario's house. |
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| A warrior-in-training |
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| Some of the village kids showing off their bow and arrow skills! Mario's sister on the far left |
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| Dave & Donna taking the non-foot bridge option! |
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| Making our way back on our long walk to Banti! |
Where some walks take us down to bustling villages, others take us up to towering mountains...
These past two weekends, with a much longer and more critical checklist and heavier packs, we have ventured on some long walks at higher altitudes.
Many thanks to you for walking through this journey together with us... whether from near or far, we enjoy walking through this life with you!
These past two weekends, with a much longer and more critical checklist and heavier packs, we have ventured on some long walks at higher altitudes.
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| Early morning break with a low fog in the valley. |
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| D and friends scrambling up the pass. |
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| D coming down the pass with a Papuan family watching closely. They had been traveling a few days already from another village. |
Many thanks to you for walking through this journey together with us... whether from near or far, we enjoy walking through this life with you!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Amerika and back to Indonesia
Coming back to all of our family and friends in America for 6 weeks was AWESOME! We enjoyed spending time together laughing and chatting over meals, at baseball games, driving old Model-Ts, rock climbing, hiking, tasting local brews, tasting the local catch, celebrating birthdays, Independence day and much, much more! Many thanks to all of you who opened up your homes to us, fed us, played with us and/or took time out of your schedules to spend with us! We are richly blessed by our family and friends! THANK YOU!
Now we are back in our little mining town of Tembagapura. Dave is busy at the school working and Leslie is busy getting back to her routine of exercise, volunteering and house keeping ;D.
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| A BIG fan! |
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| Going to visit Grandma's gravesite was very special |
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| Ahhh... San Diego Taco Shops! |
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| Pablo & Leslie in action! |
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| The Model-T surprise! |
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| Ashley and Nesta chillin' at Santee Lakes for the San Diego BBQ. |
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| We went to Yosemite and did the classic Mist Trail to Vernal Falls hike |
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| Cragging next to Yosemite Falls with Curt and Graham! |
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| Before we got eaten by mosquitos on our overnight to Pophry Lake. |
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| Picnicking at the park with Uncle Bob, Cousin Sarah and Jace in Sun Valley, ID |
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| Great hike with Cousin Rhiana! |
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| Beautiful Glacier National Park!!! |
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| A great adventure shared with Melissa & Jason! |
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| Cousins Steve & Donna - our wonderful hosts and tour guides! |
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| Snow, snow everywhere! Date: 20 June! |
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| Yeah... we ride Clydesdales and drink Budweiser! ;D |
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| Paddling on Twin Lakes, ID with the Lee's! |
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| ...and we shoot guns. |
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| Mom, Dad and Sister Spinelli with their Indonesian oleh-oleh(souvenirs)! |
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| The 2nd annual Spinelli family 4th of July washers match! |
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| Where' Waldo? Check out these elephant ears!!! |
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| Hornbills flying overhead! |
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| Dave in his new Batik! Thursdays are wear your Batik day at the schools. |
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| A delicious pesto-goat cheese pizza. |
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| Dave meeting the Persipura players from our local Indonesian league team! |
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| Friend and teacher at D's school, Christina, is very excited to be meeting the players. |
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| As are our friends Mario & Elpinus. They are NOT phased by the perpetual rain. |
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