Goings-On East of The Wallace Line

Goings-on is a term I would like to thank my good friend, C and her Father, for teaching me. The Wallace line is a bit more obscure, but is a line that separates West and East Indonesia by its fauna and distinct differences in wildlife both on land and in the sea.

Map showing the Wallace Line

A weekend hike with Bulan!

During the first week of November Tembagapura hosted the annual International Day celebrations. I was asked to co-MC for this event and serve as a translator. Here are some funny photos of the event.

Opening ceremonies with singing, dancing and flags.

Best dressed awards. (Women wearing clothing from different parts of Indonesia, Ghana, South Africa & Chile)

Home brewing has become a fun and delicious pastime for us here. On one recent Friday night we hosted a blind beer tasting with some good friends who are also experimenting with some brews.

Our complicated beer ranking scale for both tasting and smelling the beers. Note: the pint glasses are not a true representation of the beers within.

Getting dressed up is always fun for us here in the jungle. For our annual halloween party we dressed as cookie(s) and milk - these costumes were not the best for the dance floor! ;D Shortly after halloween we helped celebrate a friend's 50th birthday at her Pirate-Themed party! 

For the month of November I offered a rock climbing class for some of the women in town. 8 women joined the class and I taught it in 4 sessions. They learned about the equipment, belaying, climbing and rappelling. 

Kids at the dorm learning how to read maps of this area. They especially loved seeing aerial views of their villages and finding their homes!

Recently we did an overnight trek with 4 other friends to Aorwanop, a remote village about 25km from our home. The jungle trek was long, steep and muddy, but what a beautiful and unique experience! 

Darinus, in green, is a student of ours from the school. His family is originally from Aorwanop and he helped make our experience and welcome into the village the best possible!

Dave handing out Connecticut pencils at Darinus' family Honai (round house).

Very tired me with our final destination in the background.

Kiddos in the village getting ready for Church on Sunday morning!

A common sight in these parts! 

On our way back through the jungle, across the river 10 times and over the ridge!

A short respite along the river before climbing up the hill-o-death.

Muddy feet at a nice resting place almost at the top of the hill-o-death. If you look very closely, you can see the village we had just come from… just over my right foot.

We will be heading to NZ in less than 2 weeks for Christmas break. Looking forward to camping, tramping and mingling with the locals! SWEET-AS!