The Lows and Highs of Tembagapura

We've had our ups and downs over the past couple months.  Here's a recapitulation.

Low:
Our quiet little neighborhood got totally invaded.  :-(  Normally there are no cars on our street.  Yeah, well check out what happened in February.

How many cars can you count in our front yard?  :-(   It was like this every day in February.
 (Yeah, my wife was pissed.)

But things finally calmed down and things are almost back to normal.  :-)

High:
Enjoying our front porch.  My wife has a thing for porches, and sitting out on them.

Note the awesome crate being used as a footstool.  My wife loves rustic crates.

High:
We walked down to the village of Banti a couple weeks ago.

Communities of panners.

Local kids recognize Leslie from her volunteering at their health clinic.

The tailings river.

And we found some friends from the Baliem Valley!

High of Highs!:
We finally got to do some real, high, alpine hiking today!!!   Woohoo!   Check it out!  :-)

The Dog's Tooth in the background.  It looks like it's really close but that spire in the background 
("The Dog's Tooth") is really like about a half mile away.  It's really big.  Hard to tell in the photo though.

The Fairy Lakes in the background.  Incredible views.

There were some heated arguments about what our actual elevation was and whose GPS was better, but we all agreed that our highest point was over 15,000ft.  Woohoo!

Tembagapura Days

One common question I get living here is; "So what have you been doing to keep busy?" This isn't an unjustified question. We live in a small mining town with one main shop area which is an all inclusive grocery, department store, pharmacy, post office, salon and cafe. So, basically if you need to go to all of these places in one day (which I never do) you could accomplish your shopping needs and have a coffee in less than 2 hours. Which begs the question... what does one do with the remaining 14 hours of the day if, like me, you don't have a job or kids?

Well...

I've started a garden from seeds and cuttings from friends...

...making the most of our small back porch!

OH BOY!!! The culinary adventures have been delicious!

Every Thursday I lead an after school club called Adventure Leadership for Middle School students from both the expatriate and Indonesian schools.

Sometimes, when there are interesting events like the strike of 4,000 workers that started a couple of weeks ago, I get curious...

I put on my Personal Protective Equipment and head out with my camera...

...doing my best to document the goings on of this very dynamic place.

A red band around the head indicates the decision to strike for a better compensation package.

While at home, I'm kept company by some of the local boys who like to hang out in our backyard.

So, there's a better picture of what I do to keep busy while D's at work! Some things I also enjoy but don't have pictured are taking runs around town, walking with friends, studying Indonesian, volunteering at the local Indonesian school and playing with some of the kids and moms at the hospital in the local village Banti. My days are full and fulfilling. There never seems to be a dull moment here, I am learning continuously and I hope the same is true for you wherever this may find you!