Busy week in Sentani

Wow, does time fly! It's been over a week since I last wrote. Mostly I've been busy with my internship. I've been working with all our students this week, and have even done a few sessions independently. It's a good feeling that I really can do this stuff on my own. I've even been able to incorporate some of the technology (WaveSurfer and Audacity, for those of you who care) we used in our classes with some of the students. The hearing screenings went well, too. I did almost all of the K-8 students (except the ones who were absent). That's a lot of kids! I also worked on some of the documentation and writing up the reports. Scheduling the screenings was a challenge, especially since the overall class schedule is still changing with all the adjustments we've made for teachers who aren't here.

I'll try to cover some of the highlights of the past week: We had Bible study on Wednesday night at Joyce's apartment. She's my neighbor, and there's a connecting door, so I don't even have to go outside! :) Alyssa, the Elem/Middle School principal was there, too, and we shared what we've been learning in our personal devotions and had a time of prayer, using Colossians to pray Scripture. I also made a few visits to the clinic because my ears were hurting. I think God has a sense of humor because I got an ear infection on the day I started the hearing screenings at the school. I started out with some drops, but then switched to some oral antibiotic since they think there's fluid in my middle ear. The meds here are extremely cheap - $3 for the eardrops, $1.60 for 10 days' worth of Cipro. My ears don't hurt anymore, but one is still a little plugged. I've had an ear infection as an adult before, so I'm not too worried, but please continue to pray for my health. I would love to not have to deal with any more medical issues while I'm here. And praise the Lord that I haven't had any digestive issues!

Friday night I went to Papa Ron's with a few of the other teachers and met another teacher who's working at a school for kids from the interior (villages - where they live in grass huts and the men wear gourds, like what you see in anthropology textbooks). We stopped at Dunkin' Donuts, where the donuts are served on a plate with a knife and fork....I've never eaten a donut that way before. We also went grocery shopping at the Hypermarket. I got a few basics, and also some broccoli and fruit juice with green tea. It sounded too healthy to pass up! It's actually pretty good - there's enough fruit juice in it to make it sweet. I also got some kiwi juice...haven't tried it yet, though.

Saturday was a busy day. I went to an Indonesian wedding with Mike and Eve. It was an all-day affair - the wedding was at 9 am and we left the reception early at 3:45. And it was HOT! The ceremony itself was pretty similar to American weddings, but the couple sat on a bench at the front of the church. The processional was different - the attendants made an archway for the couple down the aisle, and then I never saw them for the rest of the ceremony. I enjoyed singing songs in Indonesian - the words were printed in the program, and since Indonesian is a very phonetically-based language, I can pronounce the words fairly well. At least when the rate is slow like in singing. When they read a passage from Genesis, I was completely lost - I got about 1 word in every line. Another interesting aspect of the wedding and reception was that the couple took pictures with a lot of the guests. We sat around and waiting at both locations while they called up various families and groups and couples. There were tons more people at the reception than at the wedding. I'm bad at estimating, but I'd say there were at least 500 at the reception. And they fed us all! Traditional Indonesian food: rice, chicken, chicken noodle soup (not sure how traditional it is, but I've heard of it a few times here), and cap cai ("chop chai" - kinda like stir fry). The ice cream was a perfect dessert! We got a piece of cake as we walked in to the reception, but I didn't have any - it had shredded cheese on top. They do that on some of their donuts, too. After a shower and some rest, Mike and Eve took Clare and me to Jayapura for the evening. It was great to see the nightlife of the big city - there's a lot going on! Mike described Jayapura as having a "disco feel" with all the flashing lights and loud music. I think he nailed it. We did some shopping, looked at jewelry, walked through the pasar (market), and got some groceries. I had a Magnum ice cream bar for the first time - delicious! We didn't get back to Sentani til almost 11 - it was a full day!

Sunday was a little more relaxed. Church was great, as always. I found another bat on my steps when I got back, and Justine transported it to the grass for me. Rich and Barb Hoving (Rich is the 5th grade teacher, Barb is a nurse) invited Clare and me for lunch. We feasted on chicken fajitas, chips (homemade from homemade tortillas), bean dip, pineapple, rice, and a strawberry yogurt dessert. If it weren't for the hospitality of other people here, I'd be eating very poorly - I made myself a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich tonight and had some papaya. Barb also taught me how to more efficiently cut a pineapple. I'm so thankful, because it was taking me FOREVER!

Myron, the kindergarten teacher, is back in the States. He had his first Dr. appointments today. Please be praying for him and his family as he goes through treatment for his lymphoma. And there's still no word on the 4th grade teacher's visa - The meeting was on Friday in Jayapura, but we haven't heard the results yet. Pray that the Lord would provide a teacher for the 4th graders soon! And praise Him that he provided an elementary/middle school principal for next year!

Some random information about life in Sentani: Applying bug spray has become part of my morning routine. I'm not fond of smelling like mosquito repellent all day, but it's better than getting bug bites. Clare gave me some of her Off spray - all they have here is the lotion kind. Grocery shopping is unique - things that were there one week aren't there the next. I couldn't find any skim milk when we went on Friday, and there was no yogurt to be found. I love paying 60 cents for a huge papaya, and 10 cents for an orange. However, I never thought I'd pay $7 for a box of corn flakes (it was the big size at least). The chichucks (gecko-type things) are my friends because they eat bugs - I've only seen a few baby ones in my apartment. I'm becoming desensitized to small bugs - I'm still not enjoying the abnormally large ones that I encounter on a daily basis. I learned the difference between 110V and 220V the other day when my battery charger made a POP and started smoking. I thought my adapter took care of that, too, but it didn't. Guess I'll be buying AA batteries from now on. When we were trying to find the church where the wedding was at, Mike asked a few of the people where the church was. As we were not having much success, Eve explained that it's part of the culture to always give directions, even if you don't know where it is. So we went on a few wild goose chases. I'm glad that's not part of American culture. And Google maps can't help too much here!

I think that gives you a good idea of what I've been up to recently. Hopefully it wasn't too long. I've been enjoying a delightful breeze as I type this - it's even slightly cool, which is a welcomed thing. :) We're doing re-screens this week for the kids who didn't pass the first time, and a consult with some parents of preschoolers about speech and language development. We have Thursday off because it's a holiday - the anniversary of when the Gospel first came to Papua. What a great holiday to celebrate! Eve is taking me to the pasar (market) and then to a place where General MacArthur was in charge during WWII - I guess there's some sort of museum there. Looks like I'll have plenty to write about again soon.