The other day, I went to visit some long time friends expecting to pull out my pictures from the Philippines to show them. Instead, they asked me if I would like to see the pictures that they had taken when they had traveled with a group from church to visit my family and my aunt and uncle's family in Indonesia in 1995. I enthusiastically said "YES!" and the fun began. Seeing my childhood through my adult eyes and through my friend's eyes helped me remember all those little things that you forget, like the carpet in our living room that mom hated because it was so hard to clean without a vacuum cleaner. All of the pictures where on slides that we viewed with a slide projector and a screen. After we had the best time reminiscing, sharing stories, and commenting on little details, I asked if I could get copies of some of my favorites to share with my family and others. "Sure!" was the answer, and so I took pictures of the screen while my friend patiently clicked through the slides again.
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Here's Dad waiting at the bottom of the stairs off the plane to greet our visitors.
I *love* the big grin on his face. He was so excited to have people come visit. |
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My dad's desk in the math room. His desk is WAY more organized than I ever keep mine. Those plastic
folding chairs bring back memories from many of my high school classes. |
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Here's my mom and aunt in front of my families house. When I first saw this, the first thing I thought was
"Mom's motorcycle looks so old! Especially compared to the one I drive in Davao." I also remember
trying to dust those silly decorative blocks in the front, painting the fence, and planting those bushes in
front. We planted them by cutting branches off of our neighbors' bushes and then sticking them in the
ground. The saying was, "If you plant a pencil, it will grow!" |
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This is our living room, with the great picture window that we added, the not-so-fun-to-clean carpet, and
the broken aquarium hidden behind the bookshelf. Notice the feast of snacks, fruit, and other refreshments
that mom has set out on the coffee table. It wouldn't be my mom's house without those! |
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| And here's the dining room and kitchen! I love the retro lamp! |
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Downtown Sentani - I remember searching the stores here for a shoe that would fit my size 42 or 43 foot
(size 10 in the US). I learned to ask what types of shoes they had in my size and then choose one from
there rather than ask, "Do you have something like this in my size?" |
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We took the visiting group to one of my favorite beaches, Tanah Merah. If you look closely enough you
can find my mom, dad, sister, brother, and extended family. I love the mountains in the background! |
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My favorite thing about Tanah Merah was the fresh water pond where you could rinse off
the salt water so you didn't feel so sticky. Yes...that is me in the pool! |
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My mom and dad made friends with Pak Triyono and Ibu Bustomi who worked for a local airline
carrying freight to Wamena, a city in the interior of the island of Papua. Ibu Bustomi loved to put on
dinners for people and she decided to put on a feast in honor of our visiting guests.
Check out my 80's pants! |
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My parents and my aunt and uncle took the group to a trip interior. Pak Triyono provided cheap airfare
to Wamena in the back of his cargo plane. Wamena is the largest city in the world that is only accessible
by air. Our visitors got to ride in a plane with rice. A different time our family got to ride in a plane full of
kerosene. When Pak Triyono invited us to stand up front and watch the plane land, Dad said to Mom,
"Go ahead and let them do it! If we are gonna crash, we are all going up in flames,
so why not let the kids enjoy the experience!" |
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My friend got to go along on a trip with my uncle who is a Yajasi pilot, flying small aircraft to serve the
needs of villages and missionaries living in the interior of Papua. My friend said that this opportunity was
the highlight of his trip and one of the highlights of his whole life. The rich, pure, jungle is so inviting to me! |
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This is a traditional hut that most villagers live in TO THIS DAY!
If you look closely, you can see my mom. |
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A traditional village - however this one was constructed recently,
as evidenced by the organized walkways and landscaping. |
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A picture of my adventurous parents taken in Wamena. The large poinsettia bush (tree?) in the
background was one of my mom's favorites. She commented on it multiple times and often said,
"We need to get a picture in front of that bush to send to Grandma Farlin because she loves poinsettias." |
As I look at these pictures again, I am reminded how much more my parents had to give up, deal with, and adapt to in order to serve there in Indonesia. In comparison, my life in Davao is a cake walk with Starbucks, easy communication with family in the US, consistent electricity, and convenient grocery stores. I miss the simplicity of life in those days and I am SO grateful to have had the chance to experience it and grow up in Sentani.
For the holidays, my brother, sister and I drove down to my uncle's house to spend time with family for the holidays. The car was full! Along with our personal items were 2 dogs and their kennels and necessities AND all of the things that I was sending to Davao in a balikbayan box. I'm so used to traveling by public transportation where I need to put all my stuff in an enclosed container where volume and weight matter. It's so weird for me to be able to access to the stuff I've packed, have room to stretch out and sleep, and cuddle with Rachel's dogs along the way.
