Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Recent Floods

This picture is from a recent flood here in my hometown. It was about 2 miles from my home, and fortunately the flooding didn't affect my house. We heard it was the worst flooding in the town in almost 20 years. I received some special advice from Stesha right before I left to be sure and wear my helmet at all times, and I took her advice! Helmets also work as floating devices.

He probably should have taken the detour.


This, and the next few pictures are from another flood right around the same time in a neighboring city. The guy in the green jacket is pointing the stain that the water left on the walls. He lives here in my town, and this is his parents house.


Here is a shot after gettin' down and dirty. About a half inch of mud was left on all the floors and furniture. The kid in the middle is Dennis, I got to meet him a few years ago on my first trip. He is probably the coolest kid in all of Indonesia.


This last photo is looking out from the front porch. All the furniture and belongings had to taken out and scrubbed down. It was quite a mess, but we actually made a lot of progress in that first day. All in all I have not ceased to be amazed at the lives on Indonesians. My initial reaction to the mess was that they would have to destroy everything and rebuild (my American mentality, I guess). Disasters such as these have become a way of life for Indonesians. They just deal with them and press on. I can't help but be humbled in situations like these.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Camping... Indo Style

It has been a while since my last post, so I thought I would freshen things up with one of my most intense experiences yet. A few days after Christmas me and about 15 other friends packed up our gear and headed to a mountainous area about a half hour from my home. I've had some good camping trips back home... but none like this. It was a trip that wont ever be forgotten. As rains began early we realized camping in the mountains right in the middle of rainy season might not have been the best idea. On the second night the winds and rains picked up and we all moved into one tent (seen cuddling below). Some of us thought perhaps the winds were reaching speed of up 70 - 80 mph. After we realized the weather conditions weren't going to let up any time soon we decided to leave our gear and head down the mountain in search for some better shelter. As a few of the first ones began to head down, some rather large trees and branches were falling on the path. Fortunately no one was hurt and all in all we had a great experience and a good story to tell.


Wet and tired... but still smilin'!


Rice is even better when your camping!


During the storm some thought it was funny while others cried as they feared for their life. OK... so I was the only one that cried.


The next morning... I'm going to go ahead and say it was a good call to head down early!


The beautiful mountain side. This was taken 20 feet or so from our camping spot.