November 28, 2009

Fun fact: our Papuan art dealer wants a Polaroid.  This makes sense considering his living situation.  He has no access to a computer or printer, and probably doesn't have electricity either.  But still, I'm envisioning a bunch of Papuans taking over the town with Polaroid cameras, taking pictures of all the weird looking foreigners.  Does this mean that the tables have turned?

November 21, 2009

My art dealer friend, Pius, came by to see us yesterday.  We bought a traditional Papuan knife, which is made out of a Cassowary leg bone (which is suspiciously about the same size as a human leg bone, so it makes you wonder, but he did assure me that it was definitely Cassowary).   Yesterday we discussed the fact that he doesn't like school but he wants to finish soon so that he can work at the mine for "big bananas" like me and Eric.  And he declared that if he learned some English that maybe he could become a big banana, too. 

Then our discussion turned a bit more serious.   Our company is paying him to go to school, maybe $60/month, so that he can first learn how to read and write, and then go on to practical job training.  While he's going to school, his wife (or his "woman", as he calls her) and his 2 kids have to try to raise all of the food that they need, but his kids still need clothes and shoes.  And now people want money for those things instead of trading for surplus crops they might raise.   He and his family are struggling since he doesn't receive much money for going to school, and there aren't any part-time jobs in Timika, where he could work when he's not studying.  He said he "wants to like working at the mine" so that he can make $200 or $300 per month, "and then everything will be great" for his family.  While he understands that he is having to do this to survive, he doesn't understand why things are now like this.  Then he thanked us two dozen times for helping him and his family by trading money for the native artwork. 

 I am still at a loss at what to say.  It's pretty overwhelming to realize that we are watching this person's way of life erode right before him and can't explain why. 

His ambition to learn and ability to adapt to a new way of life is really inspirational.

November 15, 2009

bird

This little guy and his friends were making an enormous racket outside of our kitchen window this morning!

 November 7, 2009

We made it across the ocean and are sitting in the hotel in Jakarta, working through the start of the jet-lag process: one double-cappucino down, a few more to go.  For those wondering what all we did on our vacation, well, I can describe it in one word: redneckin'.  "What would that entail," you ask yourself. It depends on where you are doing the redneckin', as I'm sure you will agree that rednecks in Mississippi don't necessarily do what rednecks in Montana do.  Anyway, our redneckin' was in Wyoming, Colorado and South Dakota this trip, so this included activities like prarie dog shooting, elk hunting, pheasant hunting, pulling trucks out of the mud, and general hanging out with other rednecks.  Imagine my culture shock today, when seeing no beef or potato products on any menus.  Oh yeah.  We're HERE.

Random incidents/sightings in Jakarta today:

1. The taxi driver drove in reverse on a one-way street to pick us up in his Toyota Vellfire

2. An ad sign for a mall said, "Untuk semua Shopaholics".  Guess they have them here, too.

3. Goats were grazing in a road construction zone on the freeway.

4. Saw people scavenging on a trash pile next to the freeway...an incredible contrast to the beautifully rich skyscrapers across the road from them.

 

 
 

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