Traffic in Palu...

I have been collecting photos for a while now to try to give you guys a little glimpse into the quite... diverse traffic here in Palu. It is a very strange town, because it is one of the province capital cities, and that means everyone who is rich in this region lives here. At the same time though, it is also the capital city of a quite remote region... and that is something one will notice quickly.

For example is this a relatively common sight; ox carts. 

And on the other end of the scale, we have these. Not as common of a sight, but occasionally you will see a european luxury car like this Mercedes or, more common, BMW's.

To own one of these you have to be very rich, because the import tax on these things, I have been told, is 100% of the original price... 

This is what most people drive, 125cc scooters. These are popular because they can carry up to 6 people, 4-5 sacks of rice, double bed frames... anything basically. They can be rolling food stands, taxies and most importantly, they are easy to drive for drivers from 6-7 years old and up. 

These bikes are less common, because they are a lot more expensive, but they sure are fun to drive. Normally no more than 200cc, but that is plenty, because it is in reality impossible to drive any faster then 70-80 km/h because of the dense traffic.

Old Vespa's are popular among younger people, and they usually modify them quite a lot. 

Here is one with marine camouflage paint and antlers up front.

Having kids involved in traffic, like mentioned earlier, is also normal. Like in this picture, there is a young kid, maybe 10 or 11, sitting on a sack of rice on top of a pile of coconuts, while the driver was driving like a lunatic through town. Oh, and by the way; he was smoking cigarettes.

Pickup trucks are very popular. There's 1000's of them all over town.

Anything from this old clunker to highly modified, brand new Toyota Hiluxes and Mitsubishi Pajeros. People love them because they can be used for anything.

 If you don't have any cargo in the back of your pickup truck, it works well as a people carrier.

And if you do have stuff to carry, a pickup truck is good because you can just keep piling stuff on top until everything you want to bring fits.

We don't have a pickup truck, so this is what we had to do...

They even have motorbike pickup trucks. Very practical, but intensly dangerous! Especially with a younger driver... no surprises there, I guess.

A "boxtruckmotorbike."

Modifying is huge here, you can have almost anything done to your car or bike. This guy decided to make his bike look like a car... Nice not to have the wind in your face, especially considering how dusty this town is.

Now we get to the section of vehicles for the people who don't own a bike or a car.

This is a becak, basically a bicycle taxi. The locals are usually quite a bit smaller than us foreigners, so they can fit 2 at the time, but the only time I rode in one, it was very tight and very uncomfortable. But if you need more space...

 ... just hire a dokar. In a few words: a very fancy looking horse carriage.

The blue van on the left is by far the most common public transportation. Known as the Angutan Kota, Angkot or here in Palu, Taxi Biru. These guys drive around very slowly, pick up anyone who needs a ride, and takes them where they need to go. If you don't need to go where the other people want to go, you just have to wait until they have been taken there first, and then you'll be taken where you wanted to go later. About 4-5 people would fit comfortably in one of these, but I have once been in one with 19 other people.

There are also a few different vehicles that are not common anywhere else:

 Like this thing... what ever it is supposed to be

And these: Datsun Go. Nissan is relaunching the brand Datsun as their cheap-car-brand, and this country is one of very few where they sell them. Is is a very popular car. Much more comfortable than a bike and very cheap. VERY cheap.

Last picture is just of a normal day in Palu traffic

Do yo see how all those people on motorbikes are cutting in front from the right? That is very common here, and when you almost hit them, honk the horn out of frustration, most people just look at you with this face that seems to be saying "how dare you honk at me to warn me that you almost killed me when I cut in front of you on a busy street."

It is also very normal that people overtake others, and when they see you coming towards them, they honk their horns and wave their arms trying to say "when I'm driving down the wrong lane, you should get out of my way or we will crash!"

Every day in traffic here really is a test of my patience...

-E-

rain = free shower

What a perfect mix for fun water games: rain and 30 Celsius weather

hospital

That week my language helper had to go to the hospital and was diagnosed with Typhoid fever.
A few friends and I visited her yesterday.

We all tried our hardest to look very sad for the picture, even though we had a fun time together.

Last night my friends fever was very high again, please keep her in your prayers!

back on the "horse"

When I was younger I did quite a bit of horse riding. Whenever I would fall off, I was always told to get right back into the saddle, because if you wait you might never again get back on a horse.

So Alia and I took our first motorbike ride since the accident yesterday.

When I asked her if she wanted to go for a drive with me she answered, Hm, Papa, car!

I don't blame her, but eventually she did get on the bike with me and I drove more carefully than usual.

When I told my friend I was going to go out for a ride she said, 

Don't forget your jacket, it is hot today!

Before we lived in the tropics that sentence would have made no sense to me. 

But here people actually wear jackets when they ride a bike for several different reasons, on of them being that they don't want their arms and hands to get burned by the sun.

Yesterday was the first time I actually made myself wear a jacket on the bike. I have refused up to now because the last thing you want to do when it is this hot is wear an extra layer. 

It does make sense though, I did not get burned and probably looked very culturally appropriate :-).

 A lot of people wear their jackets with the back in the front when on a bike. Makes total sense to me.

My little trooper back in the "saddle"

man soll den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben

The headline is a German saying which basically means, one should not praise the day before the evening.
Oh how true. Remember the last post when I talked about how amazing the morning had gone?
Well, the evening of that very day, Alia and I where in a motorbike accident.
Praise the Lord, we walked away with a few scratches and bruises and nobody else was involved.

I will spare you a picture of my messed up foot -  you are welcome :-)!

an exceptional good 'every day'-day

This morning has gone exceptionally well.

I got a lot of office/language learning things done and we had a nice lunch and the kids are both napping at the same time right now.

Hugely responsible for the morning going so well is the fact that I had two very motivated and dedicated girls come and help with with entertaining the kids, cleaning and cooking.

I am very aware of what a huge blessing they are to us and that I would not get any language into this little head of mine if it wasn't for them. Thank you Lord for them!

 my view for most of the morning - getting ready for evaluations

the kids doing their favorite things:

Max - eating

Alia - hanging out with people (while eating :-))

Aren't they pretty?

Todays pictures really don't need any comment - just enjoy! Especially everybody who knows the gentleman on the left :-).

 We will sure miss this fella and his family when they are leaving next week.

It's gonna be a tough six months without them!

Cars, trucks, motorbikes and ...cows?

I might have said this before, but traffic in this town is absolutely insane! 

I have traveled a bit, and I have to say that no where else have I seen traffic as consistently crazy and just plain dangerous as here.

And sometimes the craziness is not just a result of drivers with questionable skills, but also cows...

Yes, it is very normal to see flocks of cows roaming around, and its not just in the outskirts of town, but sometimes also on the downtown main street

Not the best picture, but at least proof that it's true

-e-

not wrong just different

Today we have not been a lot healthier than yesterday but for dinner we just needed to get out of the house. We loaded up on tissue paper for our runny noses, picked up some friends and tried out a new restaurant that was recommended to us.

We were really impressed with the food and styling of the place (modern but low prices - our kind of restaurant :-)) but one thing on the menu made us smile...

 apparently even for my adventurous husband that was too much to try

so he went with this funky looking drink

not any better

We were hoping today was going to be better than yesterday - sickness-wise.
But it was far from it. Not only is Alia not any better, but Max and I also got a full on cold now.

We tried everything to give this little guy some relief and making him more comfortable, even went for a drive to maybe have him fall asleep in his car seat which is more upright than his bed so that he could breathe more easily - but as you see, it was no a hit...

We are so sick and tired of being sick and tired - would you pray for us, please?

frozen and fever

Alia has been sick on and off for the last two weeks. Her fever comes and goes as it pleases which sure is unpleasant for her and us.

The Medicine that she much prefers to paracetamol is watching "Frozen" and getting to drink her favorite vitamin C juice. 

we went to have some blood tests done and they found out that her white blood cell count is higher than it is supposed to be...

We are praying that it is 'just' a normal virus and that she will be healthier soon. 

play group

Every other Thursday Alia and I get a special treat.

We get to go to play group together. This is a group of mommies and their little ones and we we have story time, crafts, games, a snack or what not.

It is so nice to hang out with people who are 'in the same boat' as us and understand the challenges and joys of cross-cultural living. 

Today was a partly princess themed - right up Alia's alley.

Afterwards games and snack in the 'pool'.

What a treat!

Where does chocolate come from?

These days I seem to be needing more chocolate than other days... I do think my chocolate intake is higher than the average anyways, but it is my No. 1 comfort food these days and for some reason (like transitioning, little sleep, language study) my need for comfort is high right now.

Anyways... the other day our neighbor told me that her husband had gone to pick up chocolate and they were going dry it and then sell it to buyers who then again sell it to a chocolate factory on another island.
I got all excited, imagining our front yard smelling amazing and me even getting to try some of the chocolate?

Well, two days ago our neighbors were laying, what looked like nuts, outside on mats to dry.

Much to my disappointment, chocolate beans that are drying do NOT smell the same as chocolate that we buy in the store. It is actually not a nice smell at all, weirdly enough it reminds me of when Max sweats - same smell - true story - no idea why.

  Did you know that this is were chocolate comes from? I didn't. Learning something new every day.

On a different note, we know we have been very bad at updating this blog lately, but we will try to go back to what we used to do, when it was usually just a short blogpost with one picture every day (if internet permits us).