A Lot of Firsts

Yesterday was my first Sabbath here, so Selamat Sabat (Happy Sabbath).  We went to church at the nearby SDA School. I wish I could say that the sermon was riveting, but not knowing the language makes it hard to focus on the sermon. Perhaps, in next few months I’ll be able to pick up more and more!  

SDA church and school

            After church we went on a Sabbath afternoon hike to this amazing lake! It was so beautiful!!  It was hot though.  Scratch that. It was like walking through a steam room that was put on hell-fire mode.  But I just keep telling myself, “Welcome to Papua and the tropics KD. This is where you chose to come. You’ll have great pores when you get home.” 

I cannot get over the dramatic landscape here! Everywhere I look there are hills that seem to have been molded and dropped in impractical places.  Then there’s Cyclopes Mountain. It’s just as eerie and majestic as it sounds.  As I sit here in my new classroom (and write this blog) I look out my window and stare in owe. It appears to have forcefully erupted out of the ground creating vast saddles and jagged peaks.  But instead of being covered by rock, the jungle has taken over. The clouds usually hang low and cover the top 1,000 feet, but every once in a while it will allow you to see patches of the mysterious peaks. Every time I look up at the mountain I can’t help but think, perhaps Mordor is just on the other side.  Then, of course, I promptly get “I See Fire” stuck in my head.  If this view wasn’t terribly beautiful enough, there’s a massive waterfall tumbling off one of the many steep bluffs, which I can see (and dream of going) to from my classroom.  It may be harder to teach than I thought.   Not because of the students, but because of this distracting view.

Speaking of school, I start tomorrow! *Eeek!* I’m nervous and excited.  I only have 5 students in my class, so it will probably be more like tutoring a group than lecturing in an auditorium. My classroom can sit about 25 kids, and they have a nice lab area behind the desks.  AND my classroom as AC. (Praise!!) I do have wifi at the school so posting pictures and blogging should be easier than it has been recently.