We have had a crazy last few days after leaving our peaceful little island. We went to the town of Poso and on the second day met a local girl, Hani. She called us over and invited us into her home to practice her english. After a while she invited us to stay with her in her house and to join them for dinner. At first we were a little aprehensive but after a while decided to stay the next night with them. She lent us her motorbike and took us to the beach and then around town. That night we had dinner with her whole family, parents, husband, son and friends. The next day she came to our hotel to make sure we were going stay at there house. We later all went to the beach together and they had brought food for us, like a picnic. Then we went back to the house, they gave us a whole house to ourselves, where we had our room a big sitting area which opened out onto the sea and a bathroom with a bucket shower. We changed and they took us to a friends "baptism", they are muslim so it isn't called that. Where we ate and then everyone at the party took turns taking pictures with us. We were the excitement of the party. Then they wanted us to sing Karaoke, but I didn't give them the priviledge of hearing my wonderful voice. Later that evening there was a concert, given by a local highschool band, where we went to have a tamarind tea. The singer dedicated a song to us and then asked us to join him on stage and sing with him. Again I declined. The next day they had bought us all these typical foods which they eat for breakfast. Then the whole family took us in the van, her dad is a local taxi driver, to the bus station and we said our goodbyes. I tried to offer to pay them something and they refused. They said they were just being hospitable and that we should tell other travelers that Poso is safe and the people are friendly. It was really an incredible experience.
After leaving we prepared ourselves mentally for the 22 hour bus ride in the front row. At first everything went well but when the drivers changed and the second driver took over, I thought I would lose it. He basically sat sideways and drove in the middle of the road. I really thought we were going to die. I covered my face for the next 12 hours and wished I was somewhere else. Remarkably we made it safely to Makassar at 6am.
There we rested for a few hours in a motel. We went to then internet cafe where I left my sun glasses in the downstairs bathroom. I realized almost 2 hours later and when I went back to ask if someone had turned them in, sure enough there they were. WOW these people never cease to amaze me, so honest.
That night we left at 3 am on a 4 hour flight to Jayapura. On the flight we met George, an Indonesian studying Rocket science in Miami, Florida. He is somewhat of a celebrity here since he was one of the first to receive a full scholorship to a US university. He has also filmed 2 commercials and has come back to talk to the kids and tell them the importance of studying english. He offered to take us to the city and help us do our visa stuff and in the end he offered for us to stay at his uncles house. Which was great since all the hotels were booked solid. His uncle is a very kind man, Pa Sa, with 3 little girls and his wife. They are both teachers and he speaks english really well. We sleep in a tiny room with a single bed and no AC or fan. But we are very grateful for their hospitality. So we have been here for 3 days now waiting for our PNG visa, the embassy was closed yesterday due to a PNG holiday. We will hopefully get it today or tomorrow and take public transport to the border and then walk across and try and arrange public transport on the other side.
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