Traveling internationally has always been "interesting" for us. You never know what to expect from a new place. The route to Timor was no exception.
After spending time in New Zealand and overnighting in Brisbane, Australia, we overnighted in Bali. We had a whirlwind tour of busy Denpasar (the capital), bustling with cars, but even more motorcycles and scooters. I'll never, never, never drive in Bali. We also went from $1 US being about $1.40 in New Zealand and Australia to being worth over 14,256 rupiah. Need a taxi? That will be Rp285131, please. I've got an app on the phone to deal with this.
We arrived in Kupang, West Timor after a 2 hour flight from Bali. Our first surprise was pulling my small suitcase off the conveyor belt looking like this:Good news: Nothing was in the outer pocket so nothing was lost or damaged.
Good news: One of the office staff from the translation center met us at the airport and was able to act as our translator/negotiator.
Bad news: The airline wants us to bring the suitcase back to the airport and they will reimburse us Rp300,000 (about $21). While things cost less here in Kupang, we don't know what $21 will buy and we must replace it to get home in April.
We're 10 degrees south of the Equator. Days and nights are
both 12 hours. We've changed time zones so many times recently that we're
very confused. Right now we're exactly 12 hours ahead of the East Coast USA.
We're sure there are lots more "interesting" things ahead. Still, God answered prayers for safety, health and on-time arrival and we are so very thankful to now be working with a great group here in Kupang.
We're sure there are lots more "interesting" things ahead. Still, God answered prayers for safety, health and on-time arrival and we are so very thankful to now be working with a great group here in Kupang.
Where we're staying and working in our next blog.
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