7693 Miles from Home

After twenty-one days of being without a vehicle, Chris is driving again! On Thursday, he took and passed jobsite’s mandatory driving test. Today, he’s driving a Toyota Troop Carrier. It’s not his Jeep Rubicon, but it’s a formidable substitute with a big diesel engine! He would love to pack it up and take it home with him at the end of our time here, but importing it into the U.S. is impossible (something about it being company property).

This vehicle is capable of handling some of the most rugged terrain in the Indonesian jungle – including PTFI’s extreme HEAT Road (Heavy Equipment Access Trail) and the hundreds of miles of wet tunnels in the underground mine. The HEAT road is incredibly steep from start to finish, and will exceed a 30% grade at some points. As the photo illustrates, leaving the road would result in a very bad day, especially for the safety guy, so a powerful and rugged vehicle is necessary.

Chris’s Toyota Troop Carrier

Chris back in the driver’s seat!

PTFI’s H.E.A.T road. The town of Tembagapura is the large open area at the end of the road on the right side. Photo courtesy of twimg.com.

The grocery store sells little banana bunches that look like they were just whacked off a tree with a machete. The heavily laden, wide spread bundles of 3″ bananas hang tightly on rigid stems in formal, and sometimes oddly shaped formations. They are not the traditional variety that I’m used to, but they taste just as good. I bought some bananas a few days ago, but they quickly over-ripened, so I clicked on the laptop and entered a search for “Asian-inspired banana bread recipes.”

Indonesian Bananas
Each banana is 2-3″ long (about the length of an adult thumb).

While perusing recipes, I came across an article about repatriation. In the beginning, it sounded like the same idea that I was taught in a college sociology course – Citizen C moves from Circle Country to Square Society and has to learn how to live a new life with Square Settlers. New adaptions are made and old patterns are changed. Citizen C is no longer 100% Circle, and will never be 100% Square, so he’s left hanging somewhere in the middle. He eventually evolves into something completely different, Triangle Tenant. Even when he returns to Circle Country, he remains a Triangle in Circle Country.

The article left me feeling with the troubling impression that Triangles will never feel like they fit in, and, as a result, are left trying to find some semblance of normalcy, especially after repatriating. I was getting ready to click back and continue my search for a banana bread recipe when a fourth shape – a Star – caught my eye.

The author of the article wrote about the Star so beautifully that it would be an injustice if I paraphrased this part of the article. She wrote, “Interestingly enough, there is a fourth shape that enters this discussion. If a child (in their developmental years such as our two youngest were), follows his or her parents from Circle Country to Sqaure Society, he or she will become – not a Triangle Tenant, like the adult parent, but a Star. They will be a Star with multiple points of reference when considering where they are from, what they believe in, what foods they like, and how they see the world. They will always be stars.”

What a powerful concept! I love the idea that Ally and Kylee are becoming, of all things, Stars. This concept is etched so deeply in my mind that, as we continue to progress through this adventure, I will constantly wonder what experiences are shaping and defining them.

Back to the bananas…

Unfortunately, the bananas ended up in the garbage can because one of the key ingredients in banana bread is baking soda, and it’s still not available in the local grocery store. Maybe next week; or, the week after that. Until then, I will continue my search for the perfect banana bread recipe.