Mar 5

Today was a rather slow day for me. The morning started with our first check-in with the project steering committee, which went well, and the rest of my day was spent reviewing documents for my next project (implementing the Indonesia Contract Adminstration System in Phoenix) so I am ready for the meetings that start a few weeks after my return. We had some further discussions regarding the documentation challenges we're having on this project, but that was it. Spending my whole day reading user documentation is tiring on the eyes - and it isn't the most compelling reading, either.

We did have a break for lunch with the usual suspects. Not wanting to wait another 90 minutes for our meals, we went to the other restaurant at the mall across from the office. This restaurant served more general fare and I went the American food route and had my first cheeseburger in months. I had actually been hoping to return to the golf club as it is the only place I've seen out since I've been here this trip that had ice cream as an option - and a banana split, no less! Those of you that know my ice cream habits an imagine that going 10 days without ice cream had me going through withdrawal. Though I am down to 1.5 gallons a month (from 3 gallons a month), I still crave ice cream if I go too long without it. In Jakarta, I was able to supplement with cold milk and/or yogurt. In Timika, dairy products in general have been hard to come by. So, you can imagine my elation when I saw ice cream on the menu!

After my cheese burger (and a banana smoothie), I ordered one of my favorite ice cream flavors - mint chocolate chip. Although here, they called it "spearmint chocolate chip". The brought me the familiar green ice cream with dark brown specks...but it didn't taste or feel right. Based on appearance, I was expecting a rough texture, similar to homemade ice cream where the milk freezes more slowly and crystallizes instead of freezing smooth. However, it was more like cream cheese in texture. The mint was more like peppermint - and I saw streaks of pink in the green that confirmed that theory for me. The chocolate, however, was not what I was expecting. It had the texture of cake, and I don't know what the flavor was. It may have been unsweetened baking chocolate, or some type of chocolate substitute, but it was not the rich, dark chocolate I was expecting. Whatever it was, I enjoyed it, but I'll be looking for some of my favorite ice cream in the freezer when I get home (hopefully my wife sees this and stocks it for me).

Over lunch, we tend to talk about the differences in American and Indonesian life. Today's topic, as it often is, was food. One of our comrades mentioned that dog - yes, canine domesticus - was a common meal in the town where he grew up. He mentioned that people in his town would eat anything they could catch. He jokingly said that if they built a zoo in his town, on the same card that explained the animal and its habitat, there would be a recipe describing the best way to cook it. We didn't want to talk about eating our pets, so we changed the subject and asked how many of them would permanently move to the US if given the opportunity. Many of them said they would not, which I was both glad to hear and surprised to hear. One always likes to believe that everyone wants to move to their home country because it is the best in the world - especially Americans - but it is always nice to hear someone who is content with where they are at in life.

Tomorrow is our mine tour. We received our PPE - Personal Protective Equipment - today, including the steel toed shoes. We are advised to dress warmly and be prepared for high-altitude conditions. There is a glacier on top of the mountains of Papua, and our mine is close to it. I'm not sure I have warm enough clothes, so I'm dressing in layers and hoping for the best. I'm sure I'll have great pictures to load tomorrow.