At Home in Tarakan

I've been in Tarakan for eleven days now.  The trip from my door in Oklahoma to my door in Tarakan took 52 hours.  That's counting airline check-ins, airport layovers etc.  I was allowed to bring three suitcases with me as far as Jakarta.  After that, I could only check one; the other two had to be shipped separately.  They arrived in a timely fashion so I quickly had access to all my stuff.  I thought it was interesting how the two suitcases came wrapped.  Kind of kept them protected from harsh treatment, I guess. 

A few days after arriving one of the ladies gave me this delicious pineapple.  Although green, the bananas were ripe and very sweet. 

A cheechuck (gecko) story before I close.  As you may remember from my posts two years ago, I have a lot of geckos in my house.  I allow them because I am told they eat bugs.  I would rather have geckos than cockroaches.  But I don't want them in my bedroom.  Any room except that one.  I've heard stories from the other missionaries of cheechucks dropping on them while they slept.  Shiver!!
Anyway, I took my laundry off the drying rack (see the picture below this story of my clothes drying room), and into my bedroom.  I picked up a hand towel to fold and a cheechuck was clinging to it.  Believe me that towel flew out of my hand.  But I didn't want the gecko in my bedroom so I kicked the towel out the door into the hallway.  Thankfully, the cheechuck ran away, but left a bit of his tail behind which was still wiggling.  I should have taken a picture of the wiggling tail but I was a little disconcerted and not thinking rationally.  Picking up the still-wiggling tail with a wad of Kleenex, I disposed of it in the trash can.  Adventures.  They make good stories.  "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."