Living in Papua

Nataniel

Nataniel

Photographer, content designer and trader

. . .

Hello World!  Hello from the other side.

So, here I am, at Papua. It has been almost four months after my first landing at Mozes Kilangin Airport at Timika. We supposed to be here since half year ago, but because of some circumstances we were not allowed to be moved. I work at Freeport Indonesia as representative of my company, Midroc Automation. We are ten people which is seven Swedish expatriates and three Indonesian.

I remember when my friend sent me a message, ” Where are you now? Which part of Indonesia?”

Honestly, I was kind of worried about the work place here before we came. I think about the hard environment, the culture, the altitude and many more. Typical me, over-thinking :D. But after living here for some days, I started to love this place.

View from my appartment

The thing that I love is the weather and the scenery. It is really beautiful here, we are surrounded by mountain and there is a lot of water fall on it. Its like the scene of Avatar movie. hehe. The air is very cold, below ten degree. Sometimes it is sunny but on the other day it will be really foggy.

About the food, actually it is really good (for the first two weeks). They serve western and Indonesian food every day at mess hall (canteen). We can take as much as we want. They also serve desert, for instance ice cream and cakes.  But then I felt really bored with those foods. I miss the Ikan asin and tempe tahu. Moreover, the food makes my cholesterol even worse. It is 264 for now. Its really high (dangerous zone).

Fortunately, I join a community at church. We sing as a choir, my speciality. haha. We have rehearsal twice a week at one of member’s house. They are really generous and kind, especially her cook. She is really good in cooking, she always serve us with various food everytime we have reahearsal. Lets say food from manado, toraja, batak, jawa, etc. So by boredom of food is cured.

About the work itself, I am working with three main project. All of them is located underground. So, we have a big risk every day. My company is commissioned to built a underground railway, which is the biggest railway system for mine in the world. It is the copy from Kiruna, Sweden. Another project is to built a underground smart traffic control that willbe integrated with Freeport system.

Sometime I feel bored when we have nothing to in office, because the delayed project. Need to find thing to fill the ’empty-galau-time’. Haha.

Actually, this location support my hobbies too. I can practice my photography skill. I met some people with incredible skill in photography. I also can go climbing the mountain. I glad that my company gave us so many outdoor gears, then I dont have to buy those expensive stuffs. I also join Archery club and Air soft gun club. But I am not an active member, since It is difficult to manage my time.

About the people? Freeport environment is really diverse. Many tribes come from every corner of Indonesia. Let say Papua people itself has many tribes,  from Manado, Jawa, Toraja, Flores, Batak, etc. Toraja is one of the big tribe in Freeport, so it is easy to find ‘sangmane’ or friend here. One funny thing, when people ask me where i am from, they will be surprised if I say “Toraja”. They dont believe me, they said you must be from Jawa. haha.

So, lets see how long can I survive here.. ;)

pose before go to Meren ( The Lakes).

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