In April, Mike had the opportunity to do a humanitarian mission to Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia is the 4th largest country by population in the world. Eighty-six percent of the population is Muslim, making it the largest Muslim country in the world by population. Mike learned, that all though the majority of the population is Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist communities thrive. Mike noted that many of the Muslims he worked with while there were very proud of the Buddhist and Hindu temples in the area and of the good relationship held between the different religions. Once Mike finally arrived in Indonesia he spent most of his time doing dental work.
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| View from beach side restaurant in Guam. Mike was supposed to spend a day and a half in Guam, but the plane broke so he stayed for five. |
Getting ready to depart from Guam.
Crammed into the C130. They got a ride from the Minnesota Air National Guard.
Arrival in Yogyakarta
USAF and TNI (Tentara Nasional Indonesia) dental teams before first patient
One of Mike's super dental techs setting up instruments
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| This is the most chillaxed dental patient in the world. |
Mike was told by a local that there are more motorcycles in Indonesia than people.
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| Before surgery |
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| After surgery |
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| The Orphans |
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| Capt Henderson trying to had out toothbrushes and being mobbed |
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| More motorcycles |
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| One of the local dentists from the university would not let Mike eat the chicken, it did look good though. |
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| Behind the kings palace you can hire a pedal-car with lights for a few turns around the park. |
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| Sponge Bob and Angry Birds were represented. In the same park you can also attempt to walk between two large banyan trees while blindfolded (you could rent a blindfold for a few cents). If you were honest in heart and had no sin, some said, or you had luck, said others, you would be able to walk between the trees. Mike is either a major sinner or has really bad luck. |
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| Local school children after their screenings |
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| Mike with one of the military dentists and a one star general |
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| Stellar dental crew working with the high-tech autoclave. All of the sterilization was done beside the building used for daily prayers. |
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| Mike took this picture to show the little girl she looked like a vampire after he extracted her baby canines; she laughed. |
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| A proud scout |
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| Mike was fascinated by the yellow watermelon (it's the bright yellow fruit on the left). |
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| This little girl felt so bad about how she acted the day before when Mike took out one of her teeth she returned to apologize. Mike cut her some slack as he would also have acted if he had to have a tooth pulled while sitting in a lawn chair. The girl in the red hijab is a local dental student who introduced her self as "Aquila or Quila pronounced killa like the American slang." She was a great translator. |
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| When the group went to tour a local Buddhist temple (Borobudur) they were surrounded by school children working on an English project in which they were required to interview foreigners. Mike's group happened to be the majority of foreigners and so Mike did a number of interviews which each required him to sign a grade sheet for each child. |
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| A Budda with its head still in place (many have been removed other the years) |
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| Part of the drain system. Imagine this shooting water out of its mouth in a big rainstorm. |
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| These girls were excited to get pictures of us on their cell phones |
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| The group had a police escort to and from the temple as they had left the so called "permitted area of travel." Also, that is a Katy Perry video on the bus's TV (not a US request). |
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| With no meddling from the local dentists, Mike finally tried some of the street food. |
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| Mike choose the ingredients which included noodles and a bunch of unidentifiable meat ball things and maybe some vegetables. |
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| Mike found out that if he wanted to get the meal to go it came in a bag. It was pretty good, but kind of hot for the extremely warm day. |
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| Next day Mike went with a few others from the group to see Prambanan another local temple (this time Hindu). They went early to avoid the crowds and the heat. No school children to give autographs this time. After you pay the entrance fee for the temples you must wear the "skirt" while touring the grounds. |
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| One of the reconstructed towers. The entire complex was razed by an earthquake a few years ago and had been carefully rebuilt |
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| One of the many reliefs |
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| Ganesha |
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| Mike thinks this is Kali (goddess of death). |
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| Mike took a few pictures of the pool area of the hotel. |
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| Part of the intertwined waterways in the pool complex |
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| More swimming pool |
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| Pyramid waterfall |
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| Chicken curry meal for under five dollars |
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| Getting back on the plane for the long trip back to Guam |
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| Stopover in the Philippines to refuel. Mike left the airport and ate some lumpia so he could say he has now visited the Philippines. |
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| The crowded plane |
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| This time it was worse, however, due to the retired guy hopping to Guam (on the right). He took up two or three seats and was pretty rude to everyone around him. Although grateful for his service to our country, Mike wishes they would have left him behind in the Philippines. |
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| Mike's view from his room in the Marriot in Guam he used for his 10 hour layover in Guam before catching a commercial flight back to Japan. |
Seems like he had an alright 2 week break from the kiddies... and me. =)
