My Days In Jayapura: A Journal (1)

The clock is still ticking. It was just like yesterday. Actually, I have been here for a year and 5 months. I have observed many weird things I’d never witnessed before. And many times, when I told the stories to my friends their laughter would burst out. That’s the joy of living places. However, one thing is more joyous when the name Jayapura comes to my mind, the view.
I’ve had a new pleasant activity lately. I like to jog uphill down. Yes, may be I’d prefer call it joghike because it is a mixture between jogging and hiking. It is really a sportive pleasant activity. While joghiking, my heart will beat faster and it makes my body healthier. But, some of you may wonder why on earth I call my exercise as a part of hiking activity anyway?
Allow me to start by telling you what Jayapura looks like. Jayapura is the capital city of Papua Province. Papua, the most eastern part of Indonesia, is divided into two provinces namely Papua Province and the West Papua Province. The capital city of the West Papua Province is Manokwari. Jayapura city is situated on a bay called Teluk Yos Sudarso (formerly called Humboldt Bay). On this bay there is a port called Jayapura Seaport. Almost every day many Pelni ships will anchor in this dock to transport passengers from Jayapura city to other cities in Papua or even outside Papua Island. At night, when we take a look at the port and around, the city will look like cities with skyscraper buildings. My house is about 200 m uphill, so I can see the city view almost clearly. I recalled at New Year’s night, from around the city area, many people celebrated New Year by exploding fireworks to the city sky. It was a so amazing and unforgettable moment. The dark sky suddenly became highlighted just like in the noon day.
Back to the brief history of Jayapura City. From 1910 to 1962 it was known as Hollandia and on May 1, 1963 the UN renamed it Kota Baru. It remained until 1968. From then on until present time it was named Jayapura which is derived from Sanskrit words “Jaya” means victory and “Pura” means city.
That is it for a short history of Jayapura. My days remain a long day. Although it is a bit too late, wise guys say better late than never. I will start with my exercise so-called joghiking..