Trip to Lae, and up to today

Our time in Ukarumpa is fast coming to an end. Since I last posted, we’ve been on a trip to Lae, out on the coast of PNG. While there, we spent one day doing work, and another half day sightseeing at The Rainforest Habitat, which is near the campus of the University of Lae. There was a large aviary under a net outside, and I saw all kinds of birds – beautiful blue Victorian Crowned Pigeons, a Toucan (it was perched on the sidewalk railings, and one in our group stood there petting it!), lorikeets, a parrot, and a bird of paradise (he apparently sheds his long, beautiful feathers some times of the year, and this, unfortunately, was one of those times). Aside from the aviary, there was also an outdoor habitat with a few more birds (cockatoo, cuckoo, and a few others not coming to mind at this point which were in cages), cassowaries, a couple of tree kangaroos, and a big fat crocodile. It just laid in its habitat with its mouth wide open. In the indoor facility, aside from lots of local crafts, there were 3 pythons (2 adults and a young one) in glass cages; some in our group had the “pleasure” of observing the feeding of little chicks to these snakes, although I declined. They also had a large python, probably about 7 feet or so long, which they brought out to their store counter and allowed to curl up around one of the posts. I was brave enough to touch it for about a second. Another girl in our group, who had previously had a pet python, stood next to it and petted it for awhile longer. She eventually held the snake; I was satisfied with the level of bravery my one touch had required.

In all, it was a great trip out there. We picked up some crocodile meat at the supermarket (an experience unto itself; wall-to-wall people, security guards, and more employees than we could count!) to bring back to Ukarumpa, and a few supplies for our stay. I made breakfast for us in the mornings, and was relatively pleased with the banana pancakes I “invented” (not having the benefit of any kind of recipe, I was just relieved that what I made had resembled pancakes!). I also made a beef stew for our dinner on Saturday night, the leftovers from which we stuffed into a juice container and froze to preserve for our road trip back.

Since returning, we’ve been able to largely wrap up the audit work and enjoy a few more days with our new friends. I spent an evening with a college friend who’s recently moved over here, and it was so nice to hang out with a friend! We convinced the couple that manages the guest house to join us for a game of Apples to Apples last night (we’ve played a lot of Phase 10 on this trip, and the change of game alone was a treat :) which was also a lot of fun. I will attempt to post photos at some point in the future, but internet here is limited so it may have to wait until I’m back in the swing of things in Australia.

Sunday

Today has been nice. (I just wrote this post, then lost it. Sad.) We attended the English-speaking worship service here in Ukarumpa this morning, and it was special to be able to worship with the community. The 12th-grade girls had put together the songs and led worship, and a man spoke who is a pastor in the States but has spent some time here with his family too (I heard these snippets second-hand, can you tell?). Due to the varied denominational backgrounds of many here, there is no pastor per se, but various people will take the service each week.

After service, we had a great lunch at the guest house and another chance to chat with the leaders of a drama team from George Fox University, which is visiting various places in PNG and leading workshops on creating stories and performances. We also had the chance, after lunch, for some casual chatting amongst our own team, which was nice.

Around 3, we headed down to the high school oval (sports ground), where a group gathers each Sunday to play ultimate frisbee. While I wasn't interested in participating, I did my part by putting one baby to sleep while his parents played, and then plucking a little girl out of a muddy ditch after an unfortunate fall. Splotched with mud, I headed for the guest house and cleaned myself up. I happily discovered that the internet was working again, and here we are!

In all, it's been a relaxing, refreshing weekend; exactly what I needed to gear up for the coming week.

Hi from PNG!

**Note: I wrote this post last night, when the internet was down. So, here it is**

So much to tell! We arrived here in Ukarumpa safely on Tuesday, following my first trip on a missionary airplane. It seated 12 normally, but we had the 5 from our team, a family of 3, and the pilot, plus all our stuff and numerous blue bags of mail. We landed on the dirt airstrip at Aiyura (elevation 5,000 feet), and while our bags were unpacked, watched some men loading large bags of coffee onto a truck. The price of coffee is apparently high these days, and some of the MAF airplanes were carrying coffee from the villages here, I think for processing.
Since our initial arrival, we’ve been chipping away at the audit. I’m enjoying the foray into familiar territory, and it’s been fun to remember all of the auditing techniques I’ve learned over the past few years. We’ve also been hosted by several missionaries in their homes for dinner, which has been a great opportunity to get to know some of the people around here. I’ve reconnected with a college friend who’s recently begun her assignment here, and that’s been a lot of fun.
There’s some unrest in the area, so we weren’t able to have a full-fledged market trip today, but we did spend some time at the nearby Kainantu Cultural Center, where local people spin wool for rugs and make beautiful pottery. Although the potters don’t typically work today, one of them graciously walked us through the process, explaining where they find the clay, how it’s dried, cleaned, dried again, compressed to remove air bubbles, and then – finally – thrown! It was awesome to watch him at work, and he made a beautiful pot on the wheel. I had to hold myself back from spending far too much money on pottery! My one course in ceramics at Houghton has given me a lifelong love of pottery, I think. I did buy a blue gravy bowl, to add to my collection of blue things for my kitchen from various parts of the world.
In short, things are going well. I had the chance to sit and read this afternoon, and have a game night with a couple of girls my own age this evening. That was really fun, even though I did narrowly lose a game of Settlers. :)

yesterday was a month ago

Where has the time gone?

We were able to spend some time with friends down in Sydney this weekend, as I had to be in the city for a day of training on Thursday. I successfully navigated the bus and train to and from the training site (thanks to the company of a friend who works nearby), which was cause for excitement. We saw and enjoyed the new Star Trek movie Thursday night, and did some running around on Friday to get ready for my upcoming trip! I needed a couple of skirts for my trip to Papua New Guinea, and I found some at a thrift store, so that was good.

My trip - I'm leaving on Tuesday! It's hard to believe May has come along so quickly. I'm going as a volunteer auditor for a mission organization, performing an audit similar to the one we did in Thailand a few years ago. Wow, 6 years ago now. Yikes. Not only will I have the chance to spend time with some friends who are leading the trip, but 2 college students will be joining us and helping with the audit. One of my friends from college has joined the organization and is based in PNG, so I will get to see her as well. Two days after I get back, a sampling of Spears will be arriving for a visit. So there is much to look forward to in the next few weeks.

In the craziness of the past few weeks, this song has been a great comfort to me, as have been the words of friends and family members. Just thought I'd share them in case they speak to where any of you find yourselves.