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.

rain, lawnmowers, and other stuff

This afternoon, Jesse and I decided to take a walk around Maitland. Festivities from the Steamfest (think steam engine festival; at one point this weekend, I commented, "it sounds like there's a steam engine coming down our street." I was not incorrect.) were finishing up, people getting ready to go home. We walked over to the park and just sort of wandered, until we decided to head back toward High Street and potentially the video shop. It started to sprinkle, and then rain. There was the most beautiful rainbow across the sky, over the train tracks and the highway. We were soaked by the time we got home (I nixed walking all the way to the video store), but it was great to see the rainbow, and even great to get a little wet. We changed, made a list, and went grocery shopping, and right after we returned, there was another downpour. While I enjoyed the first experience, I was grateful to be home and dry.

Yesterday, we decided to buy a lawnmower. We had thought a weedwhacker (whipper snipper for you Aussies) might do the trick, since our lawn is so small, but it didn't really cut it. We headed to Bunnings and purchased the recommended electric lawnmower. We arrived home, I helped Jesse to get it out of the box, and then curled up on the couch under a blanket with a book. He took it outside, worked on getting it all plugged in, and then realized that the prong on the mower plug was bent. He tried to bend it back, and it seemed to crack. Great. Back to Bunnings we went, mower, folded-up box, and receipt in tow. They took a look at it, and told us we could go grab another one. No luck. They bent the prong back itself (apparently, it hadn't broken when Jesse bent it... even though we saw a crack there, it had to do with something else), tested the mower, and deemed it workable. So, back to the house we went (leaving the box with them). He headed outdoors once again to tackle the lawn. I heard clicking noises, but no mower. I found the owner's manual just as Jesse came in looking for it. He went back outside. I sat inside praying it would start. I have never been so happy to hear the whirring of a lawnmower! Not only did he cut the lawn, but took a saw to a few large weeds/shrubs/trees growing in front of and behind the house. Yay!

Jesse had a great visit at Coffs Harbour last week, and returned bearing many carob goods for me! I've been munching on some carob-covered popcorn while I wait for dinner (I'm a terrible pre-dinner snacker) and enjoying it immensely. He is now in the kitchen, making a new batch of salsa. His favorite foods to prepare are salsa and breakfast potatoes, with the related "McSkillet Burritos" (apologies to Macca's) coming in a close 3rd, I think. He's learned his lesson with chopping the hot peppers, though, and has commandeered a pair of my dishwashing gloves to prevent eye-burning on removal of his contacts.

I've continued doing some family history research on Jesse's side, and have enjoyed finding various relatives and learning more about the stories of those in his ancestry. Families and names have always fascinated me, and since Dad and I had done some research on our lineage, I've found it interesting to dig into Jesse's a bit. One thing's for sure: it would be a lot easier if he weren't a 3rd generation only child on one side, since then there would potentially be other people out there looking for the same answers as me. But it's been an enjoyable hobby.

Speaking of hobbies, we had our second craft day at church, and it was pretty well attended. I enjoyed scrapbooking some of the Christmas photos and birth announcements I've received from friends and family. Our scrapbookers have ranged in age from 6-60's, so it's been fun to have an intergenerational feel to it. We may learn flower arranging in June, which could be cool.

That's all I've got for now. There are some enchiladas that need to be eaten!

Happy Easter!

I am quite excited to celebrate Easter this year. We've been thinking a lot about what it means to fast, what the purpose is of the Lenten fast in particular, and how the practice of fasting shapes who we are. (For those who don't know, Jesse and I gave up meat for Lent this year.) The first week, for me, was by far the hardest. I just wanted meat. I felt drained of energy and extra-irritable. Jesse was preaching through Numbers, and we found ourselves crying out for meat along with the Israelites, complaining of the taste of the vegetarian food we were preparing, and ultimately, humbled to find ourselves in their proverbial shoes. I think I like to look at the Old Testament Jews as "the ones who didn't get it," who seemed never to make the connection between ritual and meaning, between requirements and relationships, between God's provision and their needs. And yet - there I was, too. Humbling.

Another thought on this year's Lenten fast: my devotional life. With my energy largely gone (I have much more respect for vegetarians now; it was hard work to ensure I got enough protein without relying solely on eggs!), my devotional life took a back burner to everything else. I needed more sleep, and so devotions went from 15 minutes to 10 to 5 to "I should..." without anything actually happening. It makes me think of a funny list on KLP's door at Houghton, which took Hymn titles and adapated them to be the way we tend to think of things: "Sweet [5 minutes] of Prayer". Ironic, that a Lenten discipline seemed to take me further away from where I wanted to be: identifying with Christ. Showing myself faithful while going without, just as he did.

So what's the answer: have I done an appropriate fast? If it drove me away from a devotional life for this time, is it in any way redemptive? Perhaps. I think I came face to face with my own weaknesses and humanity through Lent. While giving up meat seems to pale in comparison to the sufferings of Christ, I have a new appreciation for His faithfulness after fasting in the desert. As we celebrate Easter today, I'm setting up some new boundaries in my life to protect the devotional/prayer time. Having come face-to-face with some of the worst of myself, I have a renewed appreciation for Christ's faithfulness, and a desire to follow in His steps.

He is risen!

a Friday night

If I told you I spent Friday evening in the company of some friends and some strangers, in a blacklit room smelling of BO, where would you think I spent it?

You guessed it - laser tag with the youth group. Lucky for me (and for the chance that I will ever play again), we played two rounds. The first round, I was completely hopeless. I kept forgetting to put my left hand on my gun, and was therefore frustrated when the gun wouldn't shoot. By the last few minutes, I'd finally realized this (even though we'd been told beforehand) and was starting to get the hang of it. The second round, I tagged along with Jesse, covering each other, and even shot one of the bases (although apparently not enough times to get the points... rookie mistake :) We then defended a small stretch of the upstairs with the other youth leaders. That round - where I felt more competent and remembered to hold my gun correctly - was a lot more fun.

As for everything else - it goes! We are very excited for Easter in just over a week. It will be nice to have a long weekend and a chance to celebrate. Mom's Easter package arrived this week, including a 'Reeseter Bunny' for Jesse and sugar-free peeps for me. I was ecstatic; peeps were my favorite, and I haven't been able to eat them for the past 4 Easters. (For the uninitiated, wikipedia on peeps.)

Now we're enjoying watching AFL on our new-to-us tv, which is sitting in our new-to-us tv cabinet, courtesy of friends who were remodeling. We should be going to bed... but it's fun to pretend we're not old and boring.