May 6

It is actually May 8th, so much has happened it is hard to believe all that we have seen and experienced since arriving in PNG. As I write the team is rehearsing ‘American Midas’ in the sweltering heat, sweat is dripping from my entire body and I am just sitting here waiting for a breeze.

The electricity went out while were eating at the Lae International Hotel. They had a generator: we do not.

So let’s go back to where I left you. We woke up from our host family’s home, had a shower, breakfast and a quick ride to the airport where we met up with the rest of our team.

As luck would have it Quantas had introduced their new software and we were not entirely on the travel docket. The staff worked through the conflict, accepting that their system was not up to speed, and soon we made our way down to the departure area. As the plane was delayed (hmmmm….. ) we all had time to get coffee. Although internally filled with excitement fatigue kept us from thoroughly enjoying the 2nd to the last leg of our journey.

The minute the airline staff opened the hatch I knew we were in PNG: Smoke scents filled the cabin and soon we all felt the wave of humidity.

Again, I marvel at the variety of security measures we encounter as we travel. Australia was the toughest. PNG has the appearance of high security but in fact it is the opposite.

The line for obtaining a visa in country was long. Maybe an hour went by before we all made it through. Jordan Beanblossom entered the country (officially) first. We had understood that we could use Australian dollars to purchase visas. Not true. So Jordan (and he was one of many before him who did this) was allowed to leave the line, walk across the room to the currency exchange booth, exchange our Aussie money into Kina, and then return to the line.

Todd was faithfully waiting for us along with Pastor Tau, whom we hired to transport us from the airport to the Mapang Guest House.

At the Mapang Guest House Whitney received her first note from her parents. I gave it to her after dinner. Jessie took pictures.

Memories of the Mapang Guest House are faint. But I do remember the dining hall, the rooms. The area around the guest house is completely foreign to me. I was delighted to be able to be driven around the town, down to the actual port, and visit a village that exists on stilts over the bay. Words cannot describe what we saw. Children ran along the slated walkways, now slippery with the rain that fell. Pigs were kept in cages alongside the homes….homes that had no windows but plenty of openings for the breeze to blow the stench from the muck below….muck that awaited the next tide to wash away the waste from everything up above.

After this we drove through the crowds of people waving and smiling to the van filled with white people. We shouted our “hellos” and “Apinuns” returning the waves and smiles.

Port Moresby is the capitol city of PNG. Like many capitol city’s it is dirty and crowded. 19 years ago we missed experiencing the city of Port Moresby. We didn’t see the sky scrapers or Ela Beach. We missed it all. That is why, although not my favorite part of the country, I am really grateful to have been able to see it.
After having a wonderful dinner at the Guest House and our time of debriefing and prayer, the team rehearsed. I went to bed in our air conditioned room. It would likely be the last time we had the cool to sleep in. Lae would be much different.
Pastor Tau arrived to take us to back to the airport with a quick detour to the parliament building.

Again, we experienced the unique façade of PNG’s security measures. At one point I thought for sure the x-ray machine was something from Star Trek’s set.
I knew that we were in for a scorcher even before we actually left the plane. Everything looked hot and muggy. As I waited for my bags to be unloaded I could feel the sweat drips run down my back. It was very hot.

Here is where we met Jacob Luke. Jacob is a friend of Todd’s. He was a seminary student at the Martin Luther Seminary where we are staying and interacting with the drama students. Jacob Luke owns the biggest transport company in PNG: Mapai Transport.

He has been a good friend and supporter of the Lutheran church. He owns a fleet of trucks (58) that transport goods up and down the highlands. He also has buses for people transportation. He had generously given us a driver and a van to get us around town and then up to the highlands next week. He is very wealthy. He took us to his truck shop and it’s not only huge but due to a mining contract with Exxon he is purchasing 22 more trucks to transport chemicals, explosives, machinery and other things as part of the construction of a natural gas pipeline. This trip is made more amazing by his wonderful gift of security and transportation.

Jacob Luke assures passage of his trucks because he drives the routes himself and gives money to those who would otherwise rob him. He makes them become part of his ‘payroll’ by paying them to guard his trucks as the lumber through the highland roads. Also, he is unable to purchase insurance for his trucks. His payments to the villages along the way are his insurance. He also names the trucks after one of the villages.

The Lae International Airport is located 16 + miles from the city of Lae. The drive was amazing. Rhett was sitting up front with Jacob. Now and again he would turn around to look at us with the most amazing smile on his face – he was HOME tru! The beauty of PNG passed by as we drove along the road. People dotted the roadside at buia stands and kerosene shops. As we caught people’s eyes they waved excitedly to which we replied ‘apinun.’

The students were laughing and joking around. We were riding in a small bus with the windows open. The smells and the humid air swirled around us. I think it was Jordan that made the comment “That’s so Lae.”

On our way from the airport we drove through a chicken drive thru. Todd and I left for the bank and grocery store. I shopped for three days worth of meals but still didn’t get all that I feel we need. Water is one thing we should have gotten. Especially now that we have no water. :)

LIGHTS! Water! Fan! Hurray!!

As soon as Todd and I returned with kai kai, we went on a tour of the seminary – this is the place where Rhett grew up.

Martin Luther Seminary has been here since 1966. It’s a gated community with administration and classrooms in the center. A beautiful chapel sits in the center. Around the outside of the oval are homes for the teachers and staff. Students stay in dormitories.

Beyond the staff homes are small driveways that lead to homes in the bush.
The community is quite diverse. It’s a small little community which gives us the pleasure of living in a village. The sounds of the cicadas and birds fill the house, almost in surround sound with the open windows blowing in sounds as well as the slight breeze. This morning a cockatoo few to the top of a tree outside our kitchen window.

So….after unloading the groceries we took a tour.

We ended up at the chapel where the seminary’s worship band was plugged in and practicing. It was awesome to see that the team, with just a little encouragement from Todd, jumped up and sang a song in Tok Pisin. Both groups enjoyed the encounter. I took pictures with Whitney’s camera. She was grinning ear to ear the entire time.

It’s hot. But things are good. The team is a little punchy but nothing near unbearable or bad. It’s an awesome group.

I am cooking everyone breakfast tomorrow – not sure what it will be if the electricity doesn’t come back. But hey, that’s a worry for tomorrow.

Monday, May 4

We left town under a cover of rain. It had been pretty cloudy all morning, was able to take the dogs for one final walk.

The goodbyes were slightly tearful, although no gushes of water, other than what was falling from the sky. Rhett got a little choked up as he began to pray. Fatigue coupled with anticipation raised the emotion level a fair bit.
Once in the vans the air lightened and laughter drowned out the tears.
I think I am going to laugh more than I have all year. Jessie Sarver
And that is really the truth. Already we are laughing and making jokes, creating funny situations out of the efforts of travel.

Portland to Los Angeles – nothing exciting happened along the way.

Sara Kelm won the first game of ‘finding someone you know.’ There were two gals from GFU traveling to New York. They were Chinese. Sara recognized them from the Portland airport. She also recognized them from school. She didn’t really know them so I am not sure she really wins. But in order to instill enthusiasm for the game I made a big deal about it.

The game is still on. I will try to think of a prize of some kind along the way.
Traveling on the shuttle bus to our terminal was interesting. Doubts were raised as to whether we were going in the right direction. See I had exited our flight in LA first. I took it upon myself to find out from an airport employee where our next gate was. Gate 35, take the shuttle bus to terminal four. Two shuttle buses later we arrived at our destination. For a brief moment there seemed to be a question as to whether I knew where we were going. Was I leading everyone astray? Jordan Beanblossom volunteered to accompany me as I inquired from someone with Quantas. Vindicated I motioned everyone inside the terminal – we were on the right path.
Due to my deviation to visit the Davidson’s after our stint in PNG, my seating was different from the rest of the gang. It soon became a point of humorous contention when I was seated in row 9 and everyone else was in 23. I reminded everyone that the safest part of the plane was the back.

On our flight to Australia I was seated in row 51 – everyone else was in 65 or so. Hey, it’s not like I selected my seats! I only asked for an aisle seat, which I received…both times.

All in all the 16 hour flight went pretty fast. I watched a couple movies, slept, watched another movie, talked to Rhett, watched another movie and then we were preparing for landing!

There is no standard for entering a new country. Each one is different. An hour before landing we were given customs forms to complete. Standard questions about how long we were going to be in the country, and who we were staying with, and then a host of items to declare – weapons, steroids, medicines, fruit, meat, cheese, etc…
Most of us were sniffed by the food sniffing (not drug) Beagle because we misinterpreted dried to mean fruit not crackers. It took a while to get through customs. But at least we made it.

A $14 train ride and we were at Central Station in downtown Brisbane. I’ll mention right here that I am in debt to Stephen Pick. I had 4 pieces of luggage to carry. I was carrying the hostess gifts for our stay in Ukarumpa. Plus the presents I had for the Davidson’s. Without Stephen carrying my big suitcase I am certain I would still be navigating the stairs to the train platform. Assistance to the disabled is not always available in other countries.

A quick jaunt to St Andrews Unity Church where Rhett had arranged to store our stuff while we explored Brisbane. Later that night we would be uniting with our host groups. But we had the whole day in front of us.

After several clothing changes, teeth brushed and hair brushed, the consensus was that we travel together to Lone Pine – the Koala Bear Sanctuary. Amazing. Not only Koalas but roos as well! Not only did we see them but we touched them, held them and quite a few other animals as well.

It couldn’t have been a better day. The weather was perfect: partial clouds kept the hot sun at bay and the many trees provided shade when the cloud cover was scarce. We were all excited about the accessibility of the animals. Again I marvel at the restrictions we suffer in America because of the selfish, stupid people who ruin things for the rest of us.

Almost everyone got their picture taken with a Koala.

Our mode of transportation to the sanctuary was bus. Our ride back to Brisbane was a slow cruse down the river. Bonus: traditional Australian folk music played softly through the loud speakers.

For a group of road weary travelers the journey down the river was just what the doctor ordered. I shared my life’s motto with everyone and received a few laughs from those who were within ear shot.

After disembarking from the boat, and with plenty of time on our hands before reuniting with the pastor of St. Andrews, we slowly made our way across the bridge to downtown. We stumbled upon a farmers market on the corner across from the old treasury building which, ironically enough, is now a casino.

A few people bought some fruit but all expressed a desire for buying more. Rhett and I promised more lovely fruit in PNG and since we wouldn’t be able to take what was purchased at the market to PNG it seemed best to wait for the sugar bananas, papaya and mangos of New Guinea.

We collected our wits and our bags from the church and made our way through ‘end of the work day crowds’ to the train station.

Rhett, who has been a bevy of great ideas so far, suggested that due to the crowds, we spread ourselves up and down the train cars so we would be assured a spot on the same train. With our destination in hand (he had printed maps before leaving the US) we knew that our stop was Corinda, where we would meet up with our hosts from the St. Johns Lutheran church.

We were all divided into different households: I was assigned to go with the pastor. At least that is what we thought. Pastor Mike (?) told us that he would be taking two gals to stay with Ruth. Sara and Jessie piled in with me and together we drove into a suburb of Brisbane.

However, when we arrived at our host family the pastor told me “I’d like you to stay here” which I interpreted to stay in the car and wait while he got Sara and Jessie settled. In fact he wanted ME to be one of the three of us staying with Ruth.
I’ll say now that I was blessed. Ruth grew up in PNG and we were likely around the same age. We had a delightful time chatting as Sara grew more and more weary and ready for bed.

We each had our own room (one more night not worrying about my snoring) and had the most delightful dinner. Ruth and I ended the evening with a cuppa while Sara made her way to bed.

Although concerned for Jessie, we felt blessed with our hostess and pray a huge blessing upon her.

Someday I'll be able to post all that I have written!

Today is Thursday, May 14. We are in Lae, Papua New Guinea.

It's been a good stay here at the Martin Luther Seminary. The team is awesome as they engage in the exchange of ideas, stories and dramas.

I have a lot written, but my computer won't connect to the internet and so I can't upload the stories and the pictures.

It's very hot and humid - in the 90's for both most of the day.

Tomorrow we head for the highlands and more temperate weather.

I am very excited to get to Ukarumpa. I will upload pictures and copy all that I have written.

Love you all!

Jere

It's Gona Be a Long Day

What one wears on a long day of travel is very important. Things to consider: comfort, spillage, bathroom breaks in a small airplane potty, temperature.

Part of the problem is we are starting out in a typical rainy Pacific Northwest day and arriving in Brisbane's(according to the internet) 80 degree, partly cloudy weather.

This year I will not spend one day in May 5th. We fly right over it.

When our flight leaves LA at 11:20 pm on May 4th we won't land in Brisbane until 6 am on May 6th. Thirteen hours in the airplane is a long time. 6 hours is a long time.

I covet your prayers and hope to share at least some of this journey with you. You'll be sleeping in your bed tonight: I'll be somewhere over the Pacific.

Lukim yu bihain!

Gifts

Papua New Guinea is known for it's wonderful, rich coffee. Some of the best coffee to pass through my lips has been PNG coffee - or copi for my Papua New Guinean friends. And it isn't the same as the Starbucks variety. Starbucks is less rich and earthy. PNG coffee is rich, complex with a wonderful finish.

If you come to my house you will also find a plethora of wood carvings, baskets and woven bags laying around. 'Bilum' bags are woven by the women of PNG and are used to carry everything from babies to kaukau - sweet potatoes to you.

After speaking to my husband about what kinds of things I should bring back this visit, we both agreed we didn't need anymore baskets or wood carvings - unless I find something equally as amazing as the puk puk bowl or snake/pukpuk cane. Oh yeh, pukpuk means crocodile in Tok Pisin.

One of the many gifts we brought back from PNG 19 years ago was the infamous penis gourd. Somehow, after distributing these priceless, one-of-a-kind gifts to our family and friends, our hands were empty. It is the one memory of PNG that is missing from our home. This is something I hope to remedy upon my return.

I plan to purchase around 20 of these items while in PNG. Not only for myself, but my co-workers and friends who really don't know what owning one is like.

This picture was taken by my dear friend, Luke Davidson. While he and his family lived across the border of PNG in Irian Jaya, they ran into a colorful group of people. It appears that this is some kind of welcome. I don't remember seeing a penis gourd this large in PNG. But I am sure gona be on the look out.

Reconnecting

Recently I found out that the woman who was my 'house meri' when we lived in PNG still resides in Ukarumpa.

In fact, she works at the SIL Guest House where Rhett, Todd and I will be staying for our 5 days in Ukarumpa.

Irame is a wonderful woman. She worked a couple days a week for me. Replacing her when we moved back to the states proved to be impossible. Three months after moving to upstate New York my husband asked when I planned to clean the bathroom.

Irame had a darling daughter named Edelweiss. My friend, Mary Lou Walker, told me that Edelweiss works in the finance office at SIL.

I am so excited to have this opportunity to reconnect, revisit, relive so many wonderful memories. The sites, the smells, the food, the people: there's nothing like Papua New Guinea.

This isn't Kansas anymore Toto!

If you think that the ways of PNG are the same as traveling just about anywhere else, you will soon find out that this assumption is false.

Papua New Guinea is unlike any other third world country I have ever been to.

Granted, the only other 3rd world country that I have been to is Mauritania, but I can say with great confidence that Mauritania has a leg up on PNG. At least in my opinion.

That said, I must clarify that this statement is not meant to sound contrary or negative. In fact, I say this with great delight! Papua New Guinea is a wonderful place. For the most part the people are warm and caring.

Travel is slower, the pace creeps along. Days are long due to the location in conjunction to the equator. The growing season is 365 days. While the blossoms are starting to appear ripened fruit is available to harvest....all on the same plant!

For those wanting to return to the simpler way of life, PNG is for you!

I am looking forward to three weeks of navigating a different flow of life.