Weir in PNG

Time for a new blog post...

We just finished our first full week of training. Tomorrow, we will begin the "meat" of the course. Please keep us in your prayers. All of our training is in preparation for a 5-week village living phase. We will be assigned a village to live where Caleb, Ben and I will be the only people not native to PNG. Our teachers say not to worry...by the time we go, we will be "ready". But, we are still very much America! It is going to take A LOT of time, energy, practice and interaction with Papua New Guineans before we believe them!

This past week-end was really nice. We spent a lot of time getting to know that staff and other participants. We had many social nights and I even managed to stay awake past 9pm for two nights in a row!! (Most nights, I have been going to bed at the same time as Ben which is around 7pm!) During our last social night, we played Yahtzee, worked on jig saw puzzles, played a game called empires and more. I really wish that you could meet the people here. They are all so nice....and so different! We have people from Australia, England, Argentina, Germany and the Netherlands here. We can all sit around and talk for hours about the differences and similarities of each others' "as ples" (where you are from).

Last week, we also had a chance to meet the PNG staff here. Caleb and I chose to be in separate language learning groups since he knows a little more than I do. My teacher (tisa) is named Papa Anop (I don't know if I am spelling that correctly). He lives in a village that is very nearby. We walked to it the other day. Also, Mama Galahid is Ben's nursery teacher. She has worked here with this training program for over 20 years. I am going to have to learn most of Tok Pisin through interaction with the nursery ladies and kitchen ladies.

Let's see....what else??

For the first week, the staff prepared all the meals for us and did the dishes. Starting this week, we began to do all of that ourselves. It is still relatively easy during the week because most of the food is prepared by the Paupa New Guinean ladies who work in the kitchen. We just have to get the food warm and set up up the dining room area, etc. BUT...starting next week-end, we will be preparing all of our own week-end meals on a "haus kuk" (our outdoor "kitchen" that we will be taught how to build ourselves. If I am correct, we will build it every week-end and then tear it down....build it again and then tear it down, etc). Again, they promise that by the time we have to do it, we will be ready!

Today (which is Sunday for us, but Saturday for most of you), we had a church service amongst ourselves. Starting next week, we will go to a Papua New Guinean church service.....we may even have to hike there with Ben in a backpack! But, this morning, it was so nice to worship together. I know that as time goes on, I am really going to miss the worship time at our home church Grace Community. But, for now, in the excitement, there is something so beautiful and uplifting about worshiping with others who are going through exactly the same thing that we are going through. There is a type of brother and sister-hood going on here....and it is like a gift in the middle of cultural stress and fatigue.

Today, we sang the song "Rejoice in the Lord Always". The first time, we sang it in English. The second time, we all sang in Tok Pisin. The third time, everyone sang it in the own "tok ples" (translated talk place....or their own language). It is a very simple song, but it was beautiful! In case you are interested, here is how you would sing it in Tok Pisin:

Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice (clap clap) x2
Amamas long Jisas oltaim na gen mi amamas (clap clap) x2

Rejoice! Rejoice! And again I say rejoice! (x 2)
Amamas! Amamas! Na gen mi amamas!

Repeat first line!

So....I'm sure that there will be more to write about soon, but I just have the need to communicate on this blog. So, I will ramble on just a little more!

Here is our typical schedule:

5:50am- Adrienne wakes up to go on the 6am conditioning hike
6:30am- Caleb and Ben wake up. Adrienne returns from hike and we all get ready for breakfast.
7:00am- Breakfast (usually granola, unsweetened yoghurt, fresh fruit and toast with lots of spreads)
8:00am- Ben goes to nursery and we start with our Tok Pisin instruction. We meet with our Tok Pisin groups where our tisa (teacher) has a lesson prepared. Some days, we may even go to market or on a hike with our tisa so we can learn through immersion.
10:00am- Tea Time. It is a chance to continue talking with our Tok Pisin tisa, but we are not allowed to use any English
10:30am- Class Time- Anthropology or PNG culture course
12:15pm- Lunch
1:00-2:00 Rest Hour (it is the hottest part of the day)
2:00pm- Hike or Swimming or some other physical activity to prepare us for the village living phase
4:00pm- We pick up Ben from the nursery. Sometimes we play volleyball together.
5:45pm- Dinner
7:00pm- Ben goes to bed (sometimes with Adrienne)
In the evenings, we read or spend time with other people taking the course. Also, we are able to get on-line in the evening during the week.

So....that is a little breakdown for you. We are getting pretty fit....which I am happy about. Also, we are eating local "organic" foods.....with lots of fruits and vegetables. I have given up caffeine and carbonated beverages again. There is this drink here which is a Mango Orange soda which I usually treat myself to once a week. It is caffeine free, but carbonated. Caleb has his weekly helping of Twisties. They are like the skinny cheese puffs you get in the states, only these come in different flavors like chicken, BBQ and cheddar...they are pretty good!

That's all for now....the lunch bell just rang and I am hungry. Thanks for checking back time and time again. This is a an exciting time for our family and we love that we get to share it with you all in this way!