Weir in PNG

Hope you were able to see some of the pictures we posted last week-end. It was extremely difficult, but I think I figured it out. Hopefully we can post more in a couple of weeks. (And a lot more now that I figured out how to do it!) Unfortunately, I cannot make any promises as we are in the "land of the unexpected".

We are almost through with our "formal" Tok Pisin classes. Next week, we will give our testimonies in Tok Pisin and then do a little skit in Tok Pisin as a "thank you" to our teachers for the time and patience that they invested in us. I hope to get a picture our of Tok Pisin groups, too....so you can see our wonderful teachers.

So, this week, I have been writing my testimony in Tok Pisin. Can I just say- this is difficult! Sure, we can write it in English, translate the words, but will it be meaningful? Probably not! I have this "cliche" phrase that I always use when I am talking about my life story:
"If death can touch so many people, how much more can life? And, I felt like God was saying to me, 'So what are you going to do with your life?'"

Again, I can translate this word for word but not meaning for meaning! All this to say, I have had a minute fraction of a taste of what it is like to be a translator.

I was brought back to reality when my friend Jessie stated: "Don't forget that this is an assignment about how you write and speak in Tok Pisin. It's not an assignment on world evangelism." I smiled. This comment reminded me of my friend Crystal...and it saved A LOT of extra work that I was going to do!

On a different note, we had our first village overnight experience. This may be a bit lengthy, but since I don't have pictures, hopefully this journal entry will explain what our experience was like!

Around 4pm, we each ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to hold us over until dinner (the time for dinner unknown). We then went to the kitchen to pick up our contribution of food for the evening meal (rice, sugar, tea, banana bread, powered milk, tin meat). Then, we went back to our room to pack our bags (mosquito nets, mattresses, sheets, pillows, plates, cups, utensils, toys for Ben, string to learn how to make a bilum, bush knife, lantern, drinking water, toilet paper, etc.).

Around 5:30pm (it was raining by this point), we set out with all our bags, the food, Benjamin and rain gear. Our wasfamili's oldest children were there to meet us. They led us to their village house. The path was very slippery since it was still raining, however, we made it without falling....and Ben walked the whole way (in the past, I have had to carry him).

When we arrived, it was still raining a little (liklik tasol), but wasmama came right out to greet us. Before, we left, our teachers suggested that we ask to see the liklik haus (bathroom) when we arrived while we still had light. We didn't know that waspapa was using it when we asked to see it. She called down to him: "Waspapa! The students are here and want to see the lik lik haus. They do not want to see you in it. Hurry up!"

While we waited for waspapa to finish, we were shown our room. The house has two bedrooms. We were to sleep in waspapa and wasmama's room that night. The room was absolutely spotless. You could tell that they had cleared everything out and probably spent a LONG time cleaning it for us. Their oldest daughter had picked flowers and they were stuck in the walls all over the house and in our room. We later found out that the three of us slept in their room was 3 adults and 5 children slept in the other smaller room.

Waspapa arrived and we were shown the liklik haus. I started praying then that I wouldn't have to use it since it was on the side of a very steep mountain (which was very slippery)!

Then, we all sat around on the floor of their house and enjoyed a very nice meal. Wasmama had prepared kaukau (sweet potatoes which taste more like regular potatoes from the states) and banana kuk (cooking bananas or plantains). She also prepared kumu (local greens) in a yummy fish sauce. I don't like fish, but I liked wasmama's meal! Our wasfamil has a substantial garden. Most Papua New Guineans live on their land- subsistence farming. In fact, 90% of the land of Papua New Guinea is owned BY the people. Unlike America, where most of the land is owned by businesses or the government.

Anyway, the gardens here are amazing....and the food is local....and free from all the crazy pesticides you get at home. We enjoyed the meal and then went quickly to banana bread and tea so that we could put Ben to bed. He had started to jump around and was getting quite close to landing in the food or the fire. (Just kidding about the fire. Not kidding about the food!)

Ben thoroughly enjoyed himself the ENTIRE night. He loves our wasfamili's children. The oldest is 11 years old and really takes Ben under his wing. The youngest is Ben's age, so they can play well, too. Seriously, the children were all smiles the entire night. Ben played really hard and was ready to go to sleep around 8:30pm.

After that, the Uno game came out. We played a couple rounds and had so much fun. All throughout the night, we were using Tok Pisin and working on our language and communication skills. I was able to practice my grammar, while Caleb was able to practice his story telling. Thankfully, I could understand all the stories told, but not tell any myself just yet. At one point, I did find myself reading a book to all the children which was in English. As I read it, I tried to translate it into Tok Pisin. It was a lot of fun and I received a lot of help along the way!

After Uno, the children went to bed (they had school in the morning) and we sat around talking with wasmama and waspapa about some of the difference between Papua New Guinea and America. We also talked about our families some more.

That night, I could not sleep at all! The accommodations were better than could have been expected, but I had too much caffeine in the tea, so my little eyes just would not close. Also, Benjamin slept with me in a tent mosquito net contraption thing (we only had two for our family). He was completely stretched out the whole night- a leg here, another leg of there, hands completely over his head and moving every 15 minutes or so. I was curled up into a little ball the entire night. But, I think I managed to get a solid 3 or 4 hours in eventually. Again, the accommodations were so great! I just had other things that prevented a restful night. Caleb actually slept well....considering he was on the floor practically....he gave us the better mattress. The rain was still falling and the sound was so soothing.

Around 6:30am, we all got up. Wasmama was already cooking breakfast for us- fried cooking bananas. It may not sound like much, but they were SO yummy. I am learning to like the greens here (still not a number one fan)....so my favorite local foods are the starches! =0)

That is when I realized that I had to really go to the bathroom. Caleb had already ventured down the mountain to the liklik haus and he told me it was slippery. I went by myself. Our wasafamili was watching from afar to make sure that if I slipped, I was ok. I chickened out after going down halfway! I just knew I would fall with everyone watching me. I told them I was too afraid to go!

After breakfast, the children had to go to school. So sad....Ben LOVES playing with all the children together. In fact, waspapa and wasmama have even said that he plays like a Papua New Guinean. They say he is always happy and not shy of them, etc. I never get tired of hearing how wonderful my son is!They also commented about how they expected him to cry and cry plenty all night....but he didn't. He just slept!

This is the time I begged Caleb to help me down the steep, steep mountain to the liklik haus!! He's my hero!

So....as I was saying....after the school age children went off to school, waspapa took Caleb to his new house that he is building. They went into the bush and cut down materials. They chopped bamboo (called mambu) and waspapa explained some of the process of building a house. Seriously....that needs a post all of its own. I think it takes something like a year just to gather all the materials for the house. While they were working, wasmama taught me how to made a bilum (which is a decorated string bag). Bilums are so practical and useful here. You can carry anything from vegetables from the garden to children in a bilum. They are so strong. Some babies and some small pigs even sleep in bilums at night!! I have seen both!

Anyway, it was SUCH a great experience. Not to mention, this day was also Caleb's birthday. Something tells me this is a birthday he will not forget too soon!!

I hope you enjoyed all this rambling.....em tasol!

Just a quick post before the week-end....

This past Thursday, we met with our was famili again. This time, we went to their house in their village. It was another great night filled with Ben "showing off" and trying to be the center of attention. Our was famili's kids were great with Ben again. They were showing Ben their games, and we were teaching them "Ring Around The Rosie". We talked about our was famili's parents and siblings. Honestly, the dynamics of this culture are so different from our Western perspective. It truly is amazing to learn about the history of PNG from the very people who have relatives who were a big part of it. I think I mentioned this before, but there are no orphanages or nursing homes here....there isn't a need for them. Families take care of each other. It's part of life....built into who they are and how they live. There are other things about this culture that may break your heart, though. I just don't feel right posting them on this site. Hopefully you are on our newsletter!
distribution list so we can share more with you!

Caleb is getting a little restless. I don't want to speak for him, but just know that it is hard since he already knows so much of the language. He is having to watch the 6-week participants gear up to leave soon. I know he wishes that we were going with them...but instead, we are in the 14-week course.

I'm trying to think what else there is to talk about! Oh...I know....I have totally given up on make-up here. It is too much work to put it on in the morning and it is all sweated off by noon. Also, I have purchased a meri blouse that I wear with pride, though I still think I would not be caught in it in the states. I also wear this big brimmed Target hat with just about everything even though it probably only matches one outfit that I brought with me. Most of my clothes are beginning to be ruined....either by bleach that we use to wash our fruits and veggies or because they do not dry properly. We were fully prepared for this, so all the clothes we brought we assume will be thrown out when we leave. But, it is a little piece of information I thought I would share....so you could get a feel for what it is like here.

I think that is about it for now. We really hope that the internet will be up and running this Sunday when we visit a nearby "resort" for swimming. It hasn't been working the past two Sundays, so I am not holding my breath. I would love to upload pictures so you could all get a feel for what it is like to live here!

On a side note....we are considering to begin potty training. A staff member here told me about a book called "How to Potty Train Your Child in 24 Hours"....or something like that. She has a print out with all the information on what to do. So, we are going to give that a try soon. If it doesn't work or go well, we will wait a month and try again. Initially, we purchased everything for cloth diapers, but upon advice from the staff, took it all back. Disposables are relatively the same price here as in the states....since Ben is so close to the "potty training age" (if you can even say that), we thought it best to try once we were here and had the help of the nursery ladies. Time will tell. Also, since he is the only one in diapers for this course, we are able to dispose of the diapers without too much hassle.

Also, we did find a water filer...I think it is a Catadyne Siphon one. I think it is a drip mechanism- gavity feed. That's all I know! =0)

Good Night, All!

Wow! So sorry that we have not written lately. We are in need of a water filter for our 5-week village living phase, so we have been using all our "internet time" to set up how to get that! We think that is all set up now!

On a quick side note, we are able to read your comments on this blog. Thank you for all your words of encouragement. Please keep them coming!

This has been another busy week! Last Thursday, our "was famili" (watch family) came to visit us! We have a was papa and a was mama and they have 4 children (Tok Pisin word for children is pikinini). During the time, our was famili provides an informal atmosphere where we can practice what we have learned in Tok Pisin. They have been a was famili 10 different times, so they are used to helping us out with our vocabulary (Adrienne) or grammar (Caleb). The night went so well! Our was famili is so nice and so helpful! Their children played with Ben the whole night. Children are children in any culture. They knew exactly how to play with each other! I can honestly say that I learned more about PNG culture in that one night that I have learned in all our lectures. I wish I could share more, but I do not feel like it would be appropriate yet. We are still learning the ways of PNG life and my words would not do it any justice yet. This is a fascinating culture and I fe!
el privileged to be immersed in it this way. Perhaps Caleb can share more about this later.

This Thursday, we will visit our was famili's house in their village. I am really looking forward to this time!

Over the week-end, we had our first successful haus kuk week-end. On Saturday morning, it was pouring rain! Caleb miraculously got the fire going under the tarp in our haus kuk. We heated up water for hot chocolate and enjoyed a simple breakfast of fruit and cereal.

After the rain calmed down, I took a trip up the mountain to visit the ladies selling fruits and vegetables on their way to market. I scored a pineapple and some ripe bananas.

As soon as I got back to the haus kuk, it was time to begin lunch. It takes so long to make meals, you have to start cooking them before you are even hungry! We chose lunch to be our "big effort" meal for the day. Ben was happily playing with the other kids, so Caleb and I worked together to prepare our pork-(tin meat...like spam....yum)-fried- rice. Honestly, it was REALLY good. We were rather impressed with our meal, so we took lots of pictures. However, we made enough to feed everyone going through this training. Lesson learned.

Ben napped while we cleaned the dishes then we all napped for 2 hours!

That night, we fixed a delicious cabbage salad (with Ramen noodles, peanuts, homemade tangy dressing, etc). We had tuna fish sandwiches on homemade multi-grain rolls (made preciously during class time on Friday).

Sunday morning, we had another simple breakfast before church. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch since we knew we could get food that afternoon when we went swimming at Jais Aben resort (a regular Sunday afternoon event). But, Sunday night, we grilled pineapple and cheese sandwiches on homemade bread. With it, we ate fresh cucumbers with dip (homemade sour cream) and the rest of our cabbage salad.

I guess I should have mentioned this earlier, but in case you didn't realize, we have no refrigeration on the week-ends. This is preparation for when we go to live in the village and don't have refrigeration for 5 weeks. This is why we had to make our own dressing, sour cream, etc.

Over the week-end, I also baked brownies in a hand-crafted oven over a fire. Friends who already live in PNG, sent us a goody box which included a brownie mix. Since our was famili's son had a birthday that week-end, I wanted to make brownies to give to him on Sunday. Evn though the brownies took an hour and a half to "bake", they were delicious.

As successful as our week-end was, we still welcomed Monday morning when the dining hall opened again!

This past week has been much of the same. Classes on Tok Pisin, PNG culture, swimming, hiking, etc. Everything is coming together! We are learning so much! Soon, we will be spending the night in a nearby village. I guess that is it for now! I know I have rambled on a bit! Please feel free to post questions if you have any!

We think of you often and have enjoyed showing pictures of you to Papua New Guineans all over the mountain. We miss our family, our friends, and our church. Looking forward to sharing more of this journey with you later...

We thought it would be a good idea to explain our internet situation with you all. Maybe some of you are wondering why we can blog but we do not e-mail regularly. Currently, we pay for every megabyte sent or received from our computer. That being the case, we find it easier to communicate with everyone at once by sending one e-mail to our blog to let you know what is going on. Otherwise, we would be paying for every e-mail we sent or received.

Thank you to everyone who is thinking and praying for us even without direct contact from us during our time in training. We continue to remind ourselves that we are blessed to actually have a way to communicate with you via the web. We look forward to sharing more of this story with you....

In the meantime, we have been inundated with Tok Pisin homework and preparation for our first week-end cooking at our hauk kuk!

More to come...

Whereas Caleb has been missing the comforts of home lately, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed. Last week, we spent most of the time planning and then building our "haus kuk" (sounds like "house cook"). Let me try and explain the process:
We were given a bush knife, tomahawk and some twine. Papua New Guinean men cut down long sticks, bamboo, and other bush materials for our use. We took a long stick which had a "V-Shape" top, shaped the bottom into a sharp point and then jammed it into the ground over and over again unit it was deep enough. We did this four times to make a rectangle. Then, we bamboo in between the "V's" to make the roof. We tied all the sticks together with twine (Papua New Guineans use other material from the bush, but we were allowed to use twine). We then draped a tarp over the frame of the house and tied it down. After that, we set to work to design and make a table, chairs, counter for our water basin, etc. We still have to make a long counter and a high chair for Ben. Eventually, we will entertain our "wasfamili" (our Tok Pisin "watch family") in our haus kuk. I'll explain more about a wasfamili when the time comes.

Caleb did most of the work with our friend Carl. His back is pretty sore. He even managed to get a few "Man versus The Bush" wounds. Papua New Guineans called the jungle the "bus" (the "bush"). We ran out of materials, so Caleb took his bush knife into the jungle and brought back some fine pieces of bamboo. Later, he showed me his tracks. Turns out the hill was really slippery, so he had to surf down it with a bush knife. Don't tell our parents!

All this to say- we had a busy week. I was watching Ben during most of the building, but I was able to do my share of tying down and I even sharpened one stick and cut one piece of bamboo!

Luckily, we did not have to cook in our haus kuks this past week-end. But, that all ends this week-end. We have to plan all of our meals for the next 5 week-ends. We are also encouraged to begin spending as much of our week-ends outside or in our haus kuks. The reason- Papua New Guineans live their lives outside. You will rarely see them inside. When we go to our village living phase, if we want to spend time with the people of the village (which is the point), we are going to have to train our bodies to function out of doors!

In addition to building our hauk kuk, we have continued our language learning. This is tough for me! I am going to have to devote more time to learning the language outside of the classroom. It is so hard to be here...to want so badly to approach and talk to these wonderful people....but to be so limited! I think that has been one of the hardest things for me. Since I tend to be an impatient person, I want to talk now!

Yesterday, we went to our first Papua New Guinean church service. The church has Lutheran roots (actually it is a Lutheran church) so the service was very liturgical. Even though I could not understand the message, the songs were absolutely beautiful. I found myself all choked up while we were singing. There was just something so right about being there and hearing the Papua New Guineans singing out to God in worship. I felt privileged to be there...to have a taste of what God hears. It is a memory I will probably never forget. I have seen pictures of church services in PNG, but I am so thankful that I had and will continue to have the opportunity to worship with Papua New Guineans.

Ben is still doing well. He likes to go on "big hikes" and to swim in "solwara" ("salt water"). He randomly calls out or sings about MeeMom and PopPop, Beach Grammy and Beach Grandpa, and Grammy and Buna. We have also spent evenings looking through our pictures of friends and family. It is sad to see his face light up when he sees all our friends and family who do not live in PNG with us now. We miss you all so much!

This past Wednesday was swimming day. Once every week, our group drives down the mountain, jumps in the bay, and practices swimming for an hour and a half, all in the name of fitness. The stated goal is for each person to be able to swim a mile's distance, or about 1600 meters. My first time out I managed about 250 meters before I gave up!
Honestly, I can't swim real well. In fact, I sink; even in salt water. It takes a lot of energy to keep me afloat and moving. Adrienne, on the other hand, is an endurance machine. She skims along with no regard to time gone or energy spent, and she had no trouble reaching the goal!
We came up with a plan for the second swim this past Wednesday. She would swim alongside me and keep me company while I labored on in silent misery. The only problem was that instead of being silent, we both started making jokes about how we could see our favorite foods "just over there at the other buoy" (2 buoys, 100 meters apart marks our course). She named Mimi's salads, I named Zaxby's wings. On the next lap she called out steaks, and I mentioned Snickers Bars. On the next, I was wishing for Chick-fil-a, and she was mentioning peanut butter ice-cream. By the time we'd finished swimming, me and my taste-buds were missing home.
It is Sunday now, and I am still not done counting the cost of coming here. Ease, and convenient access to all my needs and wants are no longer guaranteed. I can't say for sure what I miss the most because none of it is close at hand any longer.
I know that once I can focus on my job in Ukarumpa, my mind's eye will once again look forward instead of backward. For now though, my thoughts are tied most decidedly on a large Papa John's pizza, or maybe a spicy tuna roll from Sushi Blues, or maybe something from the Ertel's little fridge... Oh convenience, how I miss thee!