Weir in PNG

Here are some of our photos - enjoy! Since they didn't post before individually, we decided to put them into a collage. Click on the images to see them in a larger format.

We received a package today from our church small group today. As Caleb put it, it was like receiving an international hug! I am currently eating a Snickers bar from them as I type. This morning, I called my friend Dawn. She lives in Florida and we have been friends since before 5th grade. I didn't realize it, but my high school friend Loria (who lives in CA) was there when I called. I was able to talk to two of my best friends from high school with one phone call. I ran out of minutes before saying "Good-Bye", but it was nice. (Sigh) Let the "poor me's" begin. The homesickness comes in waves. It started with the family, then transitioned to the friends. Needless to say, we feel SO loved even though we are SO far away. It is just times like now that we wish we could have a big party, invite you all to PNG and get our friend fix. Please know that we miss you all VERY, VERY much! You know that saying, "You don't know what you've got until you lose it?" Yeah....!
that's the story of our lives at times.

On a different note, in our care package, we also received journals with scriptures written on various pages....all hand-picked by our friends. I decided that I will use my journal to write about village living. I am going to write the Tok Pisin verse underneath the English verse and then try and memorize one verse each week both ways. We'll see....

We finished our 3-day hike!!! Wow....what a challenge and what a sense of accomplishment. It turned out to be more of a 2-day hike (looong story), but it was challenging nonetheless. I do not have much time to type tonight, so I am going to share our group's skit. It is in the form of a Mad Lib. It will give you a good idea of what happened. Tomorrow, we are going to present our Mad Lib by asking people to first give us all the nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. Then, we will read the story! =0) I will fill in the blanks with the real story and I will try and post the funny one our classmates come up with tomorrow when THEY fill in the blanks.

Second Hike Group MAD LIB

Caleb, Adrienne, Jessie, Andrea, Mark, Kim

It was a (adjective)__beautiful_____morning. We were (feeling word)__happy____ about the hike ahead. Andrea bounded down the bush road with unusual energy. As we were walking, we noticed the (adj)__amazing_______________ landscape.

We came to a (adj)__very large________ garden. We soon realized that our guide, Talad, didn't know where we were. He said, "You no ken pret. You wait (a place)__here______, I'll be right back." At that point we thought we would never see him again. After a short time, Talad returned with his (noun)___liklik papa________. Papa Dobikal walked with us for the next (number)___two________hours through the wildlife preserve and to where the (noun)_liklik wara_____ meets the bikpela wara. We stopped there for (number)__one________ hour(s). For lunch we ate (food item)__peanut butter sandwiches__________ and (food item)__trail mix___

After lunch, Jessie and Adrienne decided to have a swim in the (adj)__clear_______ water. The water was cool and refreshing. Butterflies danced around their (body part)___heads_________. It was like a magical fairyland.

After another (number)__3_____ hours walking, we arrived in the village of Amron. We were exhausted and smelled like (noun)__sweat_________! We desperately needed a bath! To our dismay, the washing place was (adj)__far_______ and there were (number)__7_____ eager PNG women waiting to watch us bathe. Dorcas taught us how to undress (adv)__secretly______ and wash (adv)__discretely___________. The water was (adj)__refreshing______ and (adj)_downright glorious__.

By the time we walked back to our wasfamili's house, we were (adj)__sweaty___. After everyone in our group had bathed, we began collecting data for our assignment that our (adj)_task master____teacher Elly had assigned.

Then we noticed a large group gathering and we heard a large roar as someone had fired up a (noun)__generator___ . (name)_Waspapa________ told us they were preparing to watch the movie (name of a movie)_____American Ninja_____.

We then retired to our wasfamili's house for dinner. As we enjoyed our evening meal, we heard a large (sound)__CRACK_____. There were so many people in the house that the floor had broken into (number)_____two________ pieces!

After dinner, Adrienne and Jessie decided to make (food item)__popcorn___ for the entire village. Unfortunately, it (verb)___burned___ and the pot was ruined.

After a long day of hiking, we were all tired. Caleb went to (place)__bed____ first. The rest of us soon followed. In the middle of the night, Andrea heard a (adj)__quiet______ noise. She nearly jumped on top of Adrienne! Apparently a(n) (animal)__mouse______ had come into the house! Everyone else failed to notice and slept (adv)__soundly__.

After breakfast, we reluctantly dawned our (adj)__heavy______ backpacks and headed down the path. The walk to Gamoi was (adj)__tiring_______ and (adj)__hard______. After walking (number)___?______ kilometers, Mark realized that he had left his (article of clothing)__shoes____ at the last resting spot. The men (verb)___bounded______ through the river to find his (previous article of clothing)___shoes______ while the women (verb)___sang_____ songs.

After the men returned, we continued hiking. Caleb grabbed a (noun)___stick___ and was striking everything in sight to make music. Soon, we came upon a (dangerous animal)___bee hive_____. Just before whacking it with his (previous noun)___stick___________ Talad instructed, "Don't (verb)___hit____ THAT!"

When we finally reached Gamoi, we (verb)___danced________ with glee! As we rested, we watched (list 4 staff members)_Steve, Paula, Paul and Papa Ganig_________ drive by in a Hilux. They (adv)___mockingly_________ waved at us!

We continued on to the village of (name of a village)___Gataba________. The road was hot and we were thankful for the (noun)_water___. We came upon the Coca-Cola house which was the largest house in PNG we have seen yet. The owners had won a Coca Cola sweepstakes....the prize being the house. Caleb was in the house's (adj)___amazing/huge______ lik lik haus when we received that call explaining that we wouldn't finish the hike.

We spent an hour waiting for our vehicle to pick us up. The (mode of transportation) ____Dyna ________ arrived carrying our fellow students who had been busy all day (activity)_____shopping in town__________.

They told us we smelled like (something with a scent)____fish or feet____________ and looked even worse! All in all the hike was (adj)___challenging______ and (adj)__rewarding_____. We agreed we would meet and do it all again in (unit of time)___about 30 years______!!!

Mad Lib Over....me again!

Just to explain a little more....this experience really helped to prepare us more for our time when we will live in the village. We learned SO much about how to live. The men and women all bathe separately in different parts of a river. I will also go to the river tow ash all our clothes and dishes. The physical demands of living in the village are more than I can list. Not only will I have all this work, but all our meals will be cooked over a fire or a little burner that runs on kerosene. The nearest town is a 1+ hour walk to the main road and then a quick PMV (Public Motor Vehicle) ride into town. We are hoping to find someone in our village with a 4-wheel drive vehicle....but it is really unlikely we will find that.....but you never know.

While we are in the village, the teacher and nurse will come to visit us after the first week. Then, in the middle of the second week, the directors will come to visit. I think that during this time, I will be able to give a letter to them....and then they will type my letter and post it to this blog. SCORE!

Stay tuned....

So sorry that the pictures did not post to our site. They were good ones and Caleb wasted over an hour trying to post them. Hopefully we will have a chance before village living, but it doesn't look likely. Hang in there....we will have a ton of pictures to post when we move on May 4th.

Our training continues. Currently, we are planning meals and packing the food for our 5 weeks of village living. Oh! By the way, we found out the name of our village and our wasfamili's name this week! We are going to be on the coast close to Madang (town). If we want to get into town, it will be a 45 minute walk to the road where we can catch a PMV ride. The road leading into our village is not passable by truck. There is a rickety looking bridge that we will not likely cross by truck. Instead, we will have to stop at the one side of the river and everyone will help us carry our things to our house.

I am not going to write the name of our village, but I will share our wasfamili's names so you can be praying for them and their family. Our Waspapa's name is Gim Irape. Wasmama is Geru. They have an older daughter in school and then two young boys. They have graciously given up there home for our time there. We will live in a village house like the one in the pictures earlier. This one will have three bedrooms and an open veranda. We would appreciate any and all prayers for our time with this family. We really do not know what it will be like to live this communally for 5 straight weeks! But, we know that God will equip us when the time comes, so we are excited and anxious about getting to this phase of training. (By the way, if you remember me talking before, this is the part where we will cook all of our meals over a fire, bathe in a river (men with men and women with women), our very own bathroom has been made for us....and more). Please don't read sarcasm into this..!
..we really are excited about meeting our new wasfamili and learning more of this country and the people.

So, the other day I planned all our meals for the 5 weeks and today we shopped at the store "on campus". Tomorrow we will go into town. In case you care, here is a breakdown of our meal plan:

Weeks 1,3 & 5:
Sunday: Coffee Cake, Macaroni and Cheese, Dinner with Wasfamili
Monday: Cereal & Fresh Fruit, Pizza, Corned Beef Spaghetti
Tuesday: Oatmeal, Cabbage Salad, Beef Stroganoff
Wednesday: Eggs, Tuna Fish Sandwiches, Pumpkin or Corn Chowder Coup
Thursday: Oatmeal, Grilled Fruit & Cheese Sandwiches, Pancakes
Friday: Cereal & Fresh Fruit, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Village Tacos
Saturday: Fried Plantains, Potato Soup, Fried Rice

Weeks 2 & 4:
Sunday: Cinnamon Rolls, Macaroni & Cheese, Dinner with Wasfamil
Monday: Cereal & Fruit, Pizza or Deli Roll Up, Alfredo Pasta
Tuesday: Oatmeal, Cabbage Salad, Chicken Curry
Wednesday: Eggs, Tuna Fish Sandwiches, Viggie Chili or French Onion Soup
Thursday: Oatmeal, Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Biscuits & Gravy
Friday: Cereal & Fruit, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Cheese Quesadillas
Saturday: Fried Plantains, Potato Bar (Roast Kau Kau), Japanese Stir Fry

I hope to make brownies, cinnamon popcorn and other goodies. We will have trail mix, crackers and cheese and beef jerky for snacks. I think I will have to make some form of bread around 4-5 days each week. Keep in mind, this entire menu is possible WITHOUT refrigeration. Isn't that crazy?? I know some translators here who plan for months at a time knowing they will not have access to refrigeration. We will be bringing some dehydrated fruits, veggies and meat. This is what they do on a regular basis.

So, tomorrow, we head to town to pick up the remaining things. I find myself getting stressed out, "What if we forget this?" and "What if we forget that?" etc, etc. But, town is accessible. So, I am trying not to worry too much about it.

In other "news", the first of two groups left for their three day hike today. We will leave on Thursday. Ben will stay with our friends Carl and Carol who have attended now over 14 weeks of training with us. Ben calls them "Uncle" and "Aunt". I know it is going to be hard to leave him, but he is in really good hands. All the staff with be looking out after him while we are gone. Oh....and Carl is a family doctor. Like I said, the Lord has blessed us with their friendship in more ways than one.

We were given the "route" that we will take for the three day hike. It reads like this:

"Day 1- Leave training campus in the morning and head down the road for a little ways. Follow the trail to Damaipa and head straight down the mountain. The area you will hike through is a wildlife reserve, so make sure you stop and look around, ask your guide for the whole story. You will cross a few streams and then climb up a short incline till you reach the village of Amron. You will spend your first night here. The hike will take about 3 hours.

Day 2- Leave Amron and head down a trail through the bush. Again, you will cross a few streams and walk through some gardens until you reach Gamoi. From Gamoi follow the road to Lehun. Nangoi is the Papa bilong graun and used to work at the training center, make sure you stop and shake hands. Keep hiking through the bush crossing a few streams. After some more hiking, river crossing, ditch jumping and "raunim" gardens you will come to Gataba. You will spend the night here with Levy. The day will be about 5 hours of hiking.

Day 3- This day you will hike back to the training center. Follow a wide trail out of Gataba and through a cillage called Bagi. You will climb a little ways up until you get to some abandoned buildings that were part of a Revival Camp. The next section of trail is in "bus tru" so watch out for vines. ….It will take about 5 hours."

So, as you can tell, it is not very specific. We will be hiking with packs, but spending a good amount of time in villages meeting new people and learning about their culture. Can't wait to share more about it when we finish it!!

I guess that is about it for now. Last Saturday ("Sarare I go pinis"), our wasfamili came to our hauk kuk. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. Thanks for your prayers. We had a wonderful night. I wish the stir fry had more sauce and that the custard had more time to set, but all in all, it went really well. Caleb actually managed to go into town that Saturday morning and played in a soccer game with other Papua New Guineans. He may have the opportunity to do this every Saturday when we are in village living. He bought cheap cleats in town (about 10 US dollars). His team was actually really good. They won the league last season. They started him. He played the first 15 minutes and almost got a goal. Then, he took a break. He didn't realize that they play like the pro's in that once you come off the field, you don't go back in all game. Oooops! He coughed it up to a cultural blunder and learned his lesson. All in all, it was a great week-end for us all.

Benjamin is doing much better is nursery and is a happy little boy again. We are coughing up his "crying fit" for the medicine he was on and the fact that a new little girl joined the class who was having a bit of separation anxiety that week. Things are much better now and we thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

We miss you all. Please know that on Thursday, March 25th, we leave for our village allocation. I am going to try and write a letter half-way through and ask a staff member to post it to this blog. We'll see it that happens. But, we will not be taking our computers with us to the village for obvious reasons- mainly no electricity. Hang in there....when village life is over, we will be on our way to our long term house where we will have much better e-mail connection and the ability to post pictures and respond to e-mails regularly. We will have our cell phones with us, so if you want to give us a call, it is free for us to receive them from you! Of course, I have no idea what your international rates are. Just send us an e-mail if you would like to talk by phone while we are away and we can set it up before next week.

Adrienne here again...just thought I would send a quick post to let you know that we are getting closer and closer to village living. The 6-weeker students (and families) left this afternoon. Our class size now consists of 11 adults and 9 children. Tomorrow, we go into town to buy what we need for this Saturday when our was famili comes to our haus kuk. We are planning to make a stir-fry for them. Not "American" but it is our favorite recipe so far that we have had here. We will cook some plantains when they arrive and eat them like french fries. Then, we will have a stir fry with a TON of rice followed by tea with banana cake and a warm custard on top. We have been told that this current rainy season is unlike any they have had in the last 5 years. We are already positive the ground will not dry be dry by Saturday. Now, we are praying that at least it will not pour as we prepare the meal and entertain our family.

Next Thursday, we leave for our 3-day hike. We went for a gear hike a couple days ago. We started at 0 elevation and climbed to 1200 ft in 3 hours....all the while I was carrying over 16 pounds and Caleb was carrying over 22 pounds. On Thursday, we will start our hike. That afternoon, we will come to our first village. We will eat with them, sleep there and then "story" all night. In the morning, we will start our hike to the second village where we will do much of the same. While we hike, we will have Papua New Guinean guides (one male and one female) who go with us. By now, they have become good friends. We are looking forward to this time where will we practice our Tok Pisin in smaller groups and with new people.

After that, we leave for village living (March 25th). We will be in the village for 5 weeks without internet. We may have phone coverage there (weird!). That reminds me of a funny story....

We went on a really long, all-day hike two weeks ago. On the way back, we were walking on a pig trail (did I tell this story before? I feel like I told it before). Oh well....I can't remember so I will tell it again briefly. We were hiking on literally the side of a mountain, at times through grass over our head, other times skiing through mud. We are in the middle of a jungle with practically no civilization around....and our Papua New Guinea guide has a cell phone that rings. Makes me laugh! =0)

One last comment....we FINALLY received our letters and packages today. Our water filter arrived (thank you to everyone who made that possible)...we won't have to boil all of our water for 5 weeks!! Also, we received birthday cards, valentine cards and some packages. We are not sure why it took over 6 weeks for some of these things to arrive. If you have our next address, it would be best to start sending any mail or packages there. Just let us know if you need that address....we plan to send it out in a newsletter soon....

Em tasol. Mi go nau.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures that Caleb was able to post! We are so excited it worked. Wish we could write more about them....but hopefully you have been following the blog and figure out which pictures go with which post!

Miss you all! Ben gives tons of hugs!

So as part of our enculturation, we were assigned a PNG family to interact with on a regular basis. We see Silas and Matilda once a week for a meal. They have 4 kids: Enoch, Rose, Rhoda and Elijah. I don't know if Adrienne has written much on them so I'll offer some pictures in order to clear up some of our stories!

Adrienne's Testimony in Tok Pisin:

Nem bilong mi Adrienne. Asples bilong mi America. Mi laik autim stori bilong kamap

Kristen.

Taim mi pikinini liklik, famili bilong mi em i go long haus lotu olgeta Sande. Mipela go

long haus lotu, tasol mipela i no i stap Kristen. Long skin tasol em i save mekim nating

pasin bilong stretpela man, na long bel bilong en em i save mekim pasin kain kain

tingting nogut, na pasin nogut.

Taim mi gat sevenpela Krismas, papa bilong mi em i lusim mama bilong mi. Mama

lukautim mi. Bihain, bel bilong mama bilong mi em i got wari nogut tru. Mama bilong

me laik i kilim em yet. De behain, God i oraitim em. Em i kamap nupela gen.

Bihain, Mama bilong mi maritim nupela man. Em i karim nupela pikinini meri. Taim

pikinini meri i gat sispela mun na em i dai. Behain, bel bilong mi em i gat wari nogut

tru. Dispela taim, mi laik i dai. Mi singaut long God, "Kisim mi. No kisim susa bilong

mi." De behain, God i oraitim mi! Mi kamap nupela gen!

God tok tok long mi: "Mi oraitim yu. Yu bin laik i dai. Mi oraitim yu. Nau bai yu usim

laip bilong yu long mi! Mi oraitim mama bilong yu. Mi oraitim yu. Mi laik oraitim

olgeta manmeri tu. Yu helpim mi?"

Mi tok tok long God: "Yes, mi helpim yu!" Mi beten:

"God em i bin wokim mi, na mi bilong en. Na long planti taim mi givim baksait long en

na mekim pasin nogut. Tasol Jisas Krais, em Pikinini bilong God, em i bin kisim asua

bilong mi na karim pen na i dai pinis. Long dispela pasin em i tekewe mi long han

bilong Seten (Sahtan). Long pen na blut bilong Jisas, God i baim bek mi pinis. Nau mi

wokmeri bilong en tasol. Olgeta wok em i givim mi, dispela mi amamas long mekim.

The Food Post

Caleb here again. I love food. A good meal can change my outlook on life! I can be the most depressing pessimist until I eat fried chicken, then I wax eloquent on the goodness of man. If I'm having a particularly rough day, some meatloaf and macaroni and cheese will set me right. While I don't call myself a foodie, and I don't care to watch Rachael Ray or Emerile, I do enjoy quality and flavor! So, in light of food's profound effects on me, I was particularly concerned about the challenges of eating well here, even before we arrived.
Let us start with a quick rundown of some known challenges: Getting meat of the same quality as home is tough to do and very expensive. Furthermore, most of the food comes out of Australia and is different enough in packaging, sizing, and price to cause confusion. The fresh fruits and veggies are great but have to be bleached before consuming. (When you find your first broccoli-worm you'll understand!) Lastly, there are no restaurants readily at hand so you are either cooking it yourself, or you are at someone's house who is cooking it for you!
Traditional PNG cooking varies from lowlands to highlands, but you can pretty much count on getting kaukau, garden greens, rice and plantains in some form or another at every meal. Cooking is done over open fires with wood. (on a side note, we regularly use as firewood, tropical hardwoods that would cost 7 dollars a board-foot back home!) You southerners will be glad to hear that sweet tea is big here on the coast! But, because of the British, everybody drinks it hot and with milk! Oh, my kingdom for some ice!
Let's move on to the food situation here at POC. First of all, I've told you before that it is a cafeteria setup with a kitchen that is built to serve 50 or so people. The challenges of refrigeration and cooking in a place with regular losses of electricity have dictated the use of unique methods of managing the kitchen. The massive stove is wood-fired, as is the large drum-oven. There are several chest freezers and a walk-in refrigerator. There is also another large natural gas range. The nearest supermarket is in Madang, about 30 minutes away by car. All non-perishables and goods can be bought there, and all veggies and fruits are purchased at the market. Sometimes, you can't find what you are looking for, because the ship or truck carrying the shipment hasn't arrived yet.
Missy is the kitchen boss. She manages a team of 3 kitchen ladies that make sure we are well fed during the week. (Weekends are haus kuk time where we do all our own cooking outside.) She does all the planning, shopping, teaching, and recipe-gathering. She's been working here for 5 years and is from Australia. She is a good cook and really manages the chaos well! But all is not as it seems... Substitution is the name of the game in cooking in PNG! None of those fancy methods and ingredients here! Keep it simple stupid! Spaghetti. Easy, right? Noodles, sauce, some ground beef... No, wait. Make that Corned Beef! How about some pizza? Homemade dough, some pizza sauce from a jar... couldn't find that so we'll go with olive oil and garlic and oregano. Time for some cheese. No mozzarella, or any shredded cheese, so we'll go with some individual slices of Kraft cheddar. For topping, "Oh there's the ground beef!"
While I have taken some artistic license with these "recipes", they are grounded in the truth of the challenges of being a food-lover here! It is possible to get what you want, and certainly what you need, but it will not look the same, and most times it won't taste the same. All of you that have traveled abroad and purchased a Coke have experienced a microcosm of this phenomena!
Now, lest you think that we are wasting away to nothing, let me tell you about tea. Every day at10am, we have tea, in the British sense of the word. Drinks and a light snack, usually some PNG brand crackers. After lunch, somewhere around 3 or four, tea happens again. We then eat dinner around 6. So we are not starving. I must say this though. If you are a picky eater, POC would be hard for you. Missy does a good job of putting local produce into the meals. She makes just enough of the main dish that leaves everyone wanting more, but there is no more to be had! You have to eat your veggies if you want to be full! This doesn't bother us, but it is really taking a toll on some of the others! Meals have included, pumpkin soup and bread, pizza, stir fry and rice, peanut sauce chicken over rice, Mexican-style lasagna, roast chicken, quiche, pancakes, tuna and/or egg salad sandwiches, and others. There are always sides of fruit and vegetables to round it out. Deserts!
are rare, but there has been plenty of birthdays, which means some sort of cake and ice cream! I find I am quite content with the food here, even if I miss my favorites from back home!
You should also remember that cooking for such a large group requires cost-saving measures just as it would at home. When we get to Ukarumpa, we'll return to our regular menu from home with a few new additions and deletions!

Bon Apetite!