Epic Storms, playing in the mud and a mystery animal in my house...!

 Well, last week was learning how to cook Sago, this week I tried making Granadilla and Guava Jam. Boo-jah!! It is delicious, so much so that Uncle Colin, who grew up here and still lives here wants me to tell him how I did it! We have just introduced a new food to the diet! Very happy.

Exciting thing of the week: Watching my kids go outside during break to frighten away a flying fox. It involved one kid shooting a slingshot and then all the others charging the tree, screaming and yelling holding sticks and then chasing the bat away. Very amusing and made me think of tribal wars. Kids vs Bat.

 Thought it was about time for some pics of where I'm living - note the mossie net above the blue chair - an excellent spot for reading in the evenings by torchlight safe from biting insects!

I am feeling stoked to be getting to know some of the girls my age here more. I have had dinner with them and have plans for more. They are great, although I am gutted to only have 3 and a half weeks left here! Time flies in this place.

I had a breakthrough with one of the patient kids who watches me walk to school everyday but who has so far said nothing back to me when I say hello. My class and I sung E Te Ariki in church on sunday with me on ukulele and afterwards this wee kid jumped onto the path in front of me, mimicked playing a ukulele and sung 'ga-link-a-link-a-link' and then ran away laughing. I'll take that as progress!!

 The view out my kitchen window. Haven't had to close the storm shutters yet although we did have an EPIC thunder/lightening and rain storm over the weekend. It was incredible. Thunder just rolling and rolling around the sky and brilliant flashes of lightening that lit the whole sky up.

 My resting place! (note mossie net again).

Me off to find the mysterious animal that was doing poos in my shower for two mornings in a row. I was imagining a giant gecko/lizard like creature (apparently one lives somewhere in my house), or a family of frogs, or giant  (giant!) insects. Turned out to be a hen roosting. NOT LIKELY!! She was very stubborn when i ushered her out and I had to resort to actually hitting it and sweeping it away. This is MY shower!!!

I've had my first game of mud volleyball - badly reminiscent of an embarrassing Year 10 PE lesson. Didn't do much for my quest in getting to know the locals as I'm so bad at Volleyball i wasn't much help. It was fun finishing with mud all over my arms (proof that i did at least touch the ball on several occasions!) and mud splattered up my legs.

An important chief died here at the hospital over the weekend. I was woken about midnight by the wailing starting which continued for several hours. Then Sat morning it started again and most of us went to sit in the church singing songs until the coffin was made and we had a service for him. He was then taken down to the village where the traditional thing to do is wail and throw yourself in the mud. Pretty full on apparently. Very sad for the staff here as he was a guy who has done lots for the hospital. Another baby died during labour so was a pretty hard weekend for the hospital.

Otherwise things going well, am constantly learning about PNG culture and things. Am hoping to head up or down river at some stage to check out another village or two before i leave. I have just this week left with my class and then I'll be spending the last three weeks observing the primary class and trying to help get that running better.

 

 Kids playing in the wee stream outside my place. Much laughter and screaming.

It has been a pretty good week - more rain, lots of reading and playing ukulele when I'm not at school. Students are doing well and are enjoying learning some Maori songs. Me being here has allowed their normal teacher to go into Port Moresby and try to get the school registered so they receive government help and PNG textbooks. That has been going well which is great. It will be fantastic for them if that all comes off.

Culinary delights of the week:
Learning to make Burupae - a sago and banana soup which is pretty yummy.
Sifora Juice ( Lime juice) - have a tree outside so I get my hunter/gatherer on and squeeze me some sweet juice!
Thai curried beans - thanks to my new skill at husking and grating coconuts I can make my own milk and with the help of the curry powder someone else bought it has made a nice change from eating kumera, banana, sago and rice.

The westerners are few and far between this week - Barb is in Port Moresby, Dr Val and Dr Nell went to the next closest hospital for a week (there are no doctors there so they do 2 weeks here and 1 week there). Just Colin, Grandma, Jennie, Eva and me.

Hope all well for you guys - time is going fast here - only 5 more weeks.

Short skirts on men, coconuts and the sun!!

 On Saturday night we had a community night for the unmarried staff and students. It was good to see guys dressed as girls is just as funny in most other countries. This is Uncle Bob in the middle - the quietest, most unassuming guy. Except for when he is in a drama and he transforms to the funniest guy out! The guy beside me fell off his chair he was laughing so much!

 Sunday night we said goodbye to the 3 other young westerners who have been here, so we set out to host a curry party. Here I am, scraping my coconut to make milk for the curry. Took a good hour to husk, scrape and squeeze 3 coconuts. Apparently I will make a good PNG house wife.

 Somem dark clouds about the place - been raining for about a week but the sun has come out today which is great. Still a pretty fun place in the rain and mud!

 My walk home form my classroom. On the left are the patient kitchens where family members live and cook for the patients in the hospital. Far right are some of the hospital wards. My house is way down the other end.

 Add to these pics the sounds of babies crying, coughing, laughing, running and shouting kids, roosters, frogs, cicadas....thats the general vibe!

The boys who play round my place - Zacariah, Malachi, Tom and Jeremy. They are little rascals! But fun. When I do my skipping I have to do it in secret otherwise these kids and all the others come over and want a turn, which is fun but not so good for getting exercise done.

Has been a good few days - getting well into the routine of things. Not sure I really love being the only teacher as you miss out on all the other interactions with other staff etc but it is definitely good practice at teaching everything and doing it in a different context. Training the primary teachers (2 and 2 students) is going well. I am having to figure out which bits aer most important to try get them to do. DOnt think i will have much luck insisting on AO's, SLO's and the like. But I am blowing their mind with the concept of week and unit plans.

Thanks for prayers - am still healthy, and mostly infection free from mossie bites. I love the church services here - very fun singing and dancing and some good solid messages. I am taking a devotion with all the nursing staff on friday. Hopefully will go ok.

Peace,
Miri

 Out the back of my classroom - where I send the kids to cut grass with their machetes if they misbehave!

My classroom - from left Issachar, Koivi, Ken, Abel, Sharlene, Shem and Alice.
The boys outside the classroom at break time.

I have been given the task of organising these kids to perform a drama at a special dinner we have coming up this saturday night. Should be a bundle of laughs.

We have mastered the breadmaker, and this afternoon I am learning how to husk and grate my own coconus so I can make my own food a bit more. Yum...coconut milk!! Bring on some curry!

One week in...

Kapuna Evenings: Warm, light breeze, dark but outside lights of houses dimly light up the path leading from one end of the hospital to the other. I can hear singing coming from one of the houses, and the kids playing. I get into bed and through the wire I can see trees moving slightly. I can hear cicadas, frogs, geckos and roosters! It is taking a while to get used to the night time noises....

Kapuna Mornings: Roosters start about 3am but things start happening about 6am. I keep rolling over willing the roosters to be quiet for a bit longer. Get up, check the bread maker for its offering, breaky and then to school at 8am. Start with a devotion and then straight into maths!

Kapuna Afternoons: After school it is home for some skipping (man, GOOD exercise!) under my house, playing with the kids, ckecking out what the tide is doing, practicing ukulele and getting ready to settle in for the evening...

On Saturday my class took me across the river for an adventure - a jungle walk complete with tasting local bush fruit and learning about some more animals. We have been learning about being archaeologists and finding artefacts from the past so it was appropriate that we were off to investigate an old sawmill from the 1920's. The kids were up there swinging their machetes wildly to clear the creeper vine that had smothered everything. Luckily, they knew their way through the bush pretty well! Then back across the river, home for a sago grub feast (like huhu grubs) and a coconut.

Sunday church was awesome - some fun singing and a good sermon.

Life is pretty simple here!

Discovery of the week: Brown rice with milk powder sprinkled on top with chopped banana is a great lunch.

Triumph of the week: Being infection free despite having got blisters from the first time I walked in gumboots without socks. I have devised a sneaky system now... (it has rained all ngiht for the last 3 nights = very muddy grass. That, and Kapuna is on the edge of a swamp.)

Glorious moment of the week: Walking through the mud in bare feet with the kids on our way to the other classrooms and to the market for some food!

Challenge for this week: Taking over the school stuff to release Barb to do all the other a million things that she gets pulled into do. Getting to know more people and learning some more motu language.

I took some pics but my SD card is refusing to release them onto the computer so I will NOT use that card from now on and will promise some great pics for the next blog!!