Bruno's Birthday: a near miss and a 'Chinese restaurant'

Today started quite mundanely.... I had a lift down to the gym early with Judy, who then kindly took me into town to a couple of shops I hadn't been to before. Great excitement as I finally managed to source a tin opener, some kitchen cloths and some sultanas. I really was ecstatic and isn't that just a sign of how little time is needed to re-set your expectations.

Tonight promised to be something a little special... Madang is home to only a handful of restaurants, almost all of which are located within the compound of some larger body such as the Lodge, the Club or the Resort, but for Bruno's birthday we had chosen, and even booked... to go to the new Chinese restaurant in the heart of town. We were actually congratulating ourselves jokingly on being 'scene-setters' by checking out this brand new place that most people hadn't even heard of. Getting there was interesting as usual, given that there were 6 of us squishing into a car built for 4 or 5 but that was fine. At least it was fine, until we were heading along the main road in the dark and I noticed that there were two sets of headlights rather than one coming towards us. Thankfully I screamed, as that gave Sarah enough notice to swerve off the road and avoid the oncoming, speeding bus: by a whisker. If you know me, you know that I have already been in more than enough traffic accidents for several lifetimes, so I was heartily relieved to avoid another.

So, an auspicious start! We arrived at the restaurant which didn't look that hot from the outside but you don't judge a book by its cover here, so as Sarah and Bruno (as male 'escort' for safety) went off to pick up another person nearby, the four of us trooped past the 2 guards who somewhat reluctantly (hindsight is great!) opened the metal grid gate for us.

I was first to walk in, but my view of the room was restricted by the angle of the entrance. The change in the noise level as I entered and the fact that the first man whose eyes I met immediately uttered the word, 'Sorry," did not make for a particularly promising first impression. As I turned to survey the whole space, I realised that 'restaurant' was probably an inaccurate term, and that the correct one was perhaps 'semi-legal drinking den reserved for serious crowd of hard-drinking PNG men during an official alcohol ban where only premises ostensibly serving food are licensed to also serve grog'. A snappy title, so it baffles me why the owners chose to write 'Deng Fang Restaurant' on the sign outside.

Our crocodile procession of four women (the only female customers in the whole establishment - no great shock there) walked through the increasingly raucous crowd to be led to the side room which was to serve us for the evening. We must have made quite a sight: me at the front, then two slim and slender, positively 'elphin' women, one from Malaysia, one from Melbourne, and the rear brought up by a PNG woman of presence with formidable dreadlocks. We made it through the catcalls and 'Hello darlings' and grabbing hands to reach our sanctuary... a drab, dirty, windlowless room with two wobbly tables, some plastic chairs, malfunctioning AC, a couple of filthy tablecloths, and one tiny clock as wall decoration, hung 3 metres above the ground.

As we sat wondering just how many Michelin stars the place would warrant, and fervently hoping the other three including one man (see - useful!) would show up soon.... we decided to avail ourselves of the refreshments. Did they have any wine, em... no. Any soda water? No, sorry. Any ginger beer? Ok beers all round! The service at least was excellent, as we only had to send the incorrect drinks back once, and only once did we have to call the waitress back to request that she open the non-screw top bottles for us. Her surprise at this suggested strongly that the more regular patrons use their teeth.

The others arrived soon afterwards, bringing our number to a magnificent seven which immediately felt much safer. And we had a man! After a few inquiries, it became clear that food wasn't the top item on the menu here, and in fact that nobody apart from us was likely to be eating at all, but we were reassured that the police always came by at 8 or 8.30 and would chuck everybody else out. After which of course, it would transform into the sort of establishment Gordon Ramsay would be proud to put his name to... and, even my short time here has already taught me not to feel reassured at the prospect of the police turning up.

After a couple of attempts by some of our number (not me) to put a brave face on it, we agreed to cut our losses and get out of Dodge. As we now had seven people to fit in the one car, we entertained for a (very) brief moment the idea of leaving in two shifts but quickly decided that squishing 7 in was a preferable option. Running the gauntlet to leave was also a memorable experience I have no desire to repeat. Let's just say, I know where to get a date in Madang if I need one.

So.... all of a sudden, the plastic axe I had bought Bruno as a joke for his birthday suddenly seemed prescient... just a part of the fabric of life in the Land of the Unexpected!

PS - we hid the axe on the way out of the 'restaurant' in case it was seen as an act of provocation...

The importance of men

It has been a busy and interesting week. I presented to the Health Sciences faculty on my project and sat in on the whole of their faculty meeting. It was fascinating to watch the similar dynamics played out as at committee meetings back in Australia. I was a little surprised but pleased to see there was complete gender balance among the 20 or so people, and it was very much a local affair, with only a sprinkling of westerners and Indians among the mainly PNG nationals. I can honestly say though that I have never before attended a meeting which started with an appeal to the Lord to guide our discussions.

My Tokpisin skills are coming on slightly which is handy as all netball business, including trivial items like who plays in which position, tactics and game times is conducted in the language. I have found myself on a few occasions being able to follow the gist of a story even without quite knowing how. Saturday will be a test of my tropical conditioning though, as we have decided to squeeze two games in that afternoon.

I am already full of anticipation at my trip to Port Moresby in a few weeks as I will be staying at a hotel that has beds with actual mattresses... I attach here the evidence for the prosecution, showing my current mattress only slightly thicker than the length of a standard AA battery. I decided tonight to stop being such a big wuss about it though after talking to one of my teammates who has had 'malaria and the flu' this week but still came out to train!

An interesting aspect of the security situation here is the added value it gives to men. I suppose this is a reminder of how things used to be in most countries in the not too distant past. One night we were splitting people between two cars, both driven by women to get home after dark, and instead of allocating bodies to vehicles based on their destination, we had to ensure there was a man in each car and visible in the front seat. The idea being to make yourselves as small a target as possible. Some of the Western men here love it... one of them in particular has found a purpose in life! ;-)

Terrible view

It was a hard day... kayaking past the bobbing coconuts and the islands dotted around the bays... waving at the kids on the shore and stopping for lunch and a snorkel at a beach bar.

A Mini Kilt and a Liklik Delay

I didn't really expect to be doing yoga here, and if I had, I couldn't have imagined a more spectacular setting to do it than on the grass by the pool at Madang Lodge, right above the Bismarck Sea at dusk with a fresh sea breeze. There were only seven of us; all white, western females variously employed at the uni or other professional organisations and led in our stretches by a French Canadian VSO volunteer. Some PNG nationals were using the pool next to us and the kids seemed to find our downward dogs etc pretty funny – not surprising really given that this was only my second ever yoga class and a couple of the others seemed no more advanced than me.

The past few days have been quite peaceful with the exception of some of the dogfights through the night and the squawking flying foxes throughout the day. There was an earthquake (6.3) this week quite a way away off the island of New Ireland. There wasn't a flicker here and it didn't cause much concern, but it was nice to see that my Endeavour Awards case manager was, well, on the case! She got in touch to check I was okay before I had even heard about it.

I made it back to the beautiful resort of Jais Aben on the north coast this weekend for a swim, but the main event for me this week has been the netball. Not only has it instantly doubled my social life, but it is giving me a great insight into local culture. Today was a lesson in 'PNG time' – the coach had warned us sternly at least 5 times to make sure we were all there, warmed up and ready to go on court before the 1 o'clock start, as the other team would be there and desperate to see us forfeit. She advised us to get there at noon, or 12.30 at the very latest. Fiona who was picking me up said she would get me at 12.30. I was there at the gates and waiting as the clock ticked by…. I even started doing warm up stretches as I was waiting to the great amusement of the security rangers, then at 12.55 it got too much for me and I rang Fiona. 'Delay liklik… on my way, be there soon'. At twenty past one she showed up and 5 minutes later we were at the ground: the first members of our team to arrive. This didn't matter however as there were still a few games to happen before ours which of course everybody had anticipated. Some of our team turned up over the next hour then went away again, and when it was our turn finally half of our team was missing, including the woman with the strips. I think we finally took to the court just before 3 pm. People who know me well know that punctuality is quite a fluid concept for me, but even I am impressed at just how skilled people here are at making time flexible. I think I may need some kind of happy medium… I haven't been to Thursday Island but that could be worth checking out!

Our strips incidentally are a classic – white tops with a tartan trim and matching green tartan skirts (very similar to the Clan Lamont tartan!) On the rest of the team the skirts were quite a respectable length, but on me the effect was that I looked like I had wondered out of a rehearsal for a part in a St Trinians film…. This week I have to get myself to Kalibobos, the clothes shop in town to buy some shorts to wear underneath! I would love to report our stunning victory and the great part I played in it but unfortunately I can't…. we lost 28-34 and my offer to be subbed at half time was readily accepted! Not sure what I was expecting considering I haven't played for 4 years, and was playing out of position in the boiling heat but I was a little disappointed. Still, it was good fun and I was very impressed at the spirit the game was played in. I have never played in such a clean game in Australia!

The dreams of sporting glory will just have to go back in their box for a while! ;-)

Frangipanis and Buai

I mentioned that I love going to see a show when I'm in a foreign land as a way of connecting with people and feeling like I'm part of what is going on. I have now found an even better way which will come as no surprise to any of you who play team sports… I have joined a netball team. I am now Goal Defender for the Frangipanis ladies team, and a fine bunch of friendly women they are. Happy to have me in their midst even though I don't speak the lingo and have not played for almost 4 years. At last night's training session I actually threw the ball back to my own keeper at one point instead of forward to somebody who could attack… I just got a bit excited that I'd intercepted the ball so I forgot you then have to do something useful with it;) Still, they asked me back and I was told I would be GD (not the position I used to play) tonight for a proper game in the A grade which is a bit of a worry, but I assume everyone thinks my (considerable) height advantage is going to be sufficient compensation for my lack of ability.

So tonight I was ready and primed to take on the KC Cats. As in Australia however, sometimes people just don't turn up (though here it could be because they had no transportation)… in this case the whole team didn't show so we got the points on a forfeit but it was a bit of an anti climax. When I played netball in Australia it worked a bit differently… if the other team didn't show, people headed straight to their cars and went home to watch Desperate Housewives. Here we sat around on the playing field for the hour anyway, chatting and chewing buai or beetlenut, though with everybody occasionally making comments about having better things they could be doing. Fiona (GK) is the player who invited me on the team after I met her a couple of times last week. She has also taken on the role of chauffeur as otherwise I couldn't get to the games (twice a week) or training (also twice) so by inviting me she has put her hand up to pick me up and drop me off in the wrong direction from her home 4 times a week. I am trying to stop feeling bad about this kind of imposition and just appreciate it – still a work in progress! We even have a coach (I've never been in a team with a proper coach!) Her name is Auntie Frieda and she is a character. Last night she had the whole team in fits with a story about why she can't run at the moment. It was all in Tokpisin so I only picked up the odd bit but enough to tell she had overindulged in the 'sex on the beach' cocktails at the weekend, and on leaving the Club had taken some kind of a tumble and injured herself in the moonlight. She is also a bit of an entrepreneur; at the end of the game she opened up the boot of her car to reveal a mini tuck shop with fags and beetle nut for the adults and lollies for the kids.

Tonight I was introduced to the rites of chewing buai PNG-style. You shell the nut then chew the soft centre till it's pulpy, at which point you add the mustard stalk dipped in lime powder. That turns the gunk red and you just spit the red juices out in big squirts until it's gone. It turns your mouth scarlet and is not particularly hygienic but it is universal. It was quite pleasant but I don't think I'm at risk of becoming a long-term user.

This place is known as the Land of the Unexpected and that counts for little things like like your hot water coming out of the cold tap and vice versa, to the interesting outburst in the parliament today, when the PM, Sir Michael Somare threatened to kill one of his MP colleagues outside, 'Bai mi kilim yu autsait! Bai yu dai! Yu dai nau! ' I can't quite imagine Julia doing that somehow….

One of the joys of any developing country (and even some developed ones) is that first brush with their bureaucracy … today I had to go to the Provincial Government's Treasury Dept to pay the K1,000 (outrageous!) needed to get a receipt to send off to Port Moresby with my passport to get a visa extension for a period of just 12 days (the original 60-day visa cost just K500) – go figure. The name of the department was the grandest thing about it – it is a run-down collection of shacks, literally with holes in the roofs and plants growing off it and parts of the buildings hanging down. Groups of people milled around seemingly aimlessly, moving between badly signed counters and closed offices in a vain attempt to give or take some money. Apart from the tropical ambience it could have been a scene out of Kafka. After a few wrong turns and with the help of Terence, the uni security guard detailed to escort me and my big wad of cash, I finally made it to the right counter where there were a few people waiting already but no sign of anyone behind the desk. It was difficult to work that out though as the desk was behind a filthy pane of glass and a rusty grid of unidentifiable metal, so you had to peer and twist and shade your eyes from the sun just to see if there was any movement on the other side. The sign helpfully read, 'Office hours are _________ .' I was in a slightly better position than most as a tiny circle had been cut in the glass just at my eye height , which of course is pretty useless for 99% of the people in PNG. Still, I got my receipt and as we came out onto the main road a police car (the first I've seen) went screaming by with siren blaring and at great speed. Why? Konie summed it up with a smile… "Mebbe a hold-up… this is PNG."

If I have mastered the art of adding photos you should also see here the interesting front page of the National today, showing a gang member being paraded naked and bound through the streets of Tari in the Highlands by the local police. Just in case, here's the link http://www.thenational.com.pg/

Photos

I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to add photos to my blog so if you would like to have a look at some pics check out this link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=222708&id=730812078&l=9254c3255d

Liklik rokroks and a snake

On Saturday I had the type of experience I have been wanting since I got here – hiking through the villages and getting to know more of the locals. We got off to a great start as we drove to the worst settlement in town, where we picked up Aita who used to be the 'house meri' or housemaid working for one of the guys we were with and who is himself well known in the settlements, so we were under both his and her 'protection' and therefore safe. Without those two it would have been a pretty risky thing to do but with them it was safe as houses. Then we drove up a dramatically potholed, bumpy track in the 4-wheel drive to the village where Aita's daughter and grandkids were waiting and we all went trekking through the hills and along (as in actually sploshing through) a river. It was fantastic. This is the stuff I love.... talking to the women, them teaching me words and phrases in Pidgin: 'liklik rokrok' or little frog = tadpoles, and a dragonfly is called an 'elicopter'.

The wee kids came with us swinging their machetes, everyone was laughing, and Aita and her daughter Joyce were taking the micky out of the men. Just a joy!!! Aita and Joyce have invited me and some of the others to go walking with them at the weekends through the villages, which is a great opportunity as we need locals to accompany us. Next week we are going to walk to the interestingly named Nob Nob mountain, which is apparently not that much of a mountain but is a great walk through the rainforest and gives wonderful views back down to the Madang coast – it is a 6 or 7-hour round trip. I am really looking forward to it though I am thinking that next time I should be a bit more careful with my precautions against insect bites as I have a rather strange and vaguely worrying bite on my thigh which is growing ever larger, has turned into a bruise and gone grey. Mmmmm! Apparently there is a good doctor in town called Dr Mackerel (sounds a bit fishy to me!) but if you need to see him you should always try to work around his drinking hours at the Club….;)

Joyce showed off to us her new garden which she had built on a steep hillside, having cut down the trees then burnt the whole area ('slash and burn'), and planted corn, bananas and tomatoes amongst other things. As we walked we came across pineapples, cocoa, rice grown in dry fields, pawpaws, sago trees and just about everything tropical you could think of. It is really rich soil, and the tropical warmth and nightly rain even in the 'dry' season make it agricultural paradise.

Another highlight on Saturday was the arrival from JCU of Sally from our Physiotherapy department who is here for a week; not only because she is a delightful lady and my new next door neighbour, but also because she got my message in time to bring me some duty free to replenish my Baileys stock. Thanks Sally!!!

After a beautiful home cooked dinner by Patricia, a lovely doctor from Manus island and Caroline from Malaysia who work at the Medical Research Institute here, including great tofu, and bananas fried with garlic (it works!) We headed home uneventfully apart from the rather large snake we ran over on the main road. Coming from Townsville though that wasn't much of a novelty!

This week should be interesting as Friday is a public holiday to mark Remembrance Day, and there is usually a large and moving ceremony down at the lighthouse which I will try to get to.

For now, lukim you samtaim!

How tall are your fingers?

That was the memorable question posed in a newspaper competition this week – it is unclear what the prize is, so perhaps just the undoubted prestige that comes from being the owner of the tallest fingers in Madang!

This week has flown past. The work side of things has gone really well and socially it's getting ridiculous – I was grateful for a quiet night in tonight after having been out most nights this week. I have also been very happy to find that I have had a lot more contact with PNG folks, partly because I have made a concerted effort on a few occasions to avoid the other foreigners, and also because for whatever reasons my social groups this week just happen to have been more integrated this week.

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting contrast: hiking through some villages in the morning, and a cocktail party at night at the Madang Club with a 'hats and hair' theme. I'm not sure whether I need a hat seeing as how I have hair, but am assuming that just the hair will be sufficient. I was at the Club the other night and it was a rather surreal experience. In almost every way it felt like being at a club in North Queensland but with a few minor details changed, as if in a dream. The traditional meat tray raffle had become a bag of roast chicken, the beer was SP, and the ethnic mix was a bit different (PNG staff and customers, Chinese owner and customers, and assorted westerners and other Asians), but the bar, the lighting, the notice boards and seating area could all have been transplanted from Innisfail.

I can notice that I am settling in now. I am far more comfortable in all situations and am interacting better with people generally; at the shop, the staff morning teas, with the students. I am finding my rhythm and working out how I can be myself in this context, and the response I am drawing from people around me is easier and even friendlier as a result. I have had a few comments from people that they like the fact I carry a billum now rather than a handbag: I suppose that is a pretty universal human response no matter where you are… everyone likes to see their own behaviour reflected back at them as a mark of respect and of validation of their own culture.

Another sign of my feeling more at home here is that I am having to think harder to find content for this blog, as things which would have struck me as noteworthy just a week ago are slowly becoming the norm. I am sure someone somewhere has done a study on this, but I definitely feel as if I am moving through this transition in clear weekly stages, starting with the first week of disorientation, then the second week of struggle and resistance, followed by this last week's acceptance. Who knows what next week will hold!

Lukim you!

The CC Conversation

I have never wanted to be an ex-pat, and I didn't want to come to PNG to hang out with other westerners. So how has it transpired that after just 2 weeks I am spending my weekends with a bunch of Aussies and assorted Europeans and North Americans? Partly it is the whole notion of visitors v locals which I think holds true everywhere, that it is easier to make friends with other people who don't have long established networks, and of course language and cultural closeness helps! Partly as well it comes down to recreation choices and affordability – the international visitors here are often young(ish), professional, relatively cashed-up, and keen to go scuba-diving and kayaking, and eat dinner at the Resort or the Club and have a drink, whereas (from my admittedly still very limited experience!) the locals in the better paid jobs are more likely to be slightly older, perhaps with children and spend their free time in more family-oriented pursuits or further study. Many of the ex-pats I have met speak Pidgin and have obviously integrated well in many aspects into the local community, are well known and well liked, but there still seems to be relatively little socialising together.

I must point out that the ex-pat group I have weaselled my way into are lovely, interesting people who have very kindly picked me up and dropped me places, advised me on how to minimise risk, and generally been amazingly helpful, and without whom I would be blubbering like a maniac into my soup right now, so this wee whinge is more a reflection of my unrealistic expectations of how much integration I could really achieve in such a short space of time, particularly not knowing the language or the culture! And I am quite simply grateful for any opportunity to get out of the house!!

My weekend was going fantastically: on Friday after work I made it down to the gym at the Lodge, then met a couple of people for dinner, then a house party on campus. Saturday was shaping up to be even better: a trip to the market and a potholed, fantastically bouncy 4-wheel drive up to the coastal resort of Jais Aben just north of Madang where we had lunch on a beautiful terrace over an inlet then just stepped off the terrace and into the sea to cool down and swim while families jumped off overhanging trees into the water. Dinner and Trivial Pursuit at somebody's house, then more in the same vein on Sunday.

The joke goes that all ex-pats here must have the Crime and Cost Conversation (CCC) each time they meet. The cost of a beer at the Lodge went up from K6 to K8 overnight ($3-$4 roughly), pure coincidence I'm sure that it happened the day the ban on alcohol take away sales came into force…. ! And as for crime… well, it does seem to come up in conversation depressingly regularly, not that that's really surprising… I came awake in the wee hours of Friday to the sound of a couple of gunshots. They weren't on campus which is very safe, but probably came from the settlement next door. Everyone just takes it in their stride and it is not worth remarking on. I got a lift the other day from someone and had to remove two bush knives (machetes) from the front seat before I could sit down!

The harder side of life here raised its head though on Saturday afternoon as three of us were driving along the beach road from town back to the uni. Ok, Mum – this is the bit where you want to stop reading till my next post! As we passed the golf club we heard screams, and looking back we saw a young, blonde woman come running from the beach onto the road. By the time we chucked a u-turn and got back to her, she had stopped screaming but was in the middle of the road, clearly in shock and telling a man in a car that she had been attacked and robbed by 3 guys who had run off with her camera, credit cards, phone and wallet. She was bleeding from where they had pushed her down onto the rocks, and later a haematoma developed where one of the men had pressed a weapon to her neck. The guy listening to her story, and the group of women standing by the roadside were all saying, 'Sorry, sorry,' a common response I have heard from every Papua New Guinean I have mentioned it to, and which I take to be embarrassment and regret that a visitor to their country has been treated so badly. Nobody stepped in to help however. People seem reluctant or scared to get involved. The woman's name was Kadi, she was a backpacker from Estonia travelling around PNG on her own. We scooped her up into the car, and after taking more experienced local advice we decided against taking her to the police as that was likely to be counter-productive, and in any case, the only chance of retrieving stolen goods comes from offering a small ransom for their return. We took her to someone's house where Nicolas who had been driving patched her up (handy that he's a doctor!), and she got on the internet and the phone to cancel her cards, etc. Very luckily for her, she still had the number of one contact in Lae, who she rang and he arranged for one of his company's helicopters to pick her up and take her there the next morning. Well, doesn't that happen to everyone!!! J

It was an awful experience for Kadi, who had only been in PNG for 4 days, and Madang for one, and possibly she had not had the right advice about what was safe and what wasn't, but for whatever reasons she was doing all the things practically guaranteed to get her into trouble – walking on her own in an area known for crime (though nobody had told her that), carrying a large and very expensive camera in full view, a top of the range mobile with all her contacts, cards and cash, and wearing pretty skimpy clothes which in this conservative country mark you very clearly as having just arrived. What happened could have been a lot worse. I am torn because I believe that everyone should have the right to walk freely and not get mugged, however in a country as poor as this it really is asking for bother to indulge in open displays of wealth. A man at the market had actually pointed out to her earlier in the day that some guys were watching her movements, but she hadn't taken the warning seriously enough. Basically, she didn't understand that there is an element in society here looking for any opportunity that presents itself, and she was ripe for the picking. I fully intend to do all I can not to make myself into an opportunity (alright Mum, you can open your eyes now but make sure you read that last sentence!)

Oh and I have realised my mistake about snacks!!! The lady in the coffee shop must have thought I was asking about 'Snax', the popular savoury biscuit. I knew there had to be a reason!!

This post is a few days later than planned because of the happy circumstance that I was out 4 nights in a row, and the minor inconvenience of not having an internet connection for the last 2 days. I had no water yesterday either but that didn't affect my blogging, just my personal hygiene!!

 

Patience is a virtue, Mama Mia!

I have realised that I am not talking much in my blog about what I am actually here for, and a couple of people have mentioned they have no idea what to say I'm doing, if asked. I suppose I should mention it at least occasionally… I am working on 2 projects, the first being a small research project looking at Divine Word University's role here in serving the broader community and it social responsibilities to help develop PNG, and comparing that with JCU and Australian universities generally. The other thing I am doing is looking at how the two universities can work together to build staff capacity in teaching and research, and hopefully to try to match that to some government funding. I find them both really interesting and they are both progressing nicely.

Ok, back to other stuff! I did manage to get a lift from Konie (third time lucky on spelling his name!) down to the Lodge yesterday at 1 o' clock. Not ideal timing as the gym isn't air-conditioned and it's a pretty constant temperature of hot and humid here, but beggars can't be choosers. I tried to pay for my membership on arrival but their cash swipe machine wouldn't accept my ANZ card, and the ANZ ATM on campus was down because of a system fault. This is still the case today, and as my ANZ Visa card also hadn't worked at the bottle shop the day before (and I've checked with the bank and all is in order with my accounts) it looks like the system is just not working in Madang at the moment. I still have 8 Kina ($4) though so it's not desperate yet…. I am sure I can work something out… I do have some Aussie $ but I don't fancy my chances with $50 notes down the market and I'm running out of food! Anyway, after a bit of back and forth I was allowed to make partial payment to join the gym. So by 1.15 I was ready to get into the fitness centre and get going but then I hit another slight snag… Beni, the fitness instructor (and the town's only masseuse if you remember) wasn't there and had the only key. 'Any idea when she'll be back?'… 'Oh, she's probably coming now.' So I wait. I go back after a while and ask somebody else. 'She'll be back after 2'. I decide to have lunch while I'm waiting and go down to the restaurant which is closed so I am sent to the coffee shop where I ask what snacks they have. 'Oh, no snacks'. 'What do you have to eat?' I enquire, thinking maybe there will be some cakes. 'Sandwiches'. So I took a non-snack sandwich and have added to my growing list of questions what the definition of a snack may be here. After lunch I go back to enquire of Beni's whereabouts and am informed that she never comes back till after 3pm. I have many virtues….. modesty being one, but patience most definitely is not so this is a useful lesson for me.

While waiting I made the acquaintance of a lovely couple from NZ, also vainly trying to use the gym, and I sat and I watched the clear blue sea and the beautiful tropical gardens and tried to relearn the lost art of patience.

I couldn't get hold of Konie today to go back to the Lodge but I have his mobile number now and he will not evade me forever! I have him clearly in my sights for tomorrow, for a sesh in the gym and a swim followed by a pizza with my IMR mates to end the week.

A group of music students from the University of Goroka in the Highlands has been on campus the last couple of days performing their version of the musical, Mama Mia. They also gave a free performance of contemporary PNG music at lunchtime which was sensational, and standing room only in the main auditorium. There were between 10 and 15 of them on stage at any one time, almost half on various drums and percussion instruments I couldn't name, a guitar and bass, a couple of keyboards and several singers, all male bar one singer. A kind of Melanesian world music with an edge. If they had been selling CDs I would have bought one as they were fantastic, but I still wasn't sure what to expect from tonight's show….

I turned up early (as it turns out) as there was no time printed on the ticket and the hall was almost full. The audience loved it, they were with the performers all the way and I suspect that some of them were there for the second night running. I find, there is nothing like going to see a show of some kind in a country to make me feel like I belong. It's a shared experience I suppose that binds you all. This was fascinating to watch – not just the individual great voices and a couple of fantastic dancers, or the amateur production values and dodgy sound system – but to see a New Guinea interpretation of a very western story and to see the audience reaction to it. This is a very conservative country, deeply religious and we were at a strongly catholic university yet the crowd roared approval at everything from the mother's admission of having casual sex with 3 men in quick succession and not knowing who the father of her child was, the predatory behaviour of her cougar friend, the drinking by the reunited female friends in the morning, to the 'priest' stripping off his cassock at the end and starting to boogie. They lapped it all up. What drew the biggest cheers of the night were the times when the women characters were really letting go and enjoying themselves. Perhaps a release mechanism in this very male dominated society.

I ended up sitting next to a woman with so many children I couldn't quite count them. A very friendly and smiley woman and we swapped a few laughs throughout the show. At one point I made some fairly poor joke but she loved it, laughed her head off, then rested her head on my arm. If it had happened in Australia or in most parts of the world it would have seemed inappropriate contact from a stranger but here it just felt right. Walking back to mine on campus everyone was smiling and greeting each other, including me. My jaw hurt from smiling, and I will never be able to look at ABBA the same way again.

Grog, Machetes and a Double Bus Crash

Always good to have a Plan B up your sleeve, but today both Plan A and Plan B came off. As the clock ticked closer to 5 pm I was starting to think I was going to have an enforced detox for the next 2 months, but a text came through from a Swiss guy I'd met at the weekend to say, "Be at front gate in 5 minutes". After running home to grab some money and switch my Blackberry for my cheap mobile that I wouldn't miss if robbed, I headed into town with him and his companion. The bottle shop was not large, nor well stocked but had the redeeming feature of being open. I soon discounted the spirits as the imported prices were outrageous - $100 for a small bottle of vodka or Bacardi. So I bought a dozen bottles of wine (which equates to 1.5 bottles a week for the next 2 months if I don't share which is unlikely, not that I'm counting…) though given the hot conditions in the shop and the strange yellowy colour of some of the contents, I am not entirely sure that all the bottles will make the grade. And a snip at just over $300! Plan B was having asked Liz at the Lodge to buy some bottles there that I would reimburse her for. It always pays to have a commodity in short supply… something I learnt from my Russian days when I traded well above my weight! Smuggling the alcohol onto campus also proved to be a breeze – thank you Faculty Dean!

I did see a couple of machetes being carried around in town today and it is amazing how quickly you develop a tolerance for seeing weaponry around. They were decently wrapped though, covered in wee sheaths which naturally makes them much less threatening…. I heard a lovely story the other day of someone seeing a man on a domestic flight carry his machete onboard, complete with little 'Security checked' sticker. How cute!

I found out today the real reason why I wasn't able to get a lift from Koni last weekend. There was nothing actually wrong with the car he used, but somebody had driven it to Lae and on the way back had overtaken rashly and caused a double bus crash. Nobody was badly hurt but given the PNG system of 'pay-back' or taking revenge, it is not a good idea to be seen out and about in that vehicle for a few weeks.

The caution being advised by the DWU staff is more extreme than what I am being told by some Westerners who live here. I found out today I am not getting the maintenance guy's car – I am not sure why, so I asked somebody in the VC's office about my idea of getting a push bike but was told that was not safe either, and advised again not to even walk to the Lodge. I pointed out that even a few other white females had told me that was safe in daylight hours but the very polite rejoinder was that they weren't tall, blonde, and new in town. At that point I am afraid I lost my cool and may have said with some feeling something along the lines of, "But I am going to lose my mind!' So from tomorrow, Koni is going to drive me to the Lodge each day so at least I can get off campus and use the fitness centre. Hallelujah, as I like my mind, I am quite attached to it and I wish to retain what is left of it!

Question: What’s the definition of frustration….?

Answer: announce a ban on all sales of alcohol for the next three months, effective tomorrow, and have no access to transport to get to a bottle shop…..

Solution…? None yet, but working on it!!!!

Biscuit Fights and a Desert Island

I haven't posted a blog for a few days. This delay is the happy result of my actually having had something to do over the weekend. I left campus on Saturday at 9 am and didn't return till almost midnight –success!!! I was picked up by some of the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) staff and we went to the market in town. People come down to sell their fresh fruit and veggies, billums (woven bags that everyone uses, I am now the proud owner of a pink and purple one), dresses, t-shirts, and carved artefacts. There were some amazing warrior headdresses which I am going to have to buy as souvenirs before I leave. Most of the sellers come down from Goroka or other parts of the Highlands – the area with the worst reputation for violence, so you have to be on alert there but they have a brilliant selection, and of course it is all locally grown and organic so very tasty, and the carrots really look like carrots! It's not that cheap and you have to buy or bring your own bags, but all up it's pretty damn good.

As we picked up a few people en route to the markets (friends of Sarah's, not hitchhikers!) there wasn't enough room for us all inside so I was out perched on the back of the ute, hanging on for grim life over the potholes, smiling at how so many guys wonder around town wearing Obama t-shirts, and generally enjoying the sense of freedom. I was even happy to hang around in the hardware store for half an hour while somebody had keys cut… and to wait outside in the boiling heat while some of the others went into the supermarket. Just being off campus was a real thrill!

That would have been enough on its own, but my fantastic day was not yet over as I got a lift to the Lodge for an excellent massage by a lady called Beni, then we headed to the Resort for a lounge in the pool with a beer as the sun set over the bay. Aaah! We couldn't stay too long however, as we had to walk back to Sarah's before dark, even though it was less than 100 m and there were 6 of us.

Dinner was out on the deck in what could easily have been a house in Townsville with its tropical backyard. Great food that we all chipped in and helped prepare … though some more than others …;) and a little bit of wine and beer, but not that much… it's expensive here and you also have to keep your wits about you. A bottle of pretty average imported Australian wine that would cost about $10-15 in the bottle shop at home is $35 here. This trip will be good for my liver! I have also heard a nasty rumour that a ban on alcohol sales will come into effect later this week – indefinitely!!! It is an attempt to crack down on crime but appears doomed from the outset, as all it will do is drive people to the bootleggers in the settlements who make pure alcohol rather than the average strength beer people might otherwise drink. Genius! I am wondering whether there is some kind of universal conspiracy against me as this also happened when I was a student in Russia in '88 and Gorbachev introduced his prohibition a couple of weeks after I arrived. Aaah well, I will cross that bridge when I come to it…!

The dinner crowd on Saturday was a mixture of PNG newbies like me and a few old hands, but no locals. Chance rather than design, but I think the locals v ex-pat split is still quite common socially. One person had a theory that visitors who stay more than 3 years never leave and that after 3 years you are irredeemably crazy but no longer know it. People started chipping in with stories that made me remember what it was about PNG that initially drew me to the place. It really is somewhere that extraordinary things happen. Sarah told how on one occasion a few years ago a second security guard was posted outside her house on top of the usual one as a result of a spike in crime rates. One was from the town however and one from the country so they didn't take to each other, and eventually they got into a full on punch-up over each other's biscuits. When they weren't fighting, the guard from the country could be found in her back yard lighting fires and singing to himself.

Sarah also took a call saying that the ceiling of the labour ward at the local hospital had just fallen in, and had landed on one woman in the midst of labour. She and the baby are ok apparently, but they closed the whole ward. On a previous occasion, thieves stole a solar panel from the same hospital so the management simply closed it until the panel was returned. They just shut the whole hospital for days. It is a different way of thinking.

On Sunday morning I got up bright and early to join 5 of the others to kayak out to one of the islands in the bay. Robinson Crusoe, eat your heart out! It was stunning – crystal blue, still waters with coconuts bobbing along. The bay is dotted with dozens of islands and I kept going a little off course, ('Head for the one with the palm tree sticking up!' Errr….) but we all made it, including surviving the mini surf waves that came out of nowhere and soaked us. Apparently it could have been from a mini earthquake, but the good news is that little quakes happen here practically every day , making a large scale one less likely! On arrival, we snorkelled and I walked round the island which took less than a minute. We only saw one other boat the whole time, and that had the Dean of the Health Sciences Faculty on it!

Today (Monday) has been a great day too – I started my proper work program (though apparently it was the Show Holiday in Townsville – I should have had a lie in!) and it has been great. I am starting to see how both my projects can take shape, and people are incredibly open and constructive here so far. One faculty is even going to bring in all the Heads of Department so I can present to them. I also started to get some of the interesting inside information about what's really happening at the uni!

So all up, a very productive day, especially as it included getting my toilet, my fridge and my coffee plunger fixed! I am trying not to get too excited in case it doesn't come off but Chris, the guy who fixed my fridge (and sold me the fish) is going to Port Moresby tomorrow for 10 days and suggested I could use his car while he's gone. Whoohoo!!!! Thing is, it's not actually his car so I have to ask the President's permission. I am still waiting on an answer… fingers crossed – that would mean ten days of freedom!!!! J

Cross your fingers for me!

 

 

Bikpela Tru Pis from a Ute

Doesn't every air con repair man come to your office, say he'll have to come back again, then offer to sell you some freshly caught fish from his ute? Well the first part is certainly universal! This was one of the tastiest, most succulent bits of fish I have ever had. The whole fish was in an esky with the massive tail still lying in the tray. The size of chunk he wanted to sell me for K20 (about A$10) was way too big so I asked for half. It was still whole, and Chris had no knife and nothing to wrap the fish with. Proceedings were all a bit unclear but I paid and went away, and reckoned that somehow I'd get my fish… which I did 2 hours later when he tracked me down to my unit and handed me a bag. So I had spicy coconut fish curry for tea and I reckon it's one of the best meals I've ever made! Though I did feel rather inadequate when I popped next door to ask my neighbour to open the tin of coconut milk as my opener was broken, and she just opened it in about 5 seconds flat with a knife… what a skill!

Today was officially 'Friday Find a Friend Day' as I could feel that empty weekend looming and knew I needed to do something about getting some company and getting off campus. Today I met an Italian woman who's been here a while who reckons it is okay to walk solo to the Lodge or take the PMV into town as long as you avoid early mornings and any time from dusk onwards, so I had determined to walk down to the Lodge tomorrow in any case and use their fitness centre, have a massage and sit by the sea with a pizza and a beer for some simple pleasures on my own. Not a bad fallback position! But then I managed to make an arrangement with the other Endeavour Award holder in town, Liz a young woman from Melbourne who stays at the Lodge, to go to the market in the morning and then we can take it from there. I am very excited – a companion!!!

I am finding it seriously interesting to be in the shoes of a newly arrived international student again. It is more than 20 years since I last did, and I am obviously seeing things through different eyes now. The sense of isolation is really quite overwhelming. I suppose if I were here as part of a group of other newbies that might make it easier, but I plan to take a whole fresh look at what we do to plug students arriving on their own into networks. Everyone has been very friendly, and a few people have asked how I am and whether I need anything, but basically they have their own lives to be getting on with at weekends and evenings and they are not looking to complicate life by adding a new person to the mix. So weekdays through the day are great – I have an office to share with someone (and her parents studied at JCU!), from next week I have people to interview, there is the morning tea for all staff at 10 am, and if I want I could go to the dining room for tea. So it's not that I have no contact with people, but apart from Monday night when I went to a formal dinner as a guest of DWU, I have been home alone each night and it is starting to weigh on me. I think the fact that I can't just get up and go for a walk through the city streets compounds it. Another interesting thing is that I feel drawn to other visitors… and it is not just a case of cultural closeness, i.e. that a lot of the visitors are westerners, as many aren't, it is the fact that visitors are also 'apart' from the main society simply by virtue of their other backgrounds, and are also likely to be more open to hanging around with a newcomer. So it is making me re-examine all our rhetoric on the integration of domestic and international students. It is certainly something to strive for but not something that can ever happen overnight I think, though it would help if more of our students had been through the same experience themselves.

I feel vaguely like I am missing out too… like there is a whole world of adventure out there that I am being cautioned out of interacting with because people are kindly concerned for my welfare, but it is claustrophobic and I know that I am going to have to make some changes soon. But I am still finding my feet… I have a plan! Br Hugo picks up some students from near the Lodge each night at 6 and drops them back later so I am going to see if I can get a lift back at 7 each day and walk down there in daylight for a couple of hours before that for the gym and a swim. That should work at least for a while!!

And as for yesterday's comments on the sexism in the ex Miss PNG's comments yesterday, I eat my words… I read some of the Townsville Bulletin on line today (yes, how far have I sunk….though in my defence, I did read the Age too!) and the Bully had features on a woman being sexually assaulted at the Barracks, and on the Miss Townsville Grid Girls competition….aah dear!

It seems quiet so far tonight but I have been warned this won't last… as today is fortnightly pay day when nobody stays at work late if they turn up at all, and where the nearby settlement parties on till the bottles of home brew run dry…. But for me, it's gut nait!

PS – I spoke too soon…. the singsing has started!

Into July PS

Well it's amazing what watching a couple of episodes of Costa's Garden Odyssey can do to your mood! (Thanks Sat – great pressie!) I am now thinking that this is just a great lesson in patience for me, and in fact all it is doing is showing me how we are all inter-dependent, and that living in a developed country makes it easier to ignore that fact but it doesn't change it. Ok, I'll stop there before I go a bit too zen on you!

Into July

Caged!!! That's how I feel. It is a comfortable and interesting cage but that's what it is. I need to be able to get off campus more soon or I am going to go insane. I have a better understanding now of what is safe and what's not, and I should for example be able to walk safely down to the Lodge, a nice place by the sea with a restaurant/bar overlooking the water, and a fitness centre and pool. That would make all the difference in the world, and it's only a ten minute walk, if that… down a single road populated by students walking around. But…. I've been told it will be safe for me to walk there alone, but not until I've walked it for at least a week with somebody else so that people get used to me first. So I am back in that position of needing to find somebody else to go with me. Almost everybody I've met here either has no time (work plus study or family duties), or else are older couples or Brothers and Fathers of various churches. Soooo, I'm still looking for takers! I met a researcher from ANU but he leaves tomorrow so that's useless!

I had been offered that a driver could help me by dropping me off places at the weekend but when I checked on that today it turns out he has been put on other duties, so I feel like a kid who's had the cookie jar lid slammed on my paw! I will get there somehow! Tomorrow I don't think I will be concentrating on work stuff, I will just be going round and talking to everybody who so much as looks at me… 'Do you want to go walking with me???? Go on, you know you do! 'I will have to try to take the faintly demented look off my face first though…. ;-)

I have just watched my first bit of EM TV, a PNG channel (and I think it is the only local channel). Lots of State of Origin merchandise adverts and 'Rait Music' with some great PMG rap songs, where the men are wearing total US gangsta rap gear but still with their billums (woven bags) on around their necks. Lovely! The former Miss PNG also had an inspirational message to give to young girls, "Maximise your potential by using your skills". So far so good. But then it all went downhill… 'Whether it is cooking, sewing or making billums….' So still a way to go. I have met some incredible women here already though who are still making headway despite the engrained male chauvinism and prevalence of domestic violence. Apparently if you are a lone female driver, some male drivers feel the need to swerve towards you to try to scare you. It makes my blood boil.

On a happier note, I met a young woman from Melbourne today who is also in Madang on an Endeavour Award but is based at the Medical Research Institute. She has been here for 2 weeks and is also looking for a pal… so if we can just work out a way to get to each other's place to start with we are in business!!

Lukim you!