Getting to 'Go Pinis' Time

It is 4 am and I am awake and listening to the roosters crow. It has been much quieter living here in Kalibobo these last few weeks compared to on campus with the roaming packs of howling dogs, the occasional herds of drunken students fighting or carousing, and the flocks of flying foxes screeching.
I don’t think it was the kakaruks that woke me here... more likely the prospect of having to be up early to see somebody off on the early flight. I am just going along in the car as an extra body for added safety as the airport road can be a bit dodgy in the early mornings. I will be interested to see how the personal safety aspect strikes me when I am back in Australia next week; I have taken it for granted for so much of my life that I have great freedom to roam and be mainly safe, and yet after the initial bumps of the transition, I have settled very quickly into a general acceptance of the restrictions placed on me (or which I choose to place on myself) here to stay safe. After a few days in Port Moresby where crime levels appeared to be much higher (the awareness and concern certainly are and it seems there is a correlation between the fear and the reality), I actually came back to Madang with a sense of its relative safety which shows just how far my standards have changed since my arrival 2 months ago.
The list of ‘basics’ I had become complacent about in Australia is long and varied: well paved roads, car insurance, cheese in the shops, coriander and haloumi, decent red wine, ATMs that work, high-speed internet connections and reliable electricity and water supply, on-line transactions, phone calls that get through, just generally stuff working, the absence of malaria, freedom to walk alone, no need for security guards at home, leaving doors unlocked, healthy eating out options, and last but not least good healthcare.
My list of the positives about PNG are many : the smiles and easy friendliness of the people, the beauty of the environment, tasty organic fruit and veg sold by the people who grew it at markets where you can taste and touch and talk and smell, amazing cultural variety and the richness of the interplay between the different groups, the sense of humour and readiness to laugh of many people and the expressiveness of Tokpisin. These are all obvious. Less overt but just as seductive are the sense of flexibility everyone needs to cope with the unexpected nature of life here, not to mention the fun you can have dodging potholes in the road, the recognition that people need to work together to survive and surmount all the obstacles to daily life and a healthy disregard for the imperatives of email communication and time management in general.

The video here shows some of the students from the Western Highlands province marching at the recent Culture Day. Today is the first day that the upload has worked!

Culture Day Continued

There were too many amazing sights at the cultural day to do it justice with pics from my Blackberry, but unfortunately my camera has carked it so I hope these at least give you a flavour.

I am currently in pack-up mode, with this being my last week in the Land of the Unexpected.... after 2 months which have gone unexpectedly quickly!

Busy bee!

It has been some time since my last post… a result of either being busy or a lack of internet access when not. In the interim, I have been stung by a swarm of killer bees, moved house, had two separate visits from JCU colleagues, spent a few days in the capital, Port Moresby, and attended a cultural show so I am not short on material!


First the bee swarm! Ok, so I only copped 6 stings, and maybe they weren’t killers…. But they were nasty and made me a bit sick… A group of us hiked to Nobnob, setting out from the local village of Benik with some local friends and guides along the track through thick bush. Sam, the owner of much of the land led the way, slashing through obstacles with his big bush knife. In most cases this was exactly what was required but at one point he inadvertently sliced open the home of a bunch of bush bees who were none too happy and proceeded to make their displeasure known to those of us within reach. My language was a bit fruity for a while but I decided I had to at least pretend to be a brave wee soldier when the wee kid with us stopped crying about her stings… but it was a beautiful hike and a wonderful day out, topped off by Sam shinning up a coconut tree at the end to cut down some for us to drink, then casually catching some freshwater crabs for tea!

Last weekend saw me move out of my on-campus accommodations and into hotels while my boss was visiting and I was back as a JCU staff member, which was easy to fall back into, but a little strange to have the two worlds collide. It also showed me that I have clearly moved into ‘PNG time!’
The trip to POM was interesting - after a disturbed night of Lariam-induced insomnia, nightmares, and general bee-bite malaise, it was off at 5.30 am to the airport for the short shuttle flight which should have seen us land at Moresby and have time for a freshen up before our first meeting in town at 11 am. Nobody told Air Niugini that was our plan Our plane was there and was in working order but it had to make an unscheduled side trip to Wewak first before coming back to pick us up. Checking in was interesting as a blackout meant the only light available was from the headlights of a car strategically placed next to the check in counters where we received our handwritten boarding passes. The lack of fans and AC wasn’t too bad until the sun came up when it started getting hot. There was a lounge to wait in but coffee was out of course as there was no power. So it was about 6 hours into the day before we got our first coffee and any food other than a biscuit! After 2 months in Madang, POM was a revelation… it felt like the big city, and I felt like a country hick in my crumpled clothes and toting my billum (which I have since found out I should not have worn in POM as potential thieves can see through the weave to your contents and be tempted.

The time in POM was great, and I enjoyed the luxuries on offer there, such as coffee that didn’t come from a plunger, cheese, a hot stone massage (seriously, it was great!) and drinkable red wine by the glass, not to mention a mattress in my bed a good ten times thicker than I had become accustomed to. The level of unease about crime was considerably higher there than Madang though, and in just 4 days there I encountered one person who had just been held up, and heard of two people working for an AusAID managing contractor I visited who had been car-jacked that day. A staff member of that firm picked me up the next day and had to radio in his whereabouts to their security firm on leaving and arriving at every destination, and even my driver, Yoba could not get home to his settlement safely after around 9 pm. When I came back to Madang it felt like my ‘liklik home’ but also like a breath of fresh air as the sense of surrounding menace dropped dramatically. It must have a psychological impact on people to live with that level of tension constantly, like being in a war zone.

Divine Word University was also host to a wonderful event a few days ago, a cultural show where the students and staff showcased their costumes, songs and dance from their local areas all over PNG. The results were incredible!

I used to care but... things have changed

I stole that title from a great Bob Dylan song.... it sums up perfectly how I felt when my hair straighteners exploded yesterday. I had forgotten to bring a hairdryer with me (too used to there always being one in the nice hotels I usually stay in) but that was alright as I was actually enjoying letting it all hang out ... going a bit wild and hairy! However, I did like the presence of the straighteners, the fact that a couple of times a week I would choose to put in a bit more of an effort if I wished. Anyway, poof! All gone in a wee cloud of smoke, and the best part is I don't care!

I am however intending to hit Kalibobo, Madang's main (only?) clothes emporium. I keep complimenting women on their clothes, only to get the answer, "Kalibobo... 20 toea!" or about 8 cents. Apparently one woman from Canada recently bought a beautiful wedding dress there on the off chance she might ever need it at a snip for under $1. I have decided I am sick of living out of a suitcase after 6 weeks, especially given that my choice of suitably modest clothing was relatively slim pickings in the first place.

This week is an interesting case of worlds colliding as we have had two JCU researchers on campus (though they are currently living in Moresby so I am not sure that counts) and next week will see visits by our DVC and Dean of Research. I had forgotten these researchers were coming this week and got a pleasant surprise when I turned round at morning tea and copped an eyeful of JCU shirts, but it was very nice to catch up with some of my 'wantoks' (though I am using the phrase very loosely as they don't really speak like me!)

Well, tonight I am heading out to a Chinese restaurant. This time I believe it is a proper restaurant but I will let you know!

This little piggy

I went to Pig Island yesterday for the first time and I wish I hadn't left it so long. It is stunning. Apparently it used to be a leper colony and they shipped a bunch of pigs out there for the lepers to live off. If you have to get exiled somewhere, there would be many worse places in the world.

Interestingly, getting from Madang to any of the surrounding islands is an easier task than getting around in town. We just went down to the wharf near the resort and took a PMV (a public boat) after negotiating a price to take the 6 of us out there (about $10 one way) and for them to come and collect us later.

The engine on our boat only cut out once on the way and once on the way back, but our happy drivers weren't phased in the slightest and we just bobbed pleasantly around for a while till they managed to get it going again.

It is a beautiful feeling to get taken out over clear blue waters to a pristine island and be dropped off with the expectation and hope that your ride home will show up later. We agreed they would come back at 3 pm, and fully expected to be there until maybe 4 pm, so we were actually very disappointed when they showed up bang on time. A rare and in this case unwelcome occurrence!

Still, we had enough time to lie on the beach, explore the island, swim, and have a picnic.

The only excitement came when Liz reported that she has been snorkelling with Bruno but he had disappeared. Sarah, Liz and I went off to see if we could find him and we came across a smouldering fire... leading to all sorts of wild, Lord of the Flies-type speculation about whether we might find his rotting head on a stick....

Thankfully he appeared unscathed, as we all went to great personal trouble searching for him by swimming around in the crystal clear waters, searching for fish (oops, no for Brunos!) Though I did cop a rather nasty coral scratch in the process of the search - good thing I'm not litigious! ;)

This was the rather terrible view I had for my siesta....... I hope you are all feeling suitably sorry for me...

Freedom!

I will never forget the feeling when Leonie handed me the set of car keys this morning. 'What are they for?' I asked stupidly. 'For you, to drive yourself into town... you can have the car for the morning.'




I am not sure winning a million bucks on the lottery could taste as sweet! I didn't need to be offered twice. So for the first time since arriving here 6 weeks ago, I left the gates of the campus under my own steam, at a time of my own choosing and at my own pace. Now here was a luxury I had not previously known was anything other than a basic staple. As I drove down the road, weaving my way around the potholes in my wee grey Toyota, I had to remind myself to stop singing to myself and to concentrate on the road conditions.


It felt fabulous to be driving again, to have the sensation of being in control. My first stop was the Air Niugini office to book and change some flights. I found it relatively easily from the directions, "It's right in town, you can't miss it," and so it was. However, given that I was keeping an eye out for its location, watching out for holes in the road, milling traffic and pedestrians perhaps it is no surprise I missed the discreet "No entry' sign and attempted to drive the wrong way up its one way street. Everyone was very relaxed about it though - no signs of road rage at daft mistakes like that here!

Mission accomplished, I left the office only about an hour later, with flights to Rabaul and Kavieng in East New Britain and New Ireland respectively booked for a long weekend at the end of my stay. Given my own ethnic background, it occurred to me there were the makings of a good joke in there somewhere.....


I don't know whether it was just my new found sense of freedom shining through, or whether my being on my own made the sellers at the market even friendlier than usual, but today for the first time I was being offered tastes of their wares and tips on how to cook some of the veggies new to me... white carrots!? - (you fry them apparently). I was on a positive high as I tripped around the supermarket too, inured to the absence of all and any cheese, rapt at the presence of yoghurt. Oh, and did I mention that my shiny new tin opener purchased last week does not work? I am starting to suspect that in a nation which loves its bush knives, a namby pamby wee opener may be seen as verging on the softer side of wussy, hence the country-wide conspiracy to sell only faulty devices....



So after a fine drive home along the coastal road by the sparkling sea, I reluctantly had to relinquish the car keys. I did make a point of pointedly pointing out that if the car were to become available again at any point, I would be happy to look after it on behalf of the university again, out of the kindness of my heart.



Something (the begging, the tears, the threats of a hunger strike, I'm not exactly sure) must have worked, as half an hour later Leonie came to my office, and without a word, but with a huge smile, handed me the keys (to the kingdom!). The shiny grey charger is mine now for the next 2 weeks, mine... all mine, mwahahahahah!!!!

I took it for a spin this evening down to the Lodge and even picked up a similarly isolated friend. So there were two types of joy for me today: one was being able to catch up with friends this evening, but the other, more unexpected pleasure was in being out on my own out in the world again. Aaaah, freedom!

All shook up

A friend of mine who was caught up in the Boxing Day tsunami wins hands down as she was literally able to say the earth moved for her while she was on her honeymoon, but despite the much more prosaic circumstances in this case, yesterday's earthquake still shook me up!

PNG is located in the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' zone, and earthquakes are common but today's was quite a biggie at 6.4, and the epicentre was only 110km from Madang, though more than 200km deep down under the sea. It surprised me to find out just how common they are, with more than 250 earthquakes recorded worldwide in the last week alone: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/

I was sitting in my office when things just started shaking: I could feel the movement through the desk, through the floor, and it just kept coming in waves, and set the big wooden bookcase wobbling and looking like it might topple. What I find most interesting is just how long it took me to turn the sensation of the earth shaking into the articulated thought, 'It's an earthquake'. It was almost like my brain kept taking wrong turns time and again, looking for alternative explanations - it just couldn't compute that the ground was moving beneath me.

Irene, my office mate and I just looked at each other and she said something about it being a really big one. That was when I realised I didn't know whether it was best to stay indoors (yes, luckily as that's what I did) or go outside. I had just missed a big quake last May, flying out of Bogota a few hours before it hit (it was 5.7 and there were some fatalities) and I had been very pleased to have missed it. I don't know if you get people rushing towards quakes in the same way you see nutters with camcorders rushing headlong into tornadoes, but it certainly holds no appeal for me, one is more than enough.

It was quite funny really... both Irene and I just carried on working and didn't even talk about it, and then on the way across campus heading home everything seemed completely normal, as indeed it was. The only difference was that now I was watching where the overhead powerlines and other dangerous objects were so I could try to take evasive action should there be another one.

An earthquake in Tok Pisin is apparently a 'guria'. Somehow I knew there would be a word for it;-)

Sunday Inactivity Blues

Well after Friday night's dramas I was ready for the more laid back pursuit of netball though I was wondering how I would get on playing 2 full games in the heat. Luckily though, that proved to be a redundant worry as I only got on as a sub for one of the 8 quarters. I am happy to say though that the team won both games so we are well positioned for the upcoming knockout rounds. This time I came prepared with a book, and squeezed in a wee siesta so the 5 hours just zipped past!

Still on a related subject, I am a big fan of PNG's national sport which I assume is sponsored by a multinational such as ADIDAS or Reebok, given the prevalence of artistically placed runners hanging from overhead powerlines. I might have to give that a go before I leave!

Saturday night saw my first ever house party in

Madang - a 'go -finish' party for someone leaving to go

back to Australia. It was an eclectic mix of mainly ex-pats,
some with 30 years here under their belts and others just arrived this week. Among them were helicopter pilots and mechanics, retired librarians, medical researchers, uni academics, a doctor, and a writer/photographer - so a really interesting mixture. I am learning that social events end early here though, as the people with cars usually want to leave by midnight and everyone else has to leave with them.


Today was another reminder of the lack of options here if you don't have your own car. I am assuming everyone I know was tired today after the party but for whatever reason, nobody was doing much which meant by definition that I also wasn't doing much. This may well have been fine, but when inactivity is imposed rather than chosen it can be rather hard to swallow.



PS - the poor security guard of 'biscuit-fighting and singing' fame has recently been having his bottles of water pinched out of the freezer at his new employer's place.... watch this space for his next adventures!



PPS - Bruno informed me earlier that he has found another new Chinese restaurant... might have to see if this one is any better!! :-)