BLLLEEEEEEHHHHHH!!!!!!!
10:34 AM, Monday, 31 July, 2006
Back at work.
Back to all of the things that I was ignoring for a week while the lovely Yehia was here: complete lack of support from the university for my program; stalkers; lack of internet and phone access; scary stalkers; paperwork; war in Lebanon; the fact that I can't use one door into my building because it's literally not safe because the stalkers stalk around there; crappy lunches; goddam racism in Australia I so NEVER want to go back there; so much work to do; training plans and manuals to write; politics to negotiate; stalkers...
But there are a few amazing things happening - I won two tickets to Cairns with accommodation for two (will be meeting Yehia there!) thanks to a Rotaract raffle (I love you Kym!), I have all of the lovely presents that Yehia brought up in his care package from down South, and I am feeling restored after a wonderful week. Also some visiting volunteers are staying with us and looking after me very nicely thankyou lads, and I am thinking about wrangling my way up to the Hagen show in a couple of weeks!
Hopefully I'll manage a decent internet connection this week and I'll post some more photos from our week of fun, games and food. Stay posted!
Filed under Crapola
Alma's Village
1:36 PM, Wednesday, 26 July, 2006
On Sunday my friend Alma took Kristen, Yehia and I out to her village. We were picked up at 7:30 in the morning by a car full of family - Alma, her husband Jo, and their six children. We were off to a village in Central Province called Small Hula, where Alma's wantoks live.
Two and a half hours of driving later, including getting bogged and the bus almost being swallowed by giant potholes and we were there. Here's a photo of the road into the village:
The village is right next to the sea, with the most AMAZING beach. It was a bit of a cloudy day but nothing could blemish these postcard views:
This is Alma's parents' house. We stopped there and had delicious locally-grown lemongrass tea with coconut cookies. They also gave us lunch of about 6 or 7 different kinds of yams, with chicken and vegies, and cooking bananas, all cooked in coconut. There was even sago, cooked in coconut and banana, which was actually tasty! So delicious that Yehia went up for more! Jo said that people would love to invite him to their house, because he obviously likes their food.
Here is the view of the neighbour's house from the back of Alma's parents' house, and the next village up the coast:
Alma knew everyone in the village, including all of the cute pikininis. This is her neice:
We went for a little swim on the beach, which was lovely. There were hundreds of gorgeous starfish in so many colours everywhere - this is Alma's son, JY, and a giant starfish:
We finished the day EXHAUSTED, and drove by the chief's house to pick up some fresh guava, starfruit and oranges. Thanks Alma for a really wonderful experience!
Filed under WOW
MIA III
12:20 PM, Friday, 21 July, 2006
Yehia is arriving tomorrow (little jumps of excitement and joy) and he'll be here for eight days, so that probably means no blogging and no email for another week.
We have so many exciting things planned - a big Lebanese cook-up, a trip to a village, meeting lots of people, maybe some snorkelling! WOW!!!! I'm so excited.
Stay tuned for more updates in a week!
EEEEE HEEHEEHEE HEEEEE heeheehee hee hee hee heeh ee hee he! (I'm very excited)
Filed under Super Dooper
Floating
10:31 AM, Thursday, 20 July, 2006
Yesterday the lovely Lee invited us out on his friend's yacht for a sail in the evening - how fantastic! Very excited, and ready for wetness because it was really windy and choppy, we all piled into a lovely yacht. It was a beautiful sunset last night and we were excited about being out on the bay to see it, though it was quite cold with the wind (well, cold for Port Moresby, maybe 26 degrees).
The menfolks ran around with ropes while us womenfolks (liberation be damned, I'm not playing with ropes!) sat watching, with some commentary. When the menfolks were finally organised it was time to start the engine/motor/whatever it is to get out of the berth and into the harbour.
The menfolk got ready, and held onto the ropes so it wouldn't take off too quickly, and started the engine... and nothing happened. Lots of noise, but apparently 'it wasn't going into gear'.
Beer was promptly opened while the menfolk pretended to try to fix it. Lots of fiddling happened, and testing, and playing. It still 'wouldn't go into gear'. Us womenfolk continued with the commentary.
Then somebody, for some unknown reason, questioned the existence of a propellor on the boat... Lee poor luv was designated as the one to dive under the boat and check. Of course there was no propellor. Why would(n't) there be? Nobody knows where it is!
So we sat there on the yacht, still in the berth, and drank beer. At least we were on the water - floating rather than boating, but on the water nonetheless!
Filed under Super Dooper
HOORAY FOR YEHIA!!!
10:35 AM, Wednesday, 19 July, 2006
Yehia will be here in 3 more sleeps... HOORAY!!!!
Fun and Games for ALL!!!!!
Filed under Super Dooper
T-Shirt Of The Day
10:23 AM, Wednesday, 19 July, 2006
I saw today's t-shirt of the day about a week ago (yes, not today, but i only just remembered) out of a car window. Very impressive:
Stop VSU
This refers to the Voluntary Student Unionism legislation that was passed in Australia last year. Considering that PNG doesn't seem to have student unionism (not that I've noticed at the university, any way) let alone voluntary student unionism, I was truly impressed. Today's t-shirt of the day scores 9/10 in the category 'random political campaign that didn't happen in this country'.
Filed under T-Shirt Of The Day
How wrong could this possibly be???
2:32 PM, Tuesday, 18 July, 2006
This is an item from a very popular line of baby clothes and accessories, found in pharmacies across Port Moresby:
Could it be any more wrong????????
Filed under EEEEeeekk!!!
Riding around, PNG style!
4:26 PM, Friday, 14 July, 2006
Unlike in some other places in the world, it's purely legal to ride around in the back of a ute here in PNG. Today Kristen and I saw some gentlemen doing this in luxury, PNG style:
These guys have actually taken the seats out of a vehicle and put them in the back of a ute. Very innovative. I do feel sorry for the guy in the middle, though - he must feel ripped off!
Filed under Super Dooper
What does Carolyn do all day?
4:14 PM, Friday, 14 July, 2006
While we're on the subject of things that some people may not want to see...
It's not pornographic, it's what I do! IT'S A REAL JOB (in a volunteer kind of way)!!!!!!
This was from an activity in which I was demonstrating to some teenagers exactly HOW MUCH you can fit into a condom. The moral of the story is that no man's penis is too big for a condom.
From left to right:
Three condoms filled with rocks; three condoms filled with leaves; condom filled with air and hibiscus flower; four condoms filled with water; dildo for condom demonstrations; condom filled with giant piece of polystyrene; condom filled with SP beer bottle; condom filled with three juggling balls.
Filed under Heeheehee...
If you really want to see the grossness...
3:34 PM, Friday, 14 July, 2006
Ok, I know most people don't want to see this.
But I'm posting it anyway. If you don't want to see my tropical ulcer, don't look!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!
This photo was taken on Wednesday, and while it was MUCH GROSSER on Tuesday when I went to see the doctor, today it is looking much less like an alien leaped out of my leg. By the way that's Betadine, not pus, around it.
Filed under EEEEeeekk!!!
STALKED!!!!
11:36 AM, Thursday, 13 July, 2006
I am officially being stalked at the university, albeit passively.
There is this guy who has been bugging me for ages. He is very very annoying. He comes from Chimbu, in the Highlands. For about two months now he has been coming into my office every couple of days, asking me out for lunch. The problem is that whenever he comes to see me, he comes in and greets me, then says, 'excuse me but I have to spit' and runs out of the building and spits out his buai. He always comes back, though!
Then he asks me out for lunch, to which I give a very cold, 'sorry but I'm too busy'. After this he stands around in my office, chewing the remaining buai in his mouth. I actually have to ask him to leave so that I can get on with my work.
A couple of weeks ago he came up to me and told me that he had been back to Chimbu during uni break, and that he had asked his auntie to make me a bilum saying 'CAROLYN - HIV - MELBOURNE'. Interesting.
Yesterday he came into my office to tell me that if I ever need an escort around Port Moresby he would be happy to oblige. I told him thanks, but I live in Town and don't often come to this side of the city except for work. Also, THANKS BUT MY HUSBAND IS COMING HERE IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know what more I can do to put him off! I have told him that I'm married, I have told him that I am too busy to pay any attention to him, I have told him that I don't have time to spend time with him. Apart from being either blatantly rude (which I'm perfectly capable of despite my reluctance) or locking my door in between him leaving to spit and coming back to ask me out for lunch, I don't know what I can do! WHY DO I ALWAYS ATTRACT THE FREAKS?????????
note: This is not the first freak to be following me around PNG. There was the crazy Christian guy who was calling me 'his angel' and wanting me to teach 'moral hygeine' in his village. There is still Monica, my lovely friend from the highlands. And there's the crazy angry internet man. And there's the man with the coke bottle filled with holy water on his desk...
Filed under EEEEeeekk!!!
Rite of Passage
10:12 AM, Wednesday, 12 July, 2006
Last week while walking backwards I ran into an orchid. Just a regular orchid with regular orchid flower sticks that are HARD and SHARP and gave me a teeny-tiny-ant-sized scratch. On my right calf. My teeny-tiny-ant-sized scratch seemed fine so I didn't bother washing it or covering it. When I woke up the next day it looked a bit red so I applied betadine and a bandaid.
The next day it still wasn't looking too good. More betadine and a bandaid.
The day after that, it was looking worse. I suggested to Hu that I might die, and he said I wouldn't. I continued with the betadine for a few more days.
Yesterday, a week later, it was really looking NASTY. All around the teeny-tiny-ant-sized scratch was red and swollen and pusy, and there were tentacles of redness spreading across my leg. Even my Papua New Guinean colleagues (not known for their squeamishness) said it was gross.
One call to International SOS (thank goodness for volunteer programs that include medical insurance!) later and I was being sent to the doctor with the orders, 'No you can't wait until Thursday, unless you want to be in hospital on an antibiotic drip with blood poisoning!'.
A very nice doctor here in Port Moresby said, 'You could call that a tropical ulcer'. It was disinfected and dressed, and now I have to take 1000 milligrams of some crazy antibiotics every day for the next five days. I guess that's better than having my leg chopped off because of gangrene, and then dying of blood poisoning. I told you I might die, Hu!!!
Who would have thought that a teeny-tiny-ant-sized scratch could turn in to a weeping, revolting tropical ulcer? I'm quite impressed. The doctor said that I couldn't have prevented it, because tropical ulcers just happen in the tropics.
But at least now I can say that not only have I lived in a tropical country, but I have also contracted a strange and disgusting and crazy tropical illness. I'm just disappointed that I forgot to take a photo of it before the drugs started to kick in!
Filed under EEEEeeekk!!!
T-Shirt(s) Of The Day
10:07 AM, Wednesday, 12 July, 2006
Last week saw many exciting new T-shirts. They are as follows:
I (heart) SMS
Duck Soup
1991 Coca Cola Battle of the Fittest, Victoria, Australia
Impressive, huh?
Filed under T-Shirt Of The Day
mumu madness
10:27 AM, Monday, 10 July, 2006
Training went very well last week, as did eating. The ladies at the YWCA, where I was conducting the training, found out that I like eating.
So, every day there was a new variation on a mumu. A mumu is basically a big conglomerate of various greens (vegies often called aibika, somewhat like spinach), other vegies including cooking bananas and kaukau, and some kind of meat. All cooked in delicious coconut.
Sometimes it was chicken, sometimes it was fish, all the time it was yummy.
Filed under Adventures in Deliciousness