Your Neon Lights will Shine
11:50 AM, Monday, 25 September, 2006
There is a coconutty smell coming in my office window. It smells delicious and summery, and gives the deception that outside my window is something delicious and summery and coconutty. But there are no coconuts, not even a lovely bunch of them. There are only those crazy trees with the crazy roots that grow in a crazy way all over the crazy place. And a young man singing "Crazy for You". True! If only he'd sing Xanadu.
Just because I'm at work, does it mean I have to work?
In other news, I'm moving house at the end of this week. Goodbye to my own bathroom, frangipannis, mango trees, gardenias, Armenian neighbour and dust. Hello giant balcony, POOL, bougainvillea, POOL, gas stove, POOL and POOL.
Why is the best pub in Papua New Guinea at 17-mile? That means it's 17 miles from town. Where I live. And where I'm about to live. 17 miles from the best pub. Not Fair.
And why do I never win at Risk? Is it because I'm too chicken? Or because I develop vendettas and then embark on suicide missions in order to annihilate my nemeses? Or is it because I always demand to be red? But isn't red supposed to go faster?
I feel that tofu is my friend. I believe that it isn't wrong to eat one's friend, when one's friend is delicious and soft and juicy and flavoursome, as my friend tofu is. And tofu doesn't squeal when I stick a knife in it, and I don't have to stick it in the freezer to make it sleep but then one of its legs escapes before it falls asleep so it scratches at the freezer door leaving little footprints in the iceblocks. Tofu makes me happy - just like chocolate soy milk, caramello koalas, doritos which I had on Friday for the first time since we got to PNG because a shipment just came in to the stupormarket, and vodka.
Mmm... tofu + coconut (the real stuff including but not just the smell) = delicious.
Filed under Adventures in Deliciousness, Miscellany
Ooooohhhh....
9:35 AM, Friday, 22 September, 2006
Last weekend I went on an adventure to Goroka where I saw many exciting things, including the Goroka show. One of the most exciting things was Alex doing his singsing - check out the grin on his face! Isn't he fantastic!!!!
Ok well last night I went out with the boys and stayed out too late for a school night so I can't be arsed doing a commentary on every single photo. Suffice to say that I was highly amused by fantastic outfits, the number of dead animals people could fit on their heads, by VERY cute little pikininis, by men thrusting their penis gourds at me, and by insano Western Highlanders marching around the showground with axes. And there is a caption for the last one. Enjoy.
Lady on left: "Hey man, you're wearing my tree kangaroo tail!" Lady on right: "What tree kangaroo tail?"
Filed under Super Dooper
Watch out...
9:45 AM, Wednesday, 20 September, 2006
There is a crazy lady driving around Port Moresby in a little silvery car... waving a pink ukulele out the window...
Just warning you...
Filed under EEEEeeekk!!!
T-Shirt(s) Of The Day
1:09 PM, Tuesday, 19 September, 2006
During my weekend adventures, I saw many exciting t-shirts. Three win awards: 9.3, 8.7 and 9.15 respectively in the category 'let's promote something random':
Supercoat Buddy Energy Plus 100% AussieAsk me how you can win a BBQ
Ask me how you can bet like the big men
Filed under T-Shirt Of The Day
Can someone please join me in horror????
12:16 PM, Thursday, 14 September, 2006
In today's Post Courier newspaper:
Tari HIV/AIDS rate cause for concern, says Sir Peter A PAPUA New Guinea town has a HIV prevalence rate of 40 per cent which is higher than the national figure of 2 per cent being circulated, says Health Minister Sir Peter Barter. Sir Peter was speaking in Port Moresby yesterday at the launch of a new umbrella organisation for civil society groups involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. He said during a recent visit to a number of Highlands provinces, he had found the HIV prevalence rate among 15 - 29 year-olds in Tari in Southern Highlands Province was 40 per cent. “I had tears in my eyes when I addressed students at St Joseph’s High School,’’ he said. “I’ve realised we have lost a generation to HIV and AIDS.’’ At Paiam Porgera Health Centre, the figure of reported cases was 12.5 per cent; Laiagam Health Centre was closed; Wabag Hospital pathology section reported 12.5 per cent and Goroka Hospital had 15 per cent or 300 people. “We have been told of the one to two per cent of the national prevalence rate, but the figure I have learned in the Highlands shows the situation is far worse than I had thought,’’ he said. Statistics given by the National AIDS Council in its quarterly report do not give a true picture of the HIV situation in the country due to numerous reasons, including poor health services and non availability of testing sites in many parts of the country. Sir Peter said the Government was doing all to help combat the spread of the virus, and urged that the private sector also become active in the fight. “The reality is that until we have tested 50,000 people a year, we will not know how big the (HIV) problem is,’’ he said.
Filed under EEEEeeekk!!!, So they said...
Excitement
11:12 AM, Thursday, 14 September, 2006
Some of the good things about me going to Goroka:
- Seeing lots of fun people doing singsings
- I get out of Port Moresby, only for the third time!
- I get to wear my cowboy boots!!!
- Yummy fruit and vegies
- Hanging out at some guy's coffee plantation
- I get to wear my cowboy boots!
- Hanging out with Kate and Alex
- Seeing Alex do his singsing!
- Being in the middle of some giant mountains
- I get to wear my cowboy boots!
- Eating crazy things
- The possibility of poking some interesting animals
- Squealing when poked animals bite me
- I get to wear my cowboy boots!
- Singing songs about hills and their vitality
- Being scared by Huli Wigmen
- Being scared by lots of painted and dressed up people
- Hiding behind Kym when scared
- I get to wear my cowboy boots!
- Taking lots of fantastic photos
- Taking fantastic photos of me in my cowboy boots
- Being a cowboy/girl, whichever takes my fancy
- I get to wear my cowboy boots!
- Highland goodness
- Pretending that my cowboy boots go with everything
- Etc.
Filed under Super Dooper
Goroka here I come!
12:01 PM, Wednesday, 13 September, 2006
Tomorrow I am going to Goroka, up in the highlands, to see the Goroka show. There are going to be lots of people dressed up in special outfits, doing singsings and generally being loud and colourful and dancey. I am very excited. I'm going with Kym, and we are going to also visit a coffee plantation and do other 'stuff' that you do in the highlands. Like... um... stuff. And things. That sort of action. Hmmm...
I'll have lots of photos, though, and I'll put them up here as soon as I get back. Hooray!
Filed under Super Dooper
Quote of the day
4:38 PM, Friday, 8 September, 2006
At an anti-corruption forum (lots of big men shouting loudly through microphones at large crowds) today at the university:
"You can pick your nose or you can mobilise the public"
Filed under Heeheehee...
In the news today...
12:02 PM, Tuesday, 5 September, 2006
In The National newspaper (not my favourite) today...
Shocking signs of AIDS in SHP, EngaBy JEFFREY ELAPA
ONE third of high school children could die of HIV/AIDS in the Southern Highlands and Enga provinces.
Sir Peter told a health symposium in Madang yesterday that the only cure available is to get awareness programmes on prevention into the high-risk and rural areas.
He also highlighted at the symposium that clinical figures made available to him during his tour of health facilities in Southern Highlands and Enga provinces indicated that more than 30% of young people between the ages of 15 and 29 could be living with HIV.
“This made it hard to imagine that almost every third person in that age group was HIV positive; or worse, a third of high school students could die of AIDS,” Sir Peter said.
At the Porgera mine, the minister learnt that 70 of 700 workers tested were HIV positive, which represented 10% of the total workforce.
“The Government has taken ownership of the epidemic, and I am committed to driving the awareness, improving the lives of those affected and working in total partnership with the churches, NGOs and the heart of our medical system, the provincial and rural hospitals, to tackle this issue,” he said.
Sir Peter also acknowledged the support provided over the years by AusAID, NZAid, European Union, Japan, World Health Organisation, UNAids, China and others in fighting the epidemic.
He told the symposium that the Government had allocated a further K5 million for HIV/AIDS in the supplementary budget. The money would be shared among the churches, medical council and NGOs.
Filed under EEEEeeekk!!!, So they said...
Wonderwoman
10:50 AM, Friday, 1 September, 2006
Papua New Guinean coffee is delicious. When you make it in a plunger, it gets a little film of oil on top of the crema. I pretend that this means it is the freshest coffee on the planet. Maybe even in the universe.
It isn't made very well in cafes and restaurants and hotels here. But it still does the job when debating WHO sang 'Boom Boom Shake Shake the Room' (Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince), WHAT is the Run DMC song that I forgot the name of but it's obviously better than the others (It's like that... and that's the way it is), and WHO sang that song that goes, 'I don't want a place to stay, get your booty on the floor tonight, make my day' (Nobody knows, we have all forgotten). And it is certainly made well in my house.
Well the point of all of this is that despite the coffee here being delicious, I have decided that I'm not going to drink it every morning. I haven't given it up, because it really does facilitate those discussions regarding the nineties songs that we all love. But I have decided that the extra fifteen minutes I am able to sleep in instead of boiling water... making coffee... pouring coffee... waiting for it to cool down so I can drink it coz I can't stand hot drinks that are too hot... is worth it. Fifteen minutes is significant for somebody who really likes to sleep, which is me.
I had a teeny-tiny-ant-sized headache on Wednesday (first day of no coffee). Yesterday I was dopey (but that could be normal, and coffee had blinded me to this fact. Do I really want to know that I'm dopey? I'm still considering taking up coffee again in order to prevent said knowledge). Today I'm feeling ok so far.
Was my addiction really that small? Or is this a show of the amazing power of one volunteer's mind? Let's pretend it's the latter, just like we pretend that the oil means the coffee is fresh-orama and not suspiciously involved in the latest oil spill in the Gulf province.
Filed under Adventures in Deliciousness