Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Pikinini bilong Mipela (our kids)

Tonight is the first night in two and a half weeks that we have not had to study for Tok Pisin class. Yes we are done. This gives us a chance to unwind a little bit, catch up on some emails, and pack for bush orientation. Later this week we will be flown out to Mt. Bosavi. What's out there you ask? Not much of anything.... which is why we are going there. Mt. Bosavi is the village where we will be doing our bush orientation. Here, no one is to speak english to us (if they know it) so we will have to put our newly aquired pigin skills to the test. We are looking forward to it. We will either have a chance to make some new friends and learn about the culture in a remote village, or it will be a very quiet week as no one will understand what we are trying to say to them. We appreciate your prayers as we go, we will be flown in (as it is very remote) and our only access to the "outside world" will be an HF radio.

While we have been studying the kids have been out having fun. Here are a few pictures of them from the last couple weeks....

"Bigpela" ('big' in tok pisin, quite fitting I think)

MAF's new mascott?
Malachi's new friend.

Kayla knows where all the good mud puddles are in the compound.
Kayla's new best friend. SUGAR CANE!
(She fondly refers to it as her 'spits', as that is what she has to do with each mouthfull)

Thank you again for all your prayers, we are all doing very well.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

A Sunday Drive

Last weekend we had an opertunity to get away from our studies and get out of town for a little bit. We drove up the hill that over looks Mt. Hagen to a place called Haus Poroman (House of Friends). It was great to see some more of the country side. Here are some pictures with captions below.Houses and gardens along side the road.

Having Coffee inside Haus Poroman. Note the hand weaved floor & walls.

One of the "rooms" you can rent if you wish to stay at haus poroman.
Some kids we meet along the side of the road on our way down.
Some steps cut into the hill side on the edge of the road. Almost looks like something from the Lord of the Rings.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Bug Hunters

The hardest thing for me (Paula) to get used to has been cockroaches. I think we're finally wining the battle with just the right combination of chemicals and cleanliness. A few nights ago we killed about 10 of them. Yes, they are pretty gross. Here is a picture Nick took of two 'fearless' bug hunters in action. And the bug in this picture is not a cockroach it's just a little spider!! I leave the big roaches for Nick.



Friday, November 10, 2006

Our House



Here are some pictures of the house we are staying in. It is about 2 blocks from the Mt. Hagen Airport as part of a little village called Kagamuga. It is about 15 minutes by car to get from here into the Mt. Hagen town site.


Saturday, November 04, 2006

Here Safe & Sound

Well, here we are. The trip went very well and we are settling in nicely. Here are a few pictures from the trip.Hong Kong International, our plane in the background
Singapore International. One last McDonalds stop before leaving civilization.... No we are not that badly addicted, it's just the only thing we recognized.

View on landing at Mt. Hagen. It was good to see the MAF hangar from the window of our aircraft.

Church Sunday morning was a special outdoor thanks giving service. Huge contrast to the Sunday before in Red Deer.

Kayla is already making friends with the other kids on the compound & even trying to speak pigin with them, it's great to see.