Holidays

Christmas in PNG

Christmas in PNG appears to be more low key than in the U.S. It is taken seriously as a Christian Holiday, with Christmas Eve. service being very important. The churches are nicely decorated with greens, such as palm branches, and lots of flowers. I have not seen Christmas trees, advent wreaths, or nativity sets in churches. One of my fellow teachers has gone to give the Bible studies at a Christmas Camp. Apparently people come together to spend time in intensive worship and bible study. I would imagine there will be lots of singing and talking also.

Getting together with family is very important. Since this is summer break as well as Christmas time, many people go back home for a month or so. Families tend to not move around much, so those who have moved away tend to keep tight ties and move back to their home area when they retire. I have been told that the time together tends to involve a lot of visiting. I think the lack of media in most places (only radio) helps keep people talking to one another. However, I imagine they do help with the tasks of daily life, such as gathering fire wood, working in the garden etc.

There is little decorating of public buildings outside of the churches. When I was in Lae (the nearest city)most of the decorations I saw were in places that catered to the expat community. Some of my students have said that decorating your home is done only by people who have been in one of the cities and considered to be somewhat ostentatious. Most of the home decorations come from China so tend to be nonreligious. For example, I was unable to find angle or star candles, so finally bought some with reindeer. Gift giving appears to be less elaborate than in the U.S. The stores in Lae advertised gifts, but I don't hear people talking about shopping.

What Season is this?

What season is this? Even though this will be my second Christmas in the southern hemisphere, I am very confused about it being close to Christmas with the weather being hotter and the days being longer. I had not realized how tied I was to weather cues for holidays. I have put up a new Advent calendar a friend brought back from Germany and a small artificial tree to help with the visuals. The fact that the long school holiday has started helps accentuate my feeling of this being summer break only, not our Christmas Holiday also.

Thinking about the weather, I have a greater appreciation for Gigmai Okuk and other PNG students who survived the Iowa winters while attending classes with me at Wartburg Theological Seminary.

Thanksgiving written on Thanksgiving Day
Well, my day here in Papua New Guinea has been quite a change from what I would have celebrated as Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. First of all, the dry season has gotten underway so it is quite hot in mid-day. I forgot to put on my sunblock so I got slightly burned while watching the local elementary school graduation (K - 2 here). No TV to watch football, but I got to give out the Health and Hygiene Awards to First Graders.

The meal after the graduation was nontraditional for an American Thanksgving. It included fried rice with the local equivalent of SPAM, instant noodles with chopped up sausage bits, boiled white rice and ibeca, a local green. For the sweet there was fresh pineapple, bananas and mangos.

I am thankful for many things today. Including the joy of the semester being over and the long school break (2 months) starting on Monday.

Graduation 2013

Graduation was a wonderful event. Even though I was on campus in 2012, I did not have the same appreciation some of the activities that go on. This year I taught year 1, 2, and 3 students, so I knew these graduates, year 5 students, the least. However, I had gotten to know about half of them.

Interestingly, I had gotten to know two of the top students who were writing a Diploma paper. If eligible students successfully write this research paper they get a higher level degree than those who just get the Certificate, which is our normal degree. With the Diploma they have increased eligibility to attend the higher level - Bachelor of Theology - program at Martin Luther Seminary in Lae. I was the diploma adviser to one student and the examiner for the other student. Fortunately they were both good, so my work was easy. The student I examined, Robert, wrote his paper in English, so I felt confident in examining what he wrote. Dixon, the student I advised, wrote in Tok Pisin, so I was less confident about my assistance. However, I was able to help him get his paper typed by letting him come and use my computer.

The other two graduates I knew the best, Alu and Herinke, had more of a struggle academically. As their wasmeri, or adviser, I tried to encourage and help them in the process. Fortunately they both made it through. There is no coasting through at the end for our graduates. In week 7 they must do a practical project, such as planning a worship service along with a sermon, or writing lesson plans. Then in week 8 they take a series of tests about the major topics of our program, such as New Testament and Dogmatics. The faculty gave a final approval for graduation on Tuesday of week 10, just 5 days before graduation itself. One student had to retake the tests orally, but fortunately he did pass. Considering that his relatives had already started arriving, everyone was very relieved.

Hosting all the visitors is a lot of work when you have no access to restaurants or motels. I now understand the reason for week between the end of classes and graduation. All the students helped in getting the campus ready, such as cutting brush along the side of the road. The graduating students must plan their gardens to have extra food available for the guests. One friend asked his family to limit themselves to four as he didn't have too much food available. I noticed that 6 came, so I assume they brought along rais (rice) and tinpis (tuna)to help fill out the meals. Student housing is always tight by American standards, so when relatives come they must really be squeezed for sleeping space. Eating and talking was usually done on the veranda (porch) or on the grass outside.

People who come to graduation are very excited. Since travel to and from Logaweng is time consuming and expensive, most of the guests have never been here before. Since the seniors have been on their vicarage (internship) the year before they may not have had the money to travel home. This means that family may not have seen the graduate for three years. One mother told me she was also meeting a new grandchild during this time.

This also made me think of how wonderful my graduation was. While I had the chance to see my family more regularly, it was still wonderful that so many came. My sister Ruth drove out from Washington State to bring my father to my graduation in Iowa. Little did I imagine that this would be the last time I would see her as she died suddenly a few months later. I am thankful we could spend that joyous time together.

Seeing the Prime Minister

One interesting event I have not written about was that the Prime Minister - Peter O'Niel - visited the area. He came here to the Finschhaven area to dedicate a new building and make the usual sort of political visit. He toured the local haus sik (hospital), dedicated a new electronic classroom (I think we might call it an internet lab in the US), and since he is a Lutheran, made a tour Sattleback where Senior Flierl - the first Lutheran missionary - arrived. His main public event was in Gaugidu where a new building, that includes a post office, was dedicated.

Since a lot of students were interested in seeing him and hearing his speech, we finished classes early that day and took a bus load of people down to hear him. Since everything was running late, it was nice they had some local singsing groups (singing and dancing). There were some quite elaborate costumes and head dresses.

I felt fortunate in being able to sit in a grassy area just across from the stands where the politicians gave their speeches. They were good speeches, with lots of emphasis in limiting corruption. One thing that struck me was the lower level of security than one would expect in the U.S. I saw some security folks, but it seemed to be on a modest level. The were also speeches by the local member of Parliament and the Governor of the Morobe province.

The seminary has one of the few guest houses in the area. I am currently in charge of overseeing it. So, when the day before the event one of the governor aides came and requested that the governor stay there, it brought about quite a flurry of activity. The yard got re-mown and new sheets put on the beds. Unfortunately, in the end it was not used at all. Oh well, I guess it was useful to get everything ready. It is very likely that it will be used over graduation.

Killing the fatted calf

I have read the phrase about killing the fatted calf many times while reading the parable of the Prodigal Son, but it has taken on a new meaning to me. This last Friday we killed the campus cow and had an end of the year party. I learned many things, including how much work this entails.

First of all, we don't usually have a campus cow, so there has been a lot of improvising on how to care for it. The most common meat animal in this area is a pig, so many students would have know what to do with a pig. The cow was given as a thank you gift to campus from a village after one of the faculty members gave a sermon there. So through out the semester there has been ongoing discussion about how to care for it and when to it eat. Fortunately there is abundant grass on campus, so for feeding it they only had to move it to different grassy area. I was surprised one morning to find the cow staked out across the road from my house where he was contentedly munching away.

Finally, it was decided to kill the cow last Friday and have it as part of our closing celebration - called Amamas Night. Then came to question as to who could kill the cow. The people first appointed didn't know how to do it. Finally the Year Two class agreed to kill and butcher it. I did not watch, but the fact it happened by the basketball court is quite different then being hidden away in a slaughter house like in the U.S.

The rest of the meal was quite well organized, the leaders having passed out a list of what groups were to cook what foods. This included lots of rice and sweet potatoes like most meals in this area. My advisory group was assigned to cook "cow stew". This turned out to be boiling chunks of beef and then frying them up with cabbage and onions as the vegetables. Fortunately the committee had arranged for fire wood and the food to be delivered to our cooking area. Most faculty members had the groups cook at their house, but since I don't have a cookhouse we went to the house of one of the married students, who had a large outdoor cook area.

Since there is little animal protein available to the students, having so much meat available was greatly enjoyed. Since our students do quite a bit of physical labor they can eat with gusto. Meat is often prepared with lots of fat attached which I don't like. However, there is always someone happy to eat the fat I do not want.

The food was placed in pots on long tables in the Haus Bung or open air meeting house. The pots were protected by banana leaves. Finally they had us divide into our advisory groups and we were given our quota of the food.

We ended with a talent show. I had expected it to be mainly singing and dancing but it was mainly skits and comedy routines. We have some very funny seminarians. Some of them could give The Three Stooges a run for their money.

End of School Year Soon

It is hard to believe, but the school year is almost over. We have finished 7 out 9 weeks of class. Grades have to be turned in the middle of week 9 and all tests are to be given in Week 8. I am giving tests in 2 of my 4 classes. The other two classes were more project oriented. I am relieved that this semester is almost over. Teaching four new classes has been challenging. I think next year will be easier. At least I will have taught most of the classes before. However, I don't know for sure what I will teach. That is stressful sometimes, but also interesting. For example, teaching Church History Pt. 1 or Sios Histori Hap 1 as it is called here has been interesting. I know a lot more about arguments over the Nicene Creed and the nature of Christ than I ever thought I would. I guess it is true that you have to teach something to really learn it. It also is the closeup of activities. Tonight was the last English Language worship. Wednesday will be the last of my Wasmeri (advisory) group meetings. It was also the last day of sports also. We have been divided up into teams and there are volleyball games every Sunday. I haven't played, but have gone to cheer for my Blue team. We made it to the finals, but lost in the playoff. OK, time to work on the photocopies for tomorrow. There is only one rickety copier available, so one needs to make about 20 copies and then let it rest and cool off. Then you can come back on make some more an hour later. I am making copies for a class of 15, but I am trying to print on both sides of the page, which seems to be too much for it. We are supposed to have another copier on order. My prayers go up for it regularly. Most of my colleagues make very few copies, but I have not adjusted to that style of teaching yet.

Community work day

It is community work day here on campus.  All the students and wives have to put in several hours of labor this afternoon. The house next door to me (one of the other missionary houses) is being cleaned up to be used as a guest house  I had asked for some women to come and clean the yard.  I just went and checked and there are 18 women at work.  They are using bush knives to trim the bushes and weed between the bushes.  They are also raking the grass and carrying away the cut grass with sheets of plastic.  It is amazing how much cleaning they are getting done.  There are also about 8 children with them, so there is a lot of action.  I just went and brought them some containers of water.  It is getting hot enough I was glad I was able to come back inside.

Saturday activites

I am relaxing on a Saturday evening, so thought I would give you a flavor of some of the things I did today.

Normal tasks -

Sleep - This is the one morning I don't have to get up at a specific time to teach or get to church.  So, this can be my chance to sleep in.  However, I guess it is a sign of being over 50 that I don't sleep in very late anymore. The fact that dawn breaks and the birds start singing at 6 a.m. is another factor. However, I sometimes take a good nap in the afternoon.

Review a Sermon Manuscript - When someone in my Wasmeri (advisory) group is going to be giving a sermon at chapel, I am responsible for helping them prepare.  This includes checking their exegesis and reviewing their sermon manuscript.  I realize I don't give as accurate of feedback as someone who knows Tok Pisin better than I do, but feel like I am getting better.  This time I did find some mistakes, it wasn't just that I couldn't understand what he was saying.

Laundry and dishes  I often let both of these pile up during the week, so have a lot to clean up on Friday night and Saturday.  I am very happy to have an automatic washing machine.  Being from America, I grumble a bit that I don't have a drier and have to hang things on a clothes line.  However, I get a reality check from the local wives who talk about the back pains they get from leaning over and washing things in a tub.  If they take things down to the river to wash they have to lean over even more.  Today I am washing all the sheet and towels for the guest house, so have more loads than usual.

Special Event -

Visitors from the Central States Synod  - The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) church is organized into regional synods.  Some of these synods have partnerships with the regional districts here in ELC-PNG (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea).  The seminary is located in the Kote district, so when 4 members of the Central States Synod (Kansas and Missouri) came to visit Kote as their partner synod, I was pleased that they came to tour the campus as part of their trip.  I enjoyed talking with them and walking around campus with them.  The main tour was given by Pr. Koesing, the assistant principal, who knew several of the people from when he was part of a partnership visit to the U.S.
    I feel two special ties to the Central States Synod.  One is that several churches from there are sponsors for me.  Also, I did my second internship In the Central States Synod at Prairie Faith Shared Ministry.  There I served two small congregations in the farm land of western Kansas.  At the time it seemed very rural, now it seems quite urban.  While I did live in the countryside I was on a paved road and it was only 10 minutes to a Dairy Queen.  As I am running around Lae trying to find where specific items are sold, I sometime think longingly as the WalMart that was only 1 hour away.  However, it was also very hard to hear singing in Kote and Yabim like I can here :-)

Malaria and other diseases

     Malaria is a chronic problem here.  Being in one of the coastal areas in PNG usually means malaria.  Parts of the Highlands are high enough in elevation that they don't have the disease carrying mosquitoes.  However, between climate change and strengthening of the malaria virus, more and more areas are susceptible.  The malaria around here has become resistant to most drugs, but the artemisinins still work.  When I travel I carry some malaria medication, Artemeter, with me.  That way I don't have to wait to get to an aid post or pharmacy to start treatment.  I did get sick on the English Speakers Retreat on Sunday, so started taking the anti-malarial drugs.  When I went in for a malaria test they said it wasn't worth trying to have a test since I could easily have a false negative, however, they suggested that I finish the treatment.  Two weeks ago I started feeling sick, so went in to have a malaria test.  Fortunately it came back negative.  I realize that in America I would have waited to see if I got more seriously ill before I would go to a doctor.  However, since one can get so sick so fast with Malaria, I worried about starting treatment right away. (Especially with my bosses coming).

      There is frequently someone with malaria on campus.  So far only one case has not been cured by the regular medications.  He ended up going in for daily shots for a week.  Since the medications generally work quite well, students are usually out of classes for around three days.

      Some of the other diseases around here are common with the US - e.g. diabetes, HIV/AIDS.  While others, such as TB and leprosy are less common in the US.  Certainly deaths with childbirth is more common here.  The local hospital has a program where women in their estimated last week of pregnancy can come stay at the hospital.  That way there isn't the need for long trips while in labor.  Earlier this year we had a baby born here on campus as there wasn't enough time to get her to the hospital.

Term Break

I am enjoying a Sunday of relaxation here in Logaweng during my mid-semester break.  We are halfway through the second semester and have two weeks off.  It is called the term break as we have finished term 3 and will be starting term 4.  Some classes change with the term, but mine stay the same, 3 English classes, 1 History Class and 1 Library Class.

While the campus is quieter than usual, with many students gone, it has picked up here in the International (or "whiteskin") section where I live.  One of the German families was away on leave and another family left for a family emergency.  The family on leave as come back, as well as two volunteers arriving and a temporary station manager and his wife.  So, the neighborhood has gone from just me to there being 10 of us.  I am happy to have more neighbors around.  I enjoy having more folks to say "Hi" to, and feel safer.  I had no serious problems but had things stolen from my house several times.  While that still could happen again, I think it will be less likely with more people around.  I also have to remember to lock my doors at all times.  I believe the things were taken when I was at the back of the house and didn't hear someone opening the front door.  They scooped up things near the door, including my nice rain coat.  They also got my PNG bank card, but fortunately did not try to use it.

I had a nice start of break.  I, along with the Huevos here on campus, attended an "English speaking missionary retreat" up in the Mt. Hagen area of the country.  There ended up being 6 of us - 2 from Australia, 2 from the U.S. and 2 from the Philippines. The other American was a guest speaker - Pr. Bruce Zable - who currently works in Australia.  We held the retreat on the campus of Highlands Lutheran Seminary, the other Pigin seminary here in the country.  It was quite casual with a chance to see the countryside and go out to eat.  The low point for me was a relapse of Malaria.  It is ironic that I got sick while at Mt. Hagen, as it is too high of elevation to have Malaria.

Eight days before my bosses, Pr. Franklin Ishida and Pr. Rapheal Malpika-Padilla come to visit.  I need to get serious about cleaning between now and then.  They are coming to the country to attend the Overseas Partners Forum and are making a quick trip out here to Senior Flierl at the end.  I am sorry they can't stay longer, but am happy they are able to see a tiny bit of the country and church outside of the cities.

August thoughts from Senior Flierl

Languages - I am finally making some progress in my speaking Tok Pisin (the language of instruction here at Senior Flierl Seminary). I can now chat with people about the weather and when the truck is leaving for Gaugidou etc. It has helped make me more a part of the community. Now, I am working to develop my ability to lecture in Tok Pisin. I am able to read aloud pretty well (such as when I am giving sermons) but have trouble coming up with words when talking aloud.

     My monolingualism is quite a contrast with the students here. They are all fluent in their local home language (Tok Ples) and Tok Pisin. They also have English instruction in the schools. One of my goals is to be able to speak Tok Pisin better than they speak English. There is a new volunteer coming from Germany tomorrow. These young volunteers generally learn Tok Pisin quite fast, so it's a goal of mine to see how long I can stay ahead of him in speaking Pisin.

     Worship is held in a variety of languages here on campus. The Sunday worship is held in Tok Pisin as well as chapel 4 days a week. Thursday chapel and Saturday night worship is held in the three major languages in the area: Kote, Yabim, and Bel (and a Pisin worship for those of us who don't know these languages). Once a month we have English language worship.

Classes - I teach three levels of English and Sios Histori - Hap 1 (Church History - Part 1). My biggest struggle has been keeping the three different English classes straight in my mind. I am not clear on how to prioritize  what should be taught. Wednesday I am going to visit Dragerhafen - the nearest school that teaches grades 11 and 12. Since my students have graduated from grade 10, I am interested in seeing their curriculum for ideas on what to use in my class.

Confessions of a waitskin meri (white woman) - I do stand out in the crowd here, being one of the few white folks in the area. Most of the rest are missionaries from Germany. Sometimes people stare at me, but they are generally very friendly and helpful also. They like it that I wear a meri blouse (the smock-like top) and try to speak Pisin to them. Sometimes it is a bit embarrassing, such as when they run around and find a chair for me, while the rest of them are sitting on a bench or the ground. It is nice when I get preferential seating in the small boats to go to Lae. It is interesting to see how other ethnic groups are categorized. One of the other faculty members is from the Philippines. Outside of campus, people seem unsure how to categorize him. Most of the other Asians in the in the area are store owners.

Confessions of a pasto meri (woman pastor) - Since women aren't ordained in Papua New Guinea, this really surprises people. There have been some ordained German women in PNG before but they haven't been in this area. So far people have been positive to me about my role, at least to my face. However, when I mention the idea of women being ordained in PNG, they seem sure that it won't happen anytime soon. Two Sundays ago I lead worship at a local church. They were very curious and surprised at me - a woman in a clerical shirt.

Greetings from PNG

Ann and I have put together a little youtube
video in which she introduces herself. It includes some photos and music from when Bob and Byrna, her brother and sister-in-law, visited in June.

Voting in alphabetical order

On Monday I had the interesting experience of watching a local election.  The choice of candidates was interesting to me. The folks here on campus (Logaweng area) voted for the local council representative and the mayor of Gaugidu (the nearest town).  I was surprised to learn our representative is on the urban council since this location seems so isolated by my viewpoint.  However, the fact we get electricity from Gaugidu makes us urban in this situation.  One of  the faculty members told me that it would not be seemly for a pastor to run for office. Women and students were not considered so that left only our three maintenance workers as good options.  Asemba, our campus driver and carpenter, was elected.  I think he will do a fine job.

Voting itself was quite different than in the U.S.  The polling officials were here for only a few hours. All the voters (students and faculty) gathered in the large Bung Haus ( open air meeting hall).  Their names were then read off in alphabetical order.  They would then come forward to the tables and line up to vote.  Their little finger was marked with dye and then they received a ballot for each position.  The ballot contained boxes where they would enter the number of the candidate they wanted.  For the mayor's position they could list up to three choices. They marked the ballots in a voting booth (made of cardboard) and then dropped the ballots into large plastic tubs.  At the end of the polling the ballots for the local council representative was counted and a winner declared.  I assume the polling officials moved onto another village then.

As I think about it, this system makes sense here in PNG.  Many of villages are quite small, (we had 86 voting here at Logaweng) so it would be hard to have polling officials just for that site. Since most villages are quite isolated it would be difficult for them all to travel to a central polling location.  With a relatively low literacy rate in the country it is easier for people to write in a number rather than a name.  There are lots of posters around to help people associate the names and faces with their number.  Since few people have IDs, making the finger with dye would help with voter fraud. 

June 20 post redux

I tried to post this on June 20 before I left on vacation.  Time to try again.

A quick hello from rainy Papua New Guinea,

It is Thursday night and it is raining heavily. My brother Bob and his wife Byrna have gone to bed but I thought I would send a quick message to everyone.  I have really enjoyed Bob and Byrna visiting here.  I has been fun doing things with them.  They have also been very helpful to me - my kitchen has never been so organized and new things are planted in my little garden.  They have also jumped into the life here at the seminary.  Byrna participated in several of the special women's events, such as a sewing class.  She also toured around with one of the student's wife - helping in the garden and looking at birds together.  They both spoke to my English class about their work.  Bob also prepared a power point presentation about the internet to show at my study skills class.  When the time for class came, the power was off, so we were unable to project.  However, Bob then explained the internet to them in general terms and discussed with them some of the problems of the internet. Later, that afternoon, the power came back on so many of the students returned to their classroom to see the presentation.  Bob also helped set up a new desktop and monitor in the library.

I have now finished my first semester of teaching.  My last day of teaching was Wednesday with classes ending at noon today.  it has been both a stressful and wonderful experience.  Next semester I will be teaching three sections of English and one section of History.  It think it will be a good semester.  It is clear to me what topics I should cover.  This semester I was more unsure what should be covered, such as in the study skills course.

I leave with Bob and Byrna on vacation tomorrow morning.  We are traveling with one of the faculty members from Karkar, an island near Madang.  He is helping with arranging housing and travel as well as traveling with us much of the time.  He will also be administering  the placement test for students interested in entering the seminary from the Madang region.

OK, time for bed.

Love, Ann

This and That

Since I have not been taking the time to make a coherent posting, thought I would at least share some thoughts.

Ascension and Pentecost as holidays.  These are major days in the development of the Christian faith.  However, I had never done much to celebrate them.  Here at Senior Flierl they are taken seriously. We had Ascension Day off from class.  Not only did we have a nice Pentecost service today, we are having tomorrow off from class.  It is interesting what is assumed about special days.  I noticed that no one had said anything about wearing red to the Pentecost Service today - a new trend in my worship life.  However, when I arrived at church I noticed that most people were in red . I guess it was too obvious to have to be mentioned.  One of the special events today was something I had seen before, having the same bible reading done by people using different languages (a nice reflection on what happened to the Disciples on Pentecost). What was different today was that I was one of the "foreign tongues" readers.  It was also interesting that out of the 8 of us reading, only 3 of us were from different countries.  The other 5 reflected languages spoken within PNG (it is estimated that there 500 all together). The language we study and worship in Tok Pisin is a good bridging language, but no one's first language.

Honkewe I have the 25 first year students in several different classes and know them the best of all the students here. I was sad this week when it was announced that one student, Honkewe, is dropping out.  He has developed heart problems and has missed several weeks of school.  It is hopped that he will stabilize and be back to classes next year.  Since the nearest hospital with an EKG is two days travel away, he would have to be gone for extended periods of time. He always had a great smile and would laugh at my problems in pronouncing his name.  I look forward to seeing him again next year.

Geckos - When I wrote about animals earlier, I didn't mention the most ubiquitous in my house - geckos.  They live their whole life cycle in a house, with gecko poop and gecko eggs being a regular part of life.  They look so much like the Geico Gecko at first I kept expecting them to start talking :-)  However, the are a silent presence that I barely notice anymore.  I do notice them most when Peter is inside and starts stalking one.  They are good for eating mosquitoes so we don't work at getting rid of them.

Health - It has been good.  There have been no re-occurrences of my malaria. People talk about how the first time to get Malaria is the worst, so I feel very lucky to have had a light case.  Unfortunately I have not lost anymore weight, but am glad I have not gained any back yet.  Having lost around 50 pounds since coming here has made a real difference in my ability to get around.  I hope to bump up my exercise and develop more walking stamina.  At this point I have trouble participating in parts of every day PNG life - such as walking the bush track to the stores in Gaugidui.  I also have been unable to go visit some people's homes as it requires quite a bit of hiking from the roads.

Company - I had my first overnight guests, Rod Norby and Nancy Anderson.  They are the other ELCA missionaries that are stationed at the church headquarters in Lae.  It was fun to have guests and made me get the guest room ready and the kitchen better stocked.  They were kind enough to bring some of food that I have trouble getting, such as carrots and bread.  Unfortunately for me, their term is finishing in June and they are going back to the states.  Fortunately for me, my brother Bob and his wife Byrna are coming to visit in June.  They are overlapping with my semester break so we are able to go traveling together.

Adjustments - We had a new staff member from Germany join us three weeks ago.  He was to be the new station manager.  Unfortunately he left a week ago.  I am not clear what he was upset about, but definitely this position was not a match for him.  It makes me feel better about my adjustment. The pace has been slower than many, but I have been adjusting.  It may be a problem that we don't have a new station manager.  Our acting station manager (who is also a member of the faculty) is going to Germany on leave for three months.  We have some reliable local workers, but none of them are good with machinery.  So, prayers for our water pump and truck is requested.

Malaria etc.

Hi,

Thought I would give a few short updates.

I have survived my first bought with malaria.  In this area the prophylaxis medications don't work very well, so it is recommended that we just treat the disease if we get it (as well as using mosquito netting etc).  I had been feeling bad for awhile but didn't recognize what it was.  I never got the chills and fever that most people experience with Malaria.  I had more of the tiredness, headache and dry cough, which could be one of many things.  However Friday I was exhausted after teaching just one class.  I went home to take a nap and realized that something was very wrong.  I went over to my neighbor (who is a nurse) and she drove me to the hospital to get a Malaria test.  It was positive and I was feeling quite bad.  Thankfully the doctor was a friend of mine (Dr. Demaris Nife).  She took me to her house and let me use her guest room. She also got me started on medication (in short supply sometimes).  Friday afternoon I felt terrible.  However, I woke up Saturday feeling much better.  Today (Sunday) I took a nap but feel pretty good.  Thank God for modern medicines.

I am still enjoying my kitty - Peter.  He is outside most of the time, but loves to come in to spend time with me.  unfortunately that includes jumping on my keyboard when I am typing om my computer.  He is friendly with people, even the neighbor children.  I had older cats for many years and had forgotten how much fun the young ones are.

I was asked if there are interesting mammals around.  No, most of what I see are domestic animals - cats, dogs, pigs etc.  There are wild pigs in the bush around here, but I have been lucky enough to not have an encounter with one.  I have seen tree kangaroos and Cassowarys (a large bird) in an animal park but not live.  There are lots of insects around - Including some really large beetle type things.  Peter shows off he mighty hunting skills in catching them.

Ok, back to class preparations.

Easter Greetings

Where has the time gone?  It is Good Friday here in Papua New Guinea.  I know I should be spending the day in repentance and contemplation, but have decided to work and catching up with friends instead.  Easter is treated very seriously here in PNG - no bunnies to share the spotlight.  Some churches hold Easter Camps, where everyone goes out to spend three or so days in bible study and contemplation.  Several of the faculty here are off helping lead such a camp.

The seminary has no classes today or Monday, giving us a 4 day weekend.  The students don't have the time or money to go home, so we are celebrating together.  I have met a few parents from the area who have to join their children for Easter. Last night we had a nice Maunday Thursdays service.  Holy Comunion is a special event here (6 times a year?) so it is always celebrated with great ceremony.  Many of the women wear Meri blouses (their smock like tops) of white satin.  Most of the time they were sensible colors and patterns.  Many of the men had on long sleeved white shirts, also unusual. The paraments were also of a satiny, glowing material.

Will try to write more later in the weekend

New Photos from PNG

Ann has some more photos posted on flickr covering her first months in Papua New Guinea. See them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/newguineacall/  .

Well, school has started, we are currently in our second week.  I am finding it challenging.  I am teaching 4 classes.  Two of them, English and Library are ones that I expected.  However, I am also teaching two study skills classes that were more of a surprise to me. I have taught study skills occasionally, but when you add in the challenge of a new language it is keeping me busy.  Fortunately I have notes from people who taught the class before.  At this point I am teaching in English still, with some handouts and homework in Tok Pisin.  The students have been very patient about everything.  I got very worried the first week, but am remembering that I can only do my best and trust God that things will work out.

I have a kitten that I adopted from a neighbor.  I have named him Peter.  He is full of spunk, fun and naughtiness.  I kept him inside the first few days to make sure he would bond and not run away.  Now I am working to make him stay outside.  Cat litter is not available around here so indoor cats are a problem.  I do feed him a wider variety of food than I would in the U.S.  A mixture of rice and tuna is a favorite of his.

I was ill for the first time this weekend.  I developed a throat problem that looked like strep.  Thankfully, my neighbor, who is a doctor, was willing to help me, so I didn't have to go to the hospital.  I am now on antibiotics and have healed fast.  Unfortunately I missed church and some other fun weekend activities. Well, time to go review what I should teach in the study skills class tomorrow.

January updates

School will be starting soon.  The exact date is still up in the air.  Originally we were to have orientation for the new students this week with classes starting next week.  However, it has all been postponed a week or two.  We had a campus crisis in early January and the needed preparations did not happen.  The crisis had to do with getting a former staff member and his family to move out.  Here housing is often provided as part of the job.  When a staff member stops working it can be hard to get them out of the house.  I know this is a problem at church headquarters and with the post office here.  The seminary finally served the family with an eviction notice but had trouble enforcing it.  The local police say they have no car or truck that can get up to the seminary.  Fortunately. with the help of other church leaders, they were persuaded to go. 

I will be teaching two English classes this semester.  I will also be helping with the supervision of students giving religion classes in the schools.  My Pigin is still not strong, so I have been paired with another faculty member for the supervision.  I will also get the library up and running again.  I am somewhat nervous about the English teaching, but am also excited to get started.

In early January I went to stay in the village of Suqang.  It was very interesting to see the rhythms of their life.  The is a lot of physical labor involved - growing food and gathering fire wood - but also a lot of time to talk to each other. The family I stayed with had a flush toilet, so it was not completely authentic, but that was OK by me. I was also asked to preach (with a translator).  That was fun and a surprise to the congregation as they had never seen a woman pastor before.

I had an interesting experience riding the ferry back from Lae last Saturday.  While the ferry stops in the village of Booki, one of the passengers asked me if I was going to Finschhafen or Butaweng.  Butaweng is the site of a Lutheran hospital that includes missionary doctors on their staff.  So, I guess my role as missionary was clear.  The only question was whether I was a doctor or a teacher.