September 15:

Last Thursday night (Sept 8th) we went to “haus bilong wasfemili bilong mipela” (our host family’s house) for dinner. We were looking forward to spending time with them again, but also very tired. All of the POC students gathered outside at about 5:30 p.m. to wait for their “wasfemilis” to arrive and lead the way to their homes. We were the only ones left waiting by 6:15 p.m. and we started to think maybe we would be going to bed early after all. The director of POC went out on his motorbike twice to look and see if he could see anyone on their way to meet us, but couldn’t find our “wasfemili” so at 7:00 p.m. we were headed into the dining room to have dinner here when the two oldest girls from our “wasfemili” arrived. So we gathered up our things, put Mikayla in the baby backpack which I carried and James carried Laurel and his backpack with our diaper bag and water bottles. Norlyne and Loraine carried our two pots of food (a big pot of rice and a big pot of stew), a pretty heavy load but it’s hard to overestimate a Papua New Guinean’s endurance or strength. :-) It was pretty dark as we set out. We both had headlamps and we also had a mini maglite. Our headlamps have been a lifesaver! We use them virtually EVERY single night. A staff member did a skit about staying with a “wasfemili” and when she “visited the outhouse”, she held her flashlight in her mouth and “dropped” it, which we know has actually happened before.

Norlyne and Loraine offered to take us on a “shortcut” which was down a steep hill, across a stream, and up the other side, but since it was dark and we were carrying both girls plus all of our stuff we opted to take the long way around and stay on the road. Even so, it was not an “easy” hike to their house. It probably only took 15 minutes, but we both had to catch our breath and were very thirsty by the time we arrived at their house. The hard part was that the last 1/2 of the hike was all uphill and quite steep.

When we arrived we were greeted by our waspapa and the rest of the children. He invited us to come inside. It was fun and interesting to visit them in their home. We entered through a low doorway into a small area with a dirt floor where there was a fire pit and just enough room for a couple people. There were 3 steps up into their living area which was a room about 8′ wide by 12′ long. There was a short hallway and it looked like two small rooms (maybe 6′ x 6’ish) in the back of the house. It was hard to see very well because the only light in the house came from one small kerosene lantern. The flooring was made from split bamboo, the walls were made from woven strips from another tree (I forget the name of it). The roof is made from palm fronds folded in half and sewn together. (I realize that pictures would help a lot in understanding this description. Hopefully we’ll be able to get some pictures of things like this soon.)

We all sat on the floor on woven mats. About 10 minutes after we got there and were just getting settled our wasmama arrived with Julius (the 8 month old). She apologized for being late and explained that she had been working in the garden and it was a long ways away. If I understood correctly it’s about a 2 hour walk from their house to their garden.

We had a very enjoyable time at their house. We brought rice and stew with us and they prepared potatoes and greens. We all sat on the floor and ate. Mikayla really had fun – she sat down and put her legs out in front of her in a V and set her bowl right in her lap and started eating as though she ate that way everyday. :-) Around 8 p.m. Mikayla was getting tired so she went to sleep in a “bilum” (string bag) and slept for about an hour while we talked. Then she started coughing (she’s still got a cold hanging on) and she woke up and actually threw up.

We were just about ready to leave anyway, so I took Mikayla and Laurel outside while James packed up our stuff and got ready to leave. Both girls were crying quite a bit and a neighbor lady came over to try to help quiet them down. They both just wanted me to hold them. Mikayla was finally willing to go in the baby backpack so we could leave and I carried her in that while carrying Laurel in my arms. Because the trail was so steep and I was wearing flip flops I decided it wasn’t safe for me to carry Laurel in my arms so handed her off to James even though I knew she would cry. She screamed the whole way back to POC but once we got there both girls went to bed pretty quickly and slept all through the night.

Tonight we go back to visit out “wasfemili” again, but this time we’ll be spending the night. Please pray that it goes really well. I almost don’t even have the energy to want to go this time. :-/ I’m excited about the experience and know that it will be good preparation for 5 weeks of village living later on, but with the girls and me being sick it really puts a damper on things. Worst of all Mikayla has had diarrhea 2-3 times per night for the last 3 or 4 nights. As well, 2 of those nights she threw up. It’s hard enough to take care of her here at POC where we have access to running water and can turn on the lights etc. I’m very glad for the few disposable diapers that we’ve saved and plan to use those so at least we won’t have to figure out what to do with multiple messy cloth diapers in the dark with no running water. Please pray with us that she won’t throw up or have diarrhea tonight and that everything would go smoothly.

Tonight we’ll be going to their house again. We’ll be walking there on our own and are planning on leaving around 5 pm. We’re taking uncooked rice and tin meat with us that we’ll be cooking with them. Note: we won’t be “helping” them prepare the food, we’ll be “learning” how they prepare it – it was explained that there is very little we can actually help a Papua New Guinean do (if we ask to help it sounds like we think they don’t know how to do it), but they are happy to teach us how they do things. We are sure we’ll enjoy the company and are hoping that God will bless us and our children and keep us healthy throughout our time there.