The Block

Today I went to “The Block” which is what Kuni Bert and Lucy’s house in the mountains is called.  It rained all night which made for very interesting road conditions.  Part of the road was paved, part was grated, and part was bush that had been cleared and driven through to make a road.  The first two parts were fine.  The last part, however, was like the real live version of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.  We rolled and slid and twisted and turned and got stuck in the mud a couple places.  We made it up (and then down) safely, thankfully.

Buai (also known as betel nut) is something chewed by pretty much all the locals here.  To get Buai you have to tie a leaf rope in a loop, put it around your feet, and shimmy up to the top of the tree.  While at The Block I was schooled on how to get buai by their daughters Monica and Gilmay.  I am proud to announce that after several fails and a ripped shirt I made it to the top of a tree to claim my prize of 5 buai.  Every buai rope – bundle – Monica got had about 30 buai. After Monica and Gilmay  calmed their laughter from watching me uncontrollably slide down the trunk of a tree they said I broke a record.  I was the first white lady from America to every climb a buai tree.  Now whether or not this is true I don’t really care because I climbed one and it was not easy and for all the doubters, which there have been many, I have photos to prove it!

Another fun thing about The Block, which is acres of land with palm oil, sugar cane, buai trees, and lots of other things of which I don’t know what they are, there are pigs running around.  Of the four pigs, one took a liking to me and we became pals.  Maroru came up to me, sniffed me, and after deciding I was worthy plopped down at my feet.  The first time this happened I wasn’t entirely sure what to do.  I thought, “hmmm if this were a dog I’d pet it, but it’s a pig.  Do pigs like to be petted?”  I bent down and gave it a couple belly pats then walked away.  Maroru got up and followed me.  When I stopped she then plopped down at my feet awaiting a belly rub.  So I rubbed her belly and when I stopped, just as a dog does, she urged me to continue, and continue I did.  Later on, when approached by Monica, Maroru ran snorting away. But when I approached Maroru she came right to me and rubbed up against my legs then plopped for a pet.  Yep, I’ve got a friend… a large, black, pig friend, but a friend none the less.

After giving Maroru plenty of lovin’ Monica took me to see the oil palms and her garden of sugar cane and pit pit.  I took pictures while she harvested the sugar cane to be sold at the corner market in town (Kavieng).  She threw a chunk to me to try and let me tell you that is some delicious stuff!  Refined sugar don’t got nuthin on pure sugar cane.  It’s not sweet like refined sugar, but more so sweet like a juice that’s not overwhelming like refined sugar can be.  Monica prepared the cane to be carried down the hill and I offered to help.  She set aside 3 for me and began to bundle them.  After convincing her I’m much stronger than that she added 2 more to my pile, bundled them up, and I hoisted them onto my shoulder and began my decent down the hill with Monica in tow talking about how she was wrong and I am a strong meri (meri means woman) not a weak meri.  Once to the bottom I dropped my pile, which was incredible heavy, and began picking all the fire ants off my body.  I forgot how much a fire ant bite hurts until I got about 10 bites on my hands and shoulder/neck.  They’re nasty buggars! Once I regained composure I looked down at Monica’s pile… about 20 sugar cane sticks.  Coming down the mountain I felt pretty bad A because it was not a light load…. Wrong!  It most definitely was a light load and contrary to Monica’s praise at my strength, I am, in fact, a weakling.

As my day at The Block was winding down Monica asked me to come visit her at her village at Konogogo (it’s on the West coast of the island).  We’ve arranged it so that I’ll go this Friday and stay until next Friday.  I’m pretty stoked about this.  I’ll get to experience village life first hand.  Monica listed off all the things we’ll do… feed chickens, garden, go fishing, go swimming, take pictures of the ocean and cliffs and caves… It should be a good week and I’m certain I will return with plenty stories waiting to be shared. (Below is Glimay, Me, and Monica.)

And now I’m off to the corner market to sell buai and sugar cane.

I've Arrived

Oh the joys of walking off a plane after over 12 hours in the air and feeling as though you smell like the morning breath of the other 200 passengers on board (or perhaps it was my own morning breath I smelled – yuck!).  The flight actually wasn’t too bothersome and thankfully, you don’t really notice the smell of morning breath until after you get off the plane and take a whiff of fresh air.  Checking in on the other hand is quite the ordeal!  I always thought getting INTO other countries was the hard part.  Oh no, it’s getting OUT of the U.S.  We make it super easy for other people to control their boarders and keep the Americans out unless they’ve jumped through hoops of fire and performed circus acts (I supposed jumping through hoops of fire is a circus act… hmmm… anyways).  After two hours at check in and an extra $700 spent, I was on my way.  Yes, I dare say breathing morning breath for 12 hours is far more pleasant than my stressful 2 hour check in.

Flight 1 Los Angeles, USA to Auckland, New Zealand – I watched Silver Lining Playbook and enjoyed every second of it.  I really like Jennifer Lawrence and am now a big fan of Bradley Cooper.  If you haven’t seen it yet, do!  The story line is good, but the acting is excellent! After breakfast I tried to watch Life of Pi and made it maybe 10 minutes into the movie before falling asleep.  I woke up somewhere in the middle and turned it off.  Then, for some reason of which I’m not sure, I thought it was a good idea to watch The Hobbit.  After about 20 minutes of that I fell back asleep until breakfast time.  I had an aisle seat and unfortunately on Air New Zealand when the person in front of you lays their seat back they're laying in your lap… “Oh, hello stranger!”   Even when you lay back into someone else’s lap there’s still little room because the bottom of the seat moves forward… weird.  I’ve never been more grateful to have short stubby legs than I was in the moment my knees hit the back of the seat in front of me and I thought “Damn, I’ve actually got it good compared to someone who is, say 5’5” as opposed to my 5’4”.  Bless the person’s knees who is over 6’.”  Thankfully I have the gift of sleep.  I can sleep just about anywhere if I’m tired enough and sleep is what I did with someone’s head in my lap, my head in another’s lap, and my knees pressed again the seat back.

Flight 2 Auckland, New Zealand to Brisbane, Australia – Uneventful, which is absolutely perfect after all the events leading up to flight 1.  After a nice catnap I finished watching The Hobbit.  It was good, but I like The Lord of the Rings better.

Flight 3 Brisbane, Australia to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea – By the time I boarded this flight I realized what an excellent checked luggage packer and a terrible carry-on luggage packer I am.  I’m a meticulous packer and can fit things in places you didn’t even know existed in your suitcase.  When it comes to carry-on luggage though I packed only a laptop, iPod, camera, and several books.  This is all good and well, but after 36 hours without brushing your teeth or applying deodorant you start to develop a stench and one that’s not too pleasant when combined with the morning breath smell I acquired on the first flight.  So here I sit using a napkin to “brush” my teeth and a piece of Extra to give that fresh breath smell (or so I hope).  Also, all my power converters made their way into my checked luggage.  This is all fine and well until you find out you’ll be stuck in a foreign city in a foreign country for 6 days and your only source of communication is a laptop and an iPod both of which have batteries that are nearly drained.  Thankfully, my message about being stuck in Port Moresby was received and a ride from the airport to a house was arranged as well as getting me on a flight out the next day.  The people I stayed with were lovely and provided a much needed shower, bed, and food.  I know people who know people and this turned out to be a very, very good thing.

NOTE TO SELF (and everyone else): When taking international flights pack essentials in your carry-on… toothbrush, tooth paste, deodorant, and power converters!

Flgiht 4 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to Kavieng, Papua New Guinea – This was the shortest flight of all (about 2 hours) and seemed like the longest.  At this point I was beyond ready to be at my destination and 2 hours seemed like an eternity.  I do believe part of that was because I spent the entire flight holding back a retch that would most likely put me on bad terms with the passenger sitting next to me.  Lucky for me (and him) I did not vomit, but continued to feel terrible for the remainder of the evening.  I think all the traveling/flying/no sleep/airplane food finally caught up to me.

Annnnnnnd after approximately 42 hours in transit, I have arrived!  YAY