Near Death Experience At A Mask Festival

After a day at home in Kavieng doing laundry I was off again and this time back to Kokopo for a mask festival.  Melanie, Belinda, and Chris took a 30 minute flight there, but I’m too much of a tight wad to pay the airfare so I spent 8 hours on the road and in a boat to get there (and then 12 hours to get home a few days later, but no complaints here I saved a large chuck of change). 

The first performance I saw was a fire dance.  People came out in traditional dress and danced around and then through a fire.  Before the performance we were warned about sitting too close to the performing area, but we assumed we’d be alright since we were seated just behind the rope that designated the stage.  Well, you know what they say about assumptions and as a hot firey log flew directly at me I realized how wrong I was to assume I’d be alright.  The log hit my backpack which was situated at my feet between my legs and sent embers flying.  I grabbed my bag and threw it to the ground then did a quick assessment and decided I did not need to stop, drop, and roll.  (I found myself on fire once before and almost had to stop, drop, and roll then as well.  I think that was one of the most valuable lessons I learned in grade school and hopefully this will be the last time I find myself in such a predicament where stop, drop, and roll plays in my head on repeat until the crisis is averted.)  Thankfully, I made it through this near death experience unscathed… Whew!

This is a boy and he does NOT walk through
the fire, but does dance around it

The two on the left are boys and the three on the right are men.
 The men dance through the fire.

Yes, that man is standing in fire.

So is he.

And so is he.

The next day we watched several dances from different groups from various parts of PNG.  I took lots of photos, but they didn’t have much information about each group so I don’t really know anything about who the groups were or what the dances meant.

These guys are Mud Men from the Highlands (on the mainland).

This guy was kind enough to pose for me.

This guy let other people whip him.

So did these guys.

CRAZY!

This poor little guy was really stressed
about his mask repeatedly falling off.

He is, indeed, eating hot embers off that log.

The man on the right bending down is collecting pieces of
glass from the bottle the man on the left broke on his head.
 The man on the left ate these pieces of glass. Fierce!

I loved the rainbow beany.  I don't know if that guy knows,
but it's ridiculously hot outside.  Someone should have told him.  

Post performance with his sunglasses on, cell phone
around his neck, and a cigarette in hand.

One day was spent at Rapopo.  It’s a fancy hotel with a lovely pool.  The afternoon was spent reading books, drinking cocktails, and relaxing by a pool that overlooked the ocean.  Does life get better than this?

Relaxing by the pool. So nice.

The mountain on the right with smoke coming out is a volcano.

This was the view from the pool.

Another afternoon was spent at a rugby game.  We were invited to the game and given box seats by one of the team's sponsors.  Fancy!  Belinda spent the first few minutes of the game explaining the rules and then periodically explained situations as they came up.  The team we were rooting for won!  Not only did they win, but they slamed to other team.  The final score was something like 50 to 12. (I actually just made up that score, but it was a really high number and then a really low number).  I found I do enjoy rugby a bit more than I thought.  That's probably because I now know what's going on.

My first rugby game.  Notice the two men holding hands in
the background.  Men often hold hands.  It a display of friendship.

A microphone for the audience. 

My trek back to Kavieng was a bit epic.  The weather was a bit stormy which meant the 2 hour banana boat ride I was on from Kokopo to the West Coast of New Ireland was delayed.  After about 3 ½ hours of waiting we piled in and headed out.  This was fine until the ocean started rolling and my stomach rolled with it.  Thankfully, I didn’t puke but the poor little kid sitting next to me did.  Between the rain and the ocean spilling over the sides of the boat we all got completely soaked.  By the time we arrived at our destination I was dripping and shivering.  This is one of only a handful of times I’ve been cold here on a tropical island a mere few degrees from the equator.  After changing my clothes and a 5 hour ride on a PMV back to Kavieng I finally made it home.

Modeling on a tank next that's on the side of the road.  There are
remnants of WWII everywhere... tanks, ships, planes, etc.

Mel cooked a delicious fish one night for dinner. Yum!