Getting bigger!

Hi everyone.

Just a quick baby update this week...we saw the doctor yesterday and he is really pleased with how things are going. We heard a strong heartbeat and the baby kicks regularly. We are so happy to have made it to the third trimester. Thank you for all your prayers!

Stunning Scenery

These are some pictures I took on a recent trip to the South East of the PNG mainland. There were so many amazing sights I didn't really know what to photograph, so I photographed pretty much all of them, multiple times. That has made deciding what to upload here really difficult; I hope you enjoy the selection.

That particular part of PNG has some individual landscapes:

Nestling in the foothills of this remote corner of PNG...

...is quite a sizeable cathedral!

One of these entrances opens up into a valley with a village in it, the other leads to a dead end.

 

Two houses perched on a hillside.

 

 

A World War 2 bomber, still recognisable.

 

Oil Palm plantation

 

 

 

No blog would be complete without an aviation picture:

 

Transferring some passengers and cargo to the Kodiak, so we could take enough fuel to get back home.



News

Hopefully you have not forgotten who we are....greetings and apologies for the long silence! But we do have plenty of news to share. The main headlines are:

1. We have decided to come home to have baby Tough! I can't tell you how excited I am - JOHN LEWIS BABY DEPARTMENT here I come!!! Obviously, we are also very keen to see the family and in the end we just could not imagine being anywhere else. (Home, that is. Not John Lewis).

2. Duncan has finally been given his Papua New Guinean pilot's licence. After many long months of waiting, he can now officially begin his training. To say he is delighted would be an understatement. Now the hard work really begins! Yesterday the helicopter took people to the village for a New Testament dedication celebration and today (Saturday)  they are doing a medical evacuation. If you are the praying sort, please pray for Duncan's training and the energy to do it well and safely. Thank you!

3. We have moved into our own house here at Ukarumpa! It's BRIGHT turquoise and we have banana trees. VERY exciting. It is normal practice to buy a house here, as there is only limited rentable accommodation and it costs a tiny fraction of what it does to own a home in the UK, so it's a good move all round.

It has been a very busy time with Duncan flying all over the country and me finishing up the school year. We have had all the things that you would expect to go with the end of term: balls (or banquet as it is called here), plenty of music concerts, sports' day, examinations, reports, goodbye parties and this week there is Awards' Night on Monday and Senior Graduation on Tuesday! After school ends there will be a mass exodus of people 'going finish' (that's what we call it when you are going home for good) and going on furlough (when you leave for a year and then return), as well as people coming back and newbies.  Cue lots of goodbyes, comings and goings, joy and a few tears. It is all part of life here, but you can almost feel the community bracing itself for the emotion of it all. At the school there is a farewell assembly which is affectionately known as the 'wailing wall'. It is organised by the students and is a time to cry with all those who are leaving. That's what they do - have a good cry for a few hours, or days...It's not very British. But it's very PNG and I think it's so healthy - let it all out, grieve and say goodbye well.

We also had a bank holiday recently. In PNG you get the day off to celebrate the Queen's birthday! Hurrah for the Queen! A VERY kind friend sent us a hamper and we thought there would be no better way to consume it, than with other Brits on Her Majesty's big day. We enjoyed real tea and other goodies from the hamper, as well as lots of home baking from us all here. Someone brought some Union Jack bunting and we wore red,white and blue. It's funny how you get all patriotic when you are not at home. Everyone was so excited about the hamper - it is very unusual for something like that to clear customs. We were so shocked that I actually emailed the company's customer relations department to commend them!


Yum, Yum. I made a Victoria sponge, banana cake and a chocolate cake, as well as a tray of cucumber sandwiches made with my own bread. Watch out Nigella...



Our turquoise house decorated with bunting and tea on the verandah. We had 30 guests in all and it was a very happy afternoon. All thanks to our friend Jack and the Queen!

As we look ahead, there are still many goodbyes, hellos, goodbyes and hellos again to go through, as well as more big transitions...but life is full and we are loving it!

Parrots, Cinderella's Cottage and Bread

Sorry we have been a bit quiet recently...life has got busy, but it's all good! I'm in my last few weeks of teaching for a while (school finishes in June) and I thought you might like to see some of the things I have been involved in during the months before I change role...

I am really enjoying teaching Grades 7 & 8 and this term we have been doing a persuasive writing unit. We split the students into groups and assigned them topics such as 'Do zoos serve a purpose?', 'Is bribery ever justifiable?' and 'Are bullies victims too?' Some tricky stuff, but they have really got into it! The first stage was to produce a group poster displaying two sides of the argument and then to do a presentation in which they tried to persuade the audience to one side over the other. They responded with characteristic creativity and incorporated skits, puppet shows and even a parrot into their work! Never have I had a parrot in my classroom before, but I can report that he was perfectly behaved and really quite charming! The only problem was that I was so mesmerised by the parrot that I found it hard to concentrate on the presentation...

A group in Grade 7 present on 'Do zoos serve a purpose?' Buddy the parrot listened very attentively!

This term I have also been helping with Grade 8 drama. They have a 50 minute lesson a day and we have been preparing for a production of 'Cinderella's Cottage: A retelling of the classics - fairies not included' written by the director and lasting just over an hour. In just over five and half weeks the students have gone from never having done drama before to taking part in a production that involved multiple costume changes, set changes and radio mic changes. They all acted on stage, as well as being part of the backstage crew and set creation team. Needless to say, they have been wonderful and produced a great show. All went well and now we just have to strike the set and clear up. It has been great to see the community pull together to help the 8th graders showcase their talents and the facilities available are pretty impressive considering where we are. The costume room is a treasure trove, full of props and costumes from productions past and present and all beautifully neat and organised. We were able to find costumes for the 3 bears, the 3 pigs, princes, princesses, wolves, huntsmen and soldiers, as well as create sets to represent a cottage, palace ballroom, palace throne room and woodland. The play features a series of fairytales, but all with a twist. For example, Little Red Riding Hood was Little Red Riding 'in the hood' - a male rapper with a red cape and a 'down wid it' way with words...FUN! I helped with rehearsals and ran about backstage during the performance phase. It has been lovely to get to know the kids better and see them in a different context, as well as have the chance to make new friends from the community. Now the play is finished we are moving onto doing some improvisation skills, as well as choosing and performing monologues to improve their public speaking.


Here are some of the Grade 8 girls (pre make-up) dressed for the ballroom scene, but standing in front of the woodland backdrop.

Outside school I am doing my best to improve my cooking skills and recently had a bread making lesson from friend, Laura. I have started baking 3 0r 4 loaves a week and have to say it is a very satisfying feeling! I am so grateful for all the kind people who are giving me recipes and tips. I still have a LOT to learn, but I am enjoying it.

Half way...

We thought you might like to see the bump!

I am 20 weeks and 3 days. And excited. Very! Praise God for this wonderful gift!

Pizza Hut, Meetings and Magnums

Earlier this month some of my colleagues and I hopped across the border to the Indonesian side of the island. The aim was to visit a sister organisation there and have a reminder of the ‘human’ factors at play when flying and making decisions.

 

We flew up to Vanimo, just on the PNG side of the border, in a Kodiak.

 

From there we travelled to the border by PMV (public motor vehicle).

 

There are lots of beautiful rivers which run under the road and out to the nearby sea.

 

The border itself can only be crossed on foot, but it was a painless process on both sides.

After clearing customs, we were collected by some of our colleagues who work on the Indonesian side.

The Indonesian side has a different feel to it, with lots of rice paddies near the road.

 

There was also a slight change of architecture!
 

But there were still familiar enough roadside markets.
 



However, we didn’t stop for lunch here, we went instead to Pizza Hut. Being roughly the same distance from us as mainland Australia, it’s probably our closest! A treat indeed (but don’t tell Trudie).

 

The next day was a chance to relax and we drove down to the coast for a short hop round to a local beach.

 

 

 

The jetty we launched from, with our transport tied up along side. Looks like we’re in for a rough crossing!

 

The more traditional style of boat (though the outboard may not be totally historically authentic).



Some of the kids were a bit bored – ‘Do we have to go to the same beautiful beach with wonderful snorkelling again?’!

 

 

Eventually, I suppose, we had to get round to doing some work.

 

 

Their new hanger.

 



Out with the old – a Helio Courier waiting to be retired…





 And in with the new – the Pilatus PC6.

 

 

Each evening, as we’d been working so hard, we rewarded ourselves with Magnum ice-creams from the local shop. Mmmm.

 

But it couldn’t all be hard work, and I got the opportunity to go kayaking on the nearby lake with a couple of the pilots; even if it did entail leaving at 5:15AM. Urrgh.

 



The boats were hand-made by the guy who took us – beautiful.

 

And if you’ve been working hard, there’s this appetising drink to refresh you…

 

Maybe not the name I would have gone with.

 

But don’t worry, buying it won’t break the bank, even if it might seem like it at first glance…

 

 

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Eventually it had to be over, though, I guess.

 

So we reversed our route back to Vanimo.

 

 

The Vanimo beach.

 

And flew back home.

 





Marmalade Cordial and the Queen

Duncan has been away this week, so I have had to get used to being here on my own. He will be home in about two hours and my conclusion for the week is that I prefer it when he is here. Obviously. However and somewhat surprisingly, I have still had a good week.

I won't bore you with all the details, but it seems that life has suddenly got busy. Let's take yesterday as an example.

I was up at 6.15 in order to go to market. Local people come onto the centre and sell fruit and vegetables to the community three mornings a week. The biggest thing I noticed about it when I first went, was how quiet it was. There is no bartering, so you just choose and pay. Juggling all the bags is the biggest challenge for me! Having entertained some local ladies with my antics in past visits, I was determined to do better this week. Experience has taught me that the best equipment is a large bucket and a large string bilum (bag) filled with plastic bags for keeping small, squishy things (like strawberries, which you buy in piles) from going everywhere (not that that has happened to me...well, maybe it has, MUCH to the amusement of those around.) As long you buy your pineapples and heavy veg before your tomatoes all goes well - obvious you might think, but I have learned the hard way. In my defence, it is difficult to be organised when you are half asleep and easily distracted...but, I am happy to report that I survived market without incident yesterday, which makes for fewer entertaining stories, but made me happy. Pride goes before a fall, so clearly I will have a story to tell next week!

I struggled back up the hill with my purchases and began the process of bleaching, washing and zip-lock bagging. It's a bit tedious, but I must say that it is quite pleasing to behold your fridge full of neatly (well ok, maybe not that neatly) stacked bags full of clean food, all ready to undergo the undoubtedly exciting process of being cooked/chopped/manhandled by me.

Then I walked back down the hill for school. I have Grade 8 first thing and we started work on 'Literature Circles'. It involves the students choosing books to read and then forming small groups to discuss and log about their reading experiences. Should be fun. I wish I could be in a group... Next was Grade 8 again, but this time for drama. This term I am helping the drama teacher get the class ready to perform a play in 5 weeks. It's a short one based on fairytales, but with lots of amusing twists. The students are really excited!

Back up the hill and home, in time to have lunch with lovely new friend and Tok Pisin teacher, Leon. She taught me the days of the week and the months of the year and we even looked at a few pages of 'Hello' magazine (thanks, mum).  I tried to explain that my mum had sent it to me, but I don't think I said the right thing, because Leon pointed at the photograph of the Queen on the front cover and said, "Mama bilong you?" (which means, "Is that your mother?") I told her who it was and we laughed for about five minutes. Good times.

Back down the hill (are you sensing a theme here?!) for school again - Grade 7 this time. They are great fun and we always laugh far more than I am sure we should!

Back up the hill again (!) to clean, cook and get ready for having a girls' supper party (I won't say 'dinner party' because that makes it sound grand and as though it was 3 courses and I only did 2. Lazy I know!). I had a similar event on Monday and apart from making orange cordial that undeniably tasted like marmalade and inviting the guests to come at different times (I think baby-brain is striking), it all went surprisingly well! So I was excited about take two, although wisely left the remains of the marmalade cordial for another day. We had fun, but there had to be a dodgy moment and it happened when I nearly spilled cream all over one of my guests. Amazingly she didn't get any on her. You see - God does care about the little things! Once we had all got over the shock it became a laughing point for the rest of the evening, so I think I survived!

I flopped into bed at about 10.30pm, which is late for a good missionary wife (I'm SUCH a rebel) and reflected on a busy day. I hate being apart from Duncan, but God has been with me and I have had a busy, fruitful time. As to what he has been up to, I will leave that for him to tell you, but needless to say, more adventures have been had. I think I hear his footsteps... : ) : ) : )