I am writing this at 4:30 AM on Tuesday because my body thinks it is 1:00 PM on Monday.
My parents, sister Elaine, and I left Springtown at 5:30 PM on Saturday, March 6th. My greatest emotion was feeling pressured that I had not completed all that I wanted before leaving.
I had packed 3 large bags weighing a total of 180 pounds plus one expandable carry-on. The rest of my belongings had to stay in Springtown until I could notify my parents as to what I would need. I was able to talk to Donna, Owen and Penny, Jerry, and Joe, Laura, and Lola on the way to the airport. My good friend, Janet, and her daughter, Bianca, met me at the airport to say goodbye. It was quite difficult leaving but I know this is what God wants me to do.
The first leg of my journey was scheduled to leave at 8:25 PM but maintenance decided to take our plane out of service, so we changed gates and left at 10:15 PM. I arrived in Los Angeles after the connecting flight was scheduled to leave, but they had waited on our flight since several other passengers on my plane were also headed to Brisbane. This was the longest leg (almost 14 hours) but I slept about 9 of those hours, watched two movies, ate twice, and visited with the passenger next to me; so the time went relatively fast. The passenger next to me was 79 years old and had started traveling about six months ago when his wife passed away. He had gone to Egypt and was now headed for a tour in Australia.
At the beginning of each section of the plane, there were two boxes attached to the wall that folded down to be beds for babies. There were a set of twins looking to be about 6 months old in my section. They were so cute standing in those box beds looking out at the other passengers (although, one did cry most of the way). The Mom remained so calm throughout the flight. She had a younger girl helping with the twins and one passenger also helped. The #1 flight attendant gave her a bottle of champagne at the end of the flight, which obviously tickled her. There were quite a few other babies and children on the flight.
The first person I met at the Brisbane airport was a fellow Texan from Houston. She is living in Brisbane with her husband who works for Exxon. There were several Exxon employees going to Port Moresby to meet with PNG about the pipeline being developed. Port Moresby was the destination on the third leg of my journey. I set by a geology professor from the University of Vermont. Three other colleagues and she were headed to some of the islands around PNG to study underwater rock plates. This was the third trip for the study which is funded by the National Science Foundation. She will be up for tenure in about two years. We discussed the lady in Alabama who recently shot several professors because she did not make tenure. Such pressure!
The government representative with New Tribes Mission met me at the airport to help me through the process. He is apparently very well known by the airport workers so that made the experience much smoother for me. I also meet two missionary families at the airport – one was leaving and one was arriving PNG. I sat with the arriving family while waiting on my plane. They are a precious family with two daughters and one son. I really enjoyed visiting with their oldest daughter who is about 10 (I think). She read to me from her book and talked about why she thought some people would not smile back at her when she smiled at them.
I sat alone in a row on my fourth and final leg to Goroka. It was a twin engine plane but thankfully the flight was smooth. We had to climb the steps to enter the plane and, not being use to wearing skirts, I stepped on one of the two skirts I brought and ripped it. I’ll have to make sure my other two skirts are mailed to me in quick order.
My first sights of PNG from the plane were the beautiful water and deep green mountains. There were houses and huts spotted along the mountain sides. There were red roofs, tin roofs, and thatched roofs. Bud, one of the clinic physicians, and Jahn, the contingency director, picked me up at the Goroka airport and drove me to the mission station. There were people everywhere walking, just walking. The plants and trees were absolutely beautiful but the few houses I saw were well below the poverty level of U.S. standards. They reminded me of the Mano con Mano village near Tampico, Mexico. I will take a “tour” of Goroka on Wednesday to see more of the city which is home to about 17,000 people.
I arrived at the Lapilo Center at 5:00 PM (1:00 AM Dallas time) on Monday, March 8, 2010 – 31.5 hours after leaving Springtown. By the way, where did Day 2 (Sunday) go?? I guess I will have to wait until I return to the U.S. to get that day back.
The vegetable market was open when I arrived. The ladies had spread their blankets at the entrance of the mission station to sell the fruits and vegetables from their gardens. I was told the selection was limited because it had rained so much that many of the gardens had flooded. Jahn bought popo (papaya) which he served later that evening for dinner.
The electrical outlets (or power points as the Australians call them) are fashioned after those in Australia. They have a switch by each plug that needs to be turned on before the outlet will work. Jahn had shown this to me but of course I forgot. After futile attempts to get my hair dryer to work, I went to dinner with wet hair. Of course when Jahn come over to check out what was wrong with my dryer, it was user error. There are about 2 – 3 power outages per day. They only last about 30 seconds before the generator comes on so it isn’t too bad, although the alarm clock keeps going back to a flashing 12:00. I need to buy a battery for it I guess.
I had dinner with Jahn and a couple from Iowa, Larry and Linda. Larry is the dentist here and Linda is the dental assistant. Jahn and his wife, Julie, are my mission mates who help introduce me to life on the mission station. Julie is a nurse in the medical clinic and she had to go on a medical evacuation to Australia so I will meet her tomorrow when she returns. Our other physician, Kevin, also went on the evacuation. A couple had been in a head on collision and the husband had several fractures and internal injuries. The wife was examined and they did not find internal injuries. During dinner, someone stopped by to return a sewing machine. Apparently Julie has one she loans, so maybe I can mend my ripped skirt.
There are lots of birds around and the plant life is gorgeous. We are in a valley and the view from my living room and dining room overlooks a mountain range. There is a rooster currently crowing. There are cows behind the station’s fence. Apparently there are not a lot of cattle in this part of PNG. The station is surrounded by a fence that remains locked. We hire local men to serve as security. They live on the station and man the gate. They carry bows and arrows as their weapons. I also saw security guards in town with bows and arrows.
The apartment I live in looked better in the pictures they sent to me. It is cute but the humidity and dust is hard on the furniture and curtains. My living room furniture consists of a love seat and two chairs, all of which have frames and cushions similar to a futon. I have a small desk with a very uncomfortable desk chair. The dining table is about one inch thick with a laminated top and metal legs. It reminds me of the folding tables at home, only I don’t think the legs fold. The back on one of the four chairs is broke. Looking on the bright side there are three good chairs!
The bedroom furniture consists of a twin bed, a chest of drawers, and a built-in closet that is actually a good size. There is a full bath and the washing machine sets on the porch. It has two small tubs that sit side-by-side in the washer. You first put your clothes in the wash tub, then move to the spin tub for preliminary spinning, then back to the wash tub for rinsing, and then back to the spin tub for final spinning. My first load of laundry should be interesting! The clothes are then line dried. Many of the missionaries hire a “work meri” to clean the house, wash and iron laundry, and sometimes cook. It costs about 75 cents an hour and you make lunch for them. It is a good way to give back to the community and to learn the pidgin language. I haven’t decided if I will hire someone.
The first set of sheets I put on my bed were torn. The other set had two flat sheets and no fitted sheet but were much nicer. I noticed a brown spot under the pillow case and upon investigation realized I would be sharing my pillow with a dead cockroach. I opted to sleep on my neck roll that my friend, Mary, gave to me for the plane ride. (Thank you, Mary!) I’ll sleep on it until my pillows arrive from the States.
It is 5:50 AM and a jogger and then a walker just went by. I think I will play a game of spider solitaire and then try to get a couple more hours of sleep. My day is scheduled to start at 9:00 AM with orientation and a trip to see the station’s grocery store.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always , even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19-20
Shirley Falls - Connecting You to Tribal Missions in Papua New Guinea
