THE MANGSENG TRIBE

CHICKEN TOES

Today I went into the market in Kimbe town. It is about 40 mins drive from the base (at least i think it's 40 mins, I'm rubbish at calculating distance and time.) We just went through the market and some second hand shops looking for a bargain. I found lots of nice things, a few dresses and some meri blouses (a type of top that all the nationals wear here.) 

We had lunch in a Papua New Guinea version of KFC. The only thing that was similar in this KFC to the one back home was the fact that the sign outside was red. I'm just glad we ate there and didn't wait until we got right into the market. You can see from the picture below what was on the menu there, chicken toes. LOVELY.  

I'm just about to go to bed now, it's 10pm here. We are all up at 5am tomorrow cause we're heading into the bush to visit a tribe. We're going early so that we can go to church and have lunch afterwards with them. I'm really looking forward to it, should be a great day. I'll take lots of pictures so you can have a look at what went on.

Love,

Emma x

MENGEN TRIBE, LELE VILLAGE

So, I start school tomorrow. I teach PE in the morning, that'll be a laugh and then English after that. I'm teaching MAP 4/5 as it's known here, which is 15-17 year olds in the high school. Really not looking forward to it. I'll blog tomorrow and let you know how that goes.

These are some pictures from the tribe my brother and dad visited this weekend. They really enjoyed their time there and have lots of stories from the trip. I hope to visit a tribe really soon so keep an eye out for the pics.

Thanks for all the comments. 

Keep them coming.

Emma x

LELE

WANTOK

Already I’ve started drawing comparisons between PNG and Africa. I’ve discovered some similarities like the weather, community culture and the wantok (another new pigeon word meaning friendship.) The wantok system is very common in Africa also, it’s like an unspoken rule. When you make a friend or have grown up alongside someone, if they come under some kind of difficulty you look after them by feeding them, sharing with them, letting them live in your house, whatever they need. If the same happens to you they must return the favour. This wantok system plays a huge part in the PNG culture because they're so community based. If a local is going into town for the day to do something important and they meet a friend they haven't seen in a while along the way, they'll stop and chat. They'll forget about what they have to do in town because their way of thinking is completely relational.

This made me think about home and how we're so driven by our schedules, to-do lists and calanders. Don't get me wrong sometimes things need to get done, but it wouldn't hurt to slow down sometimes and try a bit of wantok.

Emma x

NEVER SMILE AT A CROCODILE

Yesterday my family and a few missionaries from the base went to a local resort to hang out and eat some food on new years day. The resort is absolutely beautiful. It has a beach just outside the restaurant where we eat, with imported sand from another country but it still looks great none the less. They also have a little animal park just next to it where we went to visit the crocodiles and where I learnt my new pigeon word : pukpuk (crocodile). One of the guys was beating a stick off something and the croc did a full 180 degree jump in our direction, we ran so fast. 

However the best part of the day was when my brother and I went for a swim out to the reef to snorkel. It was an amazing experience seeing the vast array of colours, fish and different creatures. It's crazy looking. I caught another starfish and this time it was a big blue one. I'm getting pretty good at this aren't I? In the next few weeks we'll go to an even bigger reef and go for a dive to see what's within the deeper seas, I can't wait.

I know it may sound like I'm not doing any work but that all starts on Tuesday. Today I had a meeting with the principal of the Malango school here to arrange the work I will be doing. Turns out, I will be a full time teacher of a Secondary School English class. I'm a little scared but hopefully after a few lessons I'll be fine. 

I took a few pictures of around the base (mini America) today which I will get up really soon.

In the mean time here's a few of the resort yesterday and the catch of the day, my lovely blue starfish.

Love, 

Emma x