Welcome to Mount Hagen!

   Beautiful sunny days with the puffy clouds found on children's drawings dotting the sky, regular afternoon thunder storms with a brief rain shower, and cool, fresh air at night. Land so fertile that a tree will grow if you crack a branch off another and plant it in the ground. Many varieties of birds cheerfully singing, with the occasional dog fight breaking up their song. Welcome to Mount Hagen!  

   In our first week in Papua New Guinea, we have been amazed at the natural beauty that surrounds us. Our compound is home to more types of plants and flowers than we even knew existed. Avocado, guava, orange, and banana trees are only the start; passion fruit vines and flowers of all colours, shapes, and sizes add even more life. Even as we flew into Mount Hagen the beauty was everywhere. Dense forest covered the hilly landscape, broken up by winding rivers. Thin trails of smoke rising between the trees indicate that there is life within -- but houses made with anything other than natural materials are only to be found where an airstrip is near. It really is a rugged and breathtaking country. 

   The house that is our first home is simple, but functional. Our water supply is collected from the roof into a large barrel; hot water is heated by the sun in a small hot water tank on our roof. The sun has been doing its job very well, as we haven't had a shortage of hot water yet! It is so hot, in fact, that if we turn the kitchen tap as hot as it goes it feels like boiling water is filling the sink. Since this water collection system has no filtration, our kitchen tap also has a water filter attached. This means that any water that will enter our mouth (even for brushing our teeth) has to be taken from the filtered tap. Nova is still learning that bath water is not meant for drinking, but she's getting there! 

   Our first week has been relatively busy; we met a lot of people and were shown a lot of places. One of my favourite experiences so far has been market shopping; everybody is so friendly, and of course would love for you to buy their bananas or their cucumbers -- even though there are several people selling the same thing! It was great to interact with locals and try our hand at Tok Pisin to greet the sellers and ask for prices. We are also learning that babies are given special treatment here! When walking down the street, Nova is always the first one to be greeted. When buying food at the market, Nova ended up taking home a free cucumber and banana (she might have been given more, but her hands were full by that point). It will definitely be a plus to have a toddler when navigating new places! 

   We have been warned and reminded of security risks time and again, and are learning to take precautions that we wouldn't even think of in Canada. As someone explained to us, Papuans are opportunists; if you give them an opportunity, it is likely they will take it. This means never walking with a phone in your back pocket, leaving a bag unattended (even just for a minute), or leaving anything in your car. Walking down the street, we are definitely seen as "whites," which makes us stand out. It is more likely that we will be carrying fancy electronics or other valuables, which means people do keep an eye on us. Even though it can be unnerving to have strangers watching us so carefully, we are learning that the best thing to do is greet people, stay aware, and walk confidently. Thankfully, our reception has been warm and welcoming with no incidents! 

   As one last side note: we are also learning that the bugs here are opportunists. Earwigs, ants, little worms, you name it. I really don't like bugs, especially in my food, but maybe one day we will learn to be friends (or I will learn to dispose of them more quickly and easily). 

Our first sighting of Papua New Guinea!

Our flight to Mount Hagen courtesy of MAF!

Mount Hagen, the third largest city in PNG

Our house for the next several months

Home(less?)

I clearly remember one sentence that a speaker shared with us in one of our many weeks of training: "I felt homesick without knowing where home was." In this whirlwind of our last few weeks in Canada, I can relate to that concept better each day. We've packed up and left the place that has been our home for the past two years, and won't have a new house that is "ours" for several months. Even after that point, we don't know what home will look like. The village and house that will eventually become our home has only a scant representation in our mind, created by half a dozen pictures. So where is home right now? I don't know. Right now, home isn't a place. 

The things we will use to create our new home are packed into nine suitcases, waiting to travel across the world. New Amazon packages with the last little odds and ends arrive sporadically, filling up the nooks and crannies of each suitcase. We wonder if we have actually remembered everything we need, and then try not to worry about it. Did the nail clipper actually end up in one of the suitcases? "Where is the nail clipper? My nails are REALLY bothering me." "Let me check if it's on the list of things that actually got packed; yes, it should be in one of the suitcases." After an overhaul of all nine suitcases, we still haven't found it... but the list says there are two in there somewhere, so they should show up eventually! 

Messages arrive almost daily with little tips and tidbits to help us pack -- "Take tea along if you want it! Oh, and spices are very expensive here, so take your favourites." The advice and encouragement we continue to receive from our MAF friends who are already living in PNG has been a huge blessing to us. In the middle of what really does feel like a whirlwind, they help to keep our heads on straight. And they continue to assure us that regardless of how chaotic this time is and how uncertain the future seems, it is worth it. We are so excited to join this team of Christians who are ready to call themselves not only our friends, but also our new family.