Robert@PNG

Continued from yesterday.

- New Years eve we had a small party. As is custom in most parts of the world - the men had too much to drink and although we caused some minor disturbance in the area - I'm not entirely sure but I'm pretty sure we were all asleep by midnight. No kisses or hugs at the strike of the new year - no one really knew what time it was! Note that all beer stores were shut and Eli, with her cousin Outex, ventured into Kundiawa (capital of Simbu). The only grog available was from the black-market and unfortunately all beer had been sold out! Unfortunately we had to settle for some local wine, “Liva Lave” or commonly known as “Livex”.

- There was a Rugby match on the Sunday at the Kau School field. The local lads had invited a couple of teams from Rothman's - a suburb about 10 kms out from Goroka. It's always enjoyable to watch Papua New Guineans play Rugby - there right in their element on the field. Apparently Kaubasis and Rothman's have been visiting each other for close to two generations now - the home team put on a feed and a few beers - all sleep in the “haus man”. Interestingly the Rugby field had no goal posts so there were no conversions on the day!

- Eli and myself had some “quiet” time during our short break at the
“Hut” - not a lot, as there is nearly always someone around. Time in the village is always refreshing and when we head back to town I always feel like the old batteries have been recharged. Relationships in PNG can be severely taxed by the “clan” and “in-laws” - in fact many a marriage in PNG breaks down just because of this. So some quality time together and without any “spectators” was well needed.

- We always take Manam (the cat) with us to the “Hut” as she is quite
the rat catcher. Here at home she catches on average one mouse or rat a day and once caught proceeds to devour the whole carcass. In the village one night - Manam wandered in holding this humongous rat between his teeth and proceeded to consume it right in front of us. The thing was still wriggling as Manam sunk her teeth into it and as we eqatched we could hear the odd bone crack! So… where there's Manam - there's little chance of getting disturbed by vermin. By the way - he eats anything that moves - from grasshoppers to cockies - you name it and she's into it!.

- We eat like kings when we stay in the village and this xmas/new year was no exception. Local folks just keep dropping off fresh fruit and vegies. All organic of course. There is never a shortage of fresh
produce when we visit. I particularly enjoyed the long beans and king fruits.

(To be continued tomorrow)