PNG itinerary

I found this in my draft folder. No idea why I never posted it (I guess it wasn't finished?). It's a detailed walk-through of our PNG trip. Reading it over brought back lots of memories. =)

Our itinerary, in brief:

May 4 -- meet at GFU (Rick met us in the Bauman parking lot to say goodbye), drive to PDX, fly from PDX to LAX, dinner in LAX (Chiles), fly to Brisbane over the Pacific Ocean and across the equator, skipping May 5 in the process (an empty flight with extra seats, so I slept almost all the way, only watching one movie [The Curious Case of Benjamin Button] on my individual screen).

[one of our many airport stops]

May 5 -- disappears into oblivion

May 6 -- a day in Brisbane. Take the train into the city, store our bags at a Lutheran Church, and go to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Pet kangaroos, hold koalas, and take a boat back on the river. Split up and spend the night with host families (me with Jordan) who shower us with a confusing mix of love and racism.

[hanging out with kangaroos]

May 7 -- fly to Port Moresby, PNG. Todd Luedtke (Rhett's dad) meets us at the airport, as does the first wave of heat. Settle into our guesthouse, and take a ride about town. Houses on stilts (including an entire village built on the water), and everything open to let in the air (what little there is) -- open churches with no walls (as all churches should be . . .) and houses with slatted windows.

May 8 -- rehearse "The Weave," which is still not finished, and drive to the airport by PMV (passenger motor-vehicle? -- an open pickup truck), via the parliament building. Fly to Lae, which will be our home for the next week (and our emotional home for much longer). Jacob Luke picks us up at the airport in the Mapai van, and we stop at Big Rooster for lunch (drive through). The heat is a new level of intense, and the vegetation is a new level of lush. Settle in to the three-room seminary house we'll be staying in, with no walls (everything slatted, including interior walls, to let in the air), one shower, one toilet, one fan (for all intents and purposes), and rain water to drink and wash in. Take a walkabout and see where Rhett grew up.

[hanging out in our home at Martin Luther Seminary in Lae]

May 9 -- a morning theatre workshop with the seminary students. Experience the pieces they've prepared for us (and their love for cassowaries), and perform "Hello," "The Weave," and the myth portion of "Midas." Break into groups and begin to talk about myths that can become staged stories. Then invited to a baby naming ceremony. A huge feast prepared (including an entire pig), and the "Apostles' Creed" as our gift -- our prayer of blessing upon this child's life. Playing with children, listening to them sing in the chapel, and learning hand games in broken English.

[playing handgames with the children]

May 10 -- a church service in English, in one of the first enclosed buildings we've been in. A traditional song while bringing gifts to the alter -- gifts that include vegetables as well as money. "The Creed" performed, again, as our gift. Great joy when Cindy speaks, not in Latin, or English, or sign language, or Arabic, but Pidgin, and Nicole's voice defies language itself. Then rehearsing "American Midas" for three hours -- preparing it for the round -- and presenting it in Chapel that night.

May 11 -- working with the communication class, and an afternoon trip to the market. Bought PNG skirts. Washed our hair in a dripela ren (massive rain storm).

[with our newly purchased PNG skirts]

May 12 -- listened to an Engan storyteller with our eyes closed, so he wouldn't turn white. Rehearsed with our communication group in the afternoon (swealteringly hot), and then again with the drama class in the evening.

May 13 -- morning communication rehearsal, and left exhausted and drenched for the rest of the day. Afternoon rehearsal with the drama class. The women brought amazing props that they had made by hand, on their own initiative. A swealtering performance at Lae Tech, with worship in Pidgin, and then "Hello," "The Weave," "The Creed," and part of "Midas." Amazing conversations with the students afterward.

May 14 -- performing with the seminary students for the whole community, after more morning rehearsals. Six groups in all. Our drama group (Stephen, Whitney, and I) telling an adapted myth about brothers turned to cassowaries, and rescued by a brother-redeemer who never stopped searching for his siblings. In the end, he burns the magician's house to the ground, with the magician trapped inside (a slightly disturbing vision of Jesus). Our communication group (Cindy, Stephen, Emily, and I) telling the story of a witchdoctor, an evil spirit, and the power of the Light. As the evil spirit, who was constantly leaping on tables, crouching, and twirling about, I was exhausted, and completely drenched, once the story was over.

[as the evil spirit, taking up my residence in the house]

May 15 -- for our safety, two seminary students drove with us to Ukarumpa (or "Little America") and rode back on the bus. Staying with host families in groups of two -- Emily and I together.

[creating pictures of redemption with the Ukarumpa high schoolers]

May 16 -- morning workshop with the 7th-12th grade MKs. Creating pictures of their community, and the redemption that even Ukarumpa needs. Going to a drop in center, for PNG children and youth, in the afternoon. Performing, and creating more pictures. Emily able to talk with two deaf boys.

[performing "The Weave" at the drop-in center]

May 17 -- church at Ukarumpa. All English and all white. Rehearsing "American Midas" in the afternoon (readjusting to a stage), and performing for the youth worship in the evening.

May 18 -- early trip to the Ukarumpa market, and creative dramatics with the elementary school students (every grade) after performing in their morning chapel. Brief meeting with the 8th grade drama class, talking about theatre, and working on vocalization. Relaxation with Sister Act 2 in the evening, and our nightly debrief with Tim Tams.

May 19 -- afternoon performance at Iyura National High School. We performed all of the pieces in their entirety for the first time. An hour of performing, then two hours spent talking to students. One girl took her bilum off her shoulder and gave it to me -- it had taken her over a month to make.

[one of our many performances of "The Creed"]

May 20 -- another early trip to the Ukarumpa market, then driving to Garoka, the Round Round Theatre, and NPAT.

May 21 -- a trip into a village, a traditional mumu (a feast with a butchered pig), and a bilasim skin ritual (dressing up in the traditional feathers and art).

[Whitney and I in our traditional headdresses -- they weighed a ton and were made of beetle shell, Bird of Paradise feathers, etc.]

May 22 -- a trip to a different village, to perform and watch NPAT in an open market place. Then performing "The Weave" in the Round Round Theatre, at a variety show.

[preparing to perform at the Round-Round]

May 23 -- driving back down from the Highlands to Lae, and the heat of the sea. Back home at Martin Luther Seminary.

May 24 -- our day of relaxation. A yacht sailed to Salimoa, which once was Lae. Snorkeling in the blue-green ocean, dolphins accompanying our boat, and a walk up the luscious mountain, with butterflies and anti-aircraft weaponry from WWII. Dinner at the yacht club as Jacob Luke's guests, and meeting his beautiful wife, who gave me her own necklace and earrings.

[our group on Salimoa]

May 25 -- flying from Lae to Port Moresby, and from Port Moresby to Brisbane. A night at the church that hosted us on our way in. A potluck dinner, sharing pictures from our trip, a midnight Tim Tam buying run, and sleeping on mattresses on the church floor.

[Cyndi, Jessie and I with our Tim Tams -- I bought two packages,
they each bought more like 20]

May 26 -- flying from Brisbane to Sydney, from Sydney to LAX, and from LAX to PDX. Saying goodbye in the airport. Taking the shuttle to Corvallis. A day that stretched on forever.