Return to Ramu

Well we made it safe and sound back to Papua New Guinea after a 4.30am start in Cairns, two flights, a two hour wait in the stuffy Port Moresby airport and a two hour drive to Ramu from Lae. But we're here! And I must say, the 'culture shock' is so much less than two years ago when we first came here - I now don't question why the Papua New Guineans at the airport appear so non-chalent, almost aggressive or rude, I now don't hesitate in attempting my stumbling pidgin, and this time I wasn't shocked or amazed on our flight over the jungle to Lae or the drive to Ramu through the valley and past all the little villages with their thatch roofed huts and endless pikininnies wandering the roads. 

Our friends, Glenn and Ange, who we are visiting had their driver pick us up at the Lae airport. We arrived at Glenn's office at about 3pm yesterday, swung past the feedlot on the way home to check out some sorghum harvest and arrived to some excited little girls and a Chinese feast of food which Ange and her friends had been preparing literally all day. It was aaaamaaaazing. Words can't do the soup justice, the chicken nor the dumplings. Oh my. 

Lulu, Sassy and Pepe had decorated our bedroom beautifully for our 'honeymoon suite', Lu and I enjoyed some chit-chat over some breakfast this morning after Glenn and Matt headed to work and the sleeping beauties were in bed. Today I've been teaching Ange to crochet, she's so much better than I was when I began! Helps having someone actually sitting next to you I think rather than YouTube videos and following diagrams. Ange made some food for the inpatients down at the local hospital so we took that down to them, there were 6 patients and 2 mama's having babies/just had a baby. This is the hospital which we raised money for last year to get the power put back on. Sorry I didn't take my camera but might get some photos another time. We also went to the market and stocked up on some fruit and veg, I chose the potatoes, naturally. On returning home Ange's poor little red rocket blew a tyre (luckily just outside the gate of their house). It was like a gunshot and scared the holy molies out of us! Poor red rocket. After lunch we got to some papier mache with the girls, as you do. 

Loving being back in PNG, and glad to report I can still 'savve' (understand) pidgin well but am going to have to regain confidence in speaking it with any fluency - I just tell people I do 'lik-lik' (a little bit). Off to Lae tomorrow for a shopping trip, Matt at work with Glenn no doubt loving it. All is well.