but there are good bits too...

I'd only been back in Australia for 1 week, but on Monday I got a letter from someone at work in Goroka. It was so lovely - remembering my mum and her visit - that i'm putting it up here, to sit alongside with the daily craziness of the story from Kainantu.

"Hello and Good Morning in the Name of our lord Jesus Christ. I have just a few words to say. Firstly, how's your trip from Goroka & Port Moresby & to Australia, I hope you had a good trip.

I will not see you again, Saturday was the last time I left you at the airport. Thankyou for being with us in the Institute. I hope you have learnt some tok pidgin from me and Elice.

Robyn, I'm very sorry that I didn't shake hands with your Mum before she left Goroka. Mum I hope you enjoy your staying in PNG, mostly in Goroka. I'm your friend whom you asked for bird watch. I think that's all I have to say nothing much.

Wish you all the best in your homeland Australia and hope to hear from you soon.

Bye bye for now.
God may bless you all"

the more things change, the more they remain the same

Chaos and looting: as reported by James Kila in today's National (http://www.thenational.com.pg/101606/nation2.htm)

KAINANTU, town in Eastern Highlands province was in chaos last Friday when a mob raided an Asian shop and looted all its merchandise in broad daylight. Stones and other missiles were hurled at police and vehicles owned by Asians. The looting and unruly scene happened after midday.

Youths smashed the walls of the Highlands Wantok shop, situated near the Kainantu market, open and took away bags of rice, boxes of corned beef, clothing and electronic goods. According to eye witnesses, the looting followed the death of a local youth after a scuffle with one of the security guards employed by Highlands Wantok, an Asian merchandise company based in Kainantu.

Members of the public mobilised and moved into the shop, overpowering the guards and shop attendants and grabbed anything they could lay their hands on and ran off.

The incident happened at the section of Kainantu town leading to Aiyura near the main markets. Stores and shops owned by locals were not affected.

[...] Community leaders who tried to call for calm were shouted down and stones, bottles and sticks hurled at them...The road to Aiyura and Bundaira and the bush tracks near the town were crowded with men, women and children walking home with their loot. Two traffic police vehicles parked outside the shop could do little as the huge crowd shouted them down and marched into the shop.

farewell

Left png on Sunday. Back to Australia. What adventures I've had! What unexpected experiences. What wonderful friends.

all these things that i've done

And now it’s three sleeps and I’m out of Goroka, plus one and I’m out of PNG itself. I’ve been thinking ahead to leaving for a while, so it was with surprise that I found myself feeling sad last night. Sad about finishing such an extraordinary experience, about leaving such an extraordinary country. Living here has been seriously challenging – but who doesn’t like a challenge? At least you’re alive, thinking, doing. I love how here every day offers possibility; everyday is unpredictable and contains something unexpected. How many places do you live that can offer that?

Whilst I’m really looking forward to being back in Australia, life there doesn’t offer that – slightly crazy – element. There’s a lot more gloss in Australia: things are tidier, neater, run more smoothly, carry less risk. I’m worried I’ll end up bored again. But I’ve also grown up a lot since coming here, and know that it’s less about the place and more about the person you are, and the people you have in your life. And I feel excited about that.

So it’s a nice sadness. The luxury of leaving. The sadness I don’t know how to place is that of saying goodbye to PNG friends who I probably will never see again. For now, I’m wrapping up their voices, faces and gestures, and storing them softly in my memory. It’s inadequate, but it’s all you can do.