Friday, September 5, 2008
Yesterday, we watched a demonstration of a hauskuk (outdoor kitchen) being built. Today, it's our turn! We are building our own hauskuk because we will cook for ourselves on the weekends. POC does a great job of giving us all of the tools we will need for village living. Thankfully, we get to learn them one little step at a time.

Each morning, we begin our Tok Pisin learning with one a tisa reading from the Buk Baibel (the Tok Pisin scriptures) and prayer. We've been in Genesis chapter 1 this week, so here's a sample from Genesis 1:1---

Bipo bipo tru God i mekim kamap skai na graun na olgeta samting i stop long en.



Thursday, September 4, 2008
Today, both the adults and the older students went on field trips. Sarah and Benjamin explored old WWII bombers only a short drive away from POC, while the adults drove into town to try out our blossoming Tok Pisin skills. Katherine came with Mama and Daddy to town, and Olivia stayed on top of the mountain for school. Our cook gave each group a list of vegetables (in Tok Pisin) to pick up while we enjoyed the market. Thankfully, we had our Tok Pisin tisa by our side to help us navigate! We also found a small place where beautiful handmade carvings, bilums, and jewelry were sold. We bought a few things, and as we were leaving, a man called to us "Stop, my friend!". Then, he put a dainty necklace of shells and beads around Katherine's neck as a gift. What a great story for our little one when she grows up.

From Sarah:
The first plane was a Japanese bomber, and we got to see where the bombs were loaded before they were dropped. The tail had fallen off, and people had taken the wings, but Benjamin still had fun pretending to be the pilot and moving all of the levers. The other plane we saw was an American plane. It was much smaller, but it was still intact. The plane bridged a river, so we walked over the wings to cross the river. I crawled into the cockpit.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Several of you have asked about specifics of the land around us. Every morning, we wake up to the sound of birds and the smell of wood smoke. The birds we jokingly call "Joy to the World" birds because their song sounds exactly like the notes and the rhythm to "Joy to the world, the Lord". The wood smoke comes from the fire being stoked right outside our window. Each week, somebody has the duty to keep "Martha" burning to make hot water for the showers. POC is on top of a mountain just outside Madang. We enjoy a beautiful view of the ocean on one side and the lush rainforest on the other side. When we take our hikes, we hike in the mountains and through the many gardens that are built into hills. For our swimming, we drive down about 30 minutes to a sheltered lagoon where our instructors put out a 100 meter line around which we can swim laps.