Banquet and visit to Kainantu

This is a Willie Wagtail, one of the first birds I've positively identified here in PNG, as I have yet to find a bird book. For this one, Wikipedia came in handy. They're a rather common kind of flycatcher that rarely sits still enough to allow pictures like this.

Last night was the annual Banquet event here in Ukarumpa. It's a huge event, and it's basically all I've heard about all week. What happens is the parents of the juniors and seniors in high school here will take a week to set up and decorate the teen centre building with a theme that is kept a secret from the high schoolers. (this year was New York City, last year was Italy, etc.) The parents also make a fancy meal and prepare a play for the evening's entertainment. Then on Friday night, the juniors and seniors arrive all dressed up and in whatever dramatic form of transportation they can get. (examples: fancy police trucks, go-karts, and 3-wheeled "tuk tuk" trucks) It's a big deal, called the "grand entry." There's a huge crowd gathered to watch them arrive, and they all get introduced and show off their outfits before they go into the building. Scott and Michael Bauman were both able to go this year, as they are a senior and a junior, respectively. This week I learned that Banquet is a big part of the SIL culture, and it's neat to see how everyone comes together for the event.

I spent the rest of the evening with Mr. and Mrs. Toland, who are Arlene Bauman's parents. They served here in PNG for many years with two different language groups, and they came back for a year to work with the Rawa people again. They had some very neat stories and experiences to share, including how God called them back here again. Mrs. Toland dreamed that they were being called back, and prayed that Mr. Toland would have the same or a similar dream to confirm that it was God's calling. She didn't tell him about her dream, but a few days later, God gave him a dream that they were supposed to return. They've been able to accomplish a lot for their beloved Rawa in this past year.

The Tolands also shared how the culture here in PNG is very relationship-oriented, where most people are friendly and would give up everything they own rather than lose a friend. Life is also a lot simpler here, not only in the villages, but also in the SIL compound. Sure, things were kind of crazy this week preparing for Banquet, but for the most part, people aren't running around to 5 different activities. Instead, they're spending evenings together as families, or visiting with others. They're very open, and develop many good relationships. Those who have grown up here go to America and feel like so many people are either too busy to be a good friend, or they're wearing masks and aren't open enough to become friends.

There's also a lot less materialism in PNG. Houses are smaller, and some things that we take for granted as "necessities" just aren't common, if they're even practically available. However, there is some western industrialism and development that is starting to come into the culture, but it is creating more problems than benefits, as I'll explain below.

I don't know if I mentioned about how Ukarumpa has a security fence around the compound, and policemen with trained dogs patrolling after dark. Apparently almost everyone here has had some experience with being robbed, though it happens a lot less often inside the compound itself now that the fence is up. When people go to other towns, however, they have to be very careful with their money and valuable items, or else they will almost definitely be stolen.

The rampant theft and highway robbery has only come about in the past few decades, as people have started to see our Western advertisements. Any basic marketing class will tell you that advertisements are effective if they cause a person to feel a desire or even a need for the product being advertised. Well, these advertisements are doing just that. The problem is that while people have plenty of food (due to the excellent growing conditions), good houses, and good clothing, they don't really have much extra money. The only way for them to get these products they suddenly want is to steal. It's kind of sad to see/hear how things have deteriorated due to Western "improvements."

Today I took a trip with a group of people into a nearby town called Kainantu. There we got to experience a little of the real culture of PNG, rather than just the SIL-influenced culture of Ukarumpa. It's a small town, and actually it used to be an old airstrip. People started to put buildings on the runway because it was an open, flat piece of ground, and then it ceased to be an airstrip because it got too crowded. We were warned that there would likely be pickpockets there, and if we left the car at any time, we had to hide whatever things were in it and lock the doors so that it wouldn't be broken into. Thankfully, no problems this time.

We stopped by the Eastern Highlands Cultural Centre, where we were able to look at some of the native artistic handiwork, which was available for purchase. Here's an example of the Tok Pisin sign that announced the rules/standards of the place, which you might actually be able to understand with a little effort. It's easier if you read it out loud. At the bottom of this post, I'll give you a general interpretation. :-)

We stopped by the local market, and it was fun to be the cause of the most excitement they've had there all week. Everywhere we went, people just stopped and stared at us, and sometimes hid smiles or giggles. I didn't realize we Westerners look so funny! It was interesting to see the variety of fruits and vegetables for sale at the market. They were selling for incredibly low prices too. One of the most expensive things there was a coconut, which was 1 Kina, which is equal to about 37 cents. Most things (cabbages, groups of carrots, sugar cane, cooked chicken heads/feet, and other things I didn't even recognize) were selling for about 10-50 Toea, which is about 4-19 cents.

We also stopped at the most Western place in the town, a little "fast food" restaurant called Highlands Fried Chicken, where you could get anything you wanted, as long as it was fried chicken, and as long as they still had some left. (apparently our large group ate them out of their inventory of chicken) Most nationals only go there to buy drinks or ice cream, because it's too expensive for them to buy the chicken meals. They also served some decent french fries, which are called chips here. Oh, and chicken sandwiches are called chicken hamburgers. Above is one of the signs that was hanging in the little place.

There's so much more of the culture here/there that I could tell you about, but I don't want to make this any more ridiculously long than it already is. :-) You'll probably hear a lot of those things in later posts throughout my time here.

Oh, I almost forgot. The sign at the EHCC says roughly this: 1) Leave your bags and bilums (popular bag/purse-like things that almost every woman here has) at the door (when you come in); 2) If you break something, you buy it or pay for it; 3) You can't have anything for nothing (as in, shoplifting); and 4) You'll get caught stealing. Kind of a fun language, isn't it?