A comfortable induction
Trip Start
Feb 06, 2008
1
3
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Madang,
Madang,
Papua New Guinea
Sunday, March 16, 2008
hoping that a cut and paste will allow me to send it on hotmail when
we next get to the VSO office in Madang.
A budget room is a small room with two single beds, two wardrobes and
a fan. It has been our home for the last 3 weeks while we have been
doing our in country orientation. After all the ribbing about dungie
spiders and other unpleasant things it has been a pleasant place to
put our weary heads.
The rooms surround a flowered quad which has wooden carvings to add
character. We have to share 4 showers and toilets with other
residents, the Seaview Restaurant, small tea shop, shop and pool
swimming. VSO have special rates for volunteers and we are entitled
to three meals a day from the VSO menu. There is a good selection of
food but you can't go wrong with cereal, toast , coffee and fresh
fruit, served by waiters in lap laps, who are incredibly polite,
although rather slow. The restaurant overlooks the sea and is a
superb place to start the day.
Actually the start of the day is usually heralded by the chorus of
fruit bats coming to roost after their night hunting for food. They
are like large birds who chatter noisily and only the most weary
residents sleep through their return. We have decided that dawn is
the best part of the day and to get up and take a plunge in the pool
is a heavenly start to the day.
VSO send a mini bus to take us to the office for our lectures but we
often walk and feel very safe doing so.
a view from Holy Spirit Mountain.
It takes about 15-20 minutessauntering along. It is not a good idea to walk too quickly. The
temperature has already started to rise! Walking to town is very
similar to walking in Zambia. Trees and bushes are the same, well
trodden footpaths and no pavements as we know them. The roads are
generally in better condition than many in Zambia, although heavy
rains take their toll.
Well I started by saying we had completed our in country training and
this is our first day when we have been left to our own devices for a
fortnight. Last night there was a BBQ for employers and all VSO
personnel..............it rained and how it
rained......................!
This morning was over-caste but we had arranged to be taken out on a
boat to do some swimming and snorkelling on Jan's boat. We had not
met Jan! Eunice, his wife had given a lecture on coping with stress
and told us that Jan had a boat which he took out every Saturday and
that for 30 Kina he would take passengers. Lynn and Roger, who are
also volunteers, have been here since July 2007. They were going out
this Saturday and they said they would pick us up from the lodge so
that we could all go out with Jan.
Jan and Eunice have been in PNG for 28 years. We were waiting for the
boat to arrive and really not prepared for Jan. He is slim built, nut
brown, has a long, grey pony tail and smokes cigars. He talks about
many subjects and is not your stereotypical, Indianna, boy. The fact
that he is a Lutheran minister here to translate the bible into, which
ever, of the 880 languages need translation is just another side to
this very interesting and complex character. For anyone wanting a
day or days out fishing or diving he is a great contact. His schedule
is very flexible and he is very knowledgeable and good value
