TV and Alcohol Shock!

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  Madang, Papua New Guinea
Monday, August 25, 2008

We are in Madang for one more week delivering the last of the workshops for heads and deputies, this time on the management of change.  It could be a disaster.  Heads here are not trained for the job and literally walk from the classrom to the new position. We have 3 heads with some experience but it is scary to think of the responsibility they are given without adequate prparation.
Yesterday was our anniversary and Bob booked us into Coastwatchers for a lovely meal and we stayed over night which meant we didn't have to get a lift back to the flat in which we are staying this week. The down side of being in PNG is that it is not considered safe to walk around at night and there is no taxi or bus sevice so if you don't have your own transport you are stuck. Most of the time this is not a problem as we are with friends who will give us a lift but last night we wanted a meal for two, very romantic. Well you need your own space sometimes

Coasties celebrating Rachel and Dan,s marriage.

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It was novel to watch some of the olympics on TV oh the things we used to take for granted. We had alcohol with the meal that is a novelty too! How life has changed.
Last week we were staying on Karkar Island working at the local secondary school. It is in a beautiful location but everything is very basic even the guest house in which we were staying.
The local store is like the one in Bogia. not disimilar to walking into a wild west movie. The difference between Karkar and Bogia being that they sell ice-cream. What a treat! The people who own the guest house also own a cocoa and coconut plantation on the island.
They are PNG Aussies and have lived here for three generations.It was a novel experience being invited for dinner. The doberman was big enough to eat you for lunch to start with, Amber! The crocodile skin and our host made you think of Crocodile Dundee. There were similarities.
We also met the another family with a plantation. The father is from Nottingham. He married a lady from Karkar and has 4 children. Two of them are in Australia with their families and 2 live in Madang and help run the business. The first time we visited we stayed in their guest house. This time we went across on the boat which carries produce. We were looked after and again invited for a meal. Paul,s in laws were visiting from Germany. All in all a very interesting visit and that's without mentioning the work.

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