When a guest has come to stay with someone in PNG, the
traditional way to send them off is with a bung
(gathering). Eric and I were blessed to be part of a wonderful large family
that we really connected with, and also to have become a part of our church
family after just one month. Each of these families held a bung for us before we left.
Two days before our departure, people from our church
gathered to say farewell. First a few people gave speeches, and then Eric and I
gave a speech to the best of our ability in Tok Pisin. We had learned a few songs
in their tok ples (local language)
which we sang for them. Our waspapa (host
father) told us everyone was honored that we had pronounced all the words
correctly! Then they gave us a huge bowl of food that was just for us. It
included rice, fish, cooked bananas (there are many different kinds of banana
here), taro, and turtle meat! After we ate as much as we could, they presented
us with some gifts, and the pastors prayed for us.
The following night, we had a bung with all of our host family’s relatives. Our waspapa told everyone to come between 4
and 5 because he said we had eaten too late the night before (around 7). So
everyone came between 4 and 5…PNG time! That meant we ate after 7 again. As we
sat around talking earlier in the day, our waspapa
asked if we had ever eaten chicken that didn’t come from the store. Later we
heard the petrified squawk of the rooster who lived under our house, followed
by silence. Now if we are asked that question again, we’ll be able to answer
yes!
For the family bung,
we weren’t given a whole bowl of food just for us…we were given an entire
table! In addition to chicken, we had lamb chops, fish, rice, potatoes,
bananas, taro, and a pizza-like dish made from tapioca. Again there were
farewell speeches and gifts. Earlier in our stay, I had shown people a picture
of when I taught some students in NY about Papua New Guineans carrying string bilum bags on
their heads, but since I didn’t have any bilums, I had used plastic bags. They all thought it was
hilarious, but they told me I needed to learn how to make a bilum so when I go back, the kids can
use the real thing. I think everyone took on the challenge of providing me with
bilums for teaching…we were gifted
with 16 bags!
The next morning, we prepared our luggage and sat underneath
our house with our waspapa and wasmama (it was too hot to sit in the
sun even at 8 a.m.!). Slowly more relatives came, and by 10:30 when the truck
arrived to pick us up, we had a big crowd. As people began to run around to
load our supplies, Eric pulled me aside to show me a carved eagle he held in
his hand. The carving belonged to our waspapa’s
brother, who is around our age and had become our closest friend in the
village. It was part of the slingshot that he carried with him everywhere,
which he had decided to give to Eric. Gifting and reciprocating gifts is a huge
part of PNG culture, so it was very appropriate for him to give us the carving,
but this was a very special gift because we never saw him without it. Tears
flowed as we said goodbye to everyone, and we all waved and waved as the truck
pulled away until the village was no longer in sight. The eagle now sits on an
end table in our living room in Ukarumpa, and some day we hope to reciprocate
the gift by visiting our village with marshmallows—something we were never able
to explain as we sat around evening campfires!
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