First World Problems

Being in the South Pacific certainly has its share of advantages, and one of them is being very close to New Zealand! We took advantage of our proximity by taking a trip to Middle Earth during our March school break (between terms 3 and 4). More on the adventures we had later, but first, a taste of the adjustments we had to make going from third world to first world.

1. It was REALLY hard for me to be okay with rinsing my toothbrush with hot water. We don’t use the hot water tap to rinse our toothbrushes in PNG because the hot water in our bathroom comes from the river. I had to remind myself it was okay to rinse (and wash my hands) with hot water every time.
2. It also felt strange to drink water straight from a tap without filtering it.
3. Being an introvert, I don’t love greeting everyone as I pass them, but it felt very strange/awkward to NOT greet people as we walked by them while we were in NZ.
4. I was glued to the window for our first car ride from the airport to our hotel in Auckland, amazed at the smooth, paved roads and six lane highways.
5. I was terrified a few times driving at such high speeds on the road. We don’t go that fast around Ukarumpa where the roads aren’t paved, so it’s been quite a while since I’ve been in a car going over 30 MPH!

What I Wouldn't Give for a Hot Shower

Of all the adjustments we have had to make in PNG, for me, bathing has been one of the hardest. Here are a few humorous stories about what it is like in the village and on our center at Ukarumpa.

You may recall a post from about a year ago in which I described an incident that happened after I had hiked several hours to a village, arriving sweaty and tired. Some women in the village led me and the other ladies with me to the spot in the river reserved for women to wash. The river was so shallow that we had to lie down to submerse ourselves! We didn’t have any containers with which to douse ourselves. Our village guides sat on the bank and watched us—probably laughing to themselves about the crazy women who didn’t know how to bathe properly!

In the village where we lived for a month last year, mercifully the water was deep enough for full submersion. It was quite refreshing on most days to cool off in the river. However, on cloudy days, I often found it too cold to bathe, shivering through my “bath,” the 5-15 minute walk from the river to our house (depending on how many people stopped us to talk), and as long as it took for my hair to dry. On those days when I didn’t go down to the river, the neighbors usually stopped by our house to inquire if I had bathed! They didn’t seem to think my excuse of being too cold was a good reason to skip a day.

At POC (Pacific Orientation Course), we had hot showers—sometimes. A family was assigned to “fire duty” each week, which meant getting up at 6 in the morning to start a fire to heat the water. Each shower stall had a bucket that we filled with the water that had been heated (sometimes lukewarm, sometimes scalding!), which then functioned as our shower. In Ukarumpa, we have modern plumbing, so theoretically warm showers are available...as long as the sun is out to heat the water! In our house, we use water pumped in from a nearby river for the hot water in our shower, but occasionally something happens that shuts off the river water for a period of time. A few weeks ago, I prepared a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water to apply to my scalp because I have been having issues with dryness. After massaging my whole head with the vinegar solution, I turned on the faucet to start my shower...no water! There I was with vinegar-scented hair and only cold water available for showering. So, I used a squirt bottle to dump cold water on my head so I could shampoo. It was still quite cold, but a bit better than the alternative!

Guest Blog: Eric (on Coaching Basketball)

Bright and early at 6:30 on a Saturday morning, the Ukarumpa International School’s boys’ basketball and girls’ soccer teams loaded up in a convoy of four 15-seater vans to make the trek to Goroka for a day of sports competition with teams from the New Tribes missions school. The roughly 50-mile drive led us along winding ridges and pothole-infested roads for two and a half hours!

The games against New Tribes were the first official games for our teams this term. The games were also a unique experience for our boys’ basketball team; most of our games and practices take place on an outdoor court, but New Tribes has a full-size international court in their gymnasium. For the first, and possibly the only time, our players had to deal with a raucous crowd. I lost my voice by the end of the day trying to shout over the crowd to be heard.

There will be another tournament in the middle of March, which will be the only other set of official games the team has. Every Tuesday, a group of nationals who work on center play a scrimmage against the team, and a game against a group of expatriate men in Ukarumpa was also organized earlier in the season. I have had to share reffing responsibilities at these games, since we don’t have any official refs!