What Did You Say?!

For your reading enjoyment: the second installment of Kids Say the Darndest Things.

1.       My first graders during Sunday School:

Kid 1: “Why are all the teachers girls?”

Kid 2: “Because girls like little kids more than boys do!”

U is for Umbrella

While it is true that all men are created equal, the same cannot be said of the umbrella. Before I moved to Papua New Guinea (PNG), I had a cute little fold-up umbrella that was more than adequate for a short jaunt to the car or to run into Target. In fact, I rarely used it—it was just too much of a hassle to deal with—up, down, in, out, drip, drip, drip.

Then I moved halfway around the world to a country that has two seasons—rainy and dry. In the rainy season, it rains pretty much every day, at about the same time each day. In the dry season…well, it rains pretty much every day, randomly throughout the day. So with all the rain around here, one needs a good umbrella. But what constitutes a good umbrella?

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I’m always amazed at the things kids say—the things that pop out of their mouths when they aren’t even trying to be funny. Since I’m at school all day, and therefore around kids all day, I decided to compile a list of things that some of the kids say.

1. One of my second graders started a sentence by saying, “When I was a kid…” (Um, when was that, last week?!)
2. Two older boys walked passed my room, one was talking and the other, presumably, had been listening until he said, “I’m tuned out…” (I almost fell off my chair from laughing so hard when I heard this one—the non-listener was totally deadpan when he said that!)
   

To Town, You Say?

Kainantu-see the little bit of pavement on the right side
of the picture?

About a week and a half ago, I had the opportunity to go to Kainantu with several other ladies to do some shopping. We piled into the old firetruck and headed out bright and early (okay, so 7:30 isn’t really that early…but it was school break!). The roads here in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are very interesting (read: full of potholes), and the dirt road right out the front gate of Ukarumpa is among the worst (at least on the way to Kainantu). You can’t really dodge the potholes because they are EVERYWHERE, so you just look for the part of the road that has the least, or the potholes that look the least likely to eat your vehicle.

Down to the River

Today was another typical day in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG): cool in the morning, warm and sunny in the afternoon, and cool again in the evening after the sun went down. During the hot part of the day, I ended up going down to the river that flows near Ukarumpa with my good friends, the Romito’s. We packed up a picnic lunch and headed off (on foot, of course!) to the river.

Where we crossed the river.

When you arrive at the river, you have to wade across (very carefully—the current is surprisingly strong!) in order to get to the better swimming area. After we crossed, we got our blankets spread out and ate our lunches—I brought a peanut butter tortilla sandwich (just so you know, making tortillas with self-rising flour is a bad idea…they start out fluffy, but end up like a lead balloon; I had one for supper—bleh), carrots, and cookies—fantastic picnic food! J

You Know...

      I was thinking the other day about my "new normal," when I realized that, as of this Friday, I've been in Papua New Guinea for eight months. So, in honor of my eight month anniversary of arriving in PNG, here is a list of things that I never thought I would consider normal.

          You Know You've Lived in PNG for Eight Months When...

1. You get up early to hang your laundry on the line…even though it’s cloudy and will rain later in the day.
2. You wear gum boots outside to hang your laundry on the line so you don’t sink up to your ankles in mud.

Baking with Weevils

The blacks things in the middle are weevils
and the yellowish little guys are meal worms.

Yes, you read the title correctly...baking with weevils...sounds appetizing, doesn't it?! When I first arrived in PNG last July, a friend and I decided to make tortillas, so we mixed up the ingredients; my friend rolled them out and I cooked them on a skillet. About halfway through, I happened to notice some funny looking little things in the tortillas. When I pointed them out, we took a closer look at the offending tortilla, looked at each other, and said, “Meal worms.” Then we both shrugged our shoulders and finished making the batch of tortillas—and they tasted pretty good, too!