Without even realizing it a month has passed. In some aspects I find myself quite settled in; however, I appreciate that there is much more to discover. I eagerly awoke this morning looking forward to my meeting with a key person within the Provincial Education Department. I ran through all my morning routines; cutting off the security lights on my verandas, hiding my ipod and laptop in my oven, and packing bottles of water, bananas and oranges into my bilum. During my walk to the bus stop I gave and received the occasional “Morning tru.” I have begun to recognize familiar faces lingering under trees and around buai stands. I hardly notice the flying foxes above my head or the trails of splattered buai that have painted the path crimson. I know that bus 6A takes me to town, 9A to Divine Word University and 17A to Madang’s Teacher College. I climbed into 6A where I always find opportunities to practice my Tok Pisin. I laughed with Brenda, who works at ChemCare pharmacy, about how the bus attendant opened the door at the crosswalk out of habit thinking it was a stop.
As we approached Modilon, a supermarket near the VSO office where egg sandwiches and cold Fantas are found, I shouted for the driver to stop. While at the office, I printed the agenda I prepared for my meeting and submitted several requests to my program manager. For security reasons, I requested to move into Ed’s apartment on the second floor of my complex. His placement with VSO is ending and he leaves for the UK in a few days. I also recently discovered that all the volunteers, except for me, received the TB vaccination, so I requested an appointment with VSO’s doctor.
My meeting at the Provincial Department with John Ura, the Provincial In-service Coordinator, went relatively well. We managed to get through a third of the agenda and scheduled another meeting next week. I didn’t however manage to get any information on the National policy for Inclusive Education. One of the targeted aims of my project is to assist in bridging the inclusive education network. After my meeting, I bumped into Michael, a teacher from the Deaf Education Resource Unit (DERU). It just so happened that I just gave a briefing of the DERU in my meeting. Fortunately, Michael said he had a copy of the National policy that he could review with me later in the afternoon. It’s all about networking.
(Picture of the Creative Self Help Centre)At 4:06, the official end of the workday, I came home to find Jeremiah scraping coconut on his veranda. This was my chance. One thing I learned from my initial days in Chimate Village about building relationships was to find something that can be done together that didn’t involve language. I asked if I could come to learn to scrape coconut. He smiled and let me take his place on the bench which the scraper was attached. Scraping is much more demanding than it looks. You actually have to put quite a bit of muscle into it. Unlike Zambians, Jeremiah and his family who now surrounded me did not laugh at my blunders. Jeremiah patiently modeled the technique for me again holding the half coconut in his hands showing me the proper grip as he slid the coconut at an angle across the blade. I have spoken to Jeremiah, his younger sisters, and the other children of his extended family (wontoks) that play in our compound many times. Jeremiah must be around the age of 12 or 13 and his sisters possibly between 1 and 3 years. I left with the promise of Tok Pisin and PNG cooking lessons.
Buai is a huge part of PNG culture and I have wanted to try it since my arrival. Every few feet along the roads there are stands selling buai and tobacco rolled in yesterday’s copy of the National Courier.
Just outside my apartment complex, my neighbors have a buai stand. I often stop and chat with Christopher and his daughter on my walks to and from work. Christopher has offered me buai on many occasions, but due to fear of my teeth being permanently stained red I have politely declined. Ed wanted to try buai before he left so I told him I knew just the guy who would teach us this PNG tradition. Once we chewed through the outer shell, the betel nut (buai) was jaw clenching, eye watering bitter. Our mouths began to salivate and the spitting began. Some people choose to chew buai without the mustard plant (daka) and lime which provides the “buzz” and the blood red color. We wanted the full experience. Once we chewed the buai into a ball we dipped the mustard stem in the lime, which is reportedly taken from coral. Once we begin to chew the 3 ingredients together, our teeth, lips and tongues turned scarlet. 
My mouth tingled and grew hot. Although my entire mouth was filled with saliva, it felt very dry. We were quite the entertainment for those walking past. They laughed at us spitting and showing one another our crimson tongues. Although I did not feel a buzz or any effects of the buai other than a dry tingling mouth, I did feel a sense of acceptance. My greetings were much better received when paired with a red smile.
This is what I could look like if I made chewing buai a habit! Dinner parties are the main social events here in Madang. Marleen, Haley and I cook dinner together 4 nights of the week—it’s much better than cooking and eating alone. We typically have veggies with either rice or pasta. Haley’s father is a chef in the UK so she has offered to give me cooking lessons. Tonight we made garlic hummus and an Indian curry dish. My taste buds needed something a bit spicy after the buai.
Like clockwork the rains have begun to hum their nightly lullaby. The splattered buai will be washed from the dirt. The air will cool. And if I am lucky, I will be in a deep sleep before the rooster begins to crow.
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