Dinner and a movie with my PNG Friends.

Dunston and Roselyn
I invited Roselyn and her two children to my house this weekend. Remember, she was the teacher that invited me to her village Fourth of July weekend, but I was sick and had to postpone. Each day this week I walked with them from Lutheran Day School where Roselyn and I were holding a workshop and where Dunston attends grade 5 and Stephanie grade 1. We would make our way back to the Creative Self Help Centre to eat a late lunch of smoked fish and saksak, which is made from the soft bark found inside the sago tree. Saksak is not very appetizing, but I ate it regardless of its slimy texture and horrible smell. I would not have thought that tree would taste that great anyway! Since they had shared a taste of PNG food with me and had invited me to their home, I decided I would invite them to my home for a taste of an American favorite—pizza!

Papua New Guineans love country music. To easily build rapport, I have made a habit of mentioning that I am from the city of Nashville, known as Music City USA. Knowing that I am from the “ples bilong kuntri musik,” as soon as they arrived they asked to hear some country music. We listened to Alabama, Hank Williams Jr., and Dixie Chicks and I taught them the steps I could remember from my mom’s line dancing days. I showed them pictures of the farm and they enjoyed seeing cows, horses and tobacco barns. They were amazed at the pictures of the trees in the fall and the snow covered mountains in the winter. Stephanie and Dunston were as amazed as the children of my home stay family in Zambia when I took out the deck of cards and began to shuffle. If it wasn’t for the distraction of cooking pizza, I believe they would have practiced shuffling all night!

They said they had seen pictures of pizza in books and magazines, but they had never tasted it. They had their hands in every part of the cooking, but I think they enjoyed kneading the dough best. Just like any child, they loved anything that allowed them to get a bit messy! Roselyn shared in her children’s excitement as they topped the pizza with cheese and slid it into the oven. Although I explained that pizza is a food that is eaten with your hands, they insisted that all Americans eat with a fork and knife. Stephanie was as determined to master eating with utensils as Dunston was to shuffle like a Vegas dealer.


After dinner, the four of us piled on my couch and watched Happy Feet from my laptop. Although they had watched dvds before, their excitement was as high as it was when they were cooking pizza and shuffling cards for the first time. Their smiles covered their entire faces and I couldn’t have been happier to share this experience with them. Stephanie really enjoyed the hammock!


The next morning Roselyn couldn’t wait to call her family and tell them about her weekend with her American friend. She smiled when I told her I was excited to tell my family and friends about my Papua New Guinean friends.