Solomon

This will be a great cultural lesson for you: Trying delicacies.  This is Solomon, a nut from the Hewa that has been cured to perfection.  To find out how, you'll have to watch the video.  Pictured here is myself, Anton, Peter, and later Joseph as we all sample a bit of this 'treat'...

Bon Appétit!

Dance Night

How often do you go to a dance and they tell you to leave your bush
knives at the door? Well, that's not a problem if there's no door!

It's only a little disconcerting when the guys down at Kaiam are dancing
with axes and bush knives, but they seem to get by just fine, and I
haven't seen anyone cut open from dancing with one yet!

BTW: I really like the Snoopy dance that the guy on the right has... So
much fun!

Binatang

If you've been around me much, you know how much I like bugs... but not
just any bugs, the insect variety. I've been looking (since I knew I
was going to PNG, so basically two years) in vain for a good insect book
of Papua New Guinea. The only ones that I've been able to find are in
the multiple hundreds of dollars, and that's not in my budget. So, when
I was able to take a trip to a real bug collecting site in PNG, I made
sure to open my schedule for it.

The New Guinea Binatang Research Center was just the place for me. Not
only did they have lots of six legged critters, but they had names and
classifications of them as well! I didn't end up leaving with anything
other than a few pictures, but that was enough... for now... I think we
spent about two hours looking at insects there.

Even though they weren't really setup to be a tourist destination, the
college kids there still took the time out of their day to show us the
research they were currently doing, and some of the collections that
they had on hand... My kind of place!

Hang'n 'round

I've been hang'n 'round the states a bit too long and have gotten much
to busy with life here... Time to head back to PNG where I can actually
post to this blog more than once a month. If the weather holds I'll be
on a plane in the morning headed back to PNG and then I really will put
up more photos of the last trip down to Kaiam and the airstrip
progress... Panoramas and other things as well.

Now, the time in the states hasn't been all that bad... I think I ate as
much protein in one meal a couple nights ago at a Brazilian steak place
as a Papua New Guinean eats in a month, so I feel fit to head back...
Not sure I gained any weight over the Christmas season like I was hoping
too, but perhaps my lankiness makes that a bit deceiving...

Paul's Engaged!

Very exciting news... I'm Engaged! Here's how it happened:

I went to Atlanta to see my girlfriend and there was a New Years Eve
dance party that required formal wear. Of course I had to wear a sweet
leisure suit from the 70's. Katrina has had a dress to match it for a
little while.

At this ballroom dance there are only two types of dancing that I'm any
good at: East Coast Swing, and West Coast Swing. During a West Coast
Swing song there is a move where I put the girl's hand over my head onto
the opposite shoulder and she "pushes" away into the next move. Katrina
always likes to add a little flare to the move by tossing her head to
the side which breaks eye contact for a split second.

This was my chance, so I immediately dropped to one knee and presented
the ring. She was blown away. Of course she said yes, and we even had
time to dance a bit more before the end of the song and then all the
ladies at the dance had to come see the shinny rock.

Pretty good New Years don't you think?