We've arrived!!

Our family arrived in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea last week Wednesday.  We had a 5 day layover in Fiji which was very helpful in adjusting to the 14 hour time difference from Waxhaw, NC.  Then it was goodbye Fiji, hello Air Niugini.  We were all celebrating when we landed, thinking we were in PNG, but it was actually a stop in the Solomon Islands.  It was another 2 + hours before we finally landed in Port Moresby.

 

 

 



Once we arrived in Port Moresby, we boarded a Kodiak turboprop and climbed to 12,000ft to get over the mountains and weather enroute to Ukarumpa.

Once we landed in Ukarumpa, we were greeted by our good friends the Dishmans and the Ernandes.  Pardon my gaudy purple Fiji shirt!!

We settled into an apartment in the Translator lodging area.  It is small and cozy.  In the morning when we get up, it is in the low 60s and sometimes 50s inside the apartment.  Hard to believe it when we're so close to the equator.  It warms up to the 70s most days.  It rains most every day, sometimes a small drizzle, sometimes angry Ghana rain.  So far, no thunder or lightning.  This is supposedly the dry season (winter).  I can't wait to see what summer will bring!

There's a small store here on the center, but things there are pretty pricy as expected.  We do a lot of shopping at the local market where you can buy fresh vegetables and fruit to include avocados and strawberries.  So far, we haven't seen any mangos.  Apparently they're out of season in this perpetual spring location?!

Not wanting to spend our partnership funds on monthly rent and staying in the translator lodging forever, we set out to look for a house to buy.  There was several that we looked at, but only one stood out.  As soon as I set foot on the property, my whole soul screamed, "HOME!"  This was before we even looked inside.  We all felt it was the right house for us, so we're now in the process of purchasing it with personal money we saved up just for this purpose.

One month from today, we head to the coast for the Pacific Orientation Course.  We were going to fly the girls there, and have Jenny and I take a bus to try and save money, but we discovered this afternoon that the flight only has one seat left, so we ALL may be taking the bus on the 8 hour bumpy adventure to Madang.

The girls are making friends, Amelie quite quickly, "I already have 7 best friends!", while Ellie struggles with her shyness around strangers.  They both have friends coming over tonight for movie night.

Jenny and I have been taking an orientation course for the last three days, it continues next week Monday and Tuesday, then we start working in the clinic on Wednesday.  This morning we went to the clinic and met most of the staff, some simply amazing selfless workers abound.

So, in this time of transition, how are we holding up?  It was difficult for me to switch from mostly diet soda to just plain water.  How boring.  Jenny found some Tang in the store, and my daily cup of Tang has become my culinary delight!  The girls had to transition from whole milk to powdered milk.  It only took a day, no further comments from the princess gallery.  Jenny misses talking to her sister Sandy daily, but they email often, so that's better than snail mail I guess.

I wake up each day and thank God for bringing me here to this rainy paradise.  The exotic bird calls, the pineapple growing just outside our front door, bananas growing a 1 minute walk away, the delightful locals who smile warmly when you say hello, this is the wonderful life we live in this wonderland called Papua New Guinea!