Tuesday, September 9, 2008
We began practicing our cooking today. After our morning Tok Pisin session, we met outside and watched the local men build a fire. Then it was our turn to shave off the wood slivers with our bush knife! Aaron and I (along with everyone else) built a fire, and each of us cooked something for lunch –sort of a pot luck of PNG food. We laughed about the similarities to the Texas State Fair because we had lots of fried food today – fried kaukau (sweet potato), banana, onion rings, and, my personal favorite, pineapple. This weekend, we will be responsible for our own food (with no refrigeration), and Thursday is a big shopping trip into town. I'm busy working on my meal plans for the next four weekends so I'll be prepared to shop on Thursday.

A side note – those of you who have birthdays while we are at POC, please know that we are celebrating you and thinking of you. Letters cost about US $2.50 and take 3-4 weeks to arrive, and e-cards are too big to send or receive here. So if you don't hear from us, please know that we are very thankful that God created you!

Monday, September 8, 2008
This afternoon we hiked down the mountain, through gardens, and across streams for almost two hours. The people in PNG rotate their garden plots so the same plot of ground is only used every six years. As a result, burning and cutting is prevalent to prepare ground for the new crop. They build their gardens on the sides of the mountains, and their skill and knowledge of the world God created amazes me.

The school age kids hiked ahead of us, then we all met at the bottom and waited for the trucks to pick us up. About twelve of the adults (including Aaron) decided to hike back up! He made great time and was back up the mountain in time for supper.

Sunday, September 7, 2008
Believe it or not, church was actually rained out today! Since everyone has to climb the steep mountain paths to get to church, when it rains church can be delayed or canceled. It poured (an answer to our prayers) all morning, so each family group held church. We enjoyed a sweet time singing with a borrowed guitar and sharing favorite Bible passages. This turned into a true Sabbath day of rest that we really needed.

By the way, our hauskuk withstood the storms!

Saturday, September 6, 2008
Our hauskuk is coming along nicely. Aaron is doing a great job, and we've had a little help from some of the singles as well. I've done some laundry and woven the bamboo (or "mamboo" as it's called here) table top together. Aaron is definitely putting his Eagle Scout skills to work this weekend!