Limol #24

So much has happened in the past few days that it's hard to know where to begin. Our last full day in the village (Wednesday) was the first half sunny day in a week and it was a really good day. I got nine final recordings from Tonny (readings of the storybook texts) then spent the rest of the day teaching Warama, Tonny, and Wagiba again how to use the satellite phone, computer, and solar panels. 

At 4:00 the feast started. We walked down to the community hall, a space in the center of Limol which is just a dirt floor covered by a sago leaf roof. Palm fronds and tarps were laid out and a huge mountain of pots with cooked rice and flour dumplings sat in the middle of the hall. Families sat around the periphery with their own pots of food (yams, sweet potatoes, noodles, fish, banana sago cake). We sat in the front center with Wagiba and Warama. Grace had helped Wagiba make a huge banana sago cake, and our friends came to give us small pots of food, purple yam, sweet potato, fish. It began raining as soon as the feast started, so we were happy to be in the community hall instead of in the field as usual. Warama opened with a prayer and some announcements. Then, the chief and other young men began dividing the communal rice and dumplings between the four corners. 

Grace and I took advantage of the break in the program and the rain to take pictures of all the young children with a Limol sign, all the mothers with their solar lanterns, and the whole village together. I climbed a mango tree to take the shot. Then we returned into the hall and there was a gift presentation. I was given a gorgeous cassowary bag from my namesake Kate's mother Samat. Grace also received a bag from her namesake and one from her mother Pingam as well. Lauren received a beautiful mat. 

After gifts, we had speeches. Lauren went first and said some nice words about Limols generousity, quoting the Bible. Grace and I talked too, thanking those who helped us and assuring that we will return again. Then we ate. I walked around to give some personal thank yous to Tonny, Warama, Jeff, Jerry, Christina, Gidu, Wagiba, Winson, Pingam, Paine, Kagär, and some others. I thought my thank yous were pretty genuine. After eating, we watched Old Man Kidarga and the school children do some dancing! Kidarga was very dressed up and the kids were in face paint and headdresses. Very festive. After the feast, I went home and finished packing, uploading all the files from the day and doing a last transfer to all the different back up drives. It was bittersweet. I felt very sad but very happy too to be almost returning to Australia.