5k Kate

Yesterday Wagiba and I were walking together when something I feared would happen since the day I met her happened. Wagiba’s knife and my hand had a clumsy rendezvous as I swung my arms to walk and she waved her machete to gesticulate. Wagiba cried out “ngämo män! ngämo män! ngämo män! (my daughter! my daughter! my daughter!)” and I instantly went back in my mind to that wonderful moment walking down the village street of Batyrevo, Chuvashia and my mama in love calling out, introducing me to the gossiping neighbors “манан юратна херача!” (моя любимая дочка! my lovely daughter!) and I understood her and I went from feeling so awkward and tall and out of place to feeling like I belong and that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, and besides the fear of the machete, I felt so loved as Wagiba fussed over me.  I haven’t been officially adopted into a family here - even though the obvious one is Warama and Wagiba’s who invited me here, feed me, house me, and work with me. There’s a ver...

It is the 27th and everyone is still in full Christmas spirit! Yesterday I had the chance to observe an “uncle celebration” and today was the Christmas feast with a special speech by masar Kidarga.  I’ve been told that, in general, Ende people don’t consider their mother’s relatives as their family as their clan extends from their fathers side of the family. But one of their mother’s relatives is very important and that’s your mother’s brother or pope . Traditionally, Ende people marry through a practice of sister exchange, in which two men exchange sisters in order to marry. In this way, an Ende person’s mother’s brother is responsible for their mother’s marriage and thus their existence. A payment must be paid to one’s pope uncle when one comes of a certain age, and in general, one has to be careful to respect them and keep them happy. Yesterday, three elders in the community, Yugui, Warani, and Giniya, welcomed their pope uncle, Sipiki, who came to visit Limol for Christmas from...

Merry Christmas! It’s been a long few first days here in Limol, culminating in a great Christmas celebration.  Preparations for Christmas begin weeks before the actual day as families move around in the gardens and sago places, camping in the bush and gathering food for the holiday. Those who live outside of the village begin making their way home. On my first day here, the 23rd, I was able to help Wagiba make preparations. We went fishing (net dragging) down at Karama swamp and caught six fish! We went down a bit late though (8am). It would have been less hot (in the 30s/90s) and the fish wouldn’t have hid in the floating grass. We carried those fish and a bunch of taro home in our spalek bags. I thought I would faint in the heat but we made it. After a nap, we went to fetch water in the roller. It’s much harder without Grace to help me pull it up the hill. As soon as we got back it poured rain. We filled up all our buckets with rain water and had a nice shower too.  The next...

I’m writing this blogpost in a dugout canoe with a 15 HP motor attached, cruising down the part of the Bitiri river that leads to Limol.  The stars are so bright outside and the moon is just a sliver like a fingernail. Wagiba blows out through her mouth while patting her lips at the moon. I’m leaning back on my packs of gear in the honorary seat that is the only seat in the canoe. In front of Wagiba is her son Winson, and behind the packs is her husband Warama and our friend Sali who is operating the boat. In Ende we call the operator gall onyang  and the frontman, Winson today, the nyongo taempägag “way shower=navigator ” . When the motor is going and on such a long canoe, the navigator and the operator can’t hear one another, so they rely on a series of hand signs just like we do when helping someone park a car. I got all these signs on video and Wagiba helped explain them. Then she started giving me other signs: for example a hand rubbing stomach sign means “I’m going to t...

Greetings from Daru, where three outbreaks are raging (if you don’t count poverty): typhoid, dry cough, and the flu. I caught the flu immediately (not sure what that says about my immune system) and spent yesterday throwing up while out shopping in the 40 degree heat. Definitely not my most pleasant trip to Daru. But I spent the rest of the day sleeping and I’m feeling better now. I enjoyed my flights from Canberra to Daru. I was carrying Nick’s grey pelican briefcase with my recording equipment in it and I got a lot of curious looks. One woman took my picture then came up to me to say that she sent it to her son saying “this is what you could be doing if you finished your science degree!” I liked being perceived as a scientist! Even if it took a briefcase to prove it.  I met some nice people while in Daru: a university professor in food science who’s here doing inspections and a man from Balimo who was visiting to settle a land dispute were both staying at Tobest as well. Many Lim...

I’m sitting in the domestic terminal in Port Moresby’s airport and now that the last trace of internet and FaceTime are gone, I feel like I’ve finally embarked on my fourth field trip to Limol.  Many aspects of this trip are different than the three that came before. First, I’m traveling alone, which has its pros and cons. I’m looking forward to being more immersed in the community without my Western culture anchors that have kept me afloat the last two years. But I also know that these trips have a huge emotional and physical toll and I will miss the comfort, advice, and laughter that my friends brought me. Second, this will be my longest trip yet. I don’t have tickets to come out yet, but I expect to leave at the beginning of June, which will hopefully come after the annual yam harvest. That’s at least five months in the village! Enough time I hope to become conversationally fluent and to have a solid start on an Ende grammar. A is worried about me on both accounts, but I’m not t...