5k Kate

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...

Walking a mile with someone else in your shoes.  Saved my exercise today for the evening - I helped my dear friend Manaleato carry heavy sago bundles to the canoe place. They were halfway down, so we carried lightly halfway, then heavy to the canoe spot, back empty and heavy again to the canoe. Women carry the loads on their heads, but I feel most of the weight in my elbows as I try to lift the pressure off my head and neck by lifting the straps near my ears. I then had to say goodbye to Manaleato. Wagiba told me a verb for when you talk but you have emotion in your voice and your words come out all cracked. This happened when Manealeato said goodbye.  I then helped Wagiba by carrying the leaves she picked and fish Manaleato gave me back to the village but gave her my shoes halfway because her feet were really hurting her. She asked me to get her some sandals in Daru and it's hard to know what to say, because everyone asks me for sandals in Daru and I can't just bring 300 pair...

Wow, very hot 5k today! Even though I waited until the heat broke, it was a tough run. I found a trail around the back of the hotel that had a long steep hill (about 5 floors), that I ran up and over, then back over, 5 times. The sunset on the top made all the climbs worth it and I was much less center of attention, only saw a few other ex-pats walking the trail and a few kids.  Today was a really great day. Grace and I had a buffet breakfast and morning chat. The food here incredibly expensive so we were being sneaky, with me paying for the buffet and bringing out a nice big plate for us to share. We weren't sneaky enough though because one of the waiters came up to me and said "It's okay if your daughter eats your food too." I, of course, laughed and the guy got very embarrassed and said he was sorry. He brought us heaps of food to the table and Grace messed with him by calling me Mom in front of him. We suspect it's the height difference and the matching shoes....