The First Day in the Village

The first day in the village always seems eternally long. A lot of that
probably is the very early start to the day. Our alarm sounded at 5 am
since we were getting picked up to go out to Aviation at 5:30 am. Then
there is always a long wait at the airstrip for the plane and helicopter to
be loaded, the fog to lift, and all the final preparations to be made. Then
there's the flight which can feel like forever when it's bumpy and kids are
throwing up everywhere. I was so very, very thankful that this time, while
there were more clouds than I have ever seen on a flight out to the village,
and while we had to go a long way around because of them, no one got sick!

Eventually, we land in the village, wait while the helicopter is being
unloaded, greet lots of people and slowly walk to our house. Then the
cleaning begins. It's rather frightening how much dirt and cockroaches can
accumulate in 11 weeks! Seriously... I think the moment we moved out, every
cockroach in the village moved in for a wild party. Their messes were
everywhere. There were a few casualties from the wild partying. And we
don't even leave food out for them to enjoy. But those desperate
cockroaches resorted to eating crayons (and pooping in colors as a result!),
laundry soap, and the paper wrapping on a bottle of oil.

Once the cleaning is done, it's time to unpack a bazillion boxes and find
all the bedding and make up the beds. And it always happens that no matter
how well I label the boxes, the one box that has some essential item for our
lunch or whatever is impossible to find. We spent 20 or more minutes
reading my labels on all the boxes, slicing them open and realizing that no,
it's not in that one either.

I remember looking at the clock at one point. I was tired and hungry and
thought it must be well after noon. And then I realized it was barely 9 am!
By mid-afternoon, the kids were all basket-cases: Crying about everything.
Fighting over the silliest things. Basically just miserable to be around.
And then it sunk in that they too had all been up since 5 am. So we had an
early dinner and just tried to keep them awake to a reasonable hour. Like
7pm. Then we all headed to bed for the night. I think I made it till
shortly after 8 pm before I fell asleep.

Thankfully, not every day out here is as exhausting as the first. Things
slowly get cleaner. Everything is eventually put in its place. We get into
a good schedule with school and work activities. And the days go by.

This weekend however (Friday-Monday) there are lots of activities planned
because of PNG's Independence Day. But I'll save that for another blog.