Am I doing this right? (Laura)

We made it! We finished up our orientation and are now settling into life in Ukarumpa, in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. I have to say, it’s really nice to have a spot we can call “home” for a while! We are renting a house that’s quite a hike to get to and right next to the center’s water tanks, but a very welcome change from our traditional village home and communal living at POC. There are a lot of differences between here and the U.S. that we’re still getting used to…

"Ram" is river water pumped up our hill. Tank water comes from the metal water tanks outside our house: roof to gutters to tank (this is also our drinking water). The rectangular metal box-like thing on our roof is our solar-heated hot water tank (cloudy day = cold shower!).

DRIVING…

That’s right! I’m licensed to drive on the LEFT HAND side of the road now! I still panic a little when I see another car coming towards us on the "wrong" side. When I’m catching a ride with someone, I automatically go to the right side to hop in (that’s where the driver sits here). Awkward…

  

 PLUGGING IN…

Alright, where I’m from it’s pretty simple. If you want to use a device that requires electricity, you plug it in. Not so much here. The outlets have switches on them to turn them on and off! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve plugged something in to charge it, forgetting to turn the outlet on. It’s dead.

But I’m learning! I now know how to plug something from the U.S. into the wall without blowing it up (everything is 220v here). I put the plug adapter on, plug it into the transformer or surge protector (sometimes both), THEN plug it into the wall. And (hopefully) turn on the outlet.  

TEA TIME…

Since Papua New Guinea is part of the Commonwealth and is a former Australian colony, we have tea time every day! Every morning at 10:15 am and 3:00 pm, a loud horn blasts on the center to announce it is tea time. Everyone takes a break for tea and biscuits and then heads back to work fifteen minutes later. Oh, and I have to mention that this coming Monday is a National Holiday to celebrate the queen’s birthday! I think I’ll have tea.

FOOD…

I think we’re eating better here than we’ve ever eaten before, but it’s A LOT of work! We have a small store on the center that sells some things and an awesome outdoor market three days a week (organic!). But cooking here takes a lot of time and planning. When we have tacos, I make the tortillas, guacamole, and beans from scratch and shred the cheese. I’ve even learned how to make sour cream (there’s no fresh dairy here)! I started making enchiladas at 4:00 last week, and we ate at 7:00! 

Buy flour. check. Put in freezer to kill bugs. Check. Sift out bugs. Check. Bake! And don't forget to make milk before bed so you have cold milk in the morning for breakfast (1 cup each skim and whole milk powder to a jug of water does the trick)!

Bananas anyone? Let's just hope they don't all ripen at the same time!

Adding vanilla to a recipe is a bit challenging at times – but if I have vanilla beans with me, it all works out! Here you can see my first attempt at making ice cream (you guessed it, vanilla bean!).

Bought these for 2 Kina at the market (about $1)!