GENERALLY BAGGERUP!

20th August 2008

First it was the toaster - decided one morning that even though we had electricity it wasn't going to work.John hacked it to pieces but repairs were not possible as the Chinese innards were not fathomable!So crackers and our last mouldy bit of cheese it was for breakfast that day!Then I was opening a tin of tuna for a delectable tuna salad when the screw around thingy came off in my hand!!Blasphemy all round! Then kind John tried to take some tracks from the computer onto two newly bought blank CDs for my dance class and they wouldn't work - it said they were corrupted (like most things around here!).Then finally, the CD player I borrowed from the English department when I run a dance class started to misbehave so we looked into purchasing one ourselves.We found one with great delight, which we could just about afford.I was very excited and asked the shop assistant to play a CD for us to prove it worked. Nogat !! Baggerup!!So we went to the other store and found exactly the same make of CD player on the shelf (the only one of course) and when we asked about it she said we couldn't buy it as it was,(yes, you guessed) Baggerup!!!!

So we went to Goroka at the week-end to regain our sanity and celebrate John's birthday - he's now officially an OAP!!He got very excited as the hotel room had not only a shower but a bath as well, so upon arrival, the bath was what he was heading for (the old joints get stiff and sore and in need of a soak when you're an OAP!)Ouch - he just clouted me!Then suddenly, as I was flicking through the TV channels like a woman possessed, trying to find some Olympic coverage, he emerges from the bathroom, and a missile goes whanging past my ear.More steam emerging from the ears!You'll never guess this one, the plug was too small for the plughole, so the lovely, steaming, hot, inviting water wouldn't stay in the bath so, that was off the agenda!! He enjoyed his shower though - eventually, after his blood pressure had returned to normal! The bed and pillow were so wonderfully soft that I couldn't sleep, as I didn't want to miss a minute of the enjoyment.However, we did buy a pillow for me.The one I have in Kundiawa consists of chopped up pieces of foam and you can't imagine how lumpy that is!This new one is total bliss!!

We had a lovely couple of days break, though and just chilled.We purchased our tickets to come home, which was the highlight of the week-end.Another reason to go there was that they have a pharmacy and I needed to collect some tablets which I need and which I was assured by the pharmacist would be available for collection on Friday.Guess what - nogat!The pills are still in Lae (they had to be ordered from Australia) so the upshot is they could be there next Friday - if they're not, I'm baggerup for sure!!So we have to go down again to Goroka next Saturday, sadly can't afford another overnight stay- a 4 hour round trip just to collect some pills - somewhat ridiculous!I do have a backup plan though, as I have plenty of 100mcg pills but not 25mcg.So this plan involves somehow chopping a very small pill into 4 pieces!John suggests crushing it, dividing it into 4 piles and then having a snort!!

We are now referred to in the staffroom as 'the Jand J'.Sounds like b…dy Pinky and Perky but I'm sure it's a term of affection!Whenever we meet men we know in the street it's 'Hello John' or 'Yes John' or 'You're right John'!If they acknowledge me at all, they usually answer my questions by ignoring me and providing the answer to John!It's not easy but I'm getting used to it and of course, John laps it up!However, things are definitely moving in the right direction at school, as staff attendance has improved and more are going to their lessons.With our weekly support, the management team are beginning to make an impression and the students are benefiting as a result, which is what we're interested in. We've been observing some teaching practice students recently and it's like being taught as we were 40 years ago! But they are very receptive and we have given them what we hope is helpful feedback.They are interested in some inservice training which we will structure specifically for them. We did an inservice training for staff on how to assess students' work, which is now different from what they're used to.At the end, one maths teacher (why is it always the maths teachers who are difficult?) said the reform curriculum was rubbish and he was way behind with his assessment tasks.John then went for the jugular and said he was talking rubbish and I chipped in with the reason he was behind with his assessment tasks was perhaps because he was never in the classroom.Some swearing went on (not us) and everyone erupted into Tok Pisin and the teacher was made to apologise the next day for his blasphemous behaviour which the ladies had apparently found offensive!We're definitely getting things stirred up!

A new teacher joined the school recently - he used to be a head but apparently there was some controversy about misappropriation of school funds and he's now an ordinary maths (yes, maths teacher) who used to be at this school in the past.He announced he wanted to resume his duties at this school as 'the barber'.You won't believe this, but his role was to go round the classrooms and any student who had uncombed hair was hauled out of the classroom and his hair attacked by this guy!John came across a boy in town crying because his hair had been hacked by him!We've tackled the head on this, citing the UN convention on the Rights of the Child, the health and safety aspect (what if a student struggled against having their hair hacked and their face, eye or ear was damaged as a result?) and what about the AIDS issue.The 'barber' doesn't wear gloves, so what if a student is HIV positive and his head gets nicked?It's horrendous and we've pointed this out to the head and hope he'll stop this barbaric practice.

We got back to Kundiawa to be greeted with the news that there had been some sort of riot at a school in the bush which we are due to visit.Very confusing story, but the upshot is that a student has been shot by the police and two policeman in hospital, having been stoned by students, one of which has died.Compensation has been demanded by the family of the dead boy which amounted to 190,000 Kina (5 kina to the pound) and 25 live pigs. The other morning there was a riot at the market (our house overlooks the market) so we didn't venture down.But another volunteer on his way to the market, unaware of any trouble, was approached by locals and turned away from the trouble - he was looked after.Apart from being hijacked on the highway, we are very aware and steer clear of any trouble and we are looked after by the locals who protect us.So, no worries!

The only minor incident was when we were leaving the market recently, a woman assailed us, jabbering away very excitedly.We hadn't a clue what she was talking about, but she was thrusting money at us and I wondered if we'd omitted to pay for something or hadn't given the right money.Of course, a large crowd quickly gathered which caused us some anxiety.Eventually, someone translated and it turned out she had not given us the right change for some onions we'd bought and wanted to give us the rest of the money.So we were duly relieved, accepted the money and slipped away, glad we hadn't committed an unforgivable transgression.We'll definitely buy our onions from her in the future.

We have a week's holiday in about 3 week's time, so we're planning to go cycling on New Ireland and then end up in New Britain at Rabaul (active volcano) and then John hopes to do some diving at Kokopo before we fly back to Kundiawa - it will be quite an adventure, so we'll take lots of piccies..

Well, that's the lot for now. While we have the luxury of both water and electricity, I'll wash my hair and even dry it as well.Hope the summer and holidays are well underway.

Lots of good wishes from PNG to you all

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