Where did time go

 2021, such a long way away from 2013, the last time i wrote something here. Where did all the time go?

 In all fairness part of growing up means leaving the activities of old and moving on to bigger better things. As a way of explaining I stumbled back across this blog again while updating my resume, not for a prospective employer but for honorary lecturer status. Its like reading a record frozen in time of the struggles I had earlier in my career.

Time flies. What happened in the 8 years since my last post? An absolute family tragedy that made nationwide and regional news, a family wedding, Masters graduation, random travel adventures both in-country and abroad, a worldwide pandemic, whew a lot has happened. 

I smile now that this is going to probably be my last post on this blog and eventually I will figure out how to shut it down once and for all, but I encourage you all not to stop writing or expressing your individuality.

Cheers (I never know how to end these things without sounding cheesy)

Steering clear of the dark side.

So I begin this post by saying yes, its been forever. Not to say nothing has happened but exactly the opposite, too much has happened. One thing I've noted, if youre young, have a good career and perks and single, the tendancy for people to make up stuff about you like your kidding about your age, you must be married, etc seems to skyrocket exponentialy. Also it seems to be a winning formula for attracting fools who think its okay to scam you and then lie through their teeth like the antisocial personality disorder addled humans they are (fullfilling more than three criteria mind you).

But I learned a long time ago that it's okay if people talk like that because deep down, I'm still the woman my mother raised me to be. Yes, the truth of the matter is that after work all I do is go home and study or watch TV and sleep and its boring but it pays to be comfortable in your own skin. I mean, hey someone's got to have that boring life. And being a tech head fits in with the homebody lifestyle a great deal.

Speaking of technology, its amazing what has been thought up to help the world of medicine. Just returned from the PNG Medical Symposium and my my, the stuff I wish we had. Imagine having the lab back up to do viral cultures at each hospital, to do genetic studies to predict disease, to be able to do fiberoptic scopes at every hospital. Okay, pretty much still a dream outside Port Moresby but still. I know most people will say, forget the technology, what about all the people dying from diseases like Malaria and TB, but I say, look to the future of what we can offer our people. Lets not live in the dark ages of medicine and guess fire work (I think it must be this so I will guess and treat with this). Dont you wish you could say: I think it is this so now am going to investigate, prove that it is this and then treat? What a day when that happens in every place you go to in PNG down to the health centre level.

So I've decided not to live in the dark ages, to try and strive to see where the light of education and information leads me, and definetaly to steer cleer of people who dwell in the shadows of disbelief, dishonesty, those who try to change who I am for the worse. I figure I am one paduan steering clear of the dark side. May the force be with you all.

Moving back to the relatively real world

So I had to move recently to grow in this career. Turned on the phone and noted 3G network, more than two radio stations all in english and increased human traffic on the streets. Now I note that I miss that little beach town I had to leave behind. Walked to work this morning and noted the many vehicles, the noise, the dirty drains and my thoughts turned back to walking to work along the beach, pausing to note the size of the waves and the colour of the sea. I'm homesick for the town I left behind.

Standing at the airport when the plane landed and thought of the airport I left behind where my sisters all came. My brothers feigned excuses not to come say goodbye that they didn't want to see waterworks when I knew they were sad to see me go. The airport where my cousin hugged me and I knew he wanted to cry but was holding it back. Where my nephews and nieces helped me eat the chocolates I was supposed to take with me and where they insisted on staying while the delayed flight sat on the tarmac for an hour (it helps immensly that the sun doesnt set there till 1900HOURS).

Walked into the market and there was green produce aplenty and smiled as I thought of Koiya (a small Indonesian mini town) market and buying vegetables from the supermarket after the container ship arrives. But when a fight broke out outside the market and people starting running, I had palpitations and wished I was a million miles away.

So, yes I moved back to the relatively real world but I miss that sleepy little town where the sun doesnt set till late and everybody knows your name and respects your work. Where I found my voice, learned to lead and found laughter, friends and re-united with family...

Depends on the ship

You may have gathered already from my previous posts that I live in a small coastal town although previously being a city dweller at heart. One thing I’ve learned is that certain food items I took for granted in the city are not so easy to find in this small place. These items are not your necessity items, it’s the other stuff like certain types of cheese, a decent chocolate bar, highlands grown vegetables (cauliflower, capsicums, etc) and sometimes that particular food item you crave. Such as fresh peas (pause to utter a long sigh).


Yesterday I tried to explain to someone where to find cake ingredients and without realizing gave her a detailed explanation of which ingredients to get where and that only one store in town sold soft icing sugar and ‘you had better stock up because once it runs out you won’t find it for a while’. I had to stop myself chuckling as I’m starting to sound like a local (bear in mind my definition of a local is someone who has spent more than 5 years continuously in one spot, place of origin not counted). When I first arrived here I had no idea how I was going to bake anything, where I was going to find Orchy or if I ever was going to eat another cherry ripe again. A year down the track, I’m happily baking, Orchy is easy to find and have found that a certain pharmacy regularly stocks up on Cadbury chocolates and my beloved Cherry Ripes. I’ve even located Jubes, yes those hard sugar coated jelly fruity sweets, oh immeasurable joy. I actually shrieked when I found Jubes on the supermarket sweet shelf much to the embarrassment of accompanying relatives who gave each other that ‘she’s a city kid’ look.

Even vegetables are easier to find these days. I found out that supplies of vegetables for certain supermarkets arrive once a month on a particular cargo ship. This has made vegetable shopping infinitely easier as all I have to do is check when the ship arrives, wait a day or two to allow for unloading and then buy in bulk at the supermarket. Brilliant isn’t it? At this point you should visualize the pleased at myself large grin on my face. Previously I had to resort to multivitamin supplements for my diet, it’s so much nicer to actually taste green leafy vegetables then take a pill.

I also found out there is a second hand shop here in town. For those of you either Papua New Guinean in origin or have a long acquaintance with our nation, you would realize by now that second hand shopping ‘em kaikai yah’ (an almost national pastime). For the rest of you, a second hand shop is somewhat like a thrift shop or one of those charity shops that sell donated old clothes and whatnot. After a lengthy conversation with the shop keeper (you’ll find I like indulging in random conversations of a curious nature with strangers), I found out that they also rely on a certain shipping line (not the same as the supermarket grocery supplies come from) to bring in their bales of second hand clothes so hence another devised plan to wait for the ship to come in.

Many people tell me I could always get stuff in Indonesia (across the border) but being wholly patriotic and believing in buying in Papua New Guinea, I shall stick to waiting for a ship to come in. Almost anything can be bought here; it just depends on the ship.