I went to bed last night around 2am because I was working in the office to repair failed hard drives. I'm trying to work in the office AFTER hours so I have from 4-6(dinner) then from 10(dinner chat) till I go to bed. Gladly though, battling the slow internet connection, I finally downloaded somewhat timely virus definitions.
Today Tim needed to go on the boat and train many people on the emergency location device and test the new antenna. So we all went with him. We sent the "old" boat the MARK out with a beacon and tried to locate it. It took us about an hour. On the way I thought "why not drop a line in?" So I did, send the tension on the line, and let it sit, about an hour later the line started unspooling like mad, so I ran to the back of the boat, grabbed the pole and before I could get a good yank in to set the hook, I felt slack. The line snapped... I hadn't yelled "fish on" and the tension was too much for it. Oh well, some excitement, but it would have been nice to have some fresh fish for the first time in 6 months.
This is really a different world down here. For going such a short distance, it's completely different. Ukarumpa is a highlands (mountain) culture, this is a coastal culture. The houses are different, people are more used to being on the water or shore than in the hills, there are no gardens visible from the ocean up in the hills, which tells me most of the people are down on the coast. They don't speak Tok Pisin, they speak mostly MOTU, and if you speak Tok Pisin and they don't, they might be insulted. Things seem more safe here, but in many aspects it is such a different way of life. Tim and the family are like fish, we swam today in the ocean, taking about an hour break for fun after training was done.
He dives down, stays down... it's amazing.
So I had a lot of firsts.
At tim's challenge, I dove off the top of the boat (about 13+my height) up from the water, jumped into the water. Then in the water saw an old WWII wreckage that had 2 huge oysters on it (about the size of basketballs). Getting back onto the boat was a trick. It's a new boat and they haven't worked out the ladder yet, so I climbed up the side, and in the process cut my foot and dropped my mask into the water . I hesitated but jumped in after it, and it was too late. So I had to climb my way up onto the boat again. On the way back I saw some dolphins off the bow and ran to get my camera, and came back they were drifting in front of the bow of the boat right under me! It was pretty neat. I'm not sure if the pictures came out.
A lot of firsts.
It sounds like a nice day, and it was. The boat is a fibreglass hull crafted to look like an old wooden boat. The style of the boat doesn't reflect all of the latest technologies but it tries to incorporate as many as it can (satellite,gps, radio, etc) in a culturally sensitive way so the boat doesn't stand out too much at the dock. And it doesn't. It actually blends in nicely, except that's it is very clean and white still.
I came over here because the current "acting" manager of this location is supposed to also be the maritime manager. The maritime ministry is a new ministry trying to get off the ground, with the intention of getting translators to and from their allocation safely. Until this boat came along, travel was at best, risky. So this family came and in the process have also taken on the site management job. I've spent 5 days with them now, and they are very simply put.... overworked. They do not complain, but he is doing the job of 4 men right now.
Add to that cultural learning, as they've been here not even 2 months yet, and then finally throw in a slew of computer problems, and life is pretty tough down here. So my department sent me down to help ease the load as much as I could. Almost like a missions trip inside of being a full time missionary.
Today we took a break from working 8am-2am every day, and worked out on the ocean. It is a completely different life from my own but I really enjoyed seeing Tim and his family in their element, seeing where they excel. It made me realize God really chose the right family to come here.
I've had some interesting cultural situations that I've been involved in since being here. It's been a very rich experience. Sparing you the details, the overall point of the encounters seems to be that you need to reach out with care to the surrounding cultures and show them you are here to love them and integrate. Failure to do that would be a huge mistake but an easy one to make since we don't know all the cultural rules yet. Being active in the community, being seen, kids playing together, adults talking together, this is relationship building and no work will be effective until that is established. It takes time and wisdom.
I've gotten to taste a little of what life is like for translators AWAY from Ukarumpa which is our "headquarters", I've seen the village, and now I've seen a regional center which is like a mini-headquarters. I've been able to see the boat they spend nights on travelling, and I've been able to solve computer problems for translators who come through and need to get work done.
I've felt very directly involved here and realize that this experience is very unique to those who live in Ukarumpa and it can only profit everyone that I've had it. I should be able to better support them knowing what it's like down here, but mostly understanding what life is like will help me best support them both spiritually, physically and technologically.
