I don't text often, so when I got this text this morning, it took me a while to understand it.
It involves 2 languages, tok pisin and English, and 2 cultures. I had no idea who had sent it, but I figured it out after thinking.
Translation:
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Manager Chad, the ballot officials cancelled voting for the town of Kainantu yesterday and voting will be held today. I'm going to vote and I will return before 1pm.
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anyway, I got a kick out if, I don't often get texts. Voting in this country happens every 5 years. IT's a huge thing as a lot of violence erupts around the ballot boxes. Soldiers in hueys come to escort the ballot boxes around the country. People have been shot and died. So 'going to vote' means 'I'm waiting for public transport, risking my life over a bad bridge, trying to avoid catching a stray bullet, ignoring the intense social pressure to vote for the same people my family is voting for, and I should be back to work by 1." It can get pretty hairy, so we (my family) remain totally neutral, and avoid areas that have voting going on. If you've never seen a huey land and ak47 armed soldiers in camo jump out by the dozen.... it's pretty cool.
Having lived here, and seen the violence and the campaigning (which amount to people singing a lot and driving around with music blaring to grab attention...bullhorns are involved).... I better understand what the news means when they say 'voting is going on in NAMEYOURCITY today.'
