Monday I got on a plane and flew 1:45 on a Kodiak plane into the capital
city of PNG called Port Moresby. This city has grown so much over the
past 6 years that it is like a completely different country from the
rest of PNG.
There is a mall, shops, restaurants, a movie theatre, paved roads
without potholes, fluent English speakers and the culture is entirely
different. Standards of dress, social etiquette, it's all a very
different place in many ways.
I came down to configure a VSAT network for the main offices, our
property of flats (apartments), and our partner's offices (BTA). This is
the third trip from my department, the other two were made by co-workers
trying to get this VSAT to work.
It is Weds now and I'm prepping to fly back to the highlands. I feel
very out of place here in Moresby because I don't know my way around
well, but also because there is all this Christmas decor up,
advertisements, commercialism that I'm so unused to seeing unless I
travel back to the U.S. or Australia. It's odd.
And yet, there is this feeling 'they have everything here, is there
anything I need? Anything my family needs me to pick up?' for the life
of me, I can't come up with anything. I should be like a kid in a candy
shop. I don't even want to eat in the restaurants.
Some people absolutely love living here because it feels more civilized,
with cable modem internet, and satellite television, cell phone
coverage, nice roads. They even have a rush hour. I'm glad for those
people because we need folks living in this capital city to get work done.
But I feel hedged in, the living situation here is somewhat crowded,
there is traffic noise, and neighbor noise. I wasn't expecting to have
to make that mental transition inside the same country.
Last night I was invited to a social event, a Bible study group was
having a Christmas party. I try to always take advantage of
opportunities to meet new people, especially in this country. You never
know when you might make a relationship that helps you get work done.
Right off the bat, I met an Aussie man who needed help putting his
Security cameras onto the LAN. He'd been trying all day. I helped him,
and it took about ten minutes. He was happy, and so was I, because I
firmly believe in making oneself useful. He then was able to show me
his security cams around his complex and how he could view them on his
Galaxy phone.
I noticed also the pepper spray by his front door, and the bars on the
windows and doors. Crime is not an unexpected thing in the towns, but
then, have you read the news lately in the U.S. crime is everywhere.
It is most definitely an interesting place. I feel like a country
bumkin come to see the big city. I have finished the work, and I am
ready to go home. I fly out in a few hours. I leave behind three
properties that now have internet access with the ability to record and
report on it using a homegrown system our dept. came up with.