Expect the Unexpected

June 28, 2010


If you don’t know how the International Dateline works then you may be wondering why I didn’t write on the 27th. Because of the huge time difference we lost a day. No wonder we are so tired! We had a few troubles along our journey. While in Brisbane, Australia many of us did not have a boarding pass to fly Air Nugini, and no one knows how that could have happened. Mary, Dunc, and Tracy got everything figured out and we were on the flight to Port Morseby, Papua New Guinea.

Off the airplane, we were greeted by scorching heat and men singing and playing instruments, wearing Hawaiian style shirts. I was escorted by wheelchair so I was able to cut the huge lines for visa and passport checks. When Ellen and I arrived at the check-in area there was a young girl passed out on the floor. The mother was not sure if she was breathing and she began yelling out. Thankfully there was a doctor present who came to help and I gave up my wheelchair when they had decided it was okay for her to move and receive further help.

After some time of waiting in line, not finding all the luggage, and going through yet again another security check we finally made it into the country we have been dreaming about for months. We were then taken by vans to another part of the airstrip to board a very small plane called a Twin Otter. It was so awesome! We enjoyed the bumpy hour and a half ride laughing, joking, and taking pictures of the many mighty mountains below. Mid flight, the course was changed. We were supposed to land in Ukarumpa, where dinner, a hot shower, and friends of the Pfanz’s were expecting our arrival. Because planes are not allowed to fly after 6 p.m. we had to land in Kundiowa, where we stayed in a hotel for the night. For being an unexpected landing, there were many people gathered at the airstrip with curious stares welcoming us. We each found our rooms hooked up with a small T.V. and mini fridge and then made our way to the dining room for supper. The room was beautifully painted with a jungle mural. I think we waited two hours for our food. Some had chicken, some had steak, and it was well worth the wait. What really stood out to me that first night, and you will hear me say this again, was the kindness of their hospitality and service to us. They did not have any tea to serve us, which we weren’t expecting anything more than water, but they went to town anyways and bought it just for us. To me that was a blessing and the tea was so good I bought some and brought it home.

Despite the excitement of finally being in PNG and enjoying the food and company of one another our tiredness could not be ignored any longer so we went to bed, sleeping to the sound of voices in the night, a goat, the birds of paradise, and light jungle rain.