My First Mumu

Mumu:  1)  something cooked by steaming with heated stones in a native pressure cooking pit, a 

                    method of cooking prevelant in the Highlands

               2)  the earth oven itself

I got to attend my first mumu this morning.  It was great fun!  Yesterday the hole was dug.  This morning about 7:00 am the ladies prepared the food - sweet potatoe, cabbage, carrots, taro, chicken, lamb, beef (they traditionally use a pig but this was a small mumu) pumpkin (squash), corn, and green beans.  Then a fire was built to heat the stones.  Once the wood burned up, the stones fell into the whole and were covered with banana leaves.  The food was then piled on top and covered with more banana leaves, a tarp, and dirt.  The food steamed about 2 hours and at noon we had a delicious meal.

 

 

The Year Continued

August through November was spent as teacher for the following POC Course.  The students had an hour and a half of daily Tok Pisin instruction, two hours of academic studies, followed by two hours of PNG studies which included hiking, swimming, scrap booking, and various field trips...

November to December has been spent up at Ukarumpa in the Highlands teaching 5th grade until the end of the term which was Dec. 14.  It is wonderfully cool here and beautiful with the plethora of flowers, misty mountains, and green valleys! 

I also had the opportunity to visit a couple of pets around here- a Kapul (cuscus) and some cute little sugar gliders which like to hide in their nest.

May thru July was spent recovering from tropical ulcers and malaria as well as moving into my new flat at POC and becoming a staff member. 

A Year In a Life...

Next month will be one year that I've lived in Papua New Guinea already and I temporarily have internet access!  The time has simply flown by! 

January through April was spent participating as a student in the POC (Pacific Orientation Course) learning PNG culture, customs, language (Tok Pisin) and a bit of geography and history...

The first 9 weeks spent learning and living at POC which is located on top of NoboNob mountain.  It is a beautiful setting overlooking the ocean.  The next 5 weeks are spent living in a village getting to know the people and culture up close!