* There is both margarine and sandwich meat available again! It feels a little sureal really... Wonder how long they'll be available for... Maybe I should stock up... Some friends just got me some bacon in Bali and it was half the price of what we pay here...
* Our guard as it turns out, is learning to play the piano. And wouldn't you know it, we happen to have a piano! I told him he could come and practice any time he likes. He'd never seen a real piano before, he had no idea that a piano that didn't require electricity existed. When I showed him the piano for the first time he was quite and excited and asked how long he could play for. I told him that he could play until he was bored or his back hurt... 2.5 hours later... his back hurt... Yokben is a great guy. He's been married for one year about. When we inquired of his age he really had to think hard and then said that he was born in 1987 then had to correct himself, no he was born in 1985. He paid 8 pigs for his wife. That's quite a princely sum, especially since her parents said that he could pay whatever he wanted... What a guy! He's been going out into the jungle and finding interesting plants and putting them in pots at the back of our house! He brought me calla lillies the other day! I think one of them is about to produce a flower!
*So I bought a fish the other day. Paid way too much. The price sounded fine to me as it was much cheaper than ground beef... Oh well, next time I'll bargain... But he did deliver it, cut it up for me, and take out the bones.
* It turns out that Ice has had a baby before. This news shocked the pants off me... When she was much younger she had a boyfriend. They were dating for a while when he started making certain requests of her that she was not interested in fulfilling. So he forced her to fulfill his request but he did so when the power was out and there was a rain storm so she didn't know who had done it. She of course told her family and they called the neighbours together to talk about it. At that point the guy confessed. So his family had to pay for his sins. Ice became pregnant and gave birth somewhat prematurely to a baby boy. (I believe she was about 16 yrs old at the time) If I understand her correctly, the baby was blind. At five months of age there were problems in Ice's family (her parents eventually divorced) and she entrusted the baby to the care of another family. Apparently they had to bring the child to the doctor often and at seven months of age, he developed breathing problems. They brought him to the government hospital in Jayapura but they weren't able to help him and he died. Ice told me that it wasn't that she didn't want to tell me about this happening in her life, but that it all feels like a dream. Like maybe it didn't really happen. One can't even imagine what the women here go through in their lives. I think we westerners would all be seeing therapists and psychologists but these women just keeping on going.
* In other news, Ritha's mom came and took her brother away, but the next night he was back... hmm.... I asked the sisters why he came back and they said they hadn't asked him. See, that just shocks me. I'd be asking him tons of questions, but they just accept that he's back and that it might be for just a while or it might be more permanent... Just see what happens... In the meantime, the sister is registering him for school and paying the entrance fee. (which she had to borrow from us and others...)
*We've had some health issues since returning from our family conference. I needed to go on Cipro and now Hugo is on it... Aidan has been sick for about a week now. He's not super sick, but you can tell he's not himself. He started out with a fever and sore throat and now he's complaining about his stomach and some intestinal issues and he's not eating much (a sure sign that Aidan is not himself)... I'm thinking he might have amoeba. You see, Hugo, Aidan, Mikah and I all had some chicken in Wamena while we were waiting for our flight home.... So far only Mikah hasn't had any negative reaction, but then she seems to have a stomach made of stainless steel...
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