My First Weekend

08-May-2011, 1017

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers at home and work, especially of course to my Mom Sarah, and Grandma Raymunda, Tita Grace, Tita Susan, Tita Bona, Tita Lynn, Tita Helen, cousins Dang and Alma, and my sister Karl-Anne!  I still do not have Internet connection at home so I cannot update my FB status and send greetings to all as much as I would love to.  For now, I am celebrating all the love and maternal influences rendered to me by my Mom, Aunts, grandmother, and all relatives who are also mothers, in spirit.  Long live all of you!

With cost of living already high and currently still sky-rocketing in PNG, it is a bit hard to think about what to do this weekend.  I figured I will catch up on policies, guidelines, security briefings, and other work-related stuff at home to kill time.  I understand it is unorthodox to be doing work while not working and within the comforts and boundaries of home.  I know I should be living life and live it fully.    At this point, I am still giving myself some time to really acclimate to my surroundings.  It is not so easy to just take a cab ride and go downtown here in PNG due to safety/security reasons knowing that I will really standout as an expatriate, despite having many Filipinos around supposedly.  So far, I have only seen two Filipinos at the market.

Tom, my housemate, was kind enough to let me hop along with him when he went to the store and did some grocery shopping.  This time, I finally saw the mall and the supermarket.  Prices were still crudely high but were better compared to the prices at the store down the street where I live.  Tom advised that prices at the supermarket are still gauged higher because of the newness of the place.  I only bought selected few items as he advised me to do.  He took me down to where he generally buys household items and this place is a little bit smaller scale than the supermarket but big enough to have all of the things that I will be needing at home, including laundry detergent. 

Tom also bought a few vegetable items as he was going to have few guests for a lunch party.  Apparently, one of his colleagues from AUSAID (Australia’s version of USAID) was awarded a complete scholarship to attend and study for two years in University of Melbourne for a Master of Science in Organizational Development degree.  So this party is going to be not just a lunch party but a gathering of special significance since a colleague of theirs is leaving and to also celebrate her award achievement.  I offered Tom my culinary services and told him how I love cooking.  As it turns out, two nice young ladies who were also colleagues like to do the same.  Tom invited me to the party so I joined and told his co-workers stories of US life, work, school, home, my flight, Florida, Washington DC, New York City, nightlife, politics, Barak Obama/Hillary Clinton, and it seemed to delight them of all the things that I’ve done and places that I’ve visited (not that there were really many).  I also told them about Pfizer, the New Haven Clinical Research Unit, what we do, and the Global Health Fellows program and its connection with FHI.  I met Suzanne, as well as 9 of her colleagues.  When they found out that I have only been here for 3 days, they just swarmed and welcomed me with their open hearts and hospitality.  It turned out to be Suzanne’s and Mark’s party—goodbye/congrats and welcome party that is!  I had a great time; the dishes that they prepared were all so delectable and good!  We had ice cream and cake in the end.  It turns out that Papuans also like music and singing.  I really should’ve brought my karaoke system with me, oh well.   I really had a great time in the end and thanked Tom for being inclusive and overall a really nice gentleman.

When everyone left, Tom and I watched movies about the history of PNG and the early Australian colonial settlers looking for gold.  It was totally informative.  Papua New Guinea is a very new and young country, ideologically that is.  Australia awarded its independence only in 1975, but the colonial influences are still somewhat palpable.  It is almost like the country went from the time of the Australopithecus to the time of cellphones and internet without having to pass by anything or anytime in between.  Infrastructures are booming and yet there are no regulations, policies, and plans.  Government is weak, and from what I hear, corruption is also rampant.  The country can greatly benefit from its tourism industry because it is a very beautiful country.  But not a lot of visitors and tourists are flocking to the country because of the prices and its well-known crimes and violence.  Natural resources such as copra, gold, and oil are also abundant, and yet oil prices, just as in the UNS, are also skyrocketing.  Many Papuans from different provinces are cramped and settled in Port Moresby illegally in tenements and settlements because at the rate and price of realty right now, no one, will be able to afford to rent a house, let alone build or buy it.  Primary and secondary educations, as well as healthcare are also problematic.  Only a few are able to continue to university settings and afford a college education through government subsidy.  This is the one of the key reasons why the strong presence of FHI is needed as far as healthcare is concerned, often funded by outside governments and donors such as USAID and AUSAID.  I now have a working plan on how to tackle my clinic visits at least when I go to Lawes Road Clinic and 9-Mile Clinic sometime in the future. 

At this point, I can say that I survived my very first weekend.  I am missing home, especially my family!  I am not sure what will be in store for the next coming weekend though, we’ll see.

FHI (me) meets AUSAID (everyone else).  Only Tom (green shirt), Ahmed (last on the right standing), and I are expatriates (US, Kenya, & Pakistan).