It’s been over three very long, tiring weeks since I have had any real contact with the world, outside of the PNG jungle. Today is my last day on site before I close out 25 wild days in Papua New Guinea and I have finally got a chance to write a little bit about what life has been like out here.
Working 12 hours a day for 25 days straight, almost feels as though I’ve woke up and am strangely on some episode of Survivor or something. Ok, so maybe it’s not quite THAT dire, but the living can get pretty rough out here (especially for what little old me is used to!)
For starters, I was assigned a bodyguard (thats him to the left) when my colleague left site to return to Brisbane! Yes, you read that right, a bodygaurd!! I did this nervous laugh when asked if I wanted one and the supervisor said, No, I’m not joking, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry!! Umm, what?!?! So of course I obliged. I definitely had lots of hard work cut out for me, but at least I wasn’t going to have to go it alone. He was very friendly and helpful and even gave me a hand-crafted Bidum that his mother had weaved as a parting gift. (These ‘purses’ are all the rage out here, let me tell you, it’s a funny site to see hundreds of big, beefy men carrying their belongings in these elegantly weaved, colorful shoulder bags!) I told him he was a great ‘sidekick’…but seeing as English isn’t the spoken language here it required an explanation…so I said, we make a good team, like Batman and Robin! 
The language barrier has been only a small bump in the road out here. Most of the crew can understand the basics, the tricky part is trying to explain how you want them to go about the job when you are standing next to a rig that is banging and clanging and everyone has ear plugs in to attempt to salvage what’s left of their eardrums after hours of standing next to what sounds like a freight train. I got a lot of smiles and head nods before I eventually realized that doesn’t necessarily indicate understanding. Thankfully I latched on to a few guys who spoke English just about as fluently as they spoke Pigeon and everything smoothed out.
The people I have worked with have been so wonderful and I have so many special memories of our time together. I loved listing to their funky music, hearing all their stories about village life, and the traditions of their culture. The thing that stood out the most was just how helpful and kind everyone is here. I am taking home a new respect for the hard working lifestyles that everyone here are happy to lead day in and day out, with the brightest of smiles. You wouldn’t think this is a place where disease is rampant, internet doesn’t really exist and someone asks what that thing is that you are listening to?…an ipod!
The food at the mess (aptly named dining hall) was often daunting…rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner! It usually seemed that whatever was for dinner the previous evening, ended up being for lunch the next day…coincidence?...I think not! The food that I did recognize was usually full of grease…so it was slim pickings most of the time. I was told not to eat the raw vegetables so I did shy away from that, but lord knows cooked cabbage gets old fast! I had a bad stomach bug in the first week, but my innards must have become accustomed to the grub after that.
One afternoon I was taken on a personal tour of the site and as we drove to the edges of the boundary (its massive…actually a huge river runs through the center and the site stretches for kilometers on both sides) we could see people rummaging in the rainforest. We got out to meet this tiny frail old man…I thought he looked about 65 but my guide said he was probably only about 40, just evidence of what a trying lifestyle does to your body. He invited us to see his ‘house’ it was basically a little shack built out of branches with a palm leaf roof. There was a little black spot on the ground where he had built a fire. Nearby, there was a gigantic stump where tree had been cut down with piles and piles of wood cuttings scattered on the forest floor. He told us (in Pigeon to the guide) that he had carved out a canoe from the trunk. 
It’s actually crazy to think I might miss this place when I leave…but just the raw beauty of the jungle, the bright red clay, the swamp land that houses native crocodiles, the warm humid heat that bear hugs you at any hour, and the friendly faces that have been so welcoming, it has all added up to one big adventure that will not be soon forgotten.
Today I’m jetting off (private jet style...only 1 other couple on my charter) to meet my love in Cairns for a well deserved vacay to celebrate our anniversary of eight most truly amazing years together and one fabulous year of life in Australia! Its time for us to unwind at the Great Barrier Reef.
From the heart of the Papua New Guinea jungle,
Xoxo Tegs
