Monday November 7, 2016
Election Day (actually our Wednesday) Nov 9, 2016
We received an invitation from the Consulate to attend a viewing of the presidential election being held at the Heritage Hotel. We were excited to go. As we entered the room, we noticed red, white, and blue decorations. We registered and were given some fun things and then shown into the room. Our seats were on the second row. There were two big screens, one showing BBC and one showing NBC. The room was decorated with sooo many red, white, and blue items. And a big flag. It felt like "home". When the gathering finally started, we looked around and noticed several white people but the majority were natives and students from the island who were trying to understand the election process. The Port Moresby PHG consulate was there and gave a presentation on the voting and electoral college votes, etc. And he fielded some questions. Have you ever understood this process and then tried to explain it in simple terms for others? Pretty confusing. The Prime Minister was sitting right in front of us and as he was leaving, he shook Elder Sanders hand. How special??? We were fed lunch and continued watching for several hours. It was like a breath of home for us to watch and listen. Even though the outcome was certainly interesting, life will continue on and we'll give Trump a good chance. It is funny how the people over here really followed the election and are always asking us how we feel about the results.
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| Our invite...not sure how Greg's name got there |
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| sign at Heritage Hotel |
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| U S Consulate |
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| the big screens |
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| Yeah for the USA! |
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| Our fun stuff |
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| Reversible fans and pin |
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| close up of pin...SI & USA |
Western Union Fiasco
We have never used Western Union but we had a member, Sister Margaret Rimou, who had a contact in the USA that wanted to help her get passports for her family so they could be sealed in the Fiji Temple. We have been working since August to make contact with him and finally got in touch with him and let him know what she needed. He replies that he will send the money to Sister Sanders through Western Union. We find out where to go and this is how the story went...remember nothing is easy in the Solomon's.
1st time...stood in line for 20 minutes when realized that we needed two forms of ID. Sister Sanders only had one on her.
2nd time...stood in line for 30 minutes, got to the window, teller put in the number...no such number...back to email..
3rd time...stood in line for 10 minutes, got to the window, money was being counted out, asked if I knew the answer to the secret question. WHAT...a secret question and answer???...back to email
4th time...stood in line for 10 minutes, got to the window with the secret question and answer. The teller NEVER asked the question but I gave him the answer. He hesistated...that isn't the same answer as in the computer! He debated but finally decided it was the operator error and I was finally given the money...
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| Finally...4th time does it |
Friday November 18, 2016
We have been a little excited and nervous for this day. This is Henry's graduation day from Don Bosco Rural Training Center. The school is a trade school and Henry has been there 2 years. It takes about 35 minutes to get there. We weren't so worried about going to the ceremony. It was the lunch that had at least me (Sister Sanders) a little nervous. Every graduate was supposed to bring food for potluck lunch. We helped Simon Peter buy some rice and chicken wings...no telling what others would bring.
We left about 7 a.m. to pick up Simon Peter and head out to the school. When we arrived at Simon Peters, we found out his wife was going and an uncle of Henry's. We ended up getting to the school at 8:15, kind of early. We put our food in the collection room and then were invited to the Principal's building, where we could wait for everything to start. Because we were invited guests, we were treated pretty good. We meet some of the other invited guests and really enjoyed meeting and visiting with Archbishop Everett Smith, who has been here for 50 years. He was so enjoyable to talk to and has quite a fun personalty. He brought a female passenger with him, who was from Austria and collects church art or something. Elder Sanders found out she speaks German so they spent some time visiting.
We were escorted to the building where the graduation ceremony and thanksgiving mass were held. We sat up front and listened to a Thanksgiving Mass. Pretty interesting...a lot of pomp and ceremony and singing. These people can really sing. It was pretty enjoyable and went for 1 1/2 hrs. There were some pan pipes there that the students played. Wished we could have recorded that. After the mass there was a 10 min. break, where we were escorted out and back to the main building, where drinks and a snack were served. Then we lined up with the graduates and were led back in and the actual graduation began. It took 1 1/2 hrs. and then we were escorted to a dining room where lunch had been provided! (yea, no lunch worries here). It was great food and we were able to visit with the Archbishop some more. The graduates and their families were in the big building and had food and fun there. Some musical numbers, a band, dancers were entertaining. When Henry had had enough partying, we drove him to where he was doing on the job training, so he could pick up his pay and clothes and come home for the weekend. We were pretty packed with four in the back but they didn't seem to mind. It was a great day. And this is one time when we can say it paid to be a foreigner and guest.
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| Archbishop Smith |
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| lunch |
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| German one talk |
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| Henry with Simon Peter & Ellen |
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| lunch buffet |
Christmas decorations
A Dig????
We were driving to a member's home and noticed an actual port-a-potty in a yard. No one has those over here. We looked closer at the house and yard and noticed tarps strung in many areas in the backyard. And many people digging and sifting dirt. And there were some "white" people there. So we went over to find out what was going on. One of the white people came over and talked English to us (it sounded so good). Apparently, the group is from Hawaii...Dept of Defense. They had been researching WWII records and located this place where there were 5 soldier's bodies buried. They were excavating and sifting through the dirt in hopes of finding their remains. It gave us the chills. We weren't allowed to take pictures but Sister Sanders took a few of the yard.
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| Dig |
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| Dig under the blue tarp |
Thanksgiving
Our Thursday was just normal...English class in the morning. We had to go to town and while there had someone run into the back of the truck. Luckily, minor damage because traffic is so slow here. So that was our day. We did teach about Thanksgiving just to let the people know what it is. On Friday, we invited the Fuimaono's to our "Thanksgiving" lunch...fried chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies...it was pretty good. Several days later, we bought a pumpkin and cooked it and made pumpkin pie. Delicious.
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| At police station |
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fresh pumpkin pie
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Thanksgiving
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District Clean up day
We spent Saturday morning cleaning up the district building. We scrubbed, washed walls, windows, fans, floors, the whole building. It was fun to spend time with the members and visiting with them.
Typical Road
This is the road to get to Simon Peter's house.
