25 November
Jacinta
There are days and then there are days where so much happens that it’s hard to believe some of these pictures were taken just this morning. It’s only 6.30pm! I’m sitting on the floor of the guesthouse room surrounded by a pile of beautiful bilums gifted by various people for various reasons.
Started the day with a message from Phillip, PJ’s friend who used to be a cook/manager/jack of all trades at the lodge. He swung by and ended up spending the day with us in all its winding glory.
Now I am not going to be able to give any justice in conveying some of the customary events of the day that I was privileged enough to witness. I will share some of what I witnessed.
Family started gathering at the house last night, to mark a significant event that happened today. While we were camping with the girls and their boyfriends earlier in the year, we got the call to say that Aunty Karula has passed away. Aunty Karula was Nahau’s (PJ’s mum’s) youngest sister. The event today was a ceremony to mark the closing of the grieving period, amongst other things.
We were able to share some of the clothes, shoes, hats, headlamps and solar lights we brought with us, with family and friends. Hilda is wearing a hat I bought from the Mackay NAIDOC march that I love dearly, but how many hats does one person need… I was going to send some of the clothes to the op shop (random band shirts for example) but PJ assured me they would be very warmly received here, and they very much were. I have seen some hilarious shirts out and about here that are perfectly out of place. On an island that is home to a family of about ten people, I met a woman who was wearing an ‘A Perfect Circle’ shirt. I wonder what journey that shirt went on to make it there. Mula is sporting a new wardrobe of soccer and running shirts courtesy of Chris. He put one straight on. It’s good to see them get a new life in this humid paradise. We had to look for Cinderella to find someone to fit the shoes we bought, and there was much excitement when we did. The men have wide feet and the woman have feet about half the size of mine. I know what to bring next time.
While we were sitting telling stories with Phillip, PJ’s phone dinged with the email that he had been waiting to receive since 4am this morning. The year has been a very hard slog of study, with an intensity and impact that is too much to describe. But today, he found out he passed his final exam, with excellent marks too. I could not be more proud. It was a really special moment. The collision of the exam results and the Manus trip is a mark of big things to come.
We launched in to the final stages of our preparation for the trip to M’Buke Island. There was much to’ing and froing, riding in the back of the ute across town and back again quite a few times. Fetching fuel containers, filling them, dropping them, collecting more, markets, dropping off food, round and round. Hilda helped me to choose a smoked fish at the markets, so I feel a bit better now about buying fish and cooking for myself. They assured me that smoked fish lasts a long time (months!?). Hopefully mine was not that old! We also bought pumpkin tips which PJ has been talking about as a favourite for a long time. I didn’t know they are literally just the end of the pumpkin vine. I could’ve hooked us up at home!
We met Chakumai in person today. PJ and Chakumai were introduced online by a mutual friend, because Chakumai is a canoe carver. This is a long held hobby and goal of PJ’s. They’ve stayed in close contact and Chakumai has been teaching PJ via video calls.
If you think you have got a sense of the logistics required to organise this trip, multiply it by ten and add some GST.
It’s 5 million degrees and 100% humidity. I think that’s an important part of the story to add in when considering the ferrying around town lugging supplies. We were absolutely wrecked. We had an hour between that mission and pick up time for the ceremony in the afternoon, so PJ cooked lunch. A Manus version of fish and chips, with smoked fish and banana.
We have been living off nuts, fruits, fish, coconuts and vegetables. I’m keen to dive in and cook some more veggies next week when we’re back from M’Buke, so I can try some of the veg I see at the markets. I’m loving the new fruits and nuts I’ve tried. We only have a half dead electric fry pan with every skerrick of Teflon scratched off, and a rice cooker, shared with a whole guest house, so cooking is an exercise of perseverance and stamina. That might sound like I’m not a fan of the kitchen situation but truly I am. It’s so great to have some facilities to cook and rest.
We travelled up to Loniu village for the ceremony. I won’t share too many photos and I’ll keep it short. It was an extended affair with lots of exchanging of words, money and gifts. There were two parts to the ceremony. One part was about Aunty Karula and the other was about a family member being received in to her new family and giving thanks to those who raised and supported her to now. PJ received a gift on behalf of his sister. This ceremony was at the home of Aunty Karula’s husband, and she has been laid to rest at the side of the house.
It’s now 9.10pm. I’ve written this post while wrangling all sorts of happenings. Mostly kitchen related. Now we’re in bed both writing our blogs so we are caught up before the trip tomorrow. Uncle John sent a really lovely email today that meant a lot so we are glad to keep sharing.