Today is a national holiday. (Today was
Monday, when I wrote this)
Well, yesterday, really, but as that
was a Sunday, today is the day that everyone gets off work. Yesterday
was the Independence Day of Papua New Guinea. They are celebrating 37
years of independence. So we, as missionaries, decided that we should
celebrate by heading out to Jais Aben! (coincidentally, the office
workers here do that every weekend anyway, but it was my first time!)
Jais is a resort on the coast of Papua
New Guinea, about a 30 minute drive from town. From the very day that
I started dating Elizabeth I have been hearing about her
misadventures in Jais, from coral cutting her, to jellyfish stinging
her, it just didn't sound like a good time. But she was excited to go
back, and I had never snorkeled in a coral reef before, so when the
truck was being loaded up we grabbed some snorkels and masks and
hopped in the back.
First off, while the paved roads of PNG
are much better maintained than the ones I remember from Africa, the
truck we were in was not. There was much jouncing and bouncing in the
bed of the truck, and I began to wish that I had brought along a seat
cushion to sit on. Secondly, it was a holiday. The roads were filled
with pedestrians walking to and from different goings on in the area.
It was cool to see everyone out and about and dressed up in PNG
colors. It was not cool to have people so close to our truck while we
were driving that someone literally reached out and touched me as we
drove past. I thought we were going to kill someone! Luckily, no one
died, and soon we were on the open roads outside town.
Once again I was struck by the beauty
of Papua New Guinea. Outside of town the trees were greener, and more
plentiful, and I began to see more traditional houses instead of the
concrete buildings you commonly see in town. Children in the tops of
coconut trees waved to us we drove by. Turning off the main road, we
found ourselves driving along a dirt path through the trees. At the
end of this path was a gate, and through the gate was Jais!
Jais had well manicured lawns, trimmed
bushes, and flower gardens, but the real draw was the beach! There
was a sandy area about 10 ft by 10 ft square where you could get into
or out of the ocean, and a tree with a rope hanging from it where you
can swing out over the water and drop! Elizabeth and I walked into
the ocean, put our faces in the water and took our first breath from
our snorkel, and we were off. We spent probably an hour swimming
above coral, and gazing down at an assortment of fish. (I even saw a
clown fish, briefly) It was breathtaking. There were starfish so
bright blue that I thought they were made of plastic, and a sea
urchin I saw that was bigger than my head! Colorful fish flitted
through the water below us, while canoes passed us by on the surface.
Back on land, we shared a plate of
chips (french fries) with our friend Michelle who has been in PNG for
a few months now, and listened to a group of local musicians playing
on a bamboo instrument using flip flops. It was actually quite
impressive. All in all it was quite a relaxing trip, even if it did
only last a couple of hours. No cuts, no jellyfish, good friends and
good times.
And the best part? This weekend, we're
doing it again!
