Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Survey Trip Part 2

OK ... after returning back to Wewak becasue the roads got too brutal, we booked the plane for another go around on our survey by air.  This time we landed in Nuku and Lumi to assess the needs of language groups in the area.  We had a very profitable time and met some of the nicest most helpful people in the world.  This "kulau" (coconut) was handed to me during our stop in Nuku ... one of the sweetest most refreshing I've had in PNG.  Sure beats a Coke ... and it's supposed to be the ultimate rehydration drink too! 

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Maprik Lumi Area Survey Trip

Yea, I know ... this picture doesn't look like a normal NTM survey in the Sepik.  We usually are moving by chopper or trapsing around the deep jungle sleeping in remote villages.  Not on this trip, where the purpose was to survey language vitality along the road that heads inland from Wewak past Maprik.  This picture is taken at a high-school along the road where Greg and I swapped stories with students ... in English!  Yes, things are changing rapidly in PNG, and in this area schools are bypassing pidgin altogether and teaching in English from 4th grade on.  It was remarkable to explore these areas not so far but so very different than the Nakui jungle.