July 14
Started the day with the pidgin English mass in the Cathedral. Peter, the man in charge of the Cultural Center, brought in a load of baskets and trays for our perusal. Some really nice ones, which mostly I snapped up. Miri and Martine bought a few, too. Peter, it turns out, is a talker. Lots of repetition. We might still be standing there with him talking if Martine hadn’t pushed for closure.
We washed and dried all the baskets and trays. Martine warned of the little critters that the customs folks would be looking for. A time or two in a black plastic bag out in the sun should cook them!
And I finished my second baby bilum, complete with handle! It is just big enough to fit my digital camera into it. The nuns were impressed!
What I haven’t mentioned yet are the skills Miri and I have been learning. Each evening, Doris and Martine would pull out games. Mostly cards, sometimes Rumikub. I don’t usually play card games and my Rumikub was rusty, but Doris and Martine were patient. Threes Wild was the game of the hour. By the middle of last week I was doing okay at it. (The point of the game is to go out first so as not to rack up any points that might be in your hand. I was really good at getting the highest score. J ) Miri, on the other hand, had her sights set on learning how to shuffle the cards. (I held out no hope for me learning that!) She diligently practiced and by the time we were stuck in the airport on the way home, she was doing pretty good.