Goroka Eco Trek Day 4

I slept great. I had a bed to myself with walls around it, the noise of a creek flowing nearby. No mosquitoes . My midnight piss coincided with a most tremendous downpour. I had to don all the wet weather gear and be very brave. For breakfast we had greens and sweet potato with some rice. Jessica said sorry for the rice, sweet potatoes were getting harder to come by. After breakfast we had a traditional dance. The Firuri Spear Dance.

Spear Dance at Firuri

The Spear Dance troop was depleted on the day as a local politician was giving away bags of rice. Most of the village had taken off. But there was still a small but appreciative crowd and the dance itself was very fun and not scarey at all. But it was the traditional war dance. It involved a lot of shaking while holding a posture then a sudden change on the note from a deep bamboo pipe. It reminded me of Gurdjeif's dances.

Some of the dancers who had missed out because they were getting rice got annoyed when they worked out the cut for six dancers. I had paid the same $60aussie. One of the dancers must have taken off real quick after the gig because i snapped him coming back the other way with a big bag of rice. Pretty pleased with himself too i reckon.
As the sun was setting i watched a string of people come back with bilums bursting with rice. They were happy and engaging. Some joked about how many pots of rice they would eat that night. Jessica told me the politician had promised to be like a Joseph amongst then during the coming famine. We both think politicians hilarious.

Sam said the in png the only sure way to become a millionaire is to become a politician. The only sure way to become a politician is to give stuff away. Firuri still had running water but even here the gardens were failing and people were hungry.They were very glad of the rice. At least Samuel Lulu has a vision, has a plan. He may have to give away rice, but he has more to offer than that.

I chatted with Lisa, daughter of my hosts. She is 14 and is afraid of witches. She studies at a school in Garoka and wants to be a doctor, or a nurse like her mother. She says that witches are still hunted, that a body after death is searched for signs. Even when destroyed such a witch will only reappear in another village. She said the only protection was the church.
The Post-Courier, a Murdock paper, headlined with "Brothers chopped to pieces", a story of witchcraft 20 clicks from Goroka. I love the way some of the young people dab some color on their faces. Young men did this too.

This man was one of the dancers! Round his forehead are strings of traditional shell money. Hanging at the back of his head is a slingshot. These are deadly. The owl wings in the guesthouse came via a slingshot. Everyone had bows and arrows. I tried out a little one, like a toy. The arrow went off like lightning over a small but distant rise, towards the village. fuck. And that arrow had the little boys fingerprints all over it. I would deny everything and run. We heard no screams. Imagine the power of the big ones, like what Jim hunted me with. The Bow is pure bamboo including the string. The arrow is from the pita plant (?) with a head from a heavier wood, sharpened and tied. I gave this kid a frisbee we played with one evening.
Everyone was happy with the weapons they already had. Everyone wanted to keep guns away.

Looking towards Mt Michael and Chimbu lands

Gilbert explained that cooking fish was new to highland people. Eating carp was new to me. I was asked if i liked protein. I said yes, hence the fish. What i ate was yummy, what i left was added to the plates of the others and consumed in every way till the head was steam cooked over a mass of vegetables. Later at night we laughed about politicians. I was told the french man that had broken down was accompanied by his girlfriend. We howled with laughter at his shame. The next morning he apologised to everyone for the day before, but then still needed to be carried over the stream back onto the track! In front of his girl ! (more howls). He weighed 95kg. I only weigh 50! I told stories of my water pipes freezing at home and of my drive to work. Sam, Kevin and me drank Wildman and Kevin would give me a little Brusch to smoke outside under the stars. Kevin showed me how to hunt the small bats that winged overhead. He threw his beanie high into the air. I saw the bats swerve towards it. He said if you do it long enough one will become ensnared and fall to the ground. Ive seen these bats in many lands but never seen hunting like this : )

LiveLave or WildMan has the best label of any beverage anywhere.