Apinun,

It's almost 1 p.m. on Friday here. It's been a busy couple of days. Yesterday I went with Delta and Moses, my aunt and uncle, to Delta's village. We parked their car and walked down a steep hill -- past incredibly lush gardens full of bananas, kaukau (sweet potato), corn, peanuts, Chinese cabbage and even an illegal substance I won't name -- to where everyone was gathered to celebrate a new coffee machine that will help harvest all the coffee they pick off their trees. There were pounds and pounds of lamb flaps and chickens, all kinds of kumu (greens), and a mountain of cooking bananas that the men were tying together in small bunches. Some men were tending the fire, heating up stones that they put inside of banana leaves with the greens. Once they wrap up the package, they bury it underground and let it cook for an hour or two. This is the mumu in all its glory. I recorded and snapped pictures. Then we hiked back up the mountain. Let's just say it was the most exercise I've had since I left L.A.

Last night I talked with Moses and Delta in English (all my interviews so far have been in Tok Pisin) about some of the general customs of PNG. Gender roles, the importance of family, poverty, etc. It was an amazing 45-minute conversation and will, I think, be the backbone of a lot of what I do when I put my pieces together.

Today I recorded while Delta's parents dressed her daughter Rossy up in bilas. That's a traditional costume. Rossy and Aka's school had an Independence Day celebration, so Rossy put on pulpul (kind of a grass skirt), all kinds of woven and beaded belts, shell necklaces, a necklace of balls of kapul fur, a Highlands hat, and a few feathers in her cap. She looked awesome. As soon as I can, I'll post pictures. That may not be until after the 25th of September. Anyway, we attended the celebration. I tried to record but am not sure if it came out well or not.

All right, time for me to get off the phone line and get back to writing postcards.

Hope you're all well!

S.