Moning olgeta,

It's 10:20 a.m. Tuesday morning. It's been raining much of the morning. Taim bilong rain. I've been pretty sick for the last three days or so. Laryngitis for the last three days. Typical cold, I think, but I'm monitoring to see if it's bronchitis. I knew this was bound to happen sooner or later.

The Goroka Show was last weekend. What an awesome display of feathers and face paint (red, yellow and white dominated), tanget plants covering backsides and boobs all over the place. There were dozens of groups dancing their traditional dances and singing their traditional songs. It was so amazing to be in the middle of it all. Even though I didn't feel well, I recorded a lots of the singsings as they came by. Also did some interviews and specific recording of a Lufa group playing giant bamboo pipes with thongs, a Chimbu group that did this amazing head-turning, another Chimbu group that played bamboo pipes, etc. There's enough there to make a nice audio postcard.

The only downside of the two-day event was the fact that the hundreds of people who didn't get inside weren't too happy and started throwing stones over the fence. Most people knew enough to run and go inside, but a few unlucky ones got hit. And when I say hit, I mean hit hard. My cousin Jerry said he could see the brain of one man who got hit. Apparently a white tourist got hit too. But this was just an afternoon thing. For the most part it was a joyous display of color and pride in tradition.

Yesterday was quiet. I stayed home and, honestly, slept or read most of the day. We took the two women who run Delta's Pro-Ma Products group in PNG to the afternoon flight out to Port Moresby. They'd been staying the weekend. Of course the water pump buggered up the day before they arrived. The family was able to jimmy together something to make it work, and now it seems okay. But it's been an interesting weekend. I think I'm going soft, more than I'd like to admit. I really, really like having running water and a toilet.

Anyway, I guess that's about it. I have to hurry because internet is expensive and I'm hogging the phone line. All's well here. Hope you're doing well.

S.