Good news from the PNG Embassy, as of yesterday: my visa approval arrived from Port Moresby and my passport, visa, etc. are all on their way back to me. Cost me an extra $78.25 for the visa fee...but I'm just happy to hear I don't have to worry about this anymore.

Now I just need batteries. Costco, here I come...

On Monday I bought a dozen L.A./Venice Beach/California t-shirts to bring to my family members in PNG. Size large, so as not to leave the ladies with "inappropriately" short shirts. (They have to reach mid-thigh for modesty's sake.)

I read a WONDERFUL book over the last few days about a woman's Peace Corps service in Mali in the late 1970s. It's called Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway. It's about her two-year stint working with a midwife in a Malian village. I never get tired of reading books about others' experiences overseas. The other book I'm midway through right now is called Chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia by Tim Bascom. It reminds me of one of my favorites, Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. You know, the childhood experience in Africa... Fuller is still one of the best I've ever read at really *getting* the child's perspective. It doesn't feel forced in her book. But Bascom's book is interesting too, because he was there as protests against Haile Selassie increased.

I always thought I'd like to write a book about PNG. I wrote about 50 pages of stories when we first got back in 1999... Now I'm not even sure where they are. Some disk somewhere... I need to find those.

I reconnected with an old friend last night by phone. He's totally sober now after years of what wasn't so good for him. Props to you, Mr. J, for sticking with it. 'One day at a time' is the mantra for both of us!