One of the things I really like about telling stories is you how much you can learn from stories. From the setting where you get to see what Papua New Guinea is like, from the characters through whom you get to see what the ... well... characters in Papua New Guinea are like. The climax where you get to see the problems that could, that have happened. And the solutions. The solutions are really the gem of stories, where you get to hear about what has been done in a situation, if that was a good answer, and consider "what could I do differently?"
This is a great little story that will do that and give you a nice little picture of Papua New Guinea.
When we were in PNG we went to stay in the village of Anguna. They had been building this house for one of the young men who was eminently leaving his parents house. The house was right next door so it wasn't like the kid was moving too far from home. But because no one had lived there before we got the privileged of staying in this house while we were there. Which was particularly nice because it gave us a place, outside of the missionaries home (which I'm sure was equally nice for her), where Jacob and I could go and retreat to. So we would go and take naps during the day in this bush house of ours, which was ridiculously hot. But then at night...
PNG is like really hot. Like 100 degrees.
At night, however, it gets to be like, 80 degrees.
Now you may be thinking, "80 degrees? That's still pretty hot..."
But when you consider it's a 20 degree difference....
80 degrees becomes quite chilly.
Now I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to touch other people when I'm asleep. From the slumber parties when you were kids where you put 30 girls on the floor of a very small room where everyone was touching each other to now, with Jacob.
Stay on your side of the bed.
I'm sleeping.
This is my personal skin.
Your side of the bed.
Don't touch me.
But when we were in Papua New Guinea, it was so cold that we cuddled together at night to stay warm and actually slept like that. I mean. Cold. It was cold.
So we have chilly nights in PNG but here's another thing:
It's the rain forest.
So it like rains.
And we got to experience some of that.
Sometimes it would rain at night. And we'd be over at Martha's cooking dinner, and we'd eat together, and then we'd walk home.
Now Martha's house was a nice little stroll away from our bush house.
So we got to walk all the way back in the mud.
Which, you know, is fine. I'm a missionary. I can deal with some mud.
And we get back to our bush house while it was raining and climbed up our ladder. (They had put a real ladder against our house because I'm a stupid waitmeri and I'm not coordinated and they didn't want me to die. Which I appreciate. So that was nice.)
So we get up to our house and we do to lay down and we discover that our mattress is soaking wet.
When the built the house, rushing to get it finished in time for us to arrive, they didn't quite get around to putting the roof cap-y thing-y on the top of the roof.
I'm sure there's a more technical term, but this is what I've got: roof cap-y thing-y.
So to handle this situation, they threw a trap over the roof and hoped for the best.
Well, that's not what happened this night as the rain penetrated our small little house. And soaked our mattress. So we had this little foam mattress. Well, very swiftly it became a sponge mattress. And, let me tell you, that was great.
So we picked a different part of the mattress to lay on. One that was damp, not sopping.
And we pulled out these tarps and shower curtains because Martha, with her wisdom and forethought, gave us tarps and shower curtains.
Shower curtains are like tarps.... but more... curtain-y.
OK
So, we put some tarps to cover the the mosquito net.
And we get back in bed.
And we notice the water starts dripping again.
So, we get out of get and rearrange the tarps.
And we get back in bed.
And we notice the water starts dripping again.
So, we get out of get and rearrange the tarps.
And we get back in bed.
And we notice the water starts dripping again.
So eventually we grab the last shower curtain and pull it over the bed like a sheet and pull it over our heads to keep the water off.
And i must say, while it was damp, it was the warmest night we had ever had in Papua New Guinea.
Now, shower curtains aren't known for their breathable material.
So it got real stuffy under there, real humid, real warm as I like to call it.
So. If you're ever in the rainforest, you might find yourself in a bush house. It may be a very leaky bush house.
My recommendation for this is dont just leave your mattress out in the open for the rain to soak it all the way through.
That is not a smart decision.
So throw a tarp over it, especially if there's going to be nothing on the roof, because a tarp on the roof? That's not going to cut it.
And always have a shower curtain that you can use as a sheet, because they're awesome and they'll make you happy like they made me happy.
And let me tell you, we were significantly more prepared the next night than the first night!
Our bush house right before the tarps were hoisted.
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