the Lovely Life: planty wok

Time seems to have sped up exponentially. The last two weeks have been jam-packed with so much that I’ve barely had time to cook supper, let alone clean my house. As an aside, please don’t wear white socks or gloves when visiting me right now.

Josh and I have just finished week 2 of our National Culture and Language Acquisition (NCLA) class. Since Josh grew up here and already knows the culture and language, this is mostly review for him; but I really appreciate that he is sitting the class with me.

This is what our class looks like many days.

We have language lessons 2-3 times per week, and other field or culture orientation information scattered throughout. So far we’ve learned almost 75 nouns, 30 verbs, numerous short phrases (practical expressions), the possession marker, past and future tense, and how Erin always forgets to not aspirate her consonants (the struggle is so real, y’all!). Our class has visited two of the nearby villages, one of which involved wading through a very cold river (in skirts!), and the big marketplace in town. Next week we’ll visit another village, a national museum of sorts, and see a local court.

It’s a lot of work, and can be discouraging at times when your brain is full and suddenly you find yourself struggling for words you know you know, and putting them together in a sentence is nigh to impossible. But we’re learning.

I’ve also accepted the position as Assistant Varsity Girl’s Softball Coach, which I am thoroughly enjoying. Combined with language classes and homework, at the end of the day, I am ready to collapse into bed. Never mind cooking or cleaning.

Josh cheering me on as I coach!

Josh had the opportunity to go down to Port Moresby to take his written and oral aviation laws tests last week. We don’t know the results yet, since the man in charge of test results was out of the office all week; we are pretty sure all went very, very well, though! Once we know the official results, then Josh will have his licenses to fly in country. Since there are still airplanes to be outfitted and other pilots to be trained, it looks like Josh won’t be flying until spring. While he wishes he could be flying now, there are plenty of other things to do until then.

Josh and I are really happy to be here in PNG, getting to know the people we have come to serve, nationals and missionaries alike. There really aren’t words to say how grateful and pleased I am to be here where God has placed me. Even though it has its hard moments, there is something so peaceful about knowing that you are right where God put you.