Having a Ball in ENB!

Having a ball in East New Britain

I’m taking some time out from my usual work based reflective blogging to say I’m having a ball! After four weeks all told in East New Britain I have talked about the workshops and the conference, all of which was highly successful and rewarding but just this once I’m going to indulge in writing about after hours.

Four weeks of living and working together means you get to know each other pretty well warts and all and I think my wanwoks would agree that we don’t rub along too bad. You also begin to see the lecturers you’re working with in a different light as their various idiosyncrasies’ become apparent and altogether we become a team that at the end of the last week it was quite sad to see disseminate.

Anyway all in a weeks work we have, the mask festival with spirits coming in from the see at dawn, fire dance and fireworks; rugby, supporting the Gurias at a rugby league match and the Australian state of origin finale; eating out at KBR and GI hotels; taking to the dance floor with the KVR hotels’ live band; swimming in the sea from the KVR beach; BitaPaka war cemetery; Rabaul town, hotel and observatory and the chuffing volcano, hot springs, black sand and crazy kids at Matupit Island. I’m going to talk about them all!

Let’s start with a bit of culture!

Kokopo mask festival

The mask festival is all about spirits, dukduks, tumbuans  andmasalais, which is which and exactly what it all means I’m not entirely clear but I’ll do my best to give a rough idea. The whole event is a very male affair. All the spirits are men and the making of the masks and the performers themselves appear to be veiled in secrecy, women take no part in this and once a man is disguised by his mask he is no longer himself but a representative of the culture. This was evident when we went to the beach at dawn to witness the arrival of the spirits who come in by boat to mark the opening of the festival. I believe this signifies the Tolai people arriving in East New Britain from New Ireland and overcoming the Baining people who have been pushed further inland up into the hills. Although today this is becoming an invent that attracts many tourists, women were still asked to stand back when the men came ashore to respect the cultural tradition.

It was an extraordinary sight to see the boats gradually come closer and closer, all the time singing and dancing in what appeared to be one large mass until they separated out into eight separate boats of men dressed in the must incredible costumes. Lime was thrown from one boat to the other and all arrived on shore in a melee of dancing, singing, chanting and staged fighting.

Fire Dance

Part of the mask festival was the fire dance performed by the Baining people in huge masks with duck like beaks and an array of foliage. They paint their legs with an unknown substance that stops them burning themselves as they dance around, in and out of a large bonfire. The dance ends with them kicking the logs of the fire, sending embers flying until the fire dies. Another awe inspiring experience that made you feel privileged to be an observer.

BitaPaka war cemetery

Papua New Guinea had a big part to play in both world wars, something I was unaware of before coming here as the natural focus in the UK is obviously

The European war. This is the second war cemetery I’ve visited here and both have been extremely well maintained and a haven of peace and tranquility. I did somehow feel a little uncomfortable about what I felt to be the limited recognition of the amount of Papua New Guinean lives lost, as the emphasis is definitely on an Australian perspective. However I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment further and it was a moving experience.

Moving on to a bit of sport!

By far and away the biggest sport in PNG is rugby league with a strong following of both Australian and local teams. It seems fitting therefore that my first experience of a live rugby league match was in PNG. The Gurias (earthquakes) are the local East New Britain team and this was the third math I’d been to with the Gurias winning every time. Like any sporting event with a great atmosphere it was brilliant fun, replica shirts on we really got into the spirit of things, joining in with the chants – Hoo! Ha! – and cheering at shouting at all the right moments (we think!)

We also managed to fit in the last half of the Australian State of Origin series final match between the Maroons and the Blues. Lots of merriment as both sides have strong supporters in PNG and there were also a fair few Aussies around. Naturally I supported the Blues and they lost which was apparently the expected result.

And then a bit of history and geography

Rabaul

In 1994 Rabaul was flattened by the weight of ash raining down on it after the volcano Tavurvur erupted. Nothing is left of the former town apart from the Rabaulhotel which now stands alone in a black sand, desert landscape. The town has now been relocated a few kilometers up the road. It’s a quirky little hotel with an odd mixture of features from Japan, PNG and various colonial influences. The courtyard surrounded by rooms had a Latin American feel to it to me; it put me in mind of Frida’s family house in the film about FridaKahlo. Another oddity is that the restaurant serves the best Chinese food that I have ever tasted. Wonderful oriental flavours with greens to die for! (Greens are my favourite PNG food!)

                      

Driving out of Rabaul across the black desert towards Matupit,Tavurvur looms ever closer, rumbling away and belching plumes of smoke to feed the clouds we stop for a photo shoot and almost from nowhere a hoard of children selling all kinds of tut appear. Bags and jewelry of every kind are being thrust through the window and doors of the mini bus – 5 kina! 10 kina! We all dutifully bought things, what can you do eh?

We also picked up a guide for the rest of the journey who lead us across the sand to the hot springs and the sea. It has to be one of the most inspirational landscapes I have ever witnessed, the imposing sound of Tavurvur grumbling away as a soundtrack to the Spartan, black sand, the orange sulphur of the hot springs bubbling away and the steam drifting over the water. Imagine being a child and this is your world: I can’t begin to comprehend.

Eat, drink and be merry

On a more simple pleasures front our hotel was situated right on the coast so after a long days work we would do a quick change and meet up to walk down to the beach for a swim in the sea, no better way to revitalize after a long, hot day. The food at our hotel was not so great  - bacon carbonara served with a toasted cheese sandwhich, all sauces no matter the name amounted to gravy and chunks of fruit, rice and coleslaw with everything? However nearby hotels provided a sumptuous feast, particularly seafood chow mein, which was to die for( and not expensive for those of you worried about VSO budget!) On the last night of the editing workshop our hotel put on a free buffet for us and all the lecturers which was much appreciated by everyone. This coincided with the end of the mask festival and so we were treated to a wonderful fireworks display, which added to the occasion. The grand finale was a live band at the hotel bar who improved with every drink and had us all dancing in the rain before to long. The icing on the cake came when at two o’clock in the morning someone suggested a swim in the sea; fabulous idea, let’s go! So after a little gentle persuasion to get the gate unlocked off we trooped down to the sea. Two of the lecturers came with us, one of whom had never been in the sea before in his life. A perfect end to a glorious night

Not a bad week eh!