A typical PNG day for Tyronza: T gets up around 5:30am and checks emails and facebook. She is happy to receive messages from family and friends. She then wakes Scot and they go out for a morning exercise walk and run at 6:00. There are several other volunteers, missionaries and a few locals who exercise at this time of the morning. At 6:00 it is still dark, but begins to lighten very quickly. By 7am, we are typically back at our place and heading to the showers or getting the breakfast ready. By 8am, Scot is heading to the hospital for either clinic or surgery. Tyronza is cleaning up breakfast dishes and preparing for her day. She tries to leave the house by 9-9:30. She often begins bread making or clothes washing before leaving. She also needs to have the lunch preparation started and the dinner menu planned (making sure she has all the ingredients).
By 9:30, T is helping either at the hospital, storeroom or field office. Depending upon where she is needed, she might be cleaning a room at the hospital, sorting or unpacking items in the storeroom or helping with filing and bookkeeping in the office. (The field office is the Nazarene Melanesian Regional Office and covers several countries.)
By 11:30-12 noon, T is back at the house completing preparation for lunch and serving Scot and usually two others. We are living in the Barnabas House; a house that can sleep up to 24. There are two wings, with a bathroom on each wing and a large kitchen and living area between. Fortunately, there are typically only two couples in it during the months we are in PNG and on occasion a single medical student or resident volunteering for a month. After we leave in May, there will be two large groups arriving to work for two weeks each.) After eating lunch, Scot returns to the hospital for either clinic patients or surgery. Tyronza cleans up after lunch, brings clothes in from the clothes line or puts the loaves of bread in the oven.
There is usually an hour or two of down time and then it is time to start dinner preparation. (Time for picture taking, reviewing recipes, catching up on daily Bible devotions, a little bit of reading, or a Tok Pisin - pidgin lesson.) For dinner there is usually 4-8 to be served. The most common main meals are chicken or ground beef. There is a large variety of vegetables available. Experimenting is fun and usually turns out. This week we have had tacos, banana pancakes and chicken potpie for dinner. For desert there has been pineapple (fresh) upside down cake, homemade chocolate banana ice cream, bread pudding and tonight homemade mango (fresh) ice cream. Lunches are usually soup (pumpkin and carrot, cream of broccoli, zucchini and tomato) and sandwiches (tuna salad, grilled cheese and tomato, PB&J). The "More with Less" cookbook that Laura Meece gave T last year is getting a good use. (Thank you, Laura.) Dinner is usually served between 6-6:30.
Scot is great helping with evening dishes, cutting up fresh pineapple or opening and shaving the coconut. He is typically back from the hospital by 5. He is at the hospital Monday-Friday and is on call for OB/Gyn every other night and every other weekend.
A typical evening has friends coming over for dinner or for games later. There are many board games: Settlers, Monopoly, etc. and dice games: Zilch, also Pictionary and Pit, etc. Visiting with the other volunteers and the missionaries is a lot of fun and we appreciate their company. There is much talk and laughter. Fellowship with others is such a blessing. Scot enjoys having a new audience for his tales!
We are typically preparing for bed by 9-9:30pm. We enjoy our time in PNG and find it very rewarding. This simple lifestyle is good for the heart, mind and soul. It feels like stepping back in time 50 years.
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