{"id":100,"date":"2014-07-26T07:09:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-26T07:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/2014\/07\/26\/2014-07-at-home-in-madang-html\/"},"modified":"2014-07-26T07:09:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-26T07:09:00","slug":"2014-07-at-home-in-madang-html","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/blog-1\/2014\/07\/26\/2014-07-at-home-in-madang-html\/","title":{"rendered":"At Home in Madang!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nApinun from PNG! <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWe arrived at long last to Madang on Thursday evening, July
\n24th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Our home for the next few months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\nOUR TRAVELS<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWe departed Seattle early Monday morning, leaving sad but
\nsupportive grandparents and a few friends behind. Unfortunately, we had too
\nmany connections (so we were told) to check our luggage through to Port
\nMoresby, PNG. So we reclaimed it in LA and transferred to the international
\nterminal at LAX for our flight to Sydney. To our surprise, the ticket agent
\ntold us after a couple minutes \u201cYour visas are not being accepted.\u201d (Oh my!) As
\nit turned out, because we had so many hours of layovers in Australia, we needed
\nan Australian visa as well in order to continue on our journey. This would cost
\nus $50\/person. So we said ok, and she began the process, and I was praying
\nwhile Noe dealt with that. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAnother employee came over during this time and wanted us to
\nweigh one of our carry-ons for her. Which of course was too heavy, so we had to
\ntake some things out, break a zip-tie on a luggage and throw things in there\u2026 3
\ntimes\u2026 then she was satisfied and walked away. Finally the visas were finished
\nand we got our boarding passes and tiredly headed toward the security
\ncheckpoint to the right. We stopped by the payphones to pray because we were a
\nbit frazzled. As we approached the front of the security line, he told us to go
\nback to the other security checkpoint as he was closing this one. Ookkkk. It
\nwas by now 8pm, and our poor, patient (I think patient?) children hadn\u2019t eaten
\nsince lunch, but they hung in there (barely) with us. They are such troopers!
\nWe cleared security, and followed the signs to the dining section of the
\nterminal. We reached the end of the terminal and realized we\u2019d gone the wrong
\nway. No food. Ookkkk. So we turned around and dragged ourselves to the other
\nend of the terminal where the food really was, and we ordered something and sat
\ndown. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBy the time it came, it was 10 minutes before boarding, so
\nwe gave the kids a couple bites and then headed back to our gate. Lo and
\nbehold, boarding was delayed. And delayed. However, the Lord encouraged us at
\nthis point. A couple of gate agents announced that carry-ons should be checked
\nfor size and weight. As we looked at each other with somewhat of an \u201coh great\u201d
\nlook, Noe saw that the ticket agent who dealt with us and our visas happened to
\nbe over at our gate to help with the boarding process. Noe called her over and
\nthanked her again for her help. We chatted for a few minutes, and at the end
\nshe told us she\u2019d help us get on board with no problems. (!) Because of this,
\nwe had no questions asked about our carry-ons. ALSO, Noe then informed me that
\nbecause we had not been angry or yelled at her (as most people apparently do),
\nshe did not charge us for any of our visas. (!!)<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe Qantas A380 is a humongous airplane. That\u2019s all I have
\nto say. The girls slept all night, after eating a little bit of the food we
\nbrought with us. Noe and I dozed off and on. 15 hours is a long time. But we
\nmade it!<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIn Sydney we claimed our bags and went through customs, and
\nre-checked them for our domestic flights in Australia. Flew to Brisbane, then
\nflew to Cairns that evening (Wednesday the 23rd<\/sup>). CAIRNS! Oh
\nCairns\u2026. The international terminal locks up for the night by 10pm. Our plane
\nwas late, so we arrived after 10pm. We claimed our bags (AGAIN), and were able
\nto stay in the baggage claim area of the domestic terminal until 12:30am. At
\n12:30am (or after the Guam flight I guess), the domestic terminal shuts down
\nand everyone must go outside. So we woke up from our floor naps, and went
\noutside with about 15 other people where we slept on the ground until 3am. As
\nNoe puts it, \u201cWe went camping in the outback!\u201d Ha! (His optimism was great..
\nand we all did fine. Even when there was a lizard by my head, and later when I
\nthought an animal was on my head but it was just Naya\u2019s foot\u2026)<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nAt 3am the international terminal opened, so we went inside.
\nBy 6:30am we were on our way to Port Moresby. NTM staff took us to their home
\nand let us rest in a guest house for the day. The girls enjoyed the parrots and
\na brief swim in the pool. Mommy enjoyed a short nap. And finally, we took off
\nfor our final flight to Madang, arriving uneventfully after 5pm on Thursday. An
\nNTM staff member met us, helped us get our luggage, and drove us back to the
\nNTM center.<\/div>\n
\n\n<\/div>\n
\nGETTING SETTLED IN MADANG<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nSome staff came over to our house to greet us, gave us egg
\nsalad sandwiches for dinner and some basic groceries for the next day, and a
\ncouple hours later we were in bed. Well\u2026 actually we were all in ONE bed\u2026 Why?
\nAnts. (haha!)<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

The center sits right on the South Pacific Ocean\/Bismarck Sea<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\nThere are ants. TONS of tiny little harmless ants. They are
\neverywhere in our house, and Jocie hasn\u2019t been able to sleep in her bed yet
\nbecause of fear. She even said \u201cI\u2019m SO excited to do school, but I\u2019m too scared
\nto sit at the table because of all the ants!\u201d (Her fear is the prayer request,
\nbut it should be noted that the amount of ants is no exaggeration. They are
\nsurrounding me currently, and often crawling on my face, and they\u2019ve been
\ndarting in and out of the keys on the laptop. I could go on and on with
\nstories, but I don\u2019t want to bore you.)<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOne staff member predicted we\u2019d wake up at 3am because of
\nthe time change. On. The. Money. The girls and I were awake at 3, and I had to
\nconvince them to go back to sleep. The sun sets around 6:30 and rises around 6
\nor 6:30am. So that\u2019s kind of the norm here, to go to bed at a decent hour and
\nrise with the sun.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nNoe made breakfast on Friday morning- scrambled eggs and
\ntoast with PB&J. We were fascinated how within 10 minutes of cooking the
\neggs, when I took the skillet to wash it, there were EASILY a couple thousand
\nants inside (!!). The girls are learning VERRRRRY quickly that even a small
\ncrumb will draw a huge crowd of ants!<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Friends from the MTC, currently on staff here until they move into a tribe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/div>\n

\nAfter breakfast, some friends on staff here took us for a
\nwalk around the center, showed us our mailbox, etc. We had lunch with a staff
\nfamily (thank you!), took an afternoon nap, unpacked more, then had dinner with
\na staff family (thank you!).<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Veggies from the market this morning, washed and drying<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

This morning, Saturday, we were taken into Madang town by a
\nstaff family. Naya and Jocie rode in the back with their 4 boys, and received
\nand extensive education about PNG life as we drove into town. We stopped first
\nat an open market, overflowing with vegetables and fruits. Noe also bought a
\nyoung coconut and we all enjoyed the coconut water. We went to a big store next
\nwith lots of Asian pantry ingredients and the kids had an ice cream cone. Then
\nthey took us to their favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch. Super yum! We
\nstopped at two more grocery stores, then brought our weary crew back home.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\nThis is a LONG update, but much has happened, and we\u2019re
\nhappy to have our internet set up now so we can update you who have so
\nfaithfully supported us and walked with us so far! It\u2019s so exciting to be here
\nfinally, and we\u2019re looking forward to learning the national language starting
\naround August 5th<\/sup>, once the other families and singles arrive.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIt\u2019s hot and humid here, and apparently it\u2019s the end of the
\ndry season, so we\u2019ll probably get rain almost daily. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBut all is well so far! We\u2019re safe and healthy at this
\npoint, and getting our bearings.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLOTS of love to all of you, please continue in prayer for
\nus,<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

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\nNoe, Lisa, Naya, Jocie, and 3,500,745<\/s>\u202699 ants J<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apinun from PNG! We arrived at long last to Madang on Thursday evening, July 24th. Our home for the next few months OUR TRAVELS We departed Seattle early Monday morning, leaving sad but supportive grandparents and a few friends behind. Unfortunately, we had too many connections (so we were told) to check our luggage through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":953,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[47116,26960,567],"class_list":{"0":"post-100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-e2","8":"tag-madang","9":"tag-png","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/953"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/noe-martinez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}