Urim songwriting workshop: . . . and back again
Traveling to the Urim area was relatively easy, but the return trip
back home to Ukarumpa was more complicated. The Urim village I lived in
is technically on a road, one of the branches of the main Sepik Highway.
But the road condition is too poor for vehicles to drive on, so a
pick-up at the house wasn't an option. Instead, on my final Sunday
afternoon in the village, I walked with a few Urim guys to the main
Sepik Highway--an easy 2-hour walk. Once there (by 5:00 p.m.), I had to
wait for a PMV (Public Motor Vehicle) going in the direction of Wewak
(the provincial capital town of the East Sepik Province) that had space
to take me. I don't know why, but the PMVs that go from that spot to
Wewak drive all night, not during the day.
At that point, I was happy about a number of things. First, it hadn't rained much in the past few days, which made the walk to the Highway easier. Also, it hadn't rained while I was walking, and it was even cloudy that afternoon and not as hot as it might have been. The best news of all was that there was a vehicle going from Urim to Wewak and the driver would save a spot for me and pick me up when he came by. I'd just missed this vehicle on the way down, but it was only going to a school to drop some people off and then return to get me and go to Wewak. I expected it to come by 8:00, and then we'd be on our way. While waiting, some of the guys I was with walked with me down the other direction of the highway; we crossed a bridge over Wara Sikau, the river that marks the border between the East Sepik Province and Sandaun Province, so I spent a few minutes in Sandaun. It was a lot like the East Sepik.
At about 8:00, the vehicle did indeed come back to where I was waiting. I was really happy to see that it was a Land Cruiser--meaning that my ride to Wewak would be inside a vehicle, not in the back of a pickup or flatbed truck. Most of the PMVs I'd seen on the Highway were open-backed trucks so full that people were hanging off the back and sides.
My happiness abated significantly when the driver of the Land Cruiser told us that he was going to get some sleep before going on to Wewak. He planned to depart at 2:00 a.m. Instead of being on our way, making tangible progress toward the goal, we'd be sitting by the roadside (where the driver has a house) for hours more. The guys I was with were probably as disappointed as I was, since most of them planned to walk back up to the village once they saw me safely on my way. Now they were as stuck as I was, making sure I was okay. But they took great care of me, finding a spot underneath a house where I could stretch out and sleep. I slept for a couple of hours, and awoke to find it had become a chilly night. I joined the other guys around a fire to keep warm for the hours that remained.
Shortly after 1:00 a.m., the driver got the vehicle ready, I and the other eight passengers loaded up, and we were off. The drive from Urim to Wewak takes 4-5 hours. People who live along the Highway keep roadside markets open all night long on the nights that PMVs run. The PMVs that leave earlier take a lot of time, stopping at markets along the way. Even then, they'll come to Wewak in the middle of the night. Rather than go all the way into town, though, the drivers will stop some distance away and everyone in the vehicle will sleep until dawn. People from villages are uncomfortable being in town at night. So whether the Land Cruiser I was in had left at 8:00 p.m. or 2:00 a.m., I would've been spending some hours somewhere along the Highway and only getting into Wewak at daybreak.
I say "Highway," but you need to picture not an American interstate, but rather a road that is in some places unpaved, deteriorated, covered by past landslides, and pockmarked with enormous potholes. If you get carsick, you wouldn't enjoy it. I don't usually get carsick, but I still didn't enjoy it. It's a rough road at any time, but I found the roughness enhanced by the weirdness of driving all night and only being able to see as far as the glare of the headlights.
I can't express with what joy I beheld the lights of coastal Wewak as we came around a bend in the road at about 6:00 a.m. The Land Cruiser dropped me off at the SIL Wewak Guest House, I grabbed my cargo, took my room key from the night guard, and stumbled into the room. I always enjoy staying at the Guest House--we used to take breaks here as a family when we were living with the Alamblak--but the welcoming comfort of it after a trip like that was fantastic. I showered, slept, and spent a very lazy Monday there.
Tuesday morning I went to the Wewak Airport, where I was picked up by an SIL Aviation Kodiak airplane. After two stops to pick up people in other villages, we landed at Aiyura Airstrip at a little after 3 in the afternoon.
I suppose all of this was a slightly adventurous trip, but "experiences" only become "adventures" in hindsight. At the time, they only seem very uncomfortable, things I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to do again. I have no pictures from any of these travel days; I was tired, and I was mentally more than halfway home by the time I got to the Highway on Sunday afternoon.
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Thanks again for your prayers during this trip. And many thanks to those of you who are able to support us financially so that we can be here in PNG doing all of this. Please continue to pray for the Urim people as they continue composing songs and look forward to the completed Urim New Testament soon!
At that point, I was happy about a number of things. First, it hadn't rained much in the past few days, which made the walk to the Highway easier. Also, it hadn't rained while I was walking, and it was even cloudy that afternoon and not as hot as it might have been. The best news of all was that there was a vehicle going from Urim to Wewak and the driver would save a spot for me and pick me up when he came by. I'd just missed this vehicle on the way down, but it was only going to a school to drop some people off and then return to get me and go to Wewak. I expected it to come by 8:00, and then we'd be on our way. While waiting, some of the guys I was with walked with me down the other direction of the highway; we crossed a bridge over Wara Sikau, the river that marks the border between the East Sepik Province and Sandaun Province, so I spent a few minutes in Sandaun. It was a lot like the East Sepik.
At about 8:00, the vehicle did indeed come back to where I was waiting. I was really happy to see that it was a Land Cruiser--meaning that my ride to Wewak would be inside a vehicle, not in the back of a pickup or flatbed truck. Most of the PMVs I'd seen on the Highway were open-backed trucks so full that people were hanging off the back and sides.
My happiness abated significantly when the driver of the Land Cruiser told us that he was going to get some sleep before going on to Wewak. He planned to depart at 2:00 a.m. Instead of being on our way, making tangible progress toward the goal, we'd be sitting by the roadside (where the driver has a house) for hours more. The guys I was with were probably as disappointed as I was, since most of them planned to walk back up to the village once they saw me safely on my way. Now they were as stuck as I was, making sure I was okay. But they took great care of me, finding a spot underneath a house where I could stretch out and sleep. I slept for a couple of hours, and awoke to find it had become a chilly night. I joined the other guys around a fire to keep warm for the hours that remained.
Shortly after 1:00 a.m., the driver got the vehicle ready, I and the other eight passengers loaded up, and we were off. The drive from Urim to Wewak takes 4-5 hours. People who live along the Highway keep roadside markets open all night long on the nights that PMVs run. The PMVs that leave earlier take a lot of time, stopping at markets along the way. Even then, they'll come to Wewak in the middle of the night. Rather than go all the way into town, though, the drivers will stop some distance away and everyone in the vehicle will sleep until dawn. People from villages are uncomfortable being in town at night. So whether the Land Cruiser I was in had left at 8:00 p.m. or 2:00 a.m., I would've been spending some hours somewhere along the Highway and only getting into Wewak at daybreak.
I say "Highway," but you need to picture not an American interstate, but rather a road that is in some places unpaved, deteriorated, covered by past landslides, and pockmarked with enormous potholes. If you get carsick, you wouldn't enjoy it. I don't usually get carsick, but I still didn't enjoy it. It's a rough road at any time, but I found the roughness enhanced by the weirdness of driving all night and only being able to see as far as the glare of the headlights.
I can't express with what joy I beheld the lights of coastal Wewak as we came around a bend in the road at about 6:00 a.m. The Land Cruiser dropped me off at the SIL Wewak Guest House, I grabbed my cargo, took my room key from the night guard, and stumbled into the room. I always enjoy staying at the Guest House--we used to take breaks here as a family when we were living with the Alamblak--but the welcoming comfort of it after a trip like that was fantastic. I showered, slept, and spent a very lazy Monday there.
Tuesday morning I went to the Wewak Airport, where I was picked up by an SIL Aviation Kodiak airplane. After two stops to pick up people in other villages, we landed at Aiyura Airstrip at a little after 3 in the afternoon.
I suppose all of this was a slightly adventurous trip, but "experiences" only become "adventures" in hindsight. At the time, they only seem very uncomfortable, things I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to do again. I have no pictures from any of these travel days; I was tired, and I was mentally more than halfway home by the time I got to the Highway on Sunday afternoon.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again for your prayers during this trip. And many thanks to those of you who are able to support us financially so that we can be here in PNG doing all of this. Please continue to pray for the Urim people as they continue composing songs and look forward to the completed Urim New Testament soon!
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