PNG: Expect the unexpected!

From today onwards I have access to my own internet account – so time for the next updates.
On Monday morning I arrived at the Divine Word University and the first thing I was told is that there is no accommodation for me. This seemed to be nothing special – people just smiled at me citing the country's slogan: “expect the unexpected”

At the end an accommodation was found off campus a 20 minutes footwalk away. When I asked about the security situation for the way to Uni the comment was that it “should be alright in general before 5 PM in the afternoon”, but probably carrying anything valuable would not be a great idea and if I got robbed I should just give the people what I got and not try to run away or so. Ah – so that’s “alright in general”… all a matter of measures I suppose. Next morning I was back at the HR office and asking for a new accommodation. I even found the option in the girl's dormitory with being locked up at 10 PM most appealing in comparison. Somehow then a room in a shared flat on campus appeared in which I could stay for the next weeks.
Now I am sharing the flat with Franziska, a Doctorate from Heidelberg. She already did one year of fieldwork research in a village in the north of PNG and is explaining me a lot of important behavior-musts.

For example clothing: it is okay to wear relatively tight tops (as far as the heat allows for this), but if you wear trousers they have to be very loose and up to the knee. Preferred option is in any case a skirt. Even for Sport wide baggy pants are necessary and for the beach a surfer shorts and a sun protection shirt worn over the bikini are appropriate. Local women wear a knee-long, wide dress called meri-blouse in colorful flower prints with shorts below it. So on Saturday at the market I will also buy one of those for me and make sure you get a picture of that.

but all in all: no ken wari (don't worry)

Next update will be with pics from the campus and on my daily routine so far.