how did he know my name

How did the conman know my name? It's disarming isn't it when someone approaches you and they immediately have the advantage on you in that they know your name. You begin to doubt yourself that you must be rude in having forgotten them. It is even more difficult working in a foreign culture where forgetting a name could even be construed as racism - ahah you've forgotten my name because you think all of my race look the same - you only notice the colour of my skin, you do not see the particularities that make me me in my race.
On the way home I changed buses at Eriku and waited for the connection which is sometimes difficult. I was almost immediately approached by an acquaintance who could see I was probably nervous because I was wandering about not sure of which part of the bus interchange I should be standing in. Itll be alright - just stand here and the Unigate bus will be along shortly. Then two more young people came up and said You must be going to Unigate. Wait with us, we'll show you.
What a difference to being intimidated by the con man. Fortunately, most people I've met in PNG are like these considerate people. I hope my countrymen back in Australia are considerate to visitors. I think most of them are but the problem with big cities like Sydney is that you don't know who is a visitor and who might be a con man and people opt for the easiest option which is not to talk to anyone. What a dreadful way humanity has gone.

how did he know my name

How did the conman know my name? It's disarming isn't it when someone approaches you and they immediately have the advantage on you in that they know your name. You begin to doubt yourself that you must be rude in having forgotten them. It is even more difficult working in a foreign culture where forgetting a name could even be construed as racism - ahah you've forgotten my name because you think all of my race look the same - you only notice the colour of my skin, you do not see the particularities that make me me in my race.
On the way home I changed buses at Eriku and waited for the connection which is sometimes difficult. I was almost immediately approached by an acquaintance who could see I was probably nervous because I was wandering about not sure of which part of the bus interchange I should be standing in. Itll be alright - just stand here and the Unigate bus will be along shortly. Then two more young people came up and said You must be going to Unigate. Wait with us, we'll show you.
What a difference to being intimidated by the con man. Fortunately, most people I've met in PNG are like these considerate people. I hope my countrymen back in Australia are considerate to visitors. I think most of them are but the problem with big cities like Sydney is that you don't know who is a visitor and who might be a con man and people opt for the easiest option which is not to talk to anyone. What a dreadful way humanity has gone.

did I know this man?

Yesterday, Sunday, I caught the PMV (Bus= Public Motor Vehicle) in to Church in Lae. As I was walking across the street I heard a voice call my name and I assumed it was a fellow parishioner. Hello Geoff, you live next to me remember. Look my car has a puncture and my wife has my money to enroll the kids at school. You lend me some money and I'll pay you back at the house this afternoon. He told me the repair would cost 15k or 17K and I told him that was a lot of money and I would have to go to the bank. That's OK he assured me. I told him I had to go to church. That's OK, I'll wait for you he promised. Fortunately there was a baptism on and I thought Oh good, and with a long sermon, he'll tire of waiting for me.
Unfortunately after church there he was - he'd come in to church to help wait for me. I told him I had to have a cup of tea and then visit a friend. That's ok, I'll wait for you at the bank he assured me again. And I asked again how much he needed to repair his car and now it was 20k to 25K. I asked him about the 17k and he said that would be enough and I then asked him about where he lived , next to me in Markham Place - yes thats right he said just next to you. I couldn't place him but if he did live next to me I didn't want to be a bad neighbour and seem rude or racist for unable to remember his face.
Then I started to think about the hide of people. He'd obviously not taken the trouble to make himself that well known to me that he could presume to ask me for money. There are a lot of people in Markham place and he could have been any one of them. But here he was he had made me feel bad about not lending him money when it was his fault that he presumed a "friendship" which wasn't there. I know I am easily conned and these con men make you feel guilty about not acceeding to their requests. I did the cowardly thing and stayed with my friend for over two hours before I went to the bank to see how genuine he was. He wasn't there. Thank God

did I know this man?

Yesterday, Sunday, I caught the PMV (Bus= Public Motor Vehicle) in to Church in Lae. As I was walking across the street I heard a voice call my name and I assumed it was a fellow parishioner. Hello Geoff, you live next to me remember. Look my car has a puncture and my wife has my money to enroll the kids at school. You lend me some money and I'll pay you back at the house this afternoon. He told me the repair would cost 15k or 17K and I told him that was a lot of money and I would have to go to the bank. That's OK he assured me. I told him I had to go to church. That's OK, I'll wait for you he promised. Fortunately there was a baptism on and I thought Oh good, and with a long sermon, he'll tire of waiting for me.
Unfortunately after church there he was - he'd come in to church to help wait for me. I told him I had to have a cup of tea and then visit a friend. That's ok, I'll wait for you at the bank he assured me again. And I asked again how much he needed to repair his car and now it was 20k to 25K. I asked him about the 17k and he said that would be enough and I then asked him about where he lived , next to me in Markham Place - yes thats right he said just next to you. I couldn't place him but if he did live next to me I didn't want to be a bad neighbour and seem rude or racist for unable to remember his face.
Then I started to think about the hide of people. He'd obviously not taken the trouble to make himself that well known to me that he could presume to ask me for money. There are a lot of people in Markham place and he could have been any one of them. But here he was he had made me feel bad about not lending him money when it was his fault that he presumed a "friendship" which wasn't there. I know I am easily conned and these con men make you feel guilty about not acceeding to their requests. I did the cowardly thing and stayed with my friend for over two hours before I went to the bank to see how genuine he was. He wasn't there. Thank God

I scratched my leg on return to PNG after a 10 day break back in Australia - thought nothing of it - just a scratch, say 10cms long not very deep. A week later it had turned pussy and the skin around it had turned red and my leg hurt when I streched it. Friends here told me I should get it seen to on account of tropical ulcers. That was enough to prompt me to get to the clinic where the Sister prescribed some erithromycin anti-biotic and some anti bacterial cream. I must be impatient because after 24 hours when it was still pussy I applied a pad of a spoonful of salt to soak up the pus and draw out the bad blood. Inthe middle of the night I woke to find the pus had gone but the sore had turned black. I went to a doctor next day who told me in not so many words I was a very silly little boy and to leave medical things to medical experts -well not quite but he confirmed the original treatment of the Sister and to give the medicine a little longer to work. After another week the redness had contracted but was still there as was the pus. I went back to another doctor who put me on to Vitamin C tablets : Vitamin C aids in the healing and next morning I woke to find redness had gone and pus had dried up. Doctor had also put me on to some anti pimple lotion and took a blood test to check for diabetes. I'll let you know but my sore is stating to itch and there is flaky skin around it so I think I am well. A friend here told me the week before I needed to have a beer because it activated the antibiotics. At least I don't think my leg is going to drop off now. Saw some really grizzly stories on a TV program last year about worms and grubs living in the eyes and ears and nostrils and one girl had a parasite in her head. What a disgusting thing the human body can be if not looked after. The mentality of the people who have locked up Australian Citizen David Hicks in Guantanamo Bay is more disgusting though. And it is gruesome just to imagine the taste on the tongue of our Prime Minister Howard from where it must have been for him to so feebly let his good friend George treat one of our citizens like that. Oh dear I didn't mean to get so political, this being only my second day of writing a blog. It was

my sore leg

I scratched my leg on return to PNG after a 10 day break back in Australia - thought nothing of it - just a scratch, say 10cms long not very deep. A week later it had turned pussy and the skin around it had turned red and my leg hurt when I streched it. Friends here told me I should get it seen to on account of tropical ulcers. That was enough to prompt me to get to the clinic where the Sister prescribed some erithromycin anti-biotic and some anti bacterial cream. I must be impatient because after 24 hours when it was still pussy I applied a pad of a spoonful of salt to soak up the pus and draw out the bad blood. Inthe middle of the night I woke to find the pus had gone but the sore had turned black. I went to a doctor next day who told me in not so many words I was a very silly little boy and to leave medical things to medical experts -well not quite but he confirmed the original treatment of the Sister and to give the medicine a little longer to work. After another week the redness had contracted but was still there as was the pus. I went back to another doctor who put me on to Vitamin C tablets : Vitamin C aids in the healing and next morning I woke to find redness had gone and pus had dried up. Doctor had also put me on to some anti pimple lotion and took a blood test to check for diabetes. I'll let you know but my sore is stating to itch and there is flaky skin around it so I think I am well. A friend here told me the week before I needed to have a beer because it activated the antibiotics. At least I don't think my leg is going to drop off now. Saw some really grizzly stories on a TV program last year about worms and grubs living in the eyes and ears and nostrils and one girl had a parasite in her head. What a disgusting thing the human body can be if not looked after. The mentality of the people who have locked up Australian Citizen David Hicks in Guantanamo Bay is more disgusting though. And it is gruesome just to imagine the taste on the tongue of our Prime Minister Howard from where it must have been for him to so feebly let his good friend George treat one of our citizens like that. Oh dear I didn't mean to get so political, this being only my second day of writing a blog. It was the gruesome nature of the topic that I started with - the ugliness of the body which led on to the ugliness of the human spirit. Thank God for the kindness of the locals here in PNG for helping me to believe there is decency somewhere.

The Day After

I've just read Jeremy's blog in Nomad Tales I think he calls it - about his Australia Day or UnAustralia Day. I think I share quite a few of his sentiments and being away from home up here in PNG (Papua New Guinea), with home's being western NSW sort of (Australia - about 800 km north west of Sydney, I thought today would be as good as any for beginning my blog. Robert Schilt, another AVI (Australian Volunteer International) showed me how to get into it. I'm not sure where I am up to in the blog process - I think I get room for a personal profile elsewhere so will complete that for you.
As for today, I continue to work in a thinking area of the Department of Open and Distance learning at the PNG Univ of Technology and completed the writing and revision of a couple short papers on ways to provide for better external courses for the people of PNG.
I would like to be able to share with you some of my experiences particularly of the bus rides and pot holes and my security guard's delightful little daughters but let me come back to them tomorrow.