Currently up in Goroka in the Eastern Highlands where I'm hanging out at this sort of linguist commune. I've mostly been lazing about existing on coffee and beer and avocado so there's nothing too exciting to report. Several days ago though I went to Rosove, a village perched high up in the mountains. The sumptuous vistas were out of control but sadly my camera battery died so I have little evidence of the sumptuous-ness.

Having the highlands as a cultural point of comparison has also given me a lot of food for thought. So many things are so different. So for instance I can't help but notice how people here don't verbally assault their children all the time like the Chini do. In Andamang I've gotten so used to people calling their children 'worthless' as a term of endearment "Hey worthless, what are you doing over there?". To deny a kid's request for something they'll say "Your ass smells like shit!" And when a baby cries too loudly or for too long someone'll call out "Pull out its eyes! Pull out its teeth!" Up here though you don't hear those kinds of things, but in both places everyone seems to turn out alright in the end I guess.