We have been experiencing a bit of the nightlife in Papua New Guinea. Despite the shrieking bats overhead at night it's rather similar too home. Booze and dancing - where can you go wrong? We have been drinking with different groups of people, locals, 'empire builders', and cruisers. This blog will discuss three different types of experiences out in town.

The other night in Kokopo we went out to a pub for dinner and drinks with our cruising French friends. As we arrived the place looked pretty shady, dimly lit and dirty with a lot of men very drunk inside at about 8pm. We got a sort of silver service here- never having eaten with security guards standing around our table, apologizing intensively for a minor pub brawl, like we hadn't seen one before. It was very clear a lot of people were worried about our safety. A friendly women told us how sorry she was that people in PNG drink too much- (yeah people drink too much in New Zealand too). Whether we felt safe determined on who you spoke to in the group. However a lot of people were watching us which could make you feel uneasy, avoiding eye contact with many around. The food was surprisingly excellent and getting escorted around by security made it probably much safer than lots of pubs in New Zealand. So many people round making sure we are okay, a lot of security for a small brutish pub. The only thing they couldn't protect us from were the giant scarab beetles - the size of small rats - that buzzed around the lights and occasionally thudded down onto our table. By about 10-11pm the pub had emptied dramatically, people drink early here it seems. The people left in the pub were mainly passed out, draped over the tables. The kind of thing you may see at like 4am in New Zealand. Anyhow it was an interesting experience having our own "secret service" all around.

The previous night on New Years Eve a different sort of crowd at a resort had us occupied. A gig more for the rich list or up and comers in Eastern New Britain. We managed to score a lot of free drinks and enjoyed dancing the old year away. At one point the band said 'Anyone from New Zealand here?' and played Pokarikariana can you believe it! Another dude saying his Happy New Years thought we were German and said a German greeting- but after responding no we are kiwi, gave us a hongi with kia ora. But anyhow it was a night with an incident that left Eric slightly in a dilemma.. Meline (28 year old French lady cruising with us) got harassed and groped by one of the young male staff at the resort. She was not sure what to do- As I was looking for my jandels with Meline later he came over to her to apologise, although it was a weird sort in-her-face aggressive manner- I grabbed his arm to try and hold him back. He didn't seem to really acknowledge I was there. Not until his female boss came in did he stop, but not really being friendly to her either - she was very apologetic - particularly to me (Meline's English being not so good). After the two of us returned to the table Eric and Meline went to confront him. His boss and his boss's boss were there - and then finally he started to listen- directing his attention primarily at Eric. He seemed to be of the impression that convincing Eric was all he needed to do - man to man - and somehow discussions about firing him (or not) seemed to center around Eric. When we left later it was with the impression he would be let go. He accosted us later on the beach as we were getting in our dingy. Again approaching and speaking only with Eric he asked for Eric to intervene on behalf of his job. It's hard to know how to communicate the concept of respect for women to someone who's entire worldview is so male-centric that the male in the group is the only one that really needs to be properly apologised to.

Another also not too positive experience was drinking with what we call "Empire builders". At the Rabaul Yacht Club Christmas party on the 28th- there was a room of "ex pats", men in their middle ages, about fifty and older who had migrated here mostly from Australia. These men had young local Papua New Guinean wives (and had perhaps left a family back home?) with very young children. There is not many of them but they only associate with each other (probably because we find they are generally the most vile conservative racists). Coming to Papua New Guinea and also in the Solomons where they can live as 'kings' and build their own little empires with western money. The 'Rabaul Yacht Club' is one such example - it seems to be one of the only buildings in the city rebuilt after the 1994 eruption - and serves as a private bar for this handful of immigrant royalty (despite a 0% yacht ownership ratio). One guy we had a bbq with earlier in Liapari presided over a small court of admiring tourists, each thrilled by his wonderful ability to "call a spade, a spade" while his local wife and other women served food and drinks. They buy isolated land, hire guards and invest in some business- where they play the capitalist game and exploit workers.. (okay perhaps I am being too negative and stereotyping all these Australian and New Zealand men) but it was a fascinating group to encounter. The white expats living in Papua New Guinea are a snapshot of what the worst of colonialism must have offered -