The Price of Coffee

Chapter 6: Sight Seeing

Over the week, Tabitha got better at household chores and cooking. She still struggled with the measurements in the food. It always seemed to be over seasoned or not seasoned enough. Clarrisa was patient with her. She tried to teach her on her days how to cook. Tabitha truly did not understand her aunt. She always seemed to have to time for Tabitha, even when she was exhausted.

Tyler came around a couple of times in the following weeks eating dinner with them. They settled into a comfortable routine. One night, Clarrisa noticed Tabitha was getting restless. Clarrisa looked over at Tyler.

“Hey, Tyler, Tabitha needs to get away from the mission house and see the parts of PNG that I fell in love with. Would you mind showing her around this weekend?”

“Umm,” he looked at Tabitha for a moment and smiled. “Sure, I can take her around. I can taker her to some of our properties.”

“Are you sure aunt Clarissa? I’m really okay here.”

“Tabitha, you have been restless for the last couple of days. Also, part of living in a new country is learning about the people that live there. Tyler is a wonderful host and will keep you safe.” Clarissa said.

Tyler smiled at Tabitha, Why Tabitha, I would think you would be afraid to be alone with me from the look on your face.”

Tabitha glares at him, “I am not afraid of you Tyler.

Tyler grins, “Good I’ll pick you up Saturday morning at 7 am. We’ll need to get an early start as I have several properties to visit. Also, make sure you wear your hiking boot Saturday.”

She folded her arms over chest, “ I take it I don’t really have a choice do I?”

“Yes, you have a choice, but wouldn’t it be nice to get out of the house for a day? You don’t really have anything else to do this weekend. It’s my bye week so I’ll be here. You could try some of the different foods that they have. The sugar fruit is amazing.”

“What is a sugar fruit?” Tabitha asks

“You’ll have to go and find out.” Clarrisa answered.

“Fine, I’ll go then.”

“Cool, Tyler spoke up. “Well I best be off, we can get an early start tomorrow.”

Okay Tyler have a good rest. And I’ll do the dishes tonight Tabitha, so you can get an early start too.”

The next morning, Tabitha pulled every suit of clothing out of her closet, trying to decide what to wear. As she was about to break down in tears, Clarrisa walked into the room with her ever present cup of coffee.

“Tabitha what is wrong? It looks like your closet vomited on your bed.”

“I can’t figure out what to wear.”

“I didn’t think you liked Tyler that way.”

“Honestly, I didn’t either, until I got this morning and started panicking about what to wear.”

“Why not wear a simple jeans and T-shirt?” Clarrisa asked

“Yea, but which shirt?”

“Okay, first of all clam down woman.” Clarrisa said in a no nonsense tone. Tabitha looked at her aunt. She never used that tone with her before. “Take a deep breath, and imagine your going out with a friend to go hiking. What would you wear?”

Tabitha looked skeptical but did what her aunt asked. She imagined she was going hiking with her best friend. She pictured herself in her light blue T-shirt and her black jeans. The ones that hang just a little loser on her and gave her legs room to breathe. She would be wearing her hiking boots and a light blue pair of socks. When Tabitha opened her eyes she knew exactly what she wanted to wear.

“Wow, thanks Aunt Clarissa. I’ve been on dates before and even though I know this isn’t a date, it feels like one to me.”

“You probably should talk to Tyler and see how he feels before you go jumping off the deep end sweetie.”

“Hello, anybody home.” They heard Tyler call through the door. Tabitha looked like she was going to cry. Clarrisa tried not to laugh. “I’ll go distract him. You get dressed.”

Tabitha sighed with relief.” Thanks Aunt Clarissa”

Clarrisa smiled at Tabitha and stepped out of her and closed the door. She heard her aunt talking with Tyler and offering him coffee. She will never understand her aunt’s obsession with coffee. She liked her coffee but her aunt was on whole different level.

In just 15 minutes , a record in her opinion, she was dressed and ready to go and heading out to Tyler’s truck. After they both climbed in she asked, “Where are we going exactly?”

“We’ll be visiting my family’s farms today. I’ll take you first to the coffee plantation then the strawberry farm both are outside of town. The coffee plantation is at the tip of the mountain so we’ll have to hike about an hour to see it. It’ll be worth it though. The view is amazing.” Tyler responded

“So how much land does your family own?”

In PNG, we own 400 acres in cooperation with 5 tribes. We own several thousand acres across the world.”

“What do mean in cooperation with 5 tribes?” she asked

“Land rights here can be complicated. The land is owned by the tribes not the government. So it is handed down to generation to generation. This can cause problems when a grandfather decides to sell his land and the grandson decides he’s entitled to it. People try to push other people out. So for us to help solve that issue, we lease the land for 100 years and the families work the land. They get paid a larger percentage of the harvest and we have very little issues. When the lease is up, we’ll reevaluate the lease but in the meantime, we teach the families to get the most out of their land and how to be business minded so even if they choose not to renew it, they walk away better than before.”

“Do you do this with all of your properties or just PNG?” she asked

“We do this all of our compulsory owned land. In places like China where we can by out right, we do so. We make more money, if we own the land. Okay here’s where road get a little rough.” Tyler said as they turned off the highway. The road turned from smooth pavement to off road conditions. They drove over ruts almost as deep as the tires it seemed. “The district officials usually only work on their own tribal roads unless they feel there is more important places to spend money on that year. It makes for some very tough terrain in places. There are places in the higher elevations that you can only get to by plane.”

After what seemed like hours even though it was only 30 minutes, he stopped the truck on the side of a hill and helped out of the truck. “We’ll hike from here.”

“What about your truck?” She asked

“No worries, the tribe knows me. No one will mess with the truck here.”

They hike in relative silence until they get to the top of the mountain. They stop to take a water break. He tells her look out over the mountain but don’t get too close to the edge. She stops and looks. The view is breathtaking. Green for miles with houses and farms littered in random locations it seems. The sky is blue.

“Wow. This is indescribable. This view is amazing.”

“Yes, besides the calling of God, the people, this is the other reason I stay. The view is amazing. One day I’ll take you up to Sak. It’s an amazing place. You can see the whole valley a d even our compound from the top of the mountain. ”While she is taking in the view Tyler lays out a light picknick lunch for them to enjoy.

“What did you bring for us to eat?”

“I brought us some fire roasted kaw kaw and greens. One of the local ladies made it for me.”

“So why is it called kaw kaw?”

Kaw kaw is the term for sweet potato. But it’s not your classic sweet potato that’s like in the States. It’s a white potato that has to be cooked very quickly after harvesting. It is not as sweet either. It is best boiled or fire roasted.”

“okay, that was a really long explanation to say it’s a variation of the sweet potato.”

He laughed, “ yes sorry, I slipped into teacher mode for a minute there.”

“So tell me about yourself. Who is Tyler?”

“I can tell you but it means bringing Jesus to the story.”

“Okay”

“how about we walk and talk at the same time. Otherwise we could be here a while.” They packed up their mean and began walking up the mountain. But they turned down a narrow pathway. “I was born into wealth and privilege and all that went with it. My father owned a company and I am expected to follow in his footsteps no matter what my life choices are. So I did what any kid would do. I rebelled. If my father said go left I went right just to spite him. It made for a miserable childhood. As a teen I got into smoking weed and drinking, I was destroying myself. Clarrisa was just starting at the mission when I came. I fought her every step of the way. First she had cleaning the boys dorms, that was awful. Then she moved me into the kitchens to help out. The cook ran me out with a metal spoon. She gave me varying jobs with no success until she put me in charge of the children’s chapel on Fridays. It was tough at first. But the principal of the school wouldn’t let me quit. If I got wrong, she made me try again. And these kids were so eager. And as I got to know people, I realized they were dealing with some of the same struggles I was. Even though it was different, I was still struggling with being who my father wanted me to be. While some of the people I met was struggling with their tribes requirements. It softened me a little. So I began to study for what I was going to share. It sucked at first because I couldn’t understand what I was reading. Then I was asked to do a lesson on salvation by the principal. So I studied and found verses on salvation. I learned about my sinful nature. I gave my life to Christ in my bunk in the men’s dorm. It was the best day of my life. I was changed from the moment. Did you know I’m the one that started the project here. I wanted a way to give back in a way my father would approve.”

“Wow. That’s cool, I’m still not sold on the whole salvation thing but I’m glad it’s working for you.” She said.

“How about we pack up and finish our journey? We’ve still got another 10 to 15 minutes of walking left. It’ll be just enough time to walk off these carbs.”

They packed up their picnic and started walking up the mountain. She began to see a few more people, mostly women carrying bags of what looked like potatoes some had pineapples. They walked slightly hunched over with the bag on their back with the strap around their forehead. She couldn’t understand how anyone could carry a bag that way but whatever.

Most people seemed to know Tyler. They would stop and talk to him in pidgen. I still couldn’t understand most of what they were saying, but Tyler was nice enough to translate most of the time.

“You seem very popular here.” She commented after he talked to one lady who looked to be at least 80 years old.”

“I spend time here, especially during the school break. I try to spend at least one week here during the year. The people here are very social so it helps to integrate in to their lives. Paul did say when in Rome, I do as the Romans do. I became more than just another businessman. By learning people’s names, but getting to know them.”

Just as he finished speaking they reached the top of the mountain. The view was breathtaking. You could see another mountain across the way. The valley was below them. There was two waterfalls in the other mountain. She had only seen views such as this in magazines.

She heard him walk up behind her. “It is beautiful isn’t it. I’ve heard, PNG is the closest to the garden of Eden in the world. Sometimes I believe it.”

“It is beautiful and peaceful. There’s no rush here. Sometimes it makes me antsy, if I’m being honest. I’m used to being on the go. I make a plan then make it happen.”

“Why don’t you come meet some of my friends a d workers. They most likely have a feast prepared for us. I did call and tell them I was coming.”

He led her up a small path that held a small village. The grass huts were so different than what she was used to seeing. It was an octagon shaped hut made with some kind of woven grass and the roof had the same woven grass with 8 wooden beams around it. She walked inside and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. In the of the hut was a fire pit with a big metal slab. On it was a huge pot filler with chicken, vegetables, and some sort of green. They gave her a plate pilled high of rice, chicken, and vegetables. She thought the only thing missing was the cornbread instead they had some sort of boiled banana. It almost tasted like a boiled potato.

She ate in silence listening to them talk about life in the village. She sat on a woven bench in the corner of the room. These people seemed so different from the world where she grew up. The had a connection. She had never seen. Family meant something different here. The question is what was she going to do with all this new information.

After she finished eating, Tyler said they needed to make their way back down the mountain. It would rain soon.

“How do you it’s going to rain soon?” she asked him.

Because it is getting close to 4 o’clock and it usually rains somewhere between 4 and 5 pm. I can almost guarantee it. They are sending us home with a pile of groceries. She walked back with a group of kids that carried their bags. She got to see a different side of PNG today. She will have to remember to thank her aunt when she got home. Maybe this could be a good experience after all.