Waiting works both ways

I often feel that 80% of survey is waiting. Waiting for the fog to clear so the plane can take off, waiting for a boat to come, waiting for someone to find fuel, waiting for a truck to pass by, waiting for the village leader to come back from the garden, waiting for a church service to start, waiting for food to cook, waiting for a group to assemble, waiting for the rain to stop. Part of this waiting is the result of traveling in areas where we don't know what we'll find until we get there, which prevents us from making very definite travel plans. But another huge part of it has to do with the fact that Papua New Guinean culture is extremely relationship oriented rather than time oriented. So the church service starts when the important people are ready for it to start, not when the clock says it's time to start. The truck driver leaves when he's finished having breakfast and chatting with his family, no matter what time that is. The group assembles when, and only when, they are good and ready to assemble. This can be frustrating for a person (like me) who is coming from a culture where schedules are dictated by the clock and you interrupt a conversation with your best friend in order to get to work on time. And I have felt frustrated at times, but I have also grown to appreciate the fact that people are more valuable than time . . . particularly when I'm the person being valued. What I mean is that it's still tempting to feel annoyed when I've had to wait for hours for someone to arrive. But that annoyance quickly melts into gratitude when a boat driver waits all afternoon to see whether or not I need a ride, when a Papua New Guinean airline holds the plane for me because it took me a long time to get through customs, when someone spends two days hiking to show me where a village is, or when a truck driver goes four hours out of his way to get me where I want to go. Waiting can be hard for the waiter, but it sure is nice when you're the waitee!