I’D RATHER BE BORED THAN DEAD

And the winner is…….three weeks. Whoever guessed that I would find the end of fun at three weeks to the day wins the pool. Yesterday, after 21 days on the island, I uttered the words, “I am bored. I need to do something.”

By the afternoon, I had not yet showered because I was honestly trying to motivate myself to go to the gym, where I go most days, and why would I shower before intentionally sweating? Yesterday, however, I was just not feeling it. Paul and I had ventured out Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and apparently my body needed a recovery day.

At one point, I decided to suck it up and realize that I was just not in a gym mood that day so I got up and showered. Once cleaned up and dressed, I entered the living room and announced, “Well, that killed 12 minutes.”

Paul chuckled. “Bored?” “Yes. I need to do something.” I didn’t do anything. I stayed in, made dinner, watched some television and did some reading before bed.

I also did a little Googleing and map searching before bed. My goal: find something to do or somewhere to go outside of the dangerous Port Moresby. I succeeded, finding a seaside village just north of town called Lea Lea.

The village is smaller than Moresby and, from another blogger’s pictures, the people look quite welcoming and the kids love to have their photos taken. That blogger had a great day but he also had two things we didn’t: a motorbike and a local guide.

Knowing that the capital city, with its high crime, dirty appearance and high security, is atypical to Papua New Guinea as a whole, I thought it would be great to spend the afternoon outside the city, exploring a new area.

When Susie, our housemaid, arrived midday, I asked her about Lea Lea. She advised that it was a nice village right on the Coral Sea and that there was a very nice resort there. Awesome, I thought. She advised the village was roughly a 20-minute drive from Moresby and that the freeway went nearly the entire way, ensuring good roads.

She asked if we would be going and I told her, while Paul was in the same room on the phone with someone, that I had hoped to take a drive this afternoon – if I could convince my husband.

Well, don’t get your hopes up. He said no. Actually, he said, “I don’t think driving around outside the city without someone who knows the roads is a good idea.” I gave him a look indicating that I did not agree with his statement. In my mind, getting out of the city is a great idea. “Hey,” he continued. “I’d rather be bored than dead.”

And that, I suppose, is the new mantra and my new reality. I am not a fan of this reality. I have a desire to explore as much as possible, take photos and write about what I see. Instead, I am lying on the red leather loveseat in my once-sweaty workout clothes (yes, I did make it to the gym today, thank you) thinking about dinner – not eating dinner but making dinner.

It’s 3:30 – a.k.a. nowhere near dinnertime – and I am not even the slightest bit hungry but I am seriously considering starting dinner because making the tacos, rice and vegetables that I have planned to make three hours from now will at least allow me to do something other than lie here and think about all of the things I am not doing.

I suppose I will go shower. That will kill five minutes. But what’s the point? I’m not going anywhere, nor am I doing anything so do I really need to shower right now? This is the debate I am currently having with myself.