Wipi
This is a picture of our good friend Wipi who taught us something very important about Papuan culture. One evening after showing up late again to an informal English class Catherine was leading, she said "I know that it bothers Ibu Catherine that I'm late. But it doesn't bother me at all." By that she was recognizing how Westerners and Western culture places a very high value on time. We say "Time is money." Being late is considered to be disrespectful of someone because it wastes the others time in waiting. But for Wipi and Papuan culture time is not something that even shows up as a cultural value. Instead very high value is placed on relationships. For a blog entry I wrote that reflects on these differences check out: Rubber Time