A Gap in the Jungle by Rog Thomas

­ AUTHOR’S NOTE These are the recollections of a Generation X-er starting a “gap year” in Papua New Guinea (PNG) which led to the adoption of an abandoned baby girl born with a rare skin disorder that society chose to reject ( The Girl Behind The Face ). PROL OGUE It culminated in a hurried outbreak of almost intolerably excessive shrieking                             Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Gapun Village, Papua New Guinea, June 1987   Standing next to an anthropologist and a Swede with all my clothes off is a new experience for me. The anthropologist suggests I take them off. I’m hot, it’s midnight, I’m in the middle of a tropical jungle. I get undressed. The anthropologist and the Swede take all their clothes off, too. This culminates in an outbreak of almost intolerably excessive shrieking by some thirty women and children. Being laughed at in a tropical jungle by some thirty women and children with all my clothes off is another ne