more lelenga

Thursday, June 11 � Lelenga Day
We're moving up the learning curve! Last time Sarah and I only watched as Skita finished preparing lelenga. Today, Sarah and I took ingredients and our own cassava (obikola) scraper over to Auntie Sarah and we all worked together from beginning to end. We went around 2 o'clock, and Auntie began by showing us how to peel cassava. It was easier than I thought. You take your bush knife (I now have my very own small one � it's about a "cubit" in length), and cut off the ends of the cassava. Then, you cut a slit from top to bottom. Next, you work the tip of the knife in under the thick skin to pry it off, and the whole thing peels beautifully! After we had peeled the cassava we had bought at yesterday's market, we washed it and scraped it. Aaron helped us out by scraping nine coconuts at home, and he brought the coconut over as we were finishing up the cassava peeling. We put a tiny bit of water in the coconut. Then, we took a piece of finely pounded bark, placed some of the grat!
ed coconut inside, and SQUEEZED. Once all of the coconut milk was out, we boiled the liquid. Then Auntie brought out a big pan and apologized for not using only leaves! This pan is from WWII and it was made in the USA, so they call it the "USA pan". Auntie Sarah showed me how to heat the leaves by drawing them slowly over the fire so they wouldn't crack when we folded them into the "USA pan". We layered the cassava and coconut milk, and Auntie built a big fire using coconut husks. She put many large stones on top, then we all went outside to visit and slice bananas for the lelenga. After a while, she went in to check the stones, and we all joined her and finished making the pudding by adding the bananas. We placed the pudding on top of the hot stones, then placed more stones on top of the pudding and covered the whole thing with leaves like we did with Skita. Then, we each went back to our own houses to cook supper and get ready for Evening Prayer. After Evening Prayer, we !
went home, but it didn't take long for Auntie Sarah to come and get us
for the unveiling of the pudding. We all watched as she pulled the heavy pan off the fire and took off the stones. When the banana cooks, it turns red, so the pudding had a reddish tinge this time. Auntie cut it into pieces, and we took some home with us to enjoy.

Choate family bakery

Saturday, June 20
Yesterday, we received a bunch of bananas, and we had just been given a beautiful basket of mogea, so we decided to make muffins to take down to market. This morning at 7:45, there was a knock on our door, and Melody stood there to tell us that all of the ladies were down at the market waiting for us to bring banana cake to sell! We had just started baking when she came, so we told her to tell the ladies it would be a while, but we would be there. We brought the batches of banana and mogea muffins down in shifts as they came out of the oven, and they were snatched up within seconds. Each muffin sells for one Solomon Dollar (about 12 cents). After we sold about four dozen, we ran out, and I had to explain that baking used a lot of gas. I could either bake a whole bunch now and run out of gas soon, or I could bake a little bit for each market while we were in Marulaon.
Last night after Evening Prayer, Skita asked me if I would make a birthday cake for her nephew who was turning three. I told her that I would love to make it as my gift to him, and we discussed what flavor she wanted and the shape of the cake. So today, Sarah and I (mostly Sarah) made a chocolate bundt cake, and tomorrow we will ice it after church.

papaya trees

Monday, June 22
Ruthie is helping us with the house and the yard this week. We saved some of the seeds from the two types of papaya (manioko) we bought at Saturday's market, and she helped us plant them this morning. We planted them in groups of three along the northern border of our yard. Sarah came behind us and ringed each plot with either coral or stones. We're hoping to enjoy some papaya by the time Thanksgiving is here!

update

Sunday, June 7, 2009

What a beautiful day to travel!  When we arrived at the pier, we saw a family that we knew from Marulaon, and I enjoyed being able to greet them in Lavukaleve.  We chose the same spot on the boat as we had before – the bottom deck in the back – and settled in for the hour wait before the six hour journey.  We are so thankful for the Bikoi and it's dependable schedule!  This time we took two big gas cylinders along with a 400 gallon rain tank to hold water for the community.

 

We quickly found lots of people traveling to the Russells.  A teacher at Fly Harbor School (the elementary boarding school on the island of Marulaon) storied with Aaron for a little while.  The teacher said that he had come into Honiara on the Bikoi last Tuesday night and that it had been storming.  Water had washed back and forth over the deck as the boat chugged on its way to Guadalcanal.  This made me grateful for the great return voyage we enjoyed only a few weeks ago.  We also made new friends in Rita and Wally.  Wally was downing Sol Brew way too fast and decided to take lopsided pictures of our family with his wife's digital camera.  He giggled after every picture.  About halfway through the trip, Wally fell asleep and remained asleep until we arrived in Marulaon.  I wasn't disappointed.

 

When we arrived back home, we could see a wall of rain just east of where we needed to unload.  The kids and I stepped off the Bikoi into a canoe with the chief, the chairman, and a couple of other guys.  They loaded our "carry-on" baggage, the gas cylinders, and the water tank into the canoe, and we headed back to shore while Aaron awaited our cargo from under the ship.  The kids and I waded ashore from the canoe and called to our friends just as the rain began to fall.  So, everyone pitched into carry our bags up to the house in the rain.  We had finished all of the water we brought aboard the ship, and we were all so thirsty from the trip, so I asked Sarah to go down and fill a container with water from the tank.  (We hadn't pumped the water up to the roof yet, so we couldn't just turn on the tap.)  She came back saying there was a lock on the spigot, therefore she couldn't bring up any water.  Since it was still raining, I asked her to take the container and put it under the pipe on the front of the house.  We quickly had some water to drink, and the rain stopped just after she filled the container!

 

Aaron and the rest of our things began coming up the hill, and then Sarah heard some wailing from one of the young girls who had just gotten off of the ship.  We asked the chief and learned that our closest neighbor Eileen (who lives just down the hill) had lost her dad, Albert, last Thursday.  The funeral was yesterday, and one of his granddaughters was wailing in mourning as she arrived.  This week will be a week of mourning, and the family will be cared for by community members (working their gardens, preparing their food, etc).  Eileen's husband, David, lost his dad not too long ago.  He is growing his beard out for a year to represent his mourning.  We are planning to take some food later this week.

 

The chief and the chairman also explained the mystery of the padlock on our water tank.  Evidently, someone was caught taking water from our tank during the night, so to guard our water, one of our neighbors provided his own lock.  However, he was away when we arrived, so we had to wait until he returned to get the key to be able to use our water.  Thankfully, it didn't take very long and the kids were able to shower before evening prayer.  We really feel loved by this community, and we hope that the small rain tank that we brought will help out!

odds and ends

Just an update to let you know that our water tank for the community has been well received.  Several of the small rain tanks have recently gone dry, and we have been so happy to be able to share with our neighbors.

 

I can't believe I forgot to put our Flag Day celebration on the blog!  Sarah and I decided we needed to celebrate, so we whipped up some sugar cookies (with red sprinkles) in place of vanilla wafers, then I made some banana pudding while Sarah created some mini personalized flags to put on top of our dessert.  It was yummy!  We're saving the flags to celebrate again on July 4.

blog post for June 7 2009

Sunday, June 7, 2009
What a beautiful day to travel! When we arrived at the pier, we saw a family that we knew from Marulaon, and I enjoyed being able to greet them in Lavukaleve. We chose the same spot on the boat as we had before � the bottom deck in the back � and settled in for the hour wait before the six hour journey. We are so thankful for the Bikoi and it's dependable schedule! This time we took two big gas cylinders along with a 400 gallon rain tank to hold water for the community.
We quickly found lots of people traveling to the Russells. A teacher at Fly Harbor School (the elementary boarding school on the island of Marulaon) storied with Aaron for a little while. The teacher said that he had come into Honiara on the Bikoi last Tuesday night and that it had been storming. Water had washed back and forth over the deck as the boat chugged on its way to Guadalcanal. This made me grateful for the great return voyage we enjoyed only a few weeks ago. We also made new friends in Rita and Wally. Wally was downing Sol Brew way too fast and decided to take lopsided pictures of our family with his wife's digital camera. He giggled after every picture. About halfway through the trip, Wally fell asleep and remained asleep until we arrived in Marulaon. I wasn't disappointed.
When we arrived back home, we could see a wall of rain just east of where we needed to unload. The kids and I stepped off the Bikoi into a canoe with the chief, the chairman, and a couple of other guys. They loaded our "carry-on" baggage, the gas cylinders, and the water tank into the canoe, and we headed back to shore while Aaron awaited our cargo from under the ship. The kids and I waded ashore from the canoe and called to our friends just as the rain began to fall. So, everyone pitched into carry our bags up to the house in the rain. We had finished all of the water we brought aboard the ship, and we were all so thirsty from the trip, so I asked Sarah to go down and fill a container with water from the tank. (We hadn't pumped the water up to the roof yet, so we couldn't just turn on the tap.) She came back saying there was a lock on the spigot, therefore she couldn't bring up any water. Since it was still raining, I asked her to take the container and put it under the pip!
e on the front of the house. We quickly had some water to drink, and the rain stopped just after she filled the container!
Aaron and the rest of our things began coming up the hill, and then Sarah heard some wailing from one of the young girls who had just gotten off of the ship. We asked the chief and learned that our closest neighbor Eileen (who lives just down the hill) had lost her dad, Albert, last Thursday. The funeral was yesterday, and one of his granddaughters was wailing in mourning as she arrived. This week will be a week of mourning, and the family will be cared for by community members (working their gardens, preparing their food, etc). Eileen's husband, David, lost his dad not too long ago. He is growing his beard out for a year to represent his mourning. We are planning to take some food later this week.
The chief and the chairman also explained the mystery of the padlock on our water tank. Evidently, someone was caught taking water from our tank during the night, so to guard our water, one of our neighbors provided his own lock. However, he was away when we arrived, so we had to wait until he returned to get the key to be able to use our water. Thankfully, it didn't take very long and the kids were able to shower before evening prayer. We really feel loved by this community, and we hope that the small rain tank that we brought will help out!

SITAG, Honiara, Over and Out

We got good news today that the radio seems to be working just fine, so we should have good e-mail access while we are in Marulaon. Thanks for all of your prayers. However, last time we were out in the village, Blogger kept sending back all of my posts. I will continue to try to post via e-mail via radio from Marulaon, but in case it doesn't work, this is SITAG Honiara, signing off for two months. Over and out...

And the winner is...

Amy! We'll get your necklace out right quick before we catch the boat to Marulaon.

Quick Prayer Request

We just heard that the equipment for transmitting our e-mail via radio is having some problems. If it is not able to be fixed, we will have have no e-mail while we are out in Marulaon. However, we will still have daily radio contact with SITAG. Please pray for wisdom, resources, and speed in obtaining the parts needed.

Giveaway

Our camera battery died last week...you can guess where the battery charger is, in Marulaon. But we would like to giveaway the necklace we bought last week at the market. If you look closely at the picture of Olivia, you can see the alternating small flat white and tan (caramel, latte, toasted coconut?) shells. Comment by Thursday, midnight CST to include your name in our scientifically random drawing. Our child powered number generator will select the last name in the bowl to win. Now back to canning and packing...

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...June 1 (Can it be June already?)

Swing by Peggy's to share your own daybook.

Outside my window...frangipani blooming and releasing their sweet frangrance, lavendar sky as the sun breaks through the clouds

I am thinking...about our sweet friends who returned to Papua New Guinea this weekend and trying to plan for the next time we can get together

From the learning rooms...Spanish-American War, Panama Canal, Teddy Roosevelt, Sarah-math review, recognizing propaganda techniques & writing an advertisement, Benjamin-addition & subtraction with money,identifying hyperbole, Olivia-measuring weight, creating synonyms, Katherine-clothespin snap from "Slow and Steady...", hymn study-"O God, Our Help in Ages Past", Lavukaleve vocabulary review, science experiments with light and color

I am thankful for...the sun that has come out after days of rain. I enjoy the cooler days that accompany the rain, but my laundry dries better when the sun shines!

From the kitchen...we'll start the day with baked gingerbread oatmeal, enjoy egg salad sandwiches, carrot sticks, and apples for lunch, then share chili and cornbread (with brownies for dessert) with SITAG neighbors

I am wearing...blue and white floral sleeveless dress, hair in a ponytail, bracelet made from sea urchins

I am reading..."Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II" by Darlene Deibler Rose (a birthday present from a dear friend)

I am hoping...that we can Skype with our families before we leave for Marulaon on Sunday

I am hearing...Integrity's "iworship: experience the sights & sounds of worship" from a thoughtful friend in Memphis

I am creating...Father's Day packages to go in the mail this week

I am praying...that my heart will be sweetly surrendered as we uproot once again and move back to Marulaon for two months

Around the house...the spare bedroom is filling up with 25 kg bags of flour, jars of spaghetti sauce, rolls of toilet paper, sacks of milk powder, etc.

One of my favorite things...the joy and vibrancy of a delightful twenty month old little girl and her quickly expanding vocabulary

A few plans for the rest of the week...finish shopping and packing for the village, preserve lots of carrots and pumpkin, invite several families over to share a meal since this will be our last chance for a while, cook gobs of granola

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

sweet Katherine who loves to help Mama with normal everyday tasks

Honiara through the lens of a friend

We enjoyed our friends visiting for the week. They were a breath of fresh air, and we appreciate them taking the time and effort to visit us. Stacie took lots of pictures, and it's always fun to see your home through the eyes of somebody else for the very first time:

checking mail and finding the Sonlight Catalog of a friend - what a treat!

Stacie enjoyed the beautiful sunsets, too

everybody's favorite - ice cream

at the wharf

singing hymns while Aaron accompanied on guitar

drinking green coconuts at the market

shops in "downtown" Honiara

Aaron giving me yet another birthday present

friendly ladies making and selling beautiful jewelry in the market

I am still my beloved's and he is still mine

Going to town

Yesterday, we took our friends into town to run some errands. We swung by Coconut Corporation to buy some more soap and coconut oil and discovered that they made cassava scrapers! Now, I'm ready to make lelenga when we go back to Marulaon. Then, we finished up at the market. Olivia is holding the "rock melon" (aka cantaloupe), a rare treat here! She's also wearing the necklace we bought at the market for the next giveaway. More details soon...

Sweet birthday

Thanks to all of you who sent birthday wishes, boxes, cards, phone calls (I can't believe you called me, sis). We started the day by making ice cream! By mid-morning, the ice cream was still liquid, so we cheated and stuck it in the freezer. A precious family from SITAG left for furlough today, so Aaron went over to help them finish up the house, and then after lunch he and the big kids drove to the airport to see them off. We shared caramel brownies and ice cream mush with the SITAG crew for tea time, and then the director's wife came over to eat supper. And our friends from PNG grace our days until Saturday. My first birthday in the South Pacific was a marvelous day!

Memorial Day

In honor of those who have given their lives in military service, we thought today would be a good day to take our friends from PNG to the WWII Memorial in Honiara.

The island in the background is Savo, and "Ironbottom Sound" separates Guadalcanal from Savo Island.

"O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life!

America! America! May God thy gold refine,

Till all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine."

Simple Woman's Daybook

Please swing by Peggy's and create your own daybook to share.

For Today...May 25th

Outside my window...the sky is gray, birds are chirping, clothes are still on the line on the veranda

I am thinking...about all of the men and women who serve their country in the armed forces, thank you.

From the learning rooms...we're taking the week off to enjoy our company

I am thankful for...a sweet husband who arranged to fly some friends from Papua New Guinea here to celebrate my birthday this week, woohoo!!!

From the kitchen...to start the day, cinnamon raisin bagels (still trying to perfect this recipe), bierrocks for lunch, and tonight, chicken & veggie stirfry followed by strawberry jello for dessert

I am wearing...pink paisley cotton pajamas

I am (re)reading..."The Power of a Positive Mom" by Karol Ladd

I am hearing...the bell at St. Barnabas ringing for early morning prayer

I am hoping...that this week is a refreshing time for our friends staying with us

I am creating...next school year's composer and artist schedule and book list

I am praying...for my grandmother as she undergoes chemo

Around the house...everything but the daily necessities on hold for this week

One of my favorite things...laughing with my mom and sister over Skype

A few plans for the rest of the week...take our friends to the WWII United States Memorial, drink lots of tea, enjoy sweet fellowship

A picture to share with you...

Katherine after the painting fiasco, she turned the bath water green!

And the winner is...

...Lisa! Shoot me an e-mail (celloduo@yahoo.com) with your address so I can mail the coffee to you. Hope you enjoy!

Future Creative Genius?

Giveaway

It's the coffee, not the coffee pot (a birthday present from my sweet husband). The label reads "King Solomon Premium Roasted Coffee Beans" product of Solomon Islands. You have until midnight Saturday night to leave a comment and enter the drawing!

For Simple Things

For Simple Things

God of my praise, to Thee be praise

For children and their loving ways;

For all the things that lighten earth,

For quiet peace, and merry mirth;

For every friendly bird that sings,

For little, lovely, simple things;

For loyal comradeship that grows

The stronger for each wind that blows;

But most of all because Thou art

The sunshine of my happy heart.

God of my praise, to Thee be praise,

Today and through my length of days.

by Amy Carmichael

Reading Pleasure...

One of the hardest things to leave when we moved from Dallas was the Dallas Public Library and our local Barnes and Noble. So, imagine our joy when we arrived here in Honiara and found an Educational Resource Center for the families of SITAG! The kids are avid readers (wonder where they get it?), so they love to head next door and swap out books. One of my favorite things is reading a book with one of my children, snuggled up and savoring each shared word. Books we're sharing now:

Sarah - "Christy" by Catherine Marshall
Benjamin - "The Rescuers" by Margery Sharp
Olivia - "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder (we finished "Little House in the Big Woods" while we were in Marulaon)
Katherine - "Jennie's Hat" and "Peter's Chair" both by Ezra Jack Keats

Quick Prayer Request

Rachel, one of Katherine's special friends here in Honiara, was just whisked off to get stitches in her face since it got pinched and cut by a spring on the trampoline. Rachel's four older siblings are spending the morning with us while she goes to the doctor. Please pray for her...

Update: Rachel is home now taking a nap with her wound glued together. Thanks for your prayers!

Simple Woman's Daybook

How 'bout creating your own daybook and heading over to Peggy's to share...

For today, Monday, May 18

Outside my window...darkness, I miss seeing the moon and stars as clearly as we did in Marulaon

I am thinking...about my sister who got married and graduated from college this weekend and how much I wish I could have been there to hug her neck and tell her how special she is to me

I am thankful for...a husband healing quickly from malaria

From the learning rooms...hymn study "Take My Life and Let it Be", biography of Helen Keller, Sarah-angles, Benjamin-money,Olivia-reading graphs, Katherine-"On and Off" from "Slow and Steady..." , practicing piano again now that we have good electricity to run the keyboard, science experiments with light and color, studying the inception of labor unions

From the kitchen...breakfast-cranberry egg-bread braid that Sarah made yesterday & fruit smoothies, lunch-pasta salad, supper-curried lentils, coconut rice, green beans, watermelon, chocolate pudding with whipped cream

I am wearing...purple skirt, white t-shirt, gray choker seed necklace from Marulaon (my version of pearls), hair in a braid, and bare feet (my version of high heels)

I am creating...a meaningful and belated spiritual birthday party for Sarah and Benjamin to celebrate next week

I am going...to enjoy having lots of company while we are back in Honiara!

I am reading..."Mountain Breezes", collected poems of Amy Carmichael, an early birthday present from a sweet friend

I am hoping (and praying)...that the colds we brought back from Marulaon flee our bodies soon

I am hearing...roosters welcoming the day

Around the house...starting school back up today, making bagels with Olivia, washing sheets

One of my favorite things...washing dishes with Benjamin and talking about his hopes and dreams in a very grownup way while we diligently work

A few plans for the rest of the week: studying Lavukaleve and creating a personal language plan for each of us, baking snacks each day for the translators in the workshop, beginning to stock up on supplies to take out to Marulaon

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Katherine and Olivia swinging and singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" together

Sweet Sabbath

"Come Thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy praise..."

-beautiful sunsets almost every night inspiring us to worship the amazing Creator

-church at home this morning to allow Aaron to rest, children's voices raised in praise

-trying new recipes with my kids (and tastetesting the results)

Coming back to Honiara

Tuesday, May 12/Wednesday, May 13

Knew we would be visited with company today as people came by to story with us before we left, but Ezekial, Leonard (the chief), and Walter came by and stayed all morning. Ezekial even stayed for lunch. Just after morning prayer, Janet came by and told us that the house girl scheduled for today was in Honiara, so would it be okay if Skita came today? We hadn't counted on having anybody to help today, so Skita was a delight!

Everything always takes longer than we think it should, and we didn't get to taking inventory of the food and other supplies left in the house until about 7:00 p.m. Several men came to carry our cargo down to await the Bikoi. Soon, we heard rain begin to fall and hoped that somebody had covered all of our boxes waiting on the beach. Katherine went to bed, and Olivia crashed around 8:30. We closed up the house and went down to the beach around 9:30 p.m. to visit with everybody before the ship came. We found that Eileen (Bernadine's grandmother) had covered our things with a big tarp. The Bikoi was scheduled to come around 10:00, but it didn't come until almost midnight! Olivia went back to sleep, and Katherine fell asleep in Skita's arms. The wind was blowing so hard it was cold. But the rain had stopped, and watching the moon fly up in the sky over the ocean was beautiful! The Bikoi finally came, and we all piled into a canoe to meet the ship. The only space left on the boat was on the top deck, so the kids and I piled on two small camping mattresses and admired the stars until we fell asleep. Aaron was a true gentleman and just slept on the deck. We arrived in Honiara around 7:00 a.m. to find the SITAG truck awaiting us and two other translators who had come in from the Western Province.

Basket Weaving (but not underwater)

Monday, May 11
When neighbors bring us lelenga, they usually put it in a traditional woven basket made for sharing food. So today, we asked Sarah (the current house girl), to teach my big girls how to make the basket. It was simple to make, and I foresee many baskets in our future!

Sunday, May 10

Happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers and grandmothers! We're so thankful to still have so many of our grandmothers still walking the earth who have passed on a godly heritage to my children. We didn't do much here since it isn't Mother's Day in the Solomon Island. The kids made cards and Sarah created coupons for me (with expiration dates, no less!).

Neighbors

I forgot to show you what Olivia was doing while Aaron was installing the solar panel. She had asked if she could go spend time with "Auntie Skita", and when I came out to take pictures of Aaron, I found her scrubbing clothes! My little girl is growing up so quickly.

We have some really sweet neighbors. Two of these girls live with their extended family just down the hill from us. Bernadine is the second from the right, and she was dropped when she was a baby. As a result, she is lame and her right arm is very weak. She has every right to be bitter and hard, yet I have never seen her without a sweet spirit and a big grin on her face. Bernadine loves to sit in the water on the beach and let the waves splash over her while her laugh rings out. Lord, may I have a malleable spirit like hers to accept everything You give me with joy!

Giving Friends

My dear friend Gayly is holding a giveaway to celebrate her birthday and to benefit Love Without Boundaries Healing Home . Take a moment to wish her a happy birthday and sign up!