Settling In

Thursday morning, our whole family went into town for some grocery shopping and a celebratory lunch.  While we were at Central Market, Aaron asked if the tomatoes were $5 a heap, and the lady replied, "Irei" (ee-ray), which means "yes" in Lavukaleve.  Obviously, they recognized us!  It turns out that one of the ladies was the one who had come to borrow petrol from us to quickly get to her sick son in the East Russells a few weeks ago.  All three of the ladies were from Louna, one of the easternmost villages in our language group, and I enjoyed using the little language I know to introduce the kids and to buy some of their produce.  We never know who we are going to meet in town!

Friday, we decided to take Sarah to the doctor for her foot.  Her sore was making very slow process healing, and we wanted to get Dr. Steve's opinion now that we were back in Honiara.  He took one look at her foot, then looked at a sore on Olivia's foot, and ordered shots for both of the girls.  He gave Sarah the option of coming back once a week for three weeks for another shot or taking oral antibiotics four times a day, and she chose the oral antibiotics.  Even though Sarah officially has "yaws" on her foot, she continues to be a trooper and is keeping a cute little notebook to write down what time she takes her meds.

So, now it's Saturday morning, and we are close to being finished with unpacking, just a few boxes left.  This house is so different from the one we stayed in last time.  Our former SITAG house was down in the valley, rarely had a breeze blow through its few windows, and had wood paneled walls.  This SITAG house sits up on the ridge, catches an almost constant breeze with its many windows, and has white walls.  We enjoy a great ocean view, and we've traded our Marulaon sunrises for Honaira sunsets. 

One of the best things about this house is the order of bedrooms.  In Marulaon, with no ceilings and no inside doors, the kids (Katherine, especially) tend to wake up as soon as we start moving in the mornings.  Even our tiny book lights reflect off the shiny material on the underside of the roof in Marulaon meant to reflect the heat from the sun.  Here, our bedroom is closest to the kitchen/living area, and the kids' rooms stretch down the hall.  And the bedrooms have doors.  So, Aaron and I have been able to get up early with the kids sleeping in (sometimes until almost seven) here in Honiara.  It's a luxury to have still and quiet time before breakfast.

Besides the unpacking, the only thing we have left to do before we settle in to our Honiara lives is to deworm.  The chocolate flavored pyrantel squares make it easy, time to dole them out with lunch...